Greetings

Just leaving a pic of Andrew who got a bit lost during the last event.

Recently watched a documentary on car thieves who use keyless entry to steal cars in seconds. One of them scans for the key signal by walking around the house and then forwards the signal through an amplifier to an antennae by the car. Car unlocks, thief gets in, drives away. Probably wouldn't want keyless after seeing that Would love to have ACC in my next car though. Had a tough but enjoyable weekend. Highlight was asking if I could drive this and getting an instant "yes", followed by "you're free to drive the Lambos, Ferraris or McLaren when we're on the Poznan Racetrack too". The weather wasn't ideal for a spin although the reduced grip was quite fun. The instructor clearly knew a lot about this car, got a lot of valuable insight into how it should be driven. They're looking for instructors for the KTM but very few people in the country know how to drive it properly, this chap is one of them. Going to pursue this matter further Also visited 2 new tracks (one of them pictured above) which looked like the perfect place to fool around in the 911's without any driver aids. Neither the 996 or 997 had LSD's so that wasn't fun, the 991 did but it was a 4WD. And it's an absolute pig. I found I had to be faster with the wheel in the wet than in the M3 when snap oversteer happens on racing slicks. Or I have no idea how to drive a 911. Would love to have the opportunity to spend a day in one at some stage and get the hang of it. Loving how this new job is unfolding. There are many opportunities already and it's just the beginning.

A girl who can identify Hammerite just through smell must be pretty special!

It's funny but I met my ex shortly after finishing this car back in 2012. As the car got more and more f*cked, so did our relationship and when it got pulled apart, we broke up. So like you say, there must be a strong correlation here This girl is definitely a keeper, she's so much fun to be around. Work in progress

More spam More to come. The car rolls so badly despite the ridiculous spring rates and ARB's. Going to sort that out in the winter with some roll centre adjuisters.

Got a gopro in the car (Hero HD by the way, still great quality!) to record peoples' reactions. Love driving them around sooo much, this guy's face says it all. Also met this girl on Tinder a few days ago, she was really excited when she heard about the track so I invited her over. Had a great time, she didn't want to leave the car Improved my PB by 0.5s but can't quite get the suspensnion dialled with the harder springs. The car feels like a mess. Also got the opportunity to drive around in a cup Cooper S. Absolutely amazing car. Handling wise it's on another planet compared to the M3. Very flat through the corners, the turn in is amazing, brakes like a mid engined car and has virtually no FWD nastiness to it. The cup car as it stands costs less than 10 grand with a set of new FZ201 tyres.

Onboard from last weekend. Boss got in touch, wants me to codrive on the 30th and 1st. Hoping to dial in the suspension by then. Looking at a 50% increase in spring rates and more camber.

Loved his riding, so stylish.

Had an interesting experience in this yesterday. Anyone recognize what it is? Anyway, after 20 minutes in the passenger seat I had to lie down. Nothing I've ever experienced even comes close to how harsh the ride was. I had no idea that our track is so bumpy And the sound of the Akrapovic exhaust. Oh my f**king god.

Not much has changed but the forum is more streamlined. Now we can like posts instead of having to get engaged.

Love that car so much Tom! American cruisers are a very rare sight over here, never seen one of these in the flesh. Took part in BMW Challenge this weekend. It's a national rallysprint competition I used to take part in for 2 years which has been a breeding ground for the best drivers in the country. Treated it as a back to the roots exercise and a test of the car, quickly found that I don't want to do it again. It shreds tyres and literally destroys the car. Anyway, it was nice to compete against some amazing drivers and find that despite the long break I still had some skill left. Finished 1st in my class and 2nd overall, losing to a brilliant driver in a prototype almost mid-engined S54 powered E36. When on the same tyres, I was losing 2 seconds on a 3 minute special stage to him. Said prototype E36 with the engine mounted entirely behind the front axle. As these cars go, I think the way the rear end has been widened is fantastic. And it's driver holding 4 trophies for winning everything that there was to win. Met an old friend I bought many E38 parts from. 1 minute later this happened At least I now know what to do with the car. Don't want to have anything to do with rough surfaces anymore, going to tune it for track driving meaning harder springs, lower ride and more aggressive geometry. Perhaps a bit of aero if I can retain an original look. Rallysprint is brilliant in the sense that you're going around corners literally all the time but when it comes to peak g-forces which is what currently gives me the biggest rush, you can't beat the smooth tarmac of a racetrack and 100mph+ corners on full throttle.

Bit too much of the same thing over and over again. Nice style though!

More BMW spam. But this is the last post for a while, promise. Today was one of the best days in my life, period. It started out amazing and then got better by the hour. I did 200 miles on the track. Half of the trackday was on a soaking surface. Got the hang of the car quickly, even posted the best lap by 7 seconds on the first session. As it dried I put on that WTCC rubber from the previous post. And cried. This is what I was missing for the last 2 years. Driving a car which by my standards defies the laws of physics because at peak 1.5g, it feels like the world has tilted 90 degrees but somehow the car is magically chained to the road. I improved on my presonal best by half a second and improved the optimal lap by 1s finishing 4th overall behind two fully aero'ed V8 M3's and a Radical. More importantly between my sessions I was driving people around. My boss rents 911's so I thought I'd help him shift them by adding in a 2 lap codrive in the M3 for free. Had to take the offer down because there were so many customers. They were all euphoric after leaving the car and that resulted in some who decided to pay for the codrive alone. This was just an idea initially but I think co-driving this car for $$$ could be a genuinely good business. Had all my customers in the rain with lap times of 2:08 tops and still they were amazed. Camera mount is a bit wonky and that's the only issue with the car which up until recently was neatly segregated in boxes.

Amazing view, I'd love to ride there!

Get a nice ITR and keep the original engine in the shed if you want to swap it out These things are already appreciating aren't they? Trackday on Sunday. I'm so excited, sleeping pills will probably be needed to get me through the next 2 nights haha Forecast calls for rain till noon which would be too perfect. Was going to start on completely worn old semi-slicks and progress through old slicks to new WTCC tyres but going out on a wet track on some intermediates would be absolutely epic to get to grips with the car. Had it aligned yesterday. Set 0* toe rear, 10 minutes toe out on the front, -2.5 camber rear, -4 front. It feels crazy alive now. Sooo twitchy but in a good way. A set of almost brand new Yokohama Advan WTCC's came in the post today. Got them put on and proceeded to clean the wheels from years of dirt. After using a 1:1 concentrate mix (recommended for wheels is 1:10) and getting nowhere I proceeded to clean them with sand paper and gave up. This is after using the aggressive cleaner. The red stains which are much more visible in the flesh are from a tar remover :[ Didn't want to leave it at that since there may be a photo shoot in the evening on Sunday. I don't need these to look perfect, just adequate so I went off to buy a can of spray paint. Upon degreasing I found that nitro thinner worked beautifully in getting rid of almost all the dirt. Very tricky to use as it dissolved the clear coat and if one wasn't quick, the disposable towels stuck to the wheel. Still going to improve on these when the clear re-hardens. Another benefit is that they're really shiny now. 1 metre of sticky rubber yay! Even found some BMW hub caps might have more somewhere...

Wouldn't the chief point of buying an ITR be to experience the whole package rather than just focus on the engine? The chassis and dynamics are going to be infinitely better than the Civic, surely? I know we all tune our cars, but much fun can be had from experiencing them stock, the way they were intended to be. I'm completely in awe of a bone stock ED9 that's standing in the garage. Can't get over how good it is, wouldn't change a thing.

That pic above reminded me of these videos. They demonstrate stunning craftsmanship, well worth a watch if you haven't yet.

Yep, that's the one! Seriously considering an E61 as the next car. How did you find it? Mechanic just sent me this. Appears the car is finished, minus a few small parts. Rebuild took 413 days. Tested the car today. Ride height is set, brakes are sort of run in, strange smells went away after the first run, no weird noises. Feel completely at home in it. Suspension needs to be aligned and that's about it. Got it sideways a few times today, love how predictable this thing is although my reactions are a bit slow. Partially blame the 911's I've been driving lately, they all have PSM which almost forces you to react slowly when the car goes sideways. Either way I feel confident to drive this hard. Got some utterly rubbish, worn and old semi-slicks for the initial trackday sessions, then some average Michelin slicks and brand new WTCC Advans to finish the day on. Friend came over and acted as a spotter for any police on the road. And the "couldn't be arsed to shave" shot.

That's what I love about the E36, it's so easy to throw around and it's mechanical in the way it handles. TDS's go on forever, didn't you have a 328i in the past? The M3 is sucking, squeezing, banging and blowing

Looks great on those wheels, really fit the arches nicely. That's a 328i IIRC?

Should be excited, instead serious anxiety is setting in. Don't trust myself to drive this. On the plus side, the new clutch works perfectly which is a bit unexpected and that IRP shifter is f**king amazing. It has a positive mechanical feel to it unlike anything I've experienced. The design also allows locking out 1st and 2nd gear unless a button is pressed on the top of the handle. Nifty feature for avoiding a downshift into 2nd or 1st on the track which with such short throw could be an issue. Engine will be fired up tomorrow...

Going backwards Watched season 3, currently on season 2. S2E6 is my favourite episode so far. It's the one with the car battery. The pickle episode was great too, as was the one you mentioned. Which would you recommend?

Discovering Rick and Morty. Love it so far. Also met a girl, we clicked instantly.

Exhaust is going on, thought I'd make it look a bit better. From perfect, but definitely good enough Had a first feel for this shifter which is currently fixed using mole grips Feels absolutely amazing. Annoyingly the car is uninsured which is illegal. There's a properly hefty fine for that over here which is either automatic (the authorities search for this in their databases) or you get fined if you're stopped by the police + there's an extra bonus of getting your car impounded. If I insure the car I'll get fined straight away but there's a loophole allowing me to insure it on the 1st of January with minimum to no risk. Have to figure out how to test this thing before the trackday. Police in my area are a rare sight but chances are this thing will get pulled over if sighted. I've had only positive experiences in such situations so far but always had the paperwork in order.

One thing I promised not to do in the M3 anymore was rallysprint, because of how destructive it is. Haven't even finished it yet and I'm signed up for a national on the 16th. Poor car