[BroDoze]

Great post(s)! Thanks! Got my 2000s waiting for my car!

[Mr. Hankey]

Originally Posted by BroDoze

Great post(s)! Thanks! Got my 2000s waiting for my car!

Smart Man! I should have done this from the get go, I feel like my car forced me to make the right decision, so at least I got smart by 3000 miles!


Just had to shuttle my daughter to and from a party - 1 hour of driving and these are still better than stock. I also learned that I would brake lightly for longer to avoid the screeching and it is going to take me a while to not unconsciously do this as these don’t squeak at all. Nada. Going to have to re-learn how to brake…and that’s not a throwaway comment, it’s legit weird to me that these don’t squeak!

Also if you’re going to install them yourself…the paint can thing mentioned in the video—I used about an 8” talk box and that is needed to hold the caliper and keep it from falling and hanging by the hydraulic line.

[Mr. Hankey]

Initial iSweep 2000 Review

I drove a 400 mile trip yesterday. I am slowly get used to this car not squealing with braking, but it is amazing! Not a peep out of the iSweeps.

Also as a result of something Carefree mentioned in a post I'm getting better at not putting my parking brake on when parked in my flat garage. Years of undoing a habit there, but I'm trying man! It was using the parking brake on a wet rotor after a rainstorm that led to the delaminated rear pad. But that delaminated rear pad led me to the iSweeps...you know what they say...a butterfly farts somewhere around the world and Mr. Hankey buys a set of iSweeps...or something to that effect.

They definitely brake better than the stock pads. On threshold braking they will get ABS to kick in sooner than the stock pads did for sure, but they are very forgiving and easy to modulate and I am already used to them so not worried about accidentally kicking in ABS (and who is threshold braking on the street other than something unexpected jumps out in front or you? I just like to know how they will act in case, and if you haven't done that in your cars, find an empty road and do some full-on emergency stops from 35 - 45 - 55 so you have the memory of where ABS kicks in, when it kicks in back off the brake ever so slightly so it turns off, will save you a few feet of stopping distance over relying on ABS alone - OK off soapbox, sorry).

Dust is brown-colored like the stock pads. If the stock pads are considered "Heavy dusting" I would classify these (iSweep 2000s) as "Low to Moderate dusting" after this trip. Honestly I don't care about dusting, no squealing, great performance. These are great pads, can't believe I didn't do them sooner! No longer cursing BMW every time I come to a stop, I love this car!

Also here's a fun fact that some might not know. The front brake ducts open into the wheel well but there is a plastic cover that BMW puts in there. If you do a track day you should remove these for better airflow....turn your wheel to full left and take out the left one then repeat for the right side. While I had the wheels off I popped these off and took a picture. Also found a couple collected sticks on one side.





As you can see there is some damage to the cover already, presumably from stuff flying off of the tire, as the tire doesn't even come close to rubbing here.

My question for the group is: Why not just leave these open all the time? . I guess a rock could get in there and damage something...but if you have a grill up front over the duct inlets then you could just take these off and leave them open...hmmm....

[TallGibbs]

Mr. Hankey RE: why not keep the brake duct coolers "open" all the time? My assumption/answer is this: the OEM stock pads need to get temperature up to a certain operating window for more optimal performance. Although the pads are "G-G" temperature rated (high coefficient of friction at both cold and warm temps), they will perform better in their desired operation window (and have less squealing).

So, if you leave the cooling duct open all the time, your street braking will have even colder temp pads and unlikely to get the pads into their designed operating window. Whereas at the track, the pads are almost always going to be exceeding their operating temps (depends on track config, of course) so the cooling ducts help to cool the pads back down.

I agree with you that damage protection is a side benefit of keeping the brake cooling duct closed (similar to putting mesh over all the radiators....you trade off protection of the equipment for lowered peak cooling ability).

[TallGibbs]

I should also add, the J866 friction rating on the OEM pad of "G-G" looks at the "normal" and "hot" rating. "Normal Friction Coefficient" is defined as the average of 4 points on the fade curve located at 200F, 250F, 300F and 400F". So, for the bottom end rating on this test, the brakes have to be at least 200F and goes up the 400F before even entering the "hot friction ratings" zone.

This helps provide some context as to why the cooling duct may keep your brake pads too cold on the street use.

[Mr. Hankey]

Originally Posted by TallGibbs

I should also add, the J866 friction rating on the OEM pad of "G-G" looks at the "normal" and "hot" rating. "Normal Friction Coefficient" is defined as the average of 4 points on the fade curve located at 200F, 250F, 300F and 400F". So, for the bottom end rating on this test, the brakes have to be at least 200F and goes up the 400F before even entering the "hot friction ratings" zone.

This helps provide some context as to why the cooling duct may keep your brake pads too cold on the street use.

That is fantastic info TallGibbs! I clearly haven't gone into that level of detail on this, but makes perfect sense, covers will stay on!

[Mr. Hankey]

Door Rattles - SOLVED! - Door locking pins

So I finally got around to this. I've had some seriously annoying door rattles with the M2. Not always reproducible but would be a relatively loud vibrating plastic sound/occasional buzzing on roads that have rougher "texture" lets say. Driver side door is particularly annoying. Pushing EVERYWHERE on the door panel didn't help. If I elbowed the door panel, it would occasionally stop meaning something was loose inside the door panel. Occasionally I'd have a similar rattle from the passengers side, but was more annoyed by the driver's side which seemed close to my ear. Driving the same road day to day it would be vibrating some days and not on others...

Then I figured out what it was - the door lock pin...yes that little plastic nubbin was vibrating in the plastic sleeve that it comes out of. If I unlocked the doors, vibration gone. Put a little pressure on the thing, vibration gone. The Culprit:




So for a mere $73.08, this extremely annoying rattle is fixed, and I must have easily added 3 HP to the car. Solution, these guys:



Meaningless ///M badge-ry? HELL YES. Functional? I am happy report they are not just decorative, but very functional, door rattles have been re///Medied.

I will say with the install the instructions say to pull up OR twist the plastic lock pins counterclockwise...the M2 does not have threaded door locking rods that the lock pin is on, so it doesn't unscrew. Instead it is swedged (I.e. jammed, shoved, forced) on there. Take some pliers and spin few times with mild upward force and they will come off. OHHH - ROLL THE WINDOWS DOWN SO YOU DON'T SCRATCH YOUR TINT OR WORSE BREAK ONE WHILE DOING THIS!

The ///M lock pins are aluminum, so thats nice, and they just slide on (hold your inside door handle open while push-spinning them on), but the key for me is getting them down enough so that when the car is locked the flared part of the thing is up against the plastic sleeve on the door card. In short....no more rattles:

Unlocked:


Locked:


Here are the instructions, I tried the silicone strip and my hands but wasn't strong enough on my own to get the plastic lock pin off, so some pliers over the silicone strip did it:



Finally I figured out why my drivers side lock pin was rattling so much before this. The lock rod that goes from the lock pin to the lock actuator clicks in with a little yellow adapter at the end of the lock rod, mine wasn't clicked in all the way and turns out there was about 1/4 inch of play in my pin when installing things and it would occasionally get too low in the sleeve, allowing it to vibrate. So I popped the door card open in the back to have a look and sure enough had to click the thing into place on the driver's side only...probably why mine was rattling (it would fall in a bit) from time to time unpredictably In any event, problem solved.

I have 1 more annoying rattle coming somewhere from the left of the glovebox. Isn't my screen or anything in the glovebox like others have reported...also intermittent vibration on "more textured" roads. Not worried about that fight today...I'm just happy the lock pin rattle is fixed. Had I just popped the driver locking rod into position (wasn't completely installed from factory) that might have fixed it. But heck, I now have lightweight aluminum ///M locking pins!

At least 3 more HP with the cars energy all directed forward, not into rattly bits!

Thanks for reading, I'm getting a beer. Job. Done.

[Mr. Hankey]

Removing G87 Door Panel



Posting this here because I couldn't find a good resource on how to do this. There are 3 Torx screws needing to be removed. Then it is held on by clips. Use a trim removal tool (a beefy one) and pop some of the clips down low (the panel has notches for this), then use your hands and start from the bottom and pop up the sides. That got me a start at least. It doesn't seem that you need to remove the handle like in other BMWs to get the panel completely off, I just needed to see what was going on with my lock rod and discovered that it wasn't installed completely and was loose, and it popped right in.

[Mr. Hankey]

Winter Tire Setup

tl;dr:
- Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5s 275/35 19 square setup on a square wheel setup (stock 19” rims all around).
- No spacer in the front
- 10 mm spacer in the rear (no rubbing without it, just don't want it too tucked as I'm running a narrower rim and tire than stock)
- MP HAS lowering springs down almost the entire way (1 full turn up)
- No rubbing

Temps are getting down into the 20s here consistently so I switched my summer tires over to my winter setup. Having run both Michelin PS4S and now the Pirelli P-zeros, I find they work OK down to about 27F degrees, then all bets are off. They are both fine to 40 degrees, then below that I really don't push them into turns and leave extra braking distances and have been fine for years driving that way. I also don't like to drive winter tires in temps above 50 degrees much if I can help it, probably doesn't hurt them but prefer to save their traction for the colder temps they are designed for. So we've hit the sweet spot of consistently below 50F and in the teens to 20F degrees in the mornings, time to switch tires.

I love studless tires for winter. I try not to drive in active snow (have a SUV for that) but Nokian makes great performance winter tires. These do fine in 2-3 inches snow, but if you are frequently driving in snowy conditions often then I'd go studded winter. I pretty much drive when things are cold and dry, and if stuck in a snowstorm know I'm OK and these do very well with the patchy areas of ice one would encounter in winter, usually in parking lots.

I am running Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5s 275/35 19 square setup on a square wheel setup (stock 19” rims all around). I have the BMW MP HAS on the car lowered 1 full turn from the bottom (basically all the way down). Nokians are tough to beat in winter conditions.

On my prior M3 I ran the same size tires but on the stock staggered rims, so the rears were stretched, and every 2 years I'd rotate the rear tires to the front rims and the fronts to the back, this way with a square wheel setup I can just rotate them season to season.

I wasn't sure how far tucked in the rear wheel would end up seeing as it is now a 275 on a 9.5" rim so I ordered a set of 10mm and 13mm spacers. I figure that the front tire is on the stock rim with stock offset so that would look the same as stock - and it does. Wasn't sure about the rear.

For winter I'm less concerned about "stance" of the car and prefer the fronts be tucked in so they throw less snow/sand/salt/cinders...etc down the side of the car, but given the narrower rim and tire still didn't want the rear to look "anemic".

I first mounted the fronts with 10 mm and the rears with 13 mm spacers to see how it looked. BAD NEWS: the fronts on the 10 mm spacer rubbed the front liner by 2-3 mm easily. Without the spacer they have 2-3 mm of clearance and don't rub. So no spacer up front and the tires are nicely tucked in, but not too far, the lowering springs help make it look out. On the 10 mm, the lower 1/3 of the tire stuck out from behind the wheel well:

10 mm FRONT - RUBS THE LINER


10 mm FRONT - RUBS THE LINER


13 mm Spacer in the rear did its job but the bottom of the tire stuck out a bit, still tucked but the lower bumper cover is definitely in the splash zone.

13 mm REAR


13 mm REAR


The rubbing of the front tire on the 10 mm spacer was immediate with turning the steering wheel - it wasn't just a "full lock in reverse" rub that some are having, it is in complete contact with the front liner fins, and would take quite a bit of modifying them to make it work, and the tire wasn't as tucked as I would have liked for winter driving.

So I took off the spacers on the front completely, and put the 10 mm spacers on the back - Goldilocks here loves this setup. No rubbing whatsoever, 2-3 mm of gap to the front liner. Car drives great, the 19s in the back feel good, I'm sure its the more compliant sidewalls these winter tires must have over stockers, but makes me consider running a 19" summer tire out back more than I have:

No Spacer Front, 10 mm Spacer Rear


No Spacer Front, 10 mm Spacer Rear


No Spacer Front, 10 mm Spacer Rear


No Spacer Front, 10 mm Spacer Rear


Anyhow I'm good to go. I didn't adjust the spring height. Happy Winter everyone.

[ourlee]

Love your pics and info. Thanks. I’ll probably do the same but with 826s. Cheers

[mdrobc13]

Originally Posted by Kevin_The_Clean1

That IND front painted piece makes the M2 look much nicer IMO.

Agree...did the same for my car also. Zunsfort blue. Makes the front end much more cleaner IMHO.

[Mr. Hankey]

Originally Posted by mdrobc13

Agree...did the same for my car also. Zunsfort blue. Makes the front end much more cleaner IMHO.

It is amazing to me how that simple little add of color completely transforms the front of the car, looks great!