Ready to experience an E92 M3 build first hand, literally step by step showing the ENTIRE process? We put together every piece of content that we could find on Jason's Signal Green BMW E92 M3 to show YOU what IND is capable of doing when you do things exactly how you want them done. You can shop all parts shown in this post here.
First we'll share the perspective from the owner, Jason as he documented his entire build from the very beginning. You can follow Jason on Instagram here as well to see his car collection. Enjoy!
I arrived at the idea of a Porsche color when I saw a "Speed Yellow" M3 for sale on Autotrader. That, combined with INDs Green Hell, got me thinking about an individual build. After researching some dealerships I found myself sending emails to Steve Thomas BMW. They quickly responded that they could get me a Porsche RS Green M3. I honestly could not be happier with Steve Thomas. They run a great dealership with fantastic customer service. As I stated previously, I ordered this car back in May 2012!
Here she is not long after I picked her up towards the end of January this year!
A few notes, removing the stock exhaust is required for installation of the Rogue Engineering short shift kit. I combined the installation of the SSK and the exhaust system. I backed up the car up on ramps and used jack stands for the front.
Here is the OE GTS exhaust and the Challenge center section ready for install. Note how the Challenge center section is perfectly suited to connect to the OE GTS rear exhaust section. At this point it was time to install the Rogue SSK. I have to say, installing the SSK was one of my least favorite parts of the build. Being under the car for extended periods of time was not fun.
I do not have any pics from under the car. There are quite a few DIYs for SSK installs. The trickiest part is removing the carrier bushing. I re-installed the carrier bushing by placing a large wrench over the top of it and then pushing up with basically all my might until it snapped into place with a loud "flack".
Take care when you re-install the rubber boot around the shift lever. Its hard to get it lined up correctly. With the SSK installed I bolted up the Challenge center section. Its much easier to get to the header flangs with the skid plate removed. There are six bolts around the outside of the skid plate as well as one at the center of the front center jack point. I was able to get enough room by removing the four rear bolts and the center bolt. The skid plate moved enough to give me room around the header flangs.
With the clear bra, vents, RE SSK and full exhaust system on, it was time to move to the suspension and brakes. I have never installed a big brake kit and to be honest I was not looking forward to it. Again, there are quite a few good DIYs on the forum with regards to changing brake setups ect... I used one of European Cars E90 M3 technical articles for the BBK. I could not find an actual KW Clubsport DIY but I have done a few suspension setups before and in the end the Clubsport install was fairly straight forward.
Its also worth mentioning that all the modifications in the build came from manufacturers that were trusted/respected and I was confident would work. I tried to avoid the newest gadgets and stick to parts that were reliable. I chose Brembos 380mm front and rear kit. The kit uses 6 piston calipers in the front and 4 piston calipers in the rear to maintain the correct balance and bias. Given the color of the car and green wheels with gold accents, IND and I decided it would be best to keep the brake calipers subtle. The calipers are gloss black with classic black chrome brembo logos.
Here is the finished product. I decided to loop the OE brake sensor wire to avoid getting the code or installing them into the Brembo caliper. I followed the DIY in the DIY section which was helpful. Also, notice the nice and clean hubs! I used a product called "Fluid Film". Its a rust preventative liquid that comes in a spray can. I got the idea from someone else on this website. Apparently it has been used for years to prevent farm equipment from rusting. So far its working like a charm, however, it smells horrible!
When it came to tires I used the advice of others and chose Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1s in 275/35/18 all around. Not only is it a great looking tire, it is a great street/track tire. However, I have yet to verify the track part.
Thanks to Kaiv, I took the car to San Diego Wheel and Tire Outlet on Convoy in SD. Omar gave me a good deal and the wheels came back with zero scratches/blemishes. I will use them again!
Luckily the Clubsport camber plates have a good amount of adjustment. This was with the camber plates set at about half the max front camber possible. Fitment with the max front camber possible with the clubsports. There is some room to reduce the camber but I was playing it safe at first.
My driving impressions with the Clubsports. I set them up according to the instructions. Rebound and Bump were set in accordance with factory recommendations and they are set about an inch(ish) from full drop.
I am blown away by the everday drivability of these coilovers. Having had Bilstein Damptronics and Moton Clubsports on my 997S, the KWs are amazing. The Motons I had were arguably set up for a more track biased setup and my spring weights supported that. So comparing the KW Clubsports to the Moton Clubsports is probably not fair. What I will say is that KW did a good job setting up the Clubsports for street/track use. I could not be happier with the KWs. The real advantage of the big Brembos will not be felt until I can get on the track. For everyday they feel about the same as stock which is what I would expect. I am looking forward to feeling them after 20min on the track!
Time for the supercharger.
I wanted a setup that would be reliable and controllable on the track. The end result is the ESS VT2 535 kit currently installed on the car. Thats right, an inter-cooled 535 kit. I wanted the lowest boost ESS SC kit I could get with the added advantage of inter-cooling. I further beefed up the kit with a Motorsport24 high capacity radiator and a Motorsport24 high capacity oil cooler.
The majority of the time spent building this car was spent installing the ESS kit, M24 radiator and M24 oil cooler. The ESS instructions are awesome and very straight forward. I also found the ESS software and cable, very easy to use.
I fit the M24 coolers into the build when the ESS instructions came to a logical install point. The M24 radiator went in after I removed the front fan. Here is the stock radiator coming out. New injectors going in.
The worst part of installing the VT2 kit for me was the installation of the coolant system. Routing the hoses and mounting the heat exchanger was a continuous run of trial and error for me. Trying to figure out the best way to route the hoses.
All business when it came to the engine bay. No pretty paint in here.... not that I have anything against it.
Here is the M24 oil cooler and the OE cooler side by side. The M24 cooler is significantly larger. The software going in too.
With all the mechanical bits installed. Time for the front splitter and spoiler.
