vMPM BMW E36 328i Street/Track Build
Discussion
My E36 journey began in mid 2014 when I went for a ride in my friend's car to Melbourne Car Meets. That car was an E36 328i. I still remember the feeling when I got into the passengers seat. It felt so low (compared to the ML I was driving at the time), and I loved the 90s style interior where everything was driver-oriented. The car was ratty, scrappy, and had 330,000 km on the clock but it had a loud Magnaflow exhaust, coils and a few handling mods. I wasn't even driving and I had an absolute blast. I was very impressed.
I live in Melbourne, Australia. In my state, during your first four years of solo driving you have a 'probationary' licence. When on a probationary licence you are very restricted in your vehicle choice. Back then, anything forced induction, 8 cylinders or more, and more than 230 odd hp from the factory was prohibited. The laws were incredibly stupid, I remember you could drive a MKV R32 Golf but not a MKV GTI lol.
For my first 18 months or so on the road I was driving my mum's old ML320. I grew sick of driving a big truck and I wanted to drive something fun. I was able to drive my dad's cars (993 C2, E38 750il and a classic WRX) while I was leaner driver and was desperately missing a fun driving experience.
I wanted something that was RWD, manual, fun and somewhat quick while still being legal on my probationary licence. After my experience in my friends E36, I knew that a 328i would be perfect. My criteria was set, it needed to be a 328i coupe in great condition and a good colour. Turns out that was impossible to find.
In April 2015, after 6-7 months of checking the classifieds daily I was at a family lunch, scrolling through my Facebook feed when I saw someone had posted a couple of photos of their car 5 minutes earlier, asking how much it would be worth. I messaged him straight away.
Two days later, I was on a plane to Sydney to pick the car up. Here are some photos from the previous owner just before the sale:
The car was exactly what I had been looking for. A very clean example of a black on black 328i manual coupe, with full service history. The car was stock apart from Bilstein Sport Shocks and a random KIA headunit (lol).
My Dad and I had a great time driving the car back from Sydney to Melbourne (9-10 hours). The car was faultless apart from a momentary passenger window hiccup. My Dad wound the passenger window down on the highway and it wouldn't go back up. For 5 minutes we drove with the window down on a cold night at highway speeds, cursing because we had another 4-5 hours of driving ahead of us. However, the window went up fine when we pulsed the switch. What a relief that was. Here are a couple of photos taken on the trip home:
Soon after I bought the car I got my first essential mods done. Installed a Pioneer headunit with Bluetooth (also got rid of the KIA headunit which was not secured in the dash haha), polished staggered Style 24 wheels, Magnaflow catback exhaust and I put my personalised euro number plates on the car. This is how the car looked soon about a month after I bought it.
I then enjoyed driving the car for a few months. I wanted a M kit since I bought it, however I wasn't sure if I wanted to put any more money into the car when I planned on selling it in a couple of years once I was off my probationary licence. However, in November 2015 I caved and bought an M kit, and installed yellow foglights into the front bar while I was at it, imo it totally transformed the way the car looked.
Soon after in November 2015, on a whim I ended up at my first track day. A friend of mine organised it at 8pm the night before. He then came over and we drove across the city in the middle of the night to find a 24 hour grocery store to stock up on supplies for our track day. Before we knew it, it was morning and time to embark on our 2 hour drive to Winton raceway. The day was an absolute blast. I can't put into words how much fun I had. Even with no sleep the night before, 5-6 hours of boring highway driving and all the time on track I was ecstatic, running only on adrenaline and excitement and maybe caffeine haha.
Roadside at sunrise in rural Victoria on the way to the track.
It was my first time on track so I had no frame of reference, but the car was excellent. It performed faultlessly all day, and was faster than cars it shouldn't have been. The only casualty of the day was a fog light which ended up shattered across the track thanks to a sketchy spin while my friend was driving.
Here are some random photos of the car from November 2015 - December 2015:
After my first track day I well and truly caught the bug. I just kept thinking about getting back on track and how I could improve my car. The first thing I did was install KW V2 coilovers in January 2016. While I was it I also got new TMS HP rear shock mounts and front and rear shock tower reinforcement plates. This is how the car is currently sitting, very low (about 30mm) for s
ts and giggles haha. DON'T WORRY THE CAR WILL BE RAISED BEFORE NEXT TRACK EVENT!
The goal of this build is to create a fun track car which is still road legal to drive to events. At the moment it is my daily, however I envisage it becoming more and more track oriented and eventually becoming a second car to enjoy on the weekends and at the track.
Please check out my friend's photography page which has been featured heavily in this post. There are plenty of pretty photos of some very cool Melbourne cars.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmphtg/
Instagram: @nmphtg
The mod shopping list (in rough order of priority, high to low):
- Square set of wheels
- R comp/track tyres
- Brake pads and fluid
- Front camber plates
- Install m50 manifold (I have one sitting in the shed)
- Weighted shift knob
- Race seats
- LSD (as soon as one comes up for sale in Australia)
- Weight reduction eventually
Mod list of my car at the time of writing of my first post (29-1-16):
- Staggered, polished Style 24 wheels
- Pioneer MVH-X560BT headunit
- Angel eyes
- Magnaflow catback exhaust
- European customised number plates
- Marsperformance M kit
- Ebay replica GTR front lip
- 35% window tint
- KW V2 coilovers
- Turner Motorsport High Performance rear shock mounts
- Turner Motorsport rear shock tower reinforcement
- Z3 front shock tower reinforcement
I live in Melbourne, Australia. In my state, during your first four years of solo driving you have a 'probationary' licence. When on a probationary licence you are very restricted in your vehicle choice. Back then, anything forced induction, 8 cylinders or more, and more than 230 odd hp from the factory was prohibited. The laws were incredibly stupid, I remember you could drive a MKV R32 Golf but not a MKV GTI lol.
For my first 18 months or so on the road I was driving my mum's old ML320. I grew sick of driving a big truck and I wanted to drive something fun. I was able to drive my dad's cars (993 C2, E38 750il and a classic WRX) while I was leaner driver and was desperately missing a fun driving experience.
I wanted something that was RWD, manual, fun and somewhat quick while still being legal on my probationary licence. After my experience in my friends E36, I knew that a 328i would be perfect. My criteria was set, it needed to be a 328i coupe in great condition and a good colour. Turns out that was impossible to find.
In April 2015, after 6-7 months of checking the classifieds daily I was at a family lunch, scrolling through my Facebook feed when I saw someone had posted a couple of photos of their car 5 minutes earlier, asking how much it would be worth. I messaged him straight away.
Two days later, I was on a plane to Sydney to pick the car up. Here are some photos from the previous owner just before the sale:
The car was exactly what I had been looking for. A very clean example of a black on black 328i manual coupe, with full service history. The car was stock apart from Bilstein Sport Shocks and a random KIA headunit (lol).
My Dad and I had a great time driving the car back from Sydney to Melbourne (9-10 hours). The car was faultless apart from a momentary passenger window hiccup. My Dad wound the passenger window down on the highway and it wouldn't go back up. For 5 minutes we drove with the window down on a cold night at highway speeds, cursing because we had another 4-5 hours of driving ahead of us. However, the window went up fine when we pulsed the switch. What a relief that was. Here are a couple of photos taken on the trip home:
Soon after I bought the car I got my first essential mods done. Installed a Pioneer headunit with Bluetooth (also got rid of the KIA headunit which was not secured in the dash haha), polished staggered Style 24 wheels, Magnaflow catback exhaust and I put my personalised euro number plates on the car. This is how the car looked soon about a month after I bought it.
I then enjoyed driving the car for a few months. I wanted a M kit since I bought it, however I wasn't sure if I wanted to put any more money into the car when I planned on selling it in a couple of years once I was off my probationary licence. However, in November 2015 I caved and bought an M kit, and installed yellow foglights into the front bar while I was at it, imo it totally transformed the way the car looked.
Soon after in November 2015, on a whim I ended up at my first track day. A friend of mine organised it at 8pm the night before. He then came over and we drove across the city in the middle of the night to find a 24 hour grocery store to stock up on supplies for our track day. Before we knew it, it was morning and time to embark on our 2 hour drive to Winton raceway. The day was an absolute blast. I can't put into words how much fun I had. Even with no sleep the night before, 5-6 hours of boring highway driving and all the time on track I was ecstatic, running only on adrenaline and excitement and maybe caffeine haha.
Roadside at sunrise in rural Victoria on the way to the track.
It was my first time on track so I had no frame of reference, but the car was excellent. It performed faultlessly all day, and was faster than cars it shouldn't have been. The only casualty of the day was a fog light which ended up shattered across the track thanks to a sketchy spin while my friend was driving.
Here are some random photos of the car from November 2015 - December 2015:
After my first track day I well and truly caught the bug. I just kept thinking about getting back on track and how I could improve my car. The first thing I did was install KW V2 coilovers in January 2016. While I was it I also got new TMS HP rear shock mounts and front and rear shock tower reinforcement plates. This is how the car is currently sitting, very low (about 30mm) for s
ts and giggles haha. DON'T WORRY THE CAR WILL BE RAISED BEFORE NEXT TRACK EVENT!The goal of this build is to create a fun track car which is still road legal to drive to events. At the moment it is my daily, however I envisage it becoming more and more track oriented and eventually becoming a second car to enjoy on the weekends and at the track.
Please check out my friend's photography page which has been featured heavily in this post. There are plenty of pretty photos of some very cool Melbourne cars.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmphtg/
Instagram: @nmphtg
The mod shopping list (in rough order of priority, high to low):
- Square set of wheels
- R comp/track tyres
- Brake pads and fluid
- Front camber plates
- Install m50 manifold (I have one sitting in the shed)
- Weighted shift knob
- Race seats
- LSD (as soon as one comes up for sale in Australia)
- Weight reduction eventually
Mod list of my car at the time of writing of my first post (29-1-16):
- Staggered, polished Style 24 wheels
- Pioneer MVH-X560BT headunit
- Angel eyes
- Magnaflow catback exhaust
- European customised number plates
- Marsperformance M kit
- Ebay replica GTR front lip
- 35% window tint
- KW V2 coilovers
- Turner Motorsport High Performance rear shock mounts
- Turner Motorsport rear shock tower reinforcement
- Z3 front shock tower reinforcement
Car looks great. I used to have an E36 3.0 M3 which I sold a year back but regret it. Consider a brake upgrade as well as the mods you planned. I think they will take e46 330i brakes, which are a cheap upgrade. A Z3 rack would be a worthwhile mod as well. Bimmerforums in the states has lots of good value used e36 parts for sale.
Definitely fit a purple tag rack, came fitted to most late e46s so are cheap and a great upgrade.
I've just finished renewing all the bushes and ball joints on the back end of my Evo, it's made a massive difference and wasn't actually too bad of a job, doable in a weekend.
You've got to give that fancy KW suspension something to work with, and on these cars the rubber and ball joints are all shot by now.
I've just finished renewing all the bushes and ball joints on the back end of my Evo, it's made a massive difference and wasn't actually too bad of a job, doable in a weekend.
You've got to give that fancy KW suspension something to work with, and on these cars the rubber and ball joints are all shot by now.
Sf_Manta said:
Would suggest using the Z3 1.9 or 2.8 shifter to tighten up your gear shift throw.
Weighted gearknob could be the ZHM? BMW one, or a stormwerks one
Good car, always a decent base those E36s.
I'll get the weighted ZHP one, I prefer the OEM look. I'm on the lookout for the Z3 parts, just need to wait for one to be wrecked.Weighted gearknob could be the ZHM? BMW one, or a stormwerks one
Good car, always a decent base those E36s.
Onetrackmind said:
Car looks great. I used to have an E36 3.0 M3 which I sold a year back but regret it. Consider a brake upgrade as well as the mods you planned. I think they will take e46 330i brakes, which are a cheap upgrade. A Z3 rack would be a worthwhile mod as well. Bimmerforums in the states has lots of good value used e36 parts for sale.
Thanks! E46 328/330 brake upgrade and E46 rack is on the list, I just need to wait for one to be wrecked so I can source the second hand parts. But I never thought to buy off Bimmerforums, I will have to check it out. Unfortunately the AUD is very weak against the USD at the moment, so buying from the US is very expensive (especially with shipping on top of that).
shalmaneser said:
Definitely fit a purple tag rack, came fitted to most late e46s so are cheap and a great upgrade.
I've just finished renewing all the bushes and ball joints on the back end of my Evo, it's made a massive difference and wasn't actually too bad of a job, doable in a weekend.
You've got to give that fancy KW suspension something to work with, and on these cars the rubber and ball joints are all shot by now.
Yes, I know that needs to be done. I'm just dreading it a bit because it looks like a PITA to do. From what I've read, the consensus seems to be that Powerflex poly are the best?I've just finished renewing all the bushes and ball joints on the back end of my Evo, it's made a massive difference and wasn't actually too bad of a job, doable in a weekend.
You've got to give that fancy KW suspension something to work with, and on these cars the rubber and ball joints are all shot by now.
vMPM said:
Sf_Manta said:
Would suggest using the Z3 1.9 or 2.8 shifter to tighten up your gear shift throw.
Weighted gearknob could be the ZHM? BMW one, or a stormwerks one
Good car, always a decent base those E36s.
I'll get the weighted ZHP one, I prefer the OEM look. I'm on the lookout for the Z3 parts, just need to wait for one to be wrecked.Weighted gearknob could be the ZHM? BMW one, or a stormwerks one
Good car, always a decent base those E36s.
Yes, I know that needs to be done. I'm just dreading it a bit because it looks like a PITA to do. From what I've read, the consensus seems to be that Powerflex poly are the best?
> Z3M Shift Lever - 25117527254
> Bearing Bearing - 25111220600
> C Clips - 25117571899
Guide here for them http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f92/e36-z3-z3m...
As for the bushes, would highly recommend doing the front 'lolipop' bushes and the RTA bushes.
The lolipops aren't too hard and easily accessible. There's a good few guides on how to fit these:
http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/6444-guide-to-r...
RTA bushes are a little tricky, but if the bushes have already gone, the car will want to wander around at the back, upgrading these will greatly improve rear end grip and reduce tyre wear. Can be done by burning the bush out and using a hacksaw to carefully remove the remaining outer sleeve. Worth having a dremel tool around with a sanding wheel to clean up the remains as the aluminium sleeve on the bush will corrode and bond itself to the steel arm.
http://blog.bavauto.com/16318/bmw-diy-video-replac...
helix402 said:
E46 328i and 330i brakes are different, 330 has bigger brakes.
And bigger calipers, which means you'd want to change the master cylinder as well. I have 300mm E46 328i front discs on mine, which work very well. With proper pads, I can't see how you'd need the 325mm 330i ones, and I haven't had to change anything at the rear of mine to keep a good balance either.Car looks great though, look forward to seeing more!
You can change the RTAB bushes and ball joints while the subframe is on the car. So get those done as a first step. I machined some pressing tools but a correct socket and some threaded bar will also do the job.
Once those are done you can look at doing the subframe mounts in one go while the whole unit is out of the car.
Alternatively, buy a second subframe and diff assembly and do everything at your leisure then just bolt it all up!
I was going to do the diff mounts as well but there's so little rubber there I didn't think it was worth it. Very easy to do if I ever change my mind anyway (maybe when I get a e46 final drive....).
Once those are done you can look at doing the subframe mounts in one go while the whole unit is out of the car.
Alternatively, buy a second subframe and diff assembly and do everything at your leisure then just bolt it all up!
I was going to do the diff mounts as well but there's so little rubber there I didn't think it was worth it. Very easy to do if I ever change my mind anyway (maybe when I get a e46 final drive....).
Sf_Manta said:
vMPM said:
Sf_Manta said:
Would suggest using the Z3 1.9 or 2.8 shifter to tighten up your gear shift throw.
Weighted gearknob could be the ZHM? BMW one, or a stormwerks one
Good car, always a decent base those E36s.
I'll get the weighted ZHP one, I prefer the OEM look. I'm on the lookout for the Z3 parts, just need to wait for one to be wrecked.Weighted gearknob could be the ZHM? BMW one, or a stormwerks one
Good car, always a decent base those E36s.
Yes, I know that needs to be done. I'm just dreading it a bit because it looks like a PITA to do. From what I've read, the consensus seems to be that Powerflex poly are the best?
> Z3M Shift Lever - 25117527254
> Bearing Bearing - 25111220600
> C Clips - 25117571899
Guide here for them http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f92/e36-z3-z3m...
As for the bushes, would highly recommend doing the front 'lolipop' bushes and the RTA bushes.
The lolipops aren't too hard and easily accessible. There's a good few guides on how to fit these:
http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/6444-guide-to-r...
RTA bushes are a little tricky, but if the bushes have already gone, the car will want to wander around at the back, upgrading these will greatly improve rear end grip and reduce tyre wear. Can be done by burning the bush out and using a hacksaw to carefully remove the remaining outer sleeve. Worth having a dremel tool around with a sanding wheel to clean up the remains as the aluminium sleeve on the bush will corrode and bond itself to the steel arm.
http://blog.bavauto.com/16318/bmw-diy-video-replac...
helix402 said:
E46 328i and 330i brakes are different, 330 has bigger brakes.
I am aware, that was why I mentioned both types. I will take what I find (in terms of whatever car is being wrecked). I wouldn't be disappointed with 328i brakes either because they're an easier swap.McSam said:
nd bigger calipers, which means you'd want to change the master cylinder as well. I have 300mm E46 328i front discs on mine, which work very well. With proper pads, I can't see how you'd need the 325mm 330i ones, and I haven't had to change anything at the rear of mine to keep a good balance either.
Car looks great though, look forward to seeing more!
Thanks! I've been watching your Youtube videos for months haha, I remember they came up when I searched E36 328i just after I bought mine and have been subscribed ever since.Car looks great though, look forward to seeing more!
The first thing my friend Nick and I did after my OP was wind the coils up and raise the height of the car. Front is 320mm (centre of hub to wheel arch) and rear is 310mm. From what I've read these are best ride heights to run for E36 track cars. It was only slammed out of curiosity 
I think the car looks much better like this and it is much more driveable, a lot less scraping on driveways, speed humps etc. We also fixed my front bumper which had popped out on the left hand side and looked very messy after flexing due to getting caught in a gravel driveway (low life). So now it fits flush again and looks much better.
Then, I bought a new set of wheels...
Grand unveiling...
They are a set of genuine BBS RC304. 17x8 ET38. I like the way the polished Style 24s look better but these are very light, 7.4kg per wheel (I checked on my bathroom scales), so I will lose around 15kg of unsprung weight compared to the Style 24s. Plus they allow me to run sqaure 245 rubber. That is exactly what I did, I am now running 245/40/17 Hankook Ventus RS3s.
Here are some pics of how the car looks with the new wheels and ride height:
I'll be part of the first track day on the new surface at Winton Raceway this Saturday (hope it's not too slippery), and it will be my first time on track with my coilovers and new wheels and tyres, I'm very excited!
I think the car looks much better like this and it is much more driveable, a lot less scraping on driveways, speed humps etc. We also fixed my front bumper which had popped out on the left hand side and looked very messy after flexing due to getting caught in a gravel driveway (low life). So now it fits flush again and looks much better.Then, I bought a new set of wheels...
Grand unveiling...
They are a set of genuine BBS RC304. 17x8 ET38. I like the way the polished Style 24s look better but these are very light, 7.4kg per wheel (I checked on my bathroom scales
), so I will lose around 15kg of unsprung weight compared to the Style 24s. Plus they allow me to run sqaure 245 rubber. That is exactly what I did, I am now running 245/40/17 Hankook Ventus RS3s.Here are some pics of how the car looks with the new wheels and ride height:
I'll be part of the first track day on the new surface at Winton Raceway this Saturday (hope it's not too slippery), and it will be my first time on track with my coilovers and new wheels and tyres, I'm very excited!
A few updates since my last post in chronological order:
My friend Nick and I finally fitted my missing foglight. The OEM foglight and bracket wouldn't fit my aftermarket front bar, so we had to cut the bar using tin snips and then secure the foglight using cable ties. On the same day I also replaced the missing jack point cover on the side skirts. vMPM looked complete again!
On the 13th of February we headed up to Winton Raceway for my second ever trackday and my first time on track since I had installed the KW V2 coils and wheels/tyres. The conditions were far from ideal, it was very hot at 38 degrees celsius, and the track had just been resurfaced so there was less grip than usual (and a lot less bumps!).
Soon after we arrived, Narada, the guy who runs the track days invited me for a ride in his S2k around the track. I'm a big fan of S2ks and really want one after watching the ASS2000 series on Youtube so I was super excited. It was also my first time being on track in a well sorted car with a good driver. The biggest difference between my car and the S2k was how strong the brakes were, there was so much more force under brakes (obviously this was also due to the driver as well as the car). After my ride along with Narada (who was a great guy) I felt much more confident on track with how aggressive I could be with the throttle, how late I could brake etc.
The session after my ridealong I was 6 seconds quicker than my previous PB, setting a 1:47.7. This was a messy lap as I was driving very aggressively and having fun sliding etc. After seeing this time I was really excited because I knew I still had 0.5 second-1 second of time I could get out of the car when driving neatly.
However, that was when I experienced car issues. When applying full throttle and not touching the shifter or clutch, the car popped itself into neutral a few times. Does anyone know what caused this? I am thinking it was just driver error (me not shifting properly) or it had something to do with the very high temps because it hasn't happened again since then. Anyway, after that I decided to retire the car for the day. Unfortunately, I only got in one session of 5 laps without a passenger where I was driving quickly and confidently. With that said, I was still quite happy with my time, beating much faster cars like an E36 M3, 500hp E92 M3, Stage 1 Mk6 Golf R etc. Here is a results sheet from the day, I can't wait to beat this time in the future.
Here are a few iPhone videos from the day, next track day I will have onboard GoPro footage (how do I embed YT vids?):
https://youtu.be/untAkY1n9Uc
https://youtu.be/dfYXiEIlQwY
The results of a track day...
Since the track day my car was featured on the front page of Wheelwell which was pretty cool. I was surprised because the car is almost stock in that photo haha.
I also bought my first helmet. It is a Bell Custom 500 in gloss black to match the car lol. I needed an open face to fit in my car (plus I like being cooler) and I thought it was a cool looking, retro inspired helmet. I'm really happy with the quality of it, much nicer than the cheapies I have been borrowing. Some pics:
That new leather smell mmmmmmmmmmm
One last random question. This is my current rear fitment:
How much camber do you think I'm running? Trying to decide if I need to buy rear camber arms. I wouldn't want to run anymore than 2.5-3 degrees of negative camber. The TMS ones are so expensive atm with the weak AUD and international shipping rates.
My friend Nick and I finally fitted my missing foglight. The OEM foglight and bracket wouldn't fit my aftermarket front bar, so we had to cut the bar using tin snips and then secure the foglight using cable ties. On the same day I also replaced the missing jack point cover on the side skirts. vMPM looked complete again!
On the 13th of February we headed up to Winton Raceway for my second ever trackday and my first time on track since I had installed the KW V2 coils and wheels/tyres. The conditions were far from ideal, it was very hot at 38 degrees celsius, and the track had just been resurfaced so there was less grip than usual (and a lot less bumps!).
Soon after we arrived, Narada, the guy who runs the track days invited me for a ride in his S2k around the track. I'm a big fan of S2ks and really want one after watching the ASS2000 series on Youtube so I was super excited. It was also my first time being on track in a well sorted car with a good driver. The biggest difference between my car and the S2k was how strong the brakes were, there was so much more force under brakes (obviously this was also due to the driver as well as the car). After my ride along with Narada (who was a great guy) I felt much more confident on track with how aggressive I could be with the throttle, how late I could brake etc.
The session after my ridealong I was 6 seconds quicker than my previous PB, setting a 1:47.7. This was a messy lap as I was driving very aggressively and having fun sliding etc. After seeing this time I was really excited because I knew I still had 0.5 second-1 second of time I could get out of the car when driving neatly.
However, that was when I experienced car issues. When applying full throttle and not touching the shifter or clutch, the car popped itself into neutral a few times. Does anyone know what caused this? I am thinking it was just driver error (me not shifting properly) or it had something to do with the very high temps because it hasn't happened again since then. Anyway, after that I decided to retire the car for the day. Unfortunately, I only got in one session of 5 laps without a passenger where I was driving quickly and confidently. With that said, I was still quite happy with my time, beating much faster cars like an E36 M3, 500hp E92 M3, Stage 1 Mk6 Golf R etc. Here is a results sheet from the day, I can't wait to beat this time in the future.
Here are a few iPhone videos from the day, next track day I will have onboard GoPro footage (how do I embed YT vids?):
https://youtu.be/untAkY1n9Uc
https://youtu.be/dfYXiEIlQwY
The results of a track day...
Since the track day my car was featured on the front page of Wheelwell which was pretty cool. I was surprised because the car is almost stock in that photo haha.
I also bought my first helmet. It is a Bell Custom 500 in gloss black to match the car lol. I needed an open face to fit in my car (plus I like being cooler) and I thought it was a cool looking, retro inspired helmet. I'm really happy with the quality of it, much nicer than the cheapies I have been borrowing. Some pics:
That new leather smell mmmmmmmmmmm
One last random question. This is my current rear fitment:
How much camber do you think I'm running? Trying to decide if I need to buy rear camber arms. I wouldn't want to run anymore than 2.5-3 degrees of negative camber. The TMS ones are so expensive atm with the weak AUD and international shipping rates.
On Friday the 26th, my new strut brace arrived just in time for my track day which was the following day.
I bought a Whiteline Front Strut Brace. I got it for a good price. It'll be interesting to see if it makes a noticeable difference on track. Worst case scenario is that it looks cool and prevents strut tower mushrooming.
We got it installed on Friday night but ended up having to tighten it at the track day because I didn't have right allen keys. I really need to re-paint that cover black, it looks terrible.
I bought a Whiteline Front Strut Brace. I got it for a good price. It'll be interesting to see if it makes a noticeable difference on track. Worst case scenario is that it looks cool and prevents strut tower mushrooming.
We got it installed on Friday night but ended up having to tighten it at the track day because I didn't have right allen keys. I really need to re-paint that cover black, it looks terrible.
On the 27th of February, we headed up to Winton for a Fun Day. A Fun Day, is a very cheap ($65 instead of usual $200) track day, where beginners are encouraged to come along and have fun. My first track day was the last fun day, in a pretty much stock car. I had an absolute riot, and all of the university car club guys come up in a big group so I was looking forward to the day.
Unfortunately the day was no where near as fun as I would have hoped. There were a lot of beginner drivers there (about 60% of people had never been on track before) who had no idea what they were doing. I had a lot more fun last time when the car was pretty stock and I was a first-timer. Whereas, this time I didn't get a clean lap in all day and was very frustrated by incompetent, rude drivers.
The event was untimed (not that it would have mattered because there was so much traffic) so we'll never know but I think my mate Nick would have done a 1:46 or so in the last session of the day, as he drove perfectly without traffic.
On a more positive note, the car performed flawlessly. I didn't experience the car popping out of gear issue that I did last time so I think I was correct when I guessed that it was just me not shifting correctly. I couldn't get a feel for any kind of difference that the strut brace might have made as I wasn't able to drive fast enough. The car was the darling of the uni car club for the day, all the guys (who are JDM/turbo enthusiasts) loved it.
Here is some onboard footage from the day (I had a moment at 14:05 if you want to skip to it):
https://youtu.be/ciiHuboFzak
Please watch the video and give me some driving tips. You'll get a sense of how frustrating the traffic was, I didn't drive anywhere near as well as I did at the the last track day, I felt as if I could never get into any kind of flow or rhythm with all the traffic.
And a couple of photos:
Unfortunately the day was no where near as fun as I would have hoped. There were a lot of beginner drivers there (about 60% of people had never been on track before) who had no idea what they were doing. I had a lot more fun last time when the car was pretty stock and I was a first-timer. Whereas, this time I didn't get a clean lap in all day and was very frustrated by incompetent, rude drivers.
The event was untimed (not that it would have mattered because there was so much traffic) so we'll never know but I think my mate Nick would have done a 1:46 or so in the last session of the day, as he drove perfectly without traffic.
On a more positive note, the car performed flawlessly. I didn't experience the car popping out of gear issue that I did last time so I think I was correct when I guessed that it was just me not shifting correctly. I couldn't get a feel for any kind of difference that the strut brace might have made as I wasn't able to drive fast enough. The car was the darling of the uni car club for the day, all the guys (who are JDM/turbo enthusiasts) loved it.
Here is some onboard footage from the day (I had a moment at 14:05 if you want to skip to it):
https://youtu.be/ciiHuboFzak
Please watch the video and give me some driving tips. You'll get a sense of how frustrating the traffic was, I didn't drive anywhere near as well as I did at the the last track day, I felt as if I could never get into any kind of flow or rhythm with all the traffic.
And a couple of photos:
At my last track day at Winton, we absolutely destroyed my brakes. So it was finally time to do some brake upgrades. This is the list of parts used:
- OEM rotors
- QFM A1RM pads
- Stoptech Stainless Steel Braided Lines
- ATE Super Blue Fluid
First impressions are that my brake pedal feels much better, much tighter, and the bite point is much higher in the pedal travel. I'll have to re-learn how to heel-toe haha. I'm excited to feel how much of a difference the brakes make on track tomorrow. Here is some photos of the new vs used parts to show just how destroyed they were haha.
- OEM rotors
- QFM A1RM pads
- Stoptech Stainless Steel Braided Lines
- ATE Super Blue Fluid
First impressions are that my brake pedal feels much better, much tighter, and the bite point is much higher in the pedal travel. I'll have to re-learn how to heel-toe haha. I'm excited to feel how much of a difference the brakes make on track tomorrow. Here is some photos of the new vs used parts to show just how destroyed they were haha.
On March 13th I headed up to Winton again for another track day. I was excited to get out on track and try out my new brake setup. My first session was terrible, I lost my brakes after only 2 laps (the stock brakes lasted longer than that).
My second session was good, the brake held up better and I set a PB lap time of 1:46.9. Unfortunately I had a quicker lap interrupted by somebody spinning off in front of me, I think could have been a 1:45.
After the second session I played with tyre pressures for the first time at the track. Went from 34psi cold down to 27psi. 27psi was too low, the car definitely felt worse. I'll have to experiment more and find what I feel to be the perfect pressure.
My time was 60th of 133 cars on the day, there was a massive range of cars. Here is a link to the timing results if anybody is interested: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/640373195/object_2931...
I have uploaded some onboard footage to Youtube, here's the link: https://youtu.be/WmUgwUg6zLU
And finally, some photos:
My second session was good, the brake held up better and I set a PB lap time of 1:46.9. Unfortunately I had a quicker lap interrupted by somebody spinning off in front of me, I think could have been a 1:45.
After the second session I played with tyre pressures for the first time at the track. Went from 34psi cold down to 27psi. 27psi was too low, the car definitely felt worse. I'll have to experiment more and find what I feel to be the perfect pressure.
My time was 60th of 133 cars on the day, there was a massive range of cars. Here is a link to the timing results if anybody is interested: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/640373195/object_2931...
I have uploaded some onboard footage to Youtube, here's the link: https://youtu.be/WmUgwUg6zLU
And finally, some photos:
Since my last update I have bought another car! It is a 2005 V5 Bora. This will be my daily driver. I bought it off my mate, so I knew the car well (its probably in a few of the photos in this build thread). It has only done 100,000km, has woodgrain, leather, heated seats (the seats are fantastic, very well bolstered), good wheels and is manual of course. Plus its a V5 with an exhaust so it sounds great (but not loud and droney). A month or so into my ownership experience I am really enjoying it - it's perfect for what I wanted. It's great to drive in a car which isn't low and is relatively quiet. It also feels great to not fear police attention!
Now that I have the Bora, I know longer have to compromise with the E36 as it is no longer a daily driver. So the first thing I did was strip it haha (I'll finish off the rest of the sound deadening with a heat gun).
The next thing we did was an oil change (my first!). The car does the infamous M52 tick when hot at track days so we thought we would try to run a thicker oil to help combat it. Previously the car had Castrol Magnatec 15W-30, this time we switched to Penrite 10TENTHS 15W-50. It seemed to help with the ticking but it definitely hasn't stopped it.
I then bought a second hand Racing Dynamics intake. I'm not delusional so I didn't expect any power gain but I just wanted some cool inductions noises (which I got).
Then, with thunderstorms forecasted for my track day on Saturday, we decided to weld my spare diff on the Friday night. I am not stupid and I was well aware of all the issues with a welded diff. However, my car still had a stock open diff and I didn't want to drive with that on track in the rain. I planned to buy an LSD last month but I ended up buying the Bora instead, a proper LSD is the next part I will buy.
Here are a couple of pretty photos of the car before the track day at Winton on April 30th.
Leaving for the impromptu photoshoot:
Final photos (by NM Photography https://www.facebook.com/nmphtg/?fref=ts):
Now that I have the Bora, I know longer have to compromise with the E36 as it is no longer a daily driver. So the first thing I did was strip it haha (I'll finish off the rest of the sound deadening with a heat gun).
The next thing we did was an oil change (my first!). The car does the infamous M52 tick when hot at track days so we thought we would try to run a thicker oil to help combat it. Previously the car had Castrol Magnatec 15W-30, this time we switched to Penrite 10TENTHS 15W-50. It seemed to help with the ticking but it definitely hasn't stopped it.
I then bought a second hand Racing Dynamics intake. I'm not delusional so I didn't expect any power gain but I just wanted some cool inductions noises (which I got).
Then, with thunderstorms forecasted for my track day on Saturday, we decided to weld my spare diff on the Friday night. I am not stupid and I was well aware of all the issues with a welded diff. However, my car still had a stock open diff and I didn't want to drive with that on track in the rain. I planned to buy an LSD last month but I ended up buying the Bora instead, a proper LSD is the next part I will buy.
Here are a couple of pretty photos of the car before the track day at Winton on April 30th.
Leaving for the impromptu photoshoot:
Final photos (by NM Photography https://www.facebook.com/nmphtg/?fref=ts):
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