M2 Brake Line & Fluid Upgrade

After reading a ton of posts on BimmerPost about brake fluid and brake lines for getting the most out of the M2 on a race track I decided to swap out the OEM before my first track day.

There are tons of options for stainless steel brake lines.

For me the deciding factor came down to color. In addition to being highly rated the Turner Motorsport stainless brake lines come in a blue color that is a close match to my M2. This may seem like a silly way to make a decision but with plenty of great choices that are similar in cost, why not pick ones that look good with your car, even if no one may ever see them!

I found this video the most helpful when trying to learn how to change the lines and bleed the brakes in my M2.

It is never as easy as it looks on YouTube. Here are a couple of tips that the video doesn’t show:

  1. Spray each brake line connection and mounting clip with PB Blaster to help loosen them up.

  2. The clip is a pain to get out. I found that inserting a small flat head screw driver into the hole in the clip and prying up helped get it out.

  3. After the new line was in and I bled the fluid, I would test the brake pedal by pumping it a few times with my hand (since the car was on jacks) to make sure the travel was still firm. I repeated this after bleeding each brake.

Using a Power Bleeder made this an easy one man job. I added a full quart of Castrol SPF to the power bleeder and flushed the existing fluid out of the system. My fluid was new as the dealer serviced the system recently. If your brake fluid is used it easy to see the color change when the new fluid starts to bleed into the catch can. I used the empty SPF bottle to measure how much brake fluid I was pulling out at each corner to be sure I got new fluid in each line.

Once I was done and put the wheels back on I tested the brakes. First just letting the car roll in my garage, then down my driveway and finally around my neighborhood to make sure everything was in good working order before using the car at speed.

Dinan Free Flow Exhaust For BMW M2

When I was looking for an M2 online I found several in the Long Beach Blue color that was my top choice. For some reason I kept coming back to the one I end up purchasing because it looked better than others to me. As I dug deep it was some minor details that the previous owner did to improve the look of the car.

They had already tinted the windows and opted for the black M2 badges on the car. They also swapped out the grill for a black one and covered the side markers with body colored panels. All of these little touches added up to a look that appealed to me more than the standard silver options.

The biggest upgrade was around the back of the car, were I found 4 big black ceramic exhaust tips. In most cases I wouldn’t by a modified car, but the Dinan Free Flow Exhaust was on my wish list of upgrades for my new to me M2 when I found the right one. This car already had that upgrade!

Dinan claims that the free flow exhaust for the BMW M2 adds a few horsepower and some torque to the car, but what it really adds is a mean sound. Listen to the difference in the video below and you will want it too! I used BimmerCode to delete the in-car active sound design so I can hear what the car is doing without any artificial noise. Once you have the Dinan exhaust installed you will want to hear the real deal!

Where's Bernie?

Is The M2 My Mid Life Crisis?

This February I turned 45 which is by my account the middle of my life expectancy. My main reason for buying a BMW M2 was as an upgrade to my M235i for use at the track. I have always loved cars and “racing” cars has been a life long dream. So now that I have started down this path, I am wondering if this is nothing more than my mid life crisis.

2017 M2 Delivery

I have to give a big shout out to my wife who is typically supportive of all my crazy ideas. About the only thing she doesn’t “allow” me to do is have a motorcycle. That is a small price to pay to keep my wife happy. I am surprised she still “let” me keep pursing track days after we went helmet shopping. You should have seen the look on her face when the salesperson encouraged me to get a full face helmet so my jaw doesn’t get broken when I wreck my car!

My wife made me a birthday card this year with a picture from the day we picked up my 2017 BMW M2 with the caption,

“May This Be Your Best Year Yet.”

What you may not notice is that Bernie Sanders is sitting in his now famous inauguration day outfit watching us pick up the car. My wife has a great sense of humor and loves life as much as I do. Mid-life crisis or not, I can’t thank her enough!

Tracking any car is an expensive and time consuming hobby so the main point here is your family has to be supportive. I have only been to one BMW CCA event so far and that was just a Cars & Coffee a few minutes from my house. I have spent countless hours working on my car and I have spent a good bit of money on new tools to maintain the car as well.

If you are like me and your love of cars is inspiring you to move from dreaming to doing, make sure you budget some extra funds for the gear you need to keep you car track ready. I would also pre-negotiate for how much time you will spend away from home and family to hit the track. Both time and money add up quickly…