Project E36 - Track Day Car

[benny.c]

sniff diesel said:

Any overheating issues on the last couple of outings Ben? I see you've removed the grill.

No, it's been fine. Three trackdays ago it was getting a little warm after 6 or 7 laps, but not overheating. I noticed our mesh front grille was bowed in quite a lot suggesting that it was not as free flowing as it looked, so we took it out.

Also we went to watch the Khumo Championship at Oulton and noticed the race cars all still had the plastic trim in place above and around the rad/fan. We'd taken ours off early doors so we've refitted that too. Only the top part though, can't find the fan shroud. Anyhoo, 10 laps at a time on the last two trackdays and the temp never goes above normal

[sniff diesel]

Still got the fan off then?

[benny.c]

Ooops forgot that - the fan's back on too

[bigfatnick]

i love everything about this! Its just so perfect! When you started this i had a knackered e34 525i, it broke, since then i've been travelling all summer. when i got back i picked up a very tidy e36 325i coupe and what you've done has inspired me SO much!

Its such a head/heart thing for me. I'm, a bit older than i was and i can insure an e36 m3 now, for the costs of buying one/insuring one. I could build up my 325i similar to yours (only with a number plate and aimed a bit more at doing drift days as well as track days). Now thats what my heart says. my head says dont be a div and just buy an m3, you only have 1 car and going to the shops in a stripped out caged 3 series i cant carry more than 1 passanger in would be silly.

Dilemma!

Cheers for the inspiration! even if it had messed my brain up!

Nick

Edited by bigfatnick on Monday 29th December 22:19

[bulletproofbob]

just to show i'm not kidding... here's my work so far...

http://www.ppcmag.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5...

[Diesel Meister]

Now I'm gonna sound like a sycophantic post-we but I'll say it anyway - that, sir, is a most luscious project! Have a digital back-slap of the envious but manly variety Most sensible track toy I've yet seen - cheap, fast, cool. Plans for '09?

[sniff diesel]

bulletproofbob said:

just to show i'm not kidding... here's my work so far...

http://www.ppcmag.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5...

They both look great Bob, the figures I've read show the coupe as being about 20-30 kgs heavier than the saloon as standard - not sure about the weight difference when stripped TBH.

[benny.c]

bigfatnick said:

i love everything about this! Its just so perfect!

Diesel Meister said:

Now I'm gonna sound like a sycophantic post-we but I'll say it anyway - that, sir, is a most luscious project! Have a digital back-slap of the envious but manly variety Most sensible track toy I've yet seen - cheap, fast, cool. Plans for '09?

You guys - you'll make me blush

No massive plans for 09. We're going to enjoy the car a bit without having to get dirty now that it's running well There is a bit of rust on the cill which has come back when we had to leave the car outside for a month, so that needs sorting. We want to fit some new headers; nothing fancy, just something to replace the nasty, stock cast iron ones. We are also going to have a bash at exhaust fabrication and replace the section between the headers and the back box. We'll probably do away with the cats and fit a generic silencer to replace them. Other than that probably just a bit of general tidying

bulletproofbob said:

just to show i'm not kidding... here's my work so far...

Nice one Bob - see you up at Oulton soon then

Edited by benny.c on Wednesday 14th January 15:05

[_Batty_]

benny.c said:

bigfatnick said:

i love everything about this! Its just so perfect!

Diesel Meister said:

Now I'm gonna sound like a sycophantic post-we but I'll say it anyway - that, sir, is a most luscious project! Have a digital back-slap of the envious but manly variety Most sensible track toy I've yet seen - cheap, fast, cool. Plans for '09?

You guys - you'll make me blush

No massive plans for 09. We're going to enjoy the car a bit without having to get dirty now that it's running well There is a bit of rust on the cill which has come back when we had to leave the car outside for a month, so that needs sorting. We want to fit some new headers; nothing fancy, just something to replace the nasty, stock cast iron ones. We are also going to have a bash at exhaust fabrication and replace the section between the headers and the back box. We'll probably do away with the cats and fit a generic silencer to replace them. Other than that probably just a bit of general tidying

bulletproofbob said:

just to show i'm not kidding... here's my work so far...

Nice one Bob - see you up at Oulton soon then

Edited by benny.c on Wednesday 14th January 15:05

i fabricated my Alfa GTV exhaust using these parts http://www.jetex.co.uk/website/jetexcustomexhaustp...

might be worth a look?

[bulletproofbob]

fingers crossed i'll see you guys feb 7th!!

[bulletproofbob]

sniff diesel said:

bulletproofbob said:

just to show i'm not kidding... here's my work so far...

http://www.ppcmag.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5...

They both look great Bob, the figures I've read show the coupe as being about 20-30 kgs heavier than the saloon as standard - not sure about the weight difference when stripped TBH.

my saloon is a 320 so its 120kg's lighter than coupe!! it'll be robbed big time for spares!!!

[GnuBee]

Firstly excellent job! I see you've gone for KW suspension just a quick tip which may save you some "pain" later on - see if you can get them to supply you with the plastic spring perches with the metal insert; those ally collars end up binding themselves to the threaded strut body and then need cutting off - I speak from experience...

[Not-All-Here]

Well, bit of a ressurection I know, but this is the first time i;ve read the thread!

Fan-bloody-tastic. I wish I had the money to make a track car, but being a bum thats not possible!

Definitely fancy giving it a shot if I get a job though.

One thing, I understand that an M3 was out of the question given your reasons, but why a 325 and not a 328?

328's are 195bhp standard compared to 170ish are they not?

Either way, its damned amazing, and i love it!

Thom

[sniff diesel]

Not-All-Here said:

but why a 325 and not a 328?

328's are 195bhp standard compared to 170ish are they not?

E36 328i's are 193bhp and 325i's are 192bhp. You must be thinking of the 2.5 litre 323i engine that put out 170bhp.

Ben's car laps Oulton in a similar time to a Gallardo Superleggera. That shows that power doesn't count for as much as you may think.

[Not-All-Here]

sniff diesel said:

Not-All-Here said:

but why a 325 and not a 328?

328's are 195bhp standard compared to 170ish are they not?

E36 328i's are 193bhp and 325i's are 192bhp. You must be thinking of the 2.5 litre 323i engine that put out 170bhp.

Ben's car laps Oulton in a similar time to a Gallardo Superleggera. That shows that power doesn't count for as much as you may think.

My appologies, I was looking at BMW's as a next car, and was looking at 23's, 25's and 28's and got the figures a bit mixed up.

reason I question is because obviously there is a want for quite a bit of power(given wanting to drop in an M3 engine), and I (wrongly) recalled 28's being higher powered that 25's so was just curious as to why the 'lower' powered one.

But given my incorrect recollection of figures its pretty understandable.

And I am aware that power isn't everything when on track.

Thom

[bulletproofbob]

mine's a much more shed like motor than either the ring-shed or the e36 track weapon, but i think mine's a pretty decent track toy now and it owe's me less than a grand!!!

[benny.c]

As the other guys have said, I don't think there's that much between the 325 and 328 although I assume the 328 will have more torque. Stopping and going around corners was always our first priority within the budget so that meant a low cost car to start with - that led us to a 325. Loads about for cheap money and at the time we were looking the 325's we saw were less abused. I think it's easier to find a 325 se with a decent history than a 328 sport that's probably been thrashed and not looked after as the years roll on.

We will end up with an M3 engine eventually though

Edited by benny.c on Friday 12th June 14:39

[Not-All-Here]

Benny, Where did you get the sticky backed vinyl from? And how durable is it?

I'm thinking of getting some and experimenting with a checkered bonnet.

Also when it comes off does it bring paint with it or does it just peel off quite well?

Oh, and final question, How much was it?

Thanks

Thom

[benny.c]

We got it from a vinyl sign maker. Don't remember how much it was but not that expensive. I think Mike paid £70 odd for all the vinyl and Jager stuff. He does send all his vans to the same guy though so we probably got it cheap.

It pulled some of our paint off but that's only because our paint job cost £300 On factory paint I'm sure it'll be fine.

Seems to be holding up well but the car only does 150 miles per trackday.

Edited by benny.c on Monday 18th May 14:41

[benny.c]

Exciting news for Project E36 - just done a deal with an e36coupe.com and PH member for an Alpina 2.8 M50 engine and ECU

It came from Alpina with 240bhp which is a nice improvement over our 325 at 192bhp, not to mention the extra torque. The Alpina 2.8 is M50 based with a custom crank, lightweight Mahle pistons, ported head and Alpina cams. Because it is M50 based it will (hopefully) drop straight in on the existing mounts and use the existing wiring harness etc. This will bring us to within about 10bhp/tonne of an E46 M3 and 997 Carrera 4

We've looked in to an M3 engine swap but we reckon you are talking the best part of £3K by the time you've finished. Plus all the time involved in drivetrain, ecu swap etc. We'll run the car as it is for this year but what a lovely winter project we've now got lined up. Thanks to Rich (sniff diesel/petrol/lpg) for bringing the sale to my attention

Alpina power baby

Edited by benny.c on Friday 12th June 15:15