E46 Things
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-4th gear is allegedly good for a tick over 130
That's it? Dat der tree turty 5'll do 130 in first from a roll! Getting ready for race wars I see...
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157,880 miles
I found a program called ECUWorx https://www.ecuworx.co.uk/ for E39, E46, and E9X M cars which allows you to make changes to a few things on your DME.
There were a few things on my list that I wanted to figure out how to modify with just the hexadecimal code in the .bin file but this is a foolproof interface and i'm glad it exists. I pulled the stock .bin file off the DME and made the following changes:
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Activated the SMG shift lights. WHY?: The S54 pulls all the way to redline and feels like you can just keep going past 8 grand and visual indicators are helpful when you have a helmet on at the track. Here they are, they work!
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Changed the dyno redline to 8000. When on a dyno the car will only allow you to run to 6500 rpm unless you manually put it in dyno mode. I believe this is for emissions purposes. WHY?: I dont intend on visiting a dyno any time soon but in case I do I wont have to remember about the factory restriction and waste time looking up how to enable dyno mode.
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DID NOT CHANGE REDLINE. You can set it up to 9000 rpm. I dont see the need. 8000 is plenty and while the S54 is robust, I like my engine hoist being tucked away in the shed and not in use.
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DID NOT REMOVE TOP SPEED LIMITER. 155 mph is plenty. If I had removed it, i would be tempted to try it out and see my high score. Not a good idea.
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Changed the warmup leds/variable redline to much more conservative values. WHY?: On newer M cars, there are some additional LED segments that light up and disappear based on oil temperature to help show when its safe to run to higher RPM. I dont agree with the oil temperatures at which they turn off. My own personal rule is that I dont run past 7000 rpm until the oil reaches 190 F and will limit visits to redline until the oil is closer to 210 F. With the stock settings, the car is basically telling you its fair game to redline the car with 140 F oil temperature. I'd like to add some padding to that.
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Set the aux fan temperature table to match a Z4M. WHY?: The Z4M has an electric fan. The M3 has a mechanical fan. My mechanical fan has been replaced by an electric fan running off the aux fan controller. When it is hot out and im sitting in traffic with the AC on, the coolant temperature will begin climbing a bit and the fan isn't running as eagerly as it should be. It should start to kick on earlier and at higher speed now.
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Adjusted throttle mapping for both sport mode and comfort (normal) mode.
Normal mode throttle feels fine, fairly linear, but right off the line its a bit stale.
Sport mode throttle takes some getting used to right off the line and is very aggressive, but flat up top near WOT and not very linear at all. Ideally, normal mode would eliminate the flat spot right off the line and sport mode would be less aggressive off the line and have more substance near WOT.
Here is a breakdown of the % of pedal application vs % throttle opening for the stock throttle mapping. You can see on the sport mapping on right, 65% of pedal travel = 88% throttle opening which makes the last 35% of pedal travel feel like not much is going on.
Here is a breakdown of what I changed it to:
Red is stock sport mode
Green is stock normal/comfort mode
Blue is my new sport mode
Yellow is my new normal/comfort mode (linear) 1:1
So just a few personalized touches on an already excellent car. I love this thing!
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Very cool, does it take a long time for oil temps to get up that high? I've monitored on other vehicles and it took a long time to get oil near 180F. Does it have a oil cooler/heater to the coolant? That would help warm up the oil quicker.
Yes, usually 8-9 miles of driving to get to 190. Less if there is frequent stopping/sitting.
The S54 oil filter housing has a restrictor for the oil cooler. Racers will remove it or replace it with a different one
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Yes, usually 8-9 miles of driving to get to 190. Less if there is frequent stopping/sitting.
The S54 oil filter housing has a restrictor for the oil cooler. Racers will remove it or replace it with a different one
Oh that isn't too bad, is the oil cooler an air to oil? The V70R I had had a small plate HX for oil -coolant which I thought was a great design, very compact and it warms the oil to operating temp and then keeps it there. If I ever add an oil cooler to a vehicle I would do it like that, also no need for an oil thermostat because coolant temp is about perfect.
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I have not driven much in the last couple weeks due to the rain and cold temperatures but today was an exception. As an essential employee I commuted to my essential job and ran essential errands afterwards.
There is something rewarding about operating a manual transmission that one needs to experience to fully understand. Amongst our own group, this shared understanding is part of what unites us. But as strange as it sounds, after ~20 years of manual transmission operation, I think I am finally starting to learn how to REALLY drive a manual transmission. And yet I have a long ways to go.
Putting aside my facetious poll about how good you are at shifting (sample text) Im really enjoying learning how to drive a manual transmission in this car. I have always felt I have operated at an average enthusiast skill level, nothing special, but not destroying clutches either. In the last year I have felt like things are starting to click. I cant explain this epiphany very well,
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Heel toeing on all downshifts?
Last fall on track yes, otherwise not a lot of opportunities on street besides roundabout entrances or those lucky right turns on green lights.
The main changes/improvements are:
-Learning how to rev-match downshifts quickly, smoothly, and accurately. Prior to figuring this out I would always rev-match but it was never quite enough rpm or I would do it too slowly. I wanted to give it SOME rpm to attempt a rev match but not too much that it surges upon re-engagement.
-retraining my brain to make sure the clutch pedal is 100% depressed rather than 95% before starting to change gears. It didnt always happen but I noticed this bad habit that I have probably been doing my whole life.
-memorizing the rpm change for each gear and actually timing the clutch release for a smooth upshift instead of just “shift as quickly as possible as long as you are allowing time for the synchros to do their job”. This was learned because the heavy dual mass flywheel decelerates more slowly and the clutch release timing is slightly different than every other car I have owned
-It is now a habit to shift 1 and 2 palm inward and 3 through 6 palm outward
-overall im using the tach as a useful tool much more often rather than just for avoiding bumping the rev limiter
among other things.
Trying to describe it is probably makes me sound like a caveman driving manual for the first time. But like I said, the Clutch Delay Valve and tricky cold shifting really forced me to be more mindful of shifting and pay close attention to all the details involved. As a result I think I have improved on some bad form from years past.
Now I just need some smaller feet.
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Kind of stuck with your feet, so think about shoes. Heel and toe tends to be easier for me on track with the race shoes. Size 13 feet. Though my foot size does make traditional/ actual heel and toe easier that just foot roll version. Also depends on pedal setup in the car. For a street car you can look into driving shoes: narrower, thinner but hard soles.
Watching tach on track means eyes down rather than up. I’ve got shift light on the top of the dash that goes off so I can keep eyes up and also avoid bogging at rev limiter. Especially on race starts where it’s a zoo or when I’m passing someone deep in a corner and need to make sure the other guy behaves. Realize installing a light may not be the best option for street car. But even without a light you can practice listening to engine noise and getting a sense of what noise is what rev.
For heel and toe shifting I rely more on sound cues that help to develop feel than tach. This means an exhaust loud enough to hear the throttle blips while wearing a helmet and also the rev noise when you get it wrong.
Good habit on palm reversal for 3-4 shift. With 5-3 shifts I tend to row 5-4-3 to make sure I get to 3 cleanly. Though again this depends if I’m clean into a corner or trying to deep pass after a long straight into a slow turn (e.g., turn 5 or 12 at Road America ).
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Watching tach on track means eyes down rather than up. I’ve got shift light on the top of the dash that goes off so I can keep eyes up and also avoid bogging at rev limiter. Especially on race starts where it’s a zoo or when I’m passing someone deep in a corner and need to make sure the other guy behaves. Realize installing a light may not be the best option for street car.
Im imagining a zoo of identical sounding M20s + a helmet could very easily leave you bouncing off the limiter without a visual cue. I recently coded the tach warmup lights into shift lights. Cant beat free!
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Im imagining a zoo of identical sounding M20s + a helmet could very easily leave you bouncing off the limiter without a visual cue. I recently coded the tach warmup lights into shift lights. Cant beat free!
Hah! The m20s and more the Spec Miatas in the same run group. Like running in the midst of a hive-belching swarm of loud angry bees.
Good deal on the coding. Nicely done!
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I fired up my engine vape to see if there were any opportunities for improvement. The silicone coupling on the new intake was leaking. Silicone couplers always seem to “settle” after engine movement and heat, and require re-adjustment. All good now! No other leaks detected.
Aaand some smoke rings
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-quick wash
-changed throttle mapping again to make a couple minor tweaks and Improvements to my first revision. It is much better than stock now. No dead zone on initial tip-in and sport mode isnt hyper-sensitive
-Finally got around to resetting the TPMS system. The light has been on ever since I have owned it. It’s wheel speed based rather than pressure sensors. This leaves only 2 more warning lights to remove from the dash, the washer fluid (just need to fill it
) and the brake wear sensors
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