2002 BMW 325Ti - Track / Fast Road
Discussion
A friend and I decided to go halves on a trackday/fast road car for a bit of fun, for not a lot of money. Both BMW fans, it didn't take us very long to decide on what car it had to be! We scoured the classifieds for most of the winter, and after looking at a couple of duffers, we found 'Yoda' (yes I've named it 
) in January. It was advertised for a very reasonable sum, considering the 83,000 miles on the clock, FSH, and the overall condition of the car, which is fantastic.
Here are a few pictures of when we first got the car home
Work then started on getting it track ready. I had spotted a set of 16" wheels on a 5 series which I thought could work on the car, so managed to find a set on ebay for not a lot of money, the huge balloon tyres were ditched, and then went about refurbishing them ourselves. Only fear was the offset, but some calculations suggested that they would work nicely and would fit under, and filling the arches nicely. Some Nankang NS2R 120 tyres in 205/45 R16 size were chosen for their great reviews and reasonable cost. Brand new Pagid discs and some decent track pads were fitted at the same time, as the old ones were well past their best.
Coilovers were next on the list to be fitted, and we had chosen some HSD Dualtech items. We agreed that these would be the best choice for the money we wanted to spend. Good reviews, adjustable top mounts, and damping all for around £700. They were still half the value of the car in the first place however! The car then took on a completely different look, and looked much much more business like. I took a short trip up to Forge motorsport as they are just up the road from me, and helped with selling me a foam air filter and silicon piping. I am in the process of custom making a heat shield for this. The intake sound is lovely though!
The interior was then attacked, we decided that as this was going to be a trackday car, but also useable on the road, we wanted to leave some of the interior in. I hated the original steering wheel, so managed to find a cheap M-Sport wheel on the bay, and it feels much nicer to hold. Cruise control and the carpets have been left in for the long drives to the Nurburgring! The rear seats were removed, along with all the sound deadening. We decided to leave the moulded carpets in rather than have the stripped out look. The rear wiper, spare wheel and tray were all removed too, saving some extra weight in the process. The horrible rubberised coating on all of the interior trim was peeling off, so I set about vinyl wrapping all of these parts, learning a new skill in the process (and toasting my hands with the hairdryer too!) - the interior is now a much nicer place to be.
A set of facelift rear lights are the latest addition, also found on ebay for not a lot of money! It finishes off the rear of the car nicely, as well as the token PH sticker!
The car is pretty much as we want it now, it needs to go for a full geo setup soon, but in the meantime we must not forget the main thing that we bought it for which is - FUN!
) in January. It was advertised for a very reasonable sum, considering the 83,000 miles on the clock, FSH, and the overall condition of the car, which is fantastic. Here are a few pictures of when we first got the car home
Work then started on getting it track ready. I had spotted a set of 16" wheels on a 5 series which I thought could work on the car, so managed to find a set on ebay for not a lot of money, the huge balloon tyres were ditched, and then went about refurbishing them ourselves. Only fear was the offset, but some calculations suggested that they would work nicely and would fit under, and filling the arches nicely. Some Nankang NS2R 120 tyres in 205/45 R16 size were chosen for their great reviews and reasonable cost. Brand new Pagid discs and some decent track pads were fitted at the same time, as the old ones were well past their best.
Coilovers were next on the list to be fitted, and we had chosen some HSD Dualtech items. We agreed that these would be the best choice for the money we wanted to spend. Good reviews, adjustable top mounts, and damping all for around £700. They were still half the value of the car in the first place however! The car then took on a completely different look, and looked much much more business like. I took a short trip up to Forge motorsport as they are just up the road from me, and helped with selling me a foam air filter and silicon piping. I am in the process of custom making a heat shield for this. The intake sound is lovely though!
The interior was then attacked, we decided that as this was going to be a trackday car, but also useable on the road, we wanted to leave some of the interior in. I hated the original steering wheel, so managed to find a cheap M-Sport wheel on the bay, and it feels much nicer to hold. Cruise control and the carpets have been left in for the long drives to the Nurburgring! The rear seats were removed, along with all the sound deadening. We decided to leave the moulded carpets in rather than have the stripped out look. The rear wiper, spare wheel and tray were all removed too, saving some extra weight in the process. The horrible rubberised coating on all of the interior trim was peeling off, so I set about vinyl wrapping all of these parts, learning a new skill in the process (and toasting my hands with the hairdryer too!) - the interior is now a much nicer place to be.
A set of facelift rear lights are the latest addition, also found on ebay for not a lot of money! It finishes off the rear of the car nicely, as well as the token PH sticker!
The car is pretty much as we want it now, it needs to go for a full geo setup soon, but in the meantime we must not forget the main thing that we bought it for which is - FUN!
Edited by sleithykeithy on Friday 15th July 19:06
The car was given a shakedown at a Donington GP evening a couple of weeks ago. The car went very well and kept up with some much more serious machinery, however the brakes need some new fluid and that should solve our braking issues we had that evening.
Looks perfectly at home out on circuit though, and leads you to some fun moments. I really rate these cars, I cant think of a faster car for the money we have spent!
A few pictures...
Looks perfectly at home out on circuit though, and leads you to some fun moments. I really rate these cars, I cant think of a faster car for the money we have spent!
A few pictures...
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