[Stegosaurus]

I figured I've been on these forums for long enough, asked too many questions and never really actually shown what my car looks like.

Up until the middle of last year, it looked like a totally bone stock Estoril Blue M140i.
I bought the car brand new in 2017, and had put around 65k miles on it from May 17 until April 22, oops!
Here she is in all her boggo-standard goodness!
IMG_7352 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

Now, here's a little disclaimer and backstory:
Firstly, I know that won't be to everyone's taste - some people with think it's stupid, won't understand it, and so on. That's totally fine, there are reasons why I've done this to my car, which leads me into the story of how all of this came about:

Back in the middle of the 2020 pandemic, I was put on to furlough. During this time when we weren't allowed out, a friend of mine started to get really into sim racing. I've done it for a few years, and so we started racing together. Later in the year, said friend and myself took part in iRacing's 24 Hours of Nurburgring in a BMW GT3 in a livery that we designed to be similar to one of the Black Falcon AMG GT3's that took part in the SPA 24Hours. We ended up winning that race, which was such a cool feeling. Sadly however my friend was battling depression and it ended up consuming him - he took his life shortly after our win. It was devastating and it unfortunately sent me on a downward spiral into depression too.

Fast forward 2 years and after therapy, and coming to terms with the loss of a friend, I decided to wrap my car in the same livery that we had won the 24h in iRacing in.
The plan is/was to turn the car into a bit of a track car, nothing too OTT, whilst also raising awareness for mental health and getting more people to talk about their struggles.

So I started to tweak the livery to fit onto my 140i, which took a fair bit as a Z4 in a game, is not at all like a 140i in real life lol.
In the meantime, I collected a M Performance Exhaust from a member on here (Can't remember who, sorry!) and after bugging MP for what probably felt like months about which wheel fitments to go for, I ordered up 4 Bola FLB's in 18x8.5J ET42 front and 45 rear I think from memory!
906d4640-dd7d-4a05-b1a1-3f070a4c885c by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
835C7734-4A1D-4BEA-AFE5-AB71000DFA76 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
F46729A2-C3BA-4EEE-AFC9-296E4E93DAB0 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

I'll post more below for the other mods, so this post isn't hugely long!

 

[Stegosaurus]

So with those parts sitting in the garage, I was still designing the livery, so things went a bit quiet for a while.

Then I went and spunked some money on the M-Perf LED Steering wheel. Totally unnecissary but holy **** does it look amazing - I love this thing so much!
7b59fb92-53d9-4e2f-9eb9-54144c29f79b by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

I also bought a full maxton kit. Front lip, sideskirts, rear diffuser; as well as a rear spoiler from Black Pack Accessories, which I then got sprayed blue by a local garage.
I contacted DeutscheTech to arrange getting all of that lot fitted to the car, as well as getting H&R Springs fitted and having both mid resonaters removed, plus the MP Backbox fitted.

Finally, the livery design was finished and well, the car got wrapped....
2C8EEE88-588B-4707-AD16-69E1034AA535 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
A57A64E1-2580-4C77-AB69-6B07DFE09006 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
IMG_7351 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

Then the very next day and it was off to DeutscheTech to get all of the above fitted to it.
F7E1F5CE-8BB8-41C8-9D5F-C4A92AC77BC7 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

As in my first post - won't be to everyone's taste, but the reason for me is to pay tribute to a friend and to get people talking about mental health.

The whole point of this car is to make people smile, make people laugh or to make someone feel a little bit of happiness

 

[Stegosaurus]

So the livery is on the car, it's sitting how I want it to (Though I am now looking to swap the springs for KW Coilovers), but it still felt a bit boaty.

I got the BMW brace for the rear of the car, to connect the underside of the car. Didn't make a huge difference, but it does feel a little better.
Sadly no images of fitting this as I did it at home, in the rain

It went into Cragos in Dartford for a well needed gearbox service next, as well as getting the diff oil changed too.
IMG_7353 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

Then when I was about to put an order in for a K-Brace for the rear, an advert came up for SW Motorsport and their bolt in half roll cages, and well...

I bought one...

So a 5 hour drive up north at 3am, arrived at 9am in the end after some pitstops on the way and got it fitted in a couple of hours, then drove all the way home again.
Insanely long day, but so worth it. This stiffened up the rear nicely and with the rear seats out, I don't think it added any weight.
160FC73D-FEF9-45CD-A718-6ECC98D5BB24 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
IMG_6501 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
38A9F017-8384-4391-94B9-284AB32F9133 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

The rear bottom bench will be out soon as I have a false floor to go in over them

 

[Stegosaurus]

In August, I went to C&M with a few of the guys from the forum
First time out with them and they were all really cool

Untitled by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
654877EA-9F5E-472D-AFAF-9B93ABE9772B by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

Then a few weeks later it was at Brands Hatch for the British GT, where it got a lot of attention
IMG_7355 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr


The car was then taken to Rhys Details to get corrected and then ceramic coated. It's SO much easier to keep clean now, and it looks much more vibrant too. Very happy with the results!

87AA082A-C557-4BC2-BD36-646008D4677C by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
3d1ee723-b4d9-4e04-ad7c-e7febe61cc38 by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
fbb4601f-af9d-443f-986a-447ed3d133fc by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

and that's about there the car stands for now.

Next up is sorting some bucket seats & harnesses for it - I've ordered up 2x Cobra Nogaro Clubsports. I've heard great things about them and they can be used with the OEM 3 point belt as well as with a harness. The mount/base will be by SW motorsport as it comes with the eyebolts for the harness built in too Once these are in the car, I'll update the thread.

For now, here's some more images of the car:
087BDDA1-C262-40C1-8DBE-618100DAABFB by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr
BFEB9ED3-0C79-4B2A-A188-52F6B0E3266D by Good Stegosaurus, on Flickr

If you want to follow the car on Instagram its @M140itasha

Full mod list right now:
Exterior:
Maxton Front V3 Splitter
Maxton Side skirts
Maxton Diffuser
Black Pack Accessories Spoiler
Black Pack Accessories M Style Mirror Covers
Headlights tinted in Yellow
Canards Wrapped in Black
N24h Mash Kyrielight Itasha Wrap


Interior:
SW Motorsports Bolt In Rollcage
BMW M Performance LED Steering Wheel

Suspension & Wheels:
BMW Underbody Brace
H&R 25mm Springs
M Performance Bump Stops
Bola FLB's 18x8.5 ET 40 Front, 45 Rear

Exhaust:
Double Res Delete
M Performance Back Box

Upcoming Plans:
Bucket Seats & Harnesses (Cobra Nogaro's, SW Motorsport Adaptor Mounts, LUKE 6 point harnesses)
Brakes Reworked (M Perf Discs, Uprated Fluid, Uprated Pads & Braided Lines)
Suspension Rework (KW Coilovers & Bushes replaced/upgraded)
Limited Slip Diff!!!

 

[OneTwenty]

First of all, sorry to hear about your friend!!

Car looks superb IMO, great tribute! Vinyl looks like a quality job.

 

[Nyxeris]

A worthy cause and a really cool looking car. Interested in seeing where this build goes.

P.S. Get it entered into the photo comp!

 

[Stegosaurus]

First of all, sorry to hear about your friend!!

Car looks superb IMO, great tribute! Vinyl looks like a quality job.

Thank you - he was a great lad, gone far too soon.

I'm glad to hear you like it. Wrap is 3M and was printed & installed by KentWraps

A worthy cause and a really cool looking car. Interested in seeing where this build goes.

P.S. Get it entered into the photo comp!

Thank you

I don't really have a set "plan" as such, just doing what i feel the car needs to make it a lot more predictable and capable on track.
Brakes and Diff are high on the list after Brands Hatch late last year

 

[ScottPro88]

I'm also a sim racer with a M140i! That livery/wrap is amazing! Sorry about your friend, although I'm sure they'd be amazed how well this all turned out.

 

[T6HAO]

Sad story about your mate,, bet he’s laughing his tits off at what you have done to your car. In fairness it looks great though. I’m sure it will be a great ice breaker and get people talking hopefully share your story and help others. Well done

 

[Major_Sarcasm]

...it's sitting how I want it to (Though I am now looking to swap the springs for KW Coilovers), but it still felt a bit boaty.

I'd almost guarantee that the springs are not the issue. Replace the rear subframe bushes (or use inserts). You'll thank me later.

Sorry about your friend. I'm sure he'd have appreciated the effort you've gone to.

 

[Stegosaurus]

I'd almost guarantee that the springs are not the issue. Replace the rear subframe bushes (or use inserts). You'll thank me later.

Sorry about your friend. I'm sure he'd have appreciated the effort you've gone to.

Oh absolutely - wasn't trying to blame the springs for the boatyness, apologies if it came across that way
Subframe bushes are on the list, I'll probably end up doing them, along with diff mounts when I get the diff done too as I'm assuming that'll all be the same sort of area?

I was leaning towards the coilovers are I found the springs with the standard passive dampers weren't too amazing when really hammering it around Brands. Dampers just couldn't really keep up in the end. I believe they run the KWs on the M240iR's? Could be wrong though.

 

[Major_Sarcasm]

What are KW's like on the street? I have some experience with coilovers (not on BMWs) and always found it a bit hit-and-miss with how they were for general pottering about on the road. Some are fine but others tended towards being way to harsh (perfect for a nice smooth track though). Brands is a decent surface as I recall, although I've not been there for some years.

Subframe bushes made the biggest difference to my old 135i. It 'connected' the rear end like it should have been from the factory.

 

[Simon Site Manager]

It's good to hear the back-story about your car Steg, and I am so sorry for your loss. I lost my best friend in a bike accident in 2002 and have never gotten over it. It was great to meet you at C&M last year and look forward to seeing you on the next one. S.

 

[cbr600ant]

Sorry to hear about your loss,a lovely tribute

 

[Stegosaurus]

What are KW's like on the street? I have some experience with coilovers (not on BMWs) and always found it a bit hit-and-miss with how they were for general pottering about on the road. Some are fine but others tended towards being way to harsh (perfect for a nice smooth track though). Brands is a decent surface as I recall, although I've not been there for some years.

Subframe bushes made the biggest difference to my old 135i. It 'connected' the rear end like it should have been from the factory.

Ive heard good things about the KW's from friends who have them on other cars. A little harsher than springs, but nothing too uncomfy.

Brands is still quite smooth, atleast the Indy circuit is - I've not had the pleasure of doing the full GP.

Only other track I worry about is the Nurburgring, but the logistics of getting the car there is more of a concern with how the French police LOVE to pull a modded car on UK plates.

 

[Stegosaurus]

Thank you for all the kind words peeps, they really mean the world to me

 

[Stegosaurus]

Went to goodwood in the Weeb Wagon for the MattWood 2023 event. Really good fun day out with my friend and his little 660cc Suzuki!
We all managed to raise a bunch of money for a young lad with stage 4 cancer and his selected charity ♥

Also managed to get spotted by AdamC at the event, where he kindly renamed Mash to Annette lol

"

"

 

[Stegosaurus]

Weekend didn't quite go according to plan...
Only managed to get one of the bucket seats in - mostly due to the fact that the seat mounts came with no instructions, so building them was basically all guess work and common sense.
Passenger seat is in though, harnesses are semi-installed.
I still need to actually sort out the OEM belt as that'll be staying in the car, get the harnesses properly set up and then also install the drivers side seat and harness too.
Then the car can be coded to remove the airbag light and also get the OEM belt pretensioners to fire off in the event of a crash regardless of if anyone is in the passenger seat.

Here's a pic of one of them in the car with the harnesses still being sorted... lol

 

[Stegosaurus]

This weekend went a bit better:

Bucket seats are officially in the car!
I've gone with the Cobra Nogaro's - Took them out for a 2 hour drive earlier and I felt fine afterwards. They're more comfy than the OEM seats for me.
They're mounted to bases, sliders, adaptors all from SW Motorsport - the same lot who did my roll cage!
Annoyingly, they came with no instructions so it was a bit of common sense and guess work but I got there in the end with help from my old man, these bases allow the harnesses to connect to them so no drilling into the car bodywork!

Harnesses are road legal LUKE 5 points which hold me in nice and snug and aren't really much of a PITA to put on or take off.

 

[Simon Site Manager]

Nice 1 Steg, car is coming along! What's next m8?