The road-going racing car - Sam McKee's BMW E36 328i

[McSam]

Cheers! I've only heard good things about the Monopros too, but as you may have noticed budget is a key factor here definitely agree on doing everything suspension-related at once and then getting a proper geo setup, then you know it's all sorted. I still want to replace my front wishbones and will eventually force myself to do the rear trailing arm bushes, if I put a Z3 rack on at the same time then I can catch everything with one alignment session too!

All of my wheels are 7Jx16 Style 30s, mostly running 225/50R16 but the NS-2Rs only come in 205/55. I did have 5mm spacers to hand and you could get the car to roll like that, but such was the amount of interference that you could hear the tyre squeaking against the spring perch! 15mm leaves me around half a finger of clearance, and I've never had issues nor seen any witness marks on sidewalls when I take tyres off so it seems that's fine. The official line from distributors is "each car varies so we don't want to advise" - if I were you I'd keep the 5mm ones in case you're lucky, but get a set of 15mm in ready if you definitely want to be able to use the car straight away. You'll want longer wheel bolts to go with 15mms but suppose you could at least try it out with the standard length ones. Mine came from JJC Race & Rally, good prices and good service.

A PH E36 meet at a track day would be brilliant but I think we might struggle to organise it! I'll keep letting you know what my plans are. I was actually meant to be at Mallory last Friday with the car's previous owner, but that fell through and I'm looking at alternatives. Would like to get out this month. Javelin have a sessioned day at Mallory for only £99 which looks tempting!

As for modifications, in order of priority:

• Limited-slip diff
• Limited-slip diff
• Limited-slip diff
• Braided brake hoses
• The aforementioned suspension bits and pieces
• Get some weight out

So if anyone has an LSD they'd be willing to part with, do let me know


Marky, both of yours - you did buy the Techno Violet one too? - look wonderful! Mine seems really quite tatty by comparison, but thanks for the kind words anyway would love to hear more about yours, do they have their own thread?

[marky911]

Thanks buddy. I'll pop a quick link up tomorrow if I get time. I'm on a nightshift at the minute, so I should probably do some work.
The Techno one is well known on BM forums with the last two owners both posting running reports. It has Bilstein B8s (I think), eibach springs, poly bushed, 3.15 M3 LSD, M3 Evo front brakes, immaculate interior and just loads and loads of pampering and parts replaced.

I have some plans for it but am almost too busy to even wash it at the minute and I'm currently using it as my every day car but it's a bit too nice for that. I plan on redoing the wheel centres silver with the correct badges, put a 328 badge back on the boot and refit the headlight lenses as I think the de-lensed ones look a bit "Max Power". It will all come with time.

Anyway, great spannering on yours. Keep up the good work.

PS No M50 Manifold on mine and I doubt I'll bother. I'll be returning it to stock rather than mod it.

[TroubledSoul]

I might actually be OK, I've just looked up the offsets of your wheels and mine and there's between 5 and 8mm difference, depending on where you read about it! My only fear is test fitting them and not being able to return them. Did you put spacers on the back to maintain the track ratio or did you not bother?

[TheAngryDog]

rossi1 said:

love this thread! anyone who saves another E36 and then turns it into a track toy is alright in my books .

love the work and love going into it.
They are quite simply a superb car.
Had mine now for 9 years and alot of love and effort has gone into making it what it is today.

One thing i must say is get an M50 mani on there, combined with a remap suitable the car will be transformed

Good stuff mate

I feel the need to share some E36 love with you , heres my 328i sport

I like that! Looks very clean and like a 3 series, when 3 series didnt just look like a smaller 5 series. Nice.

marky911 said:

Some lovely cars on this thread!

Well done OP on developing yours. It's really taking shape.

I'm on to my 3rd 328 Sport (my 6th E36 including an M3 Evo). I've had newer BMWs and driven loads of 'em but I just love the weight of controls in an E36 and the look.

I bought this one in January, then Sod's law barely 2 weeks later I found the Technoviolet one below it. It had all the work done I had planned for the blue one and only cost £800 more despite having had about £8k spent over the last 4 years.

Im loving the Techno Violet.

[carpetsoiler]

Sam- one of my friends is letting go of a 2.93 ratio LSD currently. If you're interested, let me know.

I'm also game for a trackday- my E36 is really taking shape now. They're addictive to mod.

I have a couple of sets of 3-litre internals if you'd be interested in making a real monster of a car.

[McSam]

CS, you have mail

That's a nice spec on the Techno car, Marky. Are you going to be taking all those lovely bits off and returning it to OEM suspension, or will the B8s and Eibachs stay?

TroubledSoul said:

I might actually be OK, I've just looked up the offsets of your wheels and mine and there's between 5 and 8mm difference, depending on where you read about it! My only fear is test fitting them and not being able to return them. Did you put spacers on the back to maintain the track ratio or did you not bother?

I've learnt to trust this site as the most reliable one, those are my wheels in the link - if it's 8mm extra offset it might be enough, 5mm I don't think so - it's really that close even with my 15mm spacers. I'll be interested to know what you find, though!

I've left the rear alone. The front track is noticeably wider, but as the rears tuck under the arch quite significantly, I thought I'd do more harm than good trying to space them out and I don't fancy rolling the arches. I'll take a closer look at it next time the cover's off, there might be enough space but as I've only one set of 15mm spacers I've never tried it.

[marky911]

Yep Sam, I'll be leaving the suspension alone. Wheels and ride height make a car so I always lower whatever I own. The front of E36s are especially high so I'm glad mine is sorted. It's absolutely perfect too. It's compliant and comfortable yet turn in is razor sharp and it sits totally flat through bends. It's all things to all roads. Really really good.

Plus it's on Bilsteins, albeit slightly different ones to standard but still yellow, so it's not far off OEM. I may go back to clear lenses all round. It came with ambers, of which I prefer the fronts but I prefer clear/red rears. I'll see.

[TroubledSoul]

Just spotted this Sam and thought of you!:
http://www.driftworks.com/forum/parts-sale-private...

Ordered myself some "just in case" 15mm spacers..... I would have preferred 12 but if I go for a BBK in the future they'd be useful.

[Dannbodge]

marky911 said:

Thanks buddy. I'll pop a quick link up tomorrow if I get time. I'm on a nightshift at the minute, so I should probably do some work.
The Techno one is well known on BM forums with the last two owners both posting running reports. It has Bilstein B8s (I think), eibach springs, poly bushed, 3.15 M3 LSD, M3 Evo front brakes, immaculate interior and just loads and loads of pampering and parts replaced.

I have some plans for it but am almost too busy to even wash it at the minute and I'm currently using it as my every day car but it's a bit too nice for that. I plan on redoing the wheel centres silver with the correct badges, put a 328 badge back on the boot and refit the headlight lenses as I think the de-lensed ones look a bit "Max Power". It will all come with time.

Anyway, great spannering on yours. Keep up the good work.

PS No M50 Manifold on mine and I doubt I'll bother. I'll be returning it to stock rather than mod it.

Glad to see you're still enjoying it Mark.

I miss it massively sometimes. The 335i is just so quiet and comfy

Edited by Dannbodge on Wednesday 17th June 13:03

[marky911]

Hi Dann. Sorry I missed your post and I'm busy as always. Car still perfect. In an ideal world you'd have had the new one as a fast, stealthy daily and the old E36 tucked up in the garage for tinkering with and summer use. As I said above, it's currently my daily car which is ok in the summer as it's lovely to drive and the weather is good but I prefer it to be a sunny day car really. It's not mega special but it's a lovely one and how often do you see clean unspoilt ones on the road these days?
Anyway, I hope you're having fun in the new one.


Sam, here are a couple of links to the threads on my car. One by Dann above and the other by the guy before him. Might provide some info with regard to mods such as diffs, suspension etc. Or maybe not, but anyway..

http://www.bmwowner.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&a...

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2...

[Hamster69]

We really should make this e36 day happen. I'm not out in July but have Bedford and Donington booked for August.

[TroubledSoul]

I doubt ours will make it out before August but that might be a goer.

[Dannbodge]

marky911 said:

Hi Dann. Sorry I missed your post and I'm busy as always. Car still perfect. In an ideal world you'd have had the new one as a fast, stealthy daily and the old E36 tucked up in the garage for tinkering with and summer use. As I said above, it's currently my daily car which is ok in the summer as it's lovely to drive and the weather is good but I prefer it to be a sunny day car really. It's not mega special but it's a lovely one and how often do you see clean unspoilt ones on the road these days?
Anyway, I hope you're having fun in the new one.


Sam, here are a couple of links to the threads on my car. One by Dann above and the other by the guy before him. Might provide some info with regard to mods such as diffs, suspension etc. Or maybe not, but anyway..

http://www.bmwowner.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&a...

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2...

Good. I'm glad.

Yeah I'm still loving the new one. I do miss the E36 sometimes though. I would have loved to keep it but it just wasn't feasible unfortunately.

Sam, By all mean drop me a message or ask any questions I'll be happy to help.

[McSam]

marky911 said:

Yep Sam, I'll be leaving the suspension alone. Wheels and ride height make a car so I always lower whatever I own. The front of E36s are especially high so I'm glad mine is sorted. It's absolutely perfect too. It's compliant and comfortable yet turn in is razor sharp and it sits totally flat through bends. It's all things to all roads. Really really good.

Plus it's on Bilsteins, albeit slightly different ones to standard but still yellow, so it's not far off OEM. I may go back to clear lenses all round. It came with ambers, of which I prefer the fronts but I prefer clear/red rears. I'll see.

High front end is a bit characteristic of my car at the moment too, I didn't want to set the coilovers too low until I was sure I would avoid any contact with the arches but now I reckon I can lose quite a bit. The centre of the front wheelarches are currently at 648mm, the rears 610mm, more negative rake than I'd like which won't be helping mid-corner understeer. Thanks for the link to your threads, more reading is always good! I think I recognise at least one of them, I did plenty research before buying

TroubledSoul said:

Just spotted this Sam and thought of you!:
http://www.driftworks.com/forum/parts-sale-private...

Ordered myself some "just in case" 15mm spacers..... I would have preferred 12 but if I go for a BBK in the future they'd be useful.

Nicely detailed ad there, "an LSD".. I might have a 2.93 328i Sport one nailed down now, watch this space but if anyone hears of any more do let me know! Just seen that you have your HSDs on now, looks like you had a very similar result with the spacers on your M3. Always interesting to see how other cars turn out.


Cheers Dannbodge, the more knowledgeable folk I have to call on, the better!


My next date is looking like Bedford GT on July 20th, with MSVT, so if anyone else can come along do let me know. I'm not likely to be running in August at all, planning to be out of the country for most of the month.

[TroubledSoul]

Yeah I am considering putting the 5mm ones back on though. It doesn't leave a lot of clearance but it does still clear.

15mm is pushing the wheels out a bit further than I'd like.

[Hamster69]

McSam said:

My next date is looking like Bedford GT on July 20th, with MSVT, so if anyone else can come along do let me know. I'm not likely to be running in August at all, planning to be out of the country for most of the month.

Unfortunately that is not the day I have booked at Bedford and I have no holiday left this year.

[McSam]

I agree TS, my 15mm fronts are further out than I'd like too. With the 205/55R16 NS-2Rs I could probably go down to 8mm or as close as I can buy to that, but I've still got some 225s to burn up before that!

That is a shame Hamster, I didn't see anything in your thread about bookings, I did check. Unfortunately it's the only one I can do at the minute.

All booked for the 20th now, looking forward to it but almost hope it's not quite so hot as today! Decision to be taken on whether I remove the currently non-functioning air con, or try to get it working. Never investigated why it's not working, but it would help me get some weight out of the front to make up for all the rear that'll disappear with seats etc..

[Hamster69]

Yep, throw it away. Fixing it is costly in money and horsepower. Getting rid is the only real track day way.

I'm at Bedford on the 19th of August and Donnington on the 31st.

[carpetsoiler]

If you're using the car mostly for track, I'd bin the air con... but keep the fan. It's actually a really good fan for keeping the engine cool, and if you fit a temp sensor from a 318 with air con, you can have the electric fan kick in at a lower temp. This means you can remove the viscous fan and free up a couple of bhp, improve throttle response, and make it a ste sight easier to do belt changes/check water pump/thermostat, etc.

Air con is 4x 13mm bolts holding the housing on, relatively easy to access. Just be careful with the pipework, although from what you've said it sounds pretty much depressurised.

[McSam]

Heh, I think I knew before posting what you guys would suggest I think you're right, I only use it very rarely in road cars because of the efficiency impact so I expect it would see even less use on this. The only reason I hesitate is that it sometimes came in very handy on the V8 Vantage race cars, but then they were at their weight limit and it's rather less damaging to run air con when they have 420bhp.

I will certainly keep the heater and blower, for getting heat out of the coolant and for demisting it's invaluable - and as long as I'm driving the car to events, I'd rather like a heater for 6am starts in November! In my book, taking those out is one of the biggest errors made in lightweighting cars. I'm pretty sure my air con will be totally depressurised but will check before breaking any unions, nasty stuff to release into the atmosphere. I suppose if I have trouble keeping cool I could always run ducts from the rear windows - it'll get fixed polycarbonates there eventually!

As for the engine cooling fans, yep - I need to take the viscous one off when I finally get round to changing the thermostat (having it stuck open isn't the worst thing in the world for a track car, so I've left it thus far), and then it's not being refitted! Cheers for the tip on the lower temperature sensor.


Hamster, I should be around for Donington* on the 31st - probably won't be able to run my car but it's just down the road from me so I could certainly come along for a look



There are only three Ns in Donington, none of them consecutive! Pet hate of mine, being a local. No idea why it gets spelt wrongly so often.

Edited by McSam on Saturday 11th July 12:47