318IS Track Day Experiences

[Rusty_McRusty]

After a gap of around 3 years, I've been lucky enough to do a couple of airfield days in the 318IS recently and just thought I'd post up my experiences.

I'm more used to driving a 300bhp Audi S2 that's a bit more sorted for track use than my daily E30 but I wanted to explore the on-the-limit handling of the E30 and doing it on the road was starting to push my luck a little with higher speeds. Obviously two very different cars to drive but that's the fun!

Anyway, the car is a 1990 318IS, it's got an M44 block, Kent regrind cams & zone chip for track days, 2.25" stainless exhaust & modified airbox with K&N ”“ rolling road was 150-160bhp depending on chip. Suspension wise, it's got B8 dampers, M3 offset front arm bushes, roll bars are stock and all bushes have been replaced in the last 5k miles - see below for springs and brakes. Other than that, Z3 quick rack, Z3 short shift and 4.1 LSD. I'll have forgotten things I'm sure. Tyres are 205/50R15 Hankook V12s and have been very impressive with plenty of grip but not too much!

So, back in September I went to Hullavington airfield, some fast straights and tight corners, a great circuit for an E30 and I really enjoyed the car. I was running the Bilstein branded Eibach springs at the time and I felt that the car was too soft ”“ this had been my impression on the road but on track it was more pronounced ”“ on one corner it took a rather large, deep breath to not brake and just tip the car in flat out: very exciting. The car lacked positivity but once I gained confidence, I was able to drive around this. Oversteer or neutral drift on the slower 2nd gear corners was possible and the car felt balanced and controllable in this situation, just needed a little more torque or a little less grip to be spectacular rather than just fun - as an E34 M5 proved!

Brakes were stock BMW discs and pads and they performed well with only a slight fade towards the end of a 5 lap run. I had adjusted the cams to give more torque, 2deg advance inlet, 2deg retard on exhaust, the result was a 20% reduction in 20-50 time but a little less top end, the car felt strong and was plenty fast enough all day, pulling cleanly out of the corners and out-dragging a 325i on the straights (ironically enough he was ruinning R888s so made it up in the corners!), it just idled poorly due to 4deg more overlap.

Overall very entertaining, engine didn’t miss a beat and I came away with a little homework to do and a big grin on my face!

Last weekend I went to Keevil and it was a rather different track, fast with 4 big braking zones and it was run anti-clockwise for this day, something I’ve not done before. The width of the track made my 150 ponies feel wholly inadequate but it was the same for anyone with a similarly powered car and the IS kept up easily with similar opposition and the conditions meant that TVRs and other such cars had very little advantage. My mate’s S4 was a different story though!

For this track day I had fitted Apex springs and what a difference, less roll, more positive steering and handling and still all of the lairiness that an E30 should have. It was a wet day and I managed to get some proper angles at the same time as not sacrificing too much speed ”“ great fun and I was pleased to have been practicing.

I'd replaced the exhaust cam with a stock item and left the Kent regrind in the inlet. All timed up as stock and the car felt very clean, pulled hard to 6k5+ and idled perfectly, a great setup and none of the flat spots I'd encountererd with the regrind inlet and exhaust.

I had also upgraded the front pads to M1144 (on inspection, I’d cracked one of the OE pads) and I have to say that while they felt strong and powerful on the road and at medium braking levels, they were disappointing with hard use, more down to the horrendous noise that they made than anything else. I spent the rest of the day driving round them. New brake fluid is required too.

Other than that, a nasty clunk that I’ve been trying to solve was still present, I’ve come to the conclusion, after research on here, that it’s brake pads moving about but I need to prove this ”“ I’ve replaced a lot of other parts with no luck.

Finally, after a prolonged session at the end of the day there was a strong smell of petrol, I identified that this was down to petrol leaking from the filler cap! Due to the anti-clockwise direction and drifting, the fuel had come out the cap and had gone all down the side of the car and had then covered the back of the car too! Not good. I’m hoping it’s just an old filler cap seal rather than any severe rust on the neck ”“ inspection will tell.

So overall, not quite the day I had hoped for with the brakes but the springs and wet weather made for a severely entertaining day for sure! I'm hoping that the brakes can be solved with new discs but have contacted Mintex to make my disappoinment known!

So that’s the story so far, two morning sessions cost £65 each, parts are a small fortune and the car a lot more but grin factor 9.5 for sure.

[tim_s]

Feck me that's a long post Andy

[Rusty_McRusty]

Quite a lot to fit in mate!

Clunk and brakes are top of the fix it list, I get the feeling that the two are related.

New fluid, new discs and some shims should solve the issues above and prevent pad movement. Just looking at bigger brake conversions - it's a slippery slope.

Oh, needs an 88mm crank too, need more torque to get it sliding properly.

[tim_s]

Why do you think the pads are moving btw? Not seen that in an e30 before...

[Rusty_McRusty]

Did a search on here and there are a few reported instances of it happening. Wasn't that the issue with your rears clacking away too? Loose pads?

Based on how the noise comes and goes - it's only when braking and doesn't happen all the time - the theory is that the pad carriers wear and so allow the pad to move before it's stopped by the carrier. This makes sense in many ways so is almost certainly not the issue. LOL.

Have to have a good look and shim any slop in the pads to see if that's the issue. Just looking at big brake conversions, would be cool to have Porsche brakes on both cars for sure.

[tim_s]

Yeah actually, did have rattly rears at one pt where the spring clip stylee thing had given up - they rattled not clunked though.
Fair enough, worth looking at at least anyway.

[Rusty_McRusty]

For sure. Looking is free. New top mounts, front arms, ARB bushes and brake pads - not so much. LOL.

[Brian28]

The reground cams are definitely your problem, you need to get rid of them but the good news is that I'll happily take them off your hands for disposal

How/when does the clunk happen? If it's from the back, is the diff bush good?

[Rusty_McRusty]

Up front, only when on the brakes and not all the time at that, no noises when springing up and down or wobbling the wheel etc. I've rebuilt the front suspension when fitting the new arms, offset bushes and springs and so have checked all bolts etc. A mystery... Clunk feels like it's coming through the foot well. It happens repeatably if you go forwards - brake - backwards - brake, as if something is moving forwards and backwards each time. Having done some research and spent some money (not in that order ) I've seen a few posts mentioning worn pad holders / undersized pads so I'm going to look into this, as it's free (bar some SS to make some shims, if required). If I can't get the M1144s to work properly then I might have a suitable excuse to get some new parts on there / refurbish what I have. The problem was worse when the brakes were hot, happened all the time, brakes on - car goes clunk, brakes off - car goes click...

I'll make sure I remove the cams ASAP, if they're the cause then I'll make sure to send them over. If they are the problem then I should probrably pay you for your advice and to take them off my hands...

Intake only works a treat, the same mid range as the +2,-2 setup and much smoother too. I did some testing with both regrinds - inlet retarded what we thought was 3 degrees but turned out to be just over 5 . Came on cam at 5k5 and was pulling hard as you like through to 7k5 redline but made for slow progress on the road lower down... hilariously good fun though.

If I get a catcams inlet then I'll let you know. Need more torque really so an 88mm crank is a better option but then that's with my sensible hat on.

[rix313]

Are you a local then? I was going to do Keevil but I decided to do Combe this weekend coming instead.

Got any photo's?

[Black_Potato]

silly question but you do have the spring clips in the pads dont you ?

I had some PAGID's supplied without out them so had to pull them out of my old pads.

[Rusty_McRusty]

Are you a local then? I was going to do Keevil but I decided to do Combe this weekend coming instead.

Got any photo's?

Just over in the metropolis of Brissol.

Keevil wasn't the track for a light 150bhp car IMO, I certainly missed the extra 150bhp of my Audi, more of a point and shoot track with 1 tricky corner in the wet that would have been flat in the dry.

No time for photos, was too busy getting my mony's worth as I only did a morning but managed just over an hour of track time. MSE events really are great value, ~£1/minute if you get on with it.

[Rusty_McRusty]

silly question but you do have the spring clips in the pads dont you ?

I had some PAGID's supplied without out them so had to pull them out of my old pads.

Yes, they're in there. The car did it before with some part worn Textar/OE pads.

I've got to remove the anti rattle pad off the rear of the pad as it's melted and warped already. The discs look pretty unhappy, the DS2500s on the Audi usually give the discs a nice blue tinge but the BM discs are just looking blotchy. Might have to get some new ones but not sure I can be bothered until th next time I decide to take it on track - it's supposed to be my sensible daily transport but that seems to have gone out the window

[tim_s]

Just looking at your sig dude, think that's the pic from about 3 seconds before it all went wrong If I'm in the psgr seat, it def is!

[Rusty_McRusty]

That's Pete in the passenger seat.

[tim_s]

That's Pete in the passenger seat.

Nice neck brace.. I've got one G took from a few secs before that's pretty mint, got some nice movement in it... shame he didn't follow the car around the corner...