But a track tire's life is determined by several outside factors, one of which is camber alignment. Up front, Project M3 already has the Ground Control adjustable camber and caster plates, which help tremendously in dialing out understeer and promoting use of the front tires' full tread for maximum wear and grip. But in the rear, Project M3 gets only 0.8 degrees of negative camber with the factory adjusters.
To remedy this, I ordered a set of adjustable rear lower control arms from BMP Design. Unlike the factory units, which are made from pressed sheetmetal, the BMP rear control arms are constructed of high-grade tubular steel with a hardened-steel aircraft-quality turnbuckle, allowing for the lengthening or shortening of the control arm by up to 1 in. The bushed end of the control arm is fitted with a high-quality urethane bushing with a steel inner sleeve. (evosport installed these units without any problems, but it was after the track event-I'll report back with results later.)
Changing wheels on your own BMW can be a big pain because of having to align the stud bolts; and it's even worse if you have to use a wheel spacer. Since I knew I would be switching back and forth between my Fikse and Forgeline wheels, I called up evosport and ordered a wheel-stud conversion kit, which included 20 German-made studs and nuts.
Installing them is easy: Dismount your wheels, apply some Loc-Tite(tm) to the stud and screw it in. Tighten them down with a 6mm Allen socket and let cure overnight. By the next morning, your wheel-swapping chores will be twice as simple.
My morning was made even easier thanks to a heavy-duty jack from Griot's Garage. If you're still changing wheels or working under the car using a factory jack, stop right now and get a good jack and heavy-duty jack stands. Twice already I've had the factory jack slip on the floor (I jack my car up a lot), and I must have gone through three or four of the $30 jacks by now. Also, with a lowered car, all of these cheap jacks required a 2-in. pre-lift with my factory jack or the car to be on a couple of 2x4s for the jacks to get under-they can't get much lower than 5 in. But the 2-ton ultra-low-profile floor jack from Griot's Garage has a lifting clearance of just 1 1/2-in. (2 1/2 with rubber saddle). You also can quickly raise the saddle point to a lift point with the foot-controlled pump, and then use the conveniently tall T-bar from there. Thanks to the Advance Design shocks and quick pumps from this jack, I can get two wheels from the same side off the ground in just seven pumps.
The only downside to this jack is its weight- 90 lb. For a couple hundred more bucks, Griot's Garage offers a 1-ton aluminum floor jack that weighs just 35 lb, has a saddle clearance of just 3.5 in., and gets to its 17.5-in. limit in just six pumps. (Use caution when checking out Griot's Garage's catalog-you'll find yourself painfully addicted.)
Now that I had a nice track wheel and tire setup, I was in the hunt for seats that would help keep me from hitting my head against the window Chris Kattan-style during hard cornering-I turned to MOMO. The name MOMO is synonymous with racing. It's the largest steering wheel manufacturer in the world, and it offers other products like shift knobs, seats, harnesses, racing pedals, strut bars, exhausts, driving suits, gloves and shoes. A MOMO steering wheel is found in most if not all CART Champ cars, as well as in the hands of superstar Michael Schumacher in his F1 Ferrari. Car manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati use MOMO products in their lineup as well.
I ordered a pair of its Street Racer seats. Unlike MOMO's true racing seats, the Street Racers are easier to get in and out of and offer seat-back release and reclining adjustment on both sides. The tubular frame and cloth material offer a super comfortable fit for the road course, as well as everyday driving. The suede-like Alcantara on the shoulder supports offer excellent grip during high-g cornering.