Project Ring-shed E36 325i

[sniff petrol]

matt21 said:

very interesting story and having known the car most of its life i will follow this closely

wonder if that towbar would fit my 1994 E34 touring??

Matt - please don't show this thread to Bill. I feel like I'm wrecking his pride and joy, although it absolutely flies now it's been stripped.

All E36's use the same towbar apparently, not sure if it'll fit an E34.

[dan101smith]

absolutely said:

I would have thought a 2 door would have been a better option, greater stiffness for a track car.

A subject of much controversy, but the 4dr is said to be the stiffer of the two.

From memory, it sits lower on the driver's side due to it being developed in LHD form, and the extra drop on that side levels out when you have just a driver in LHD form. Apparently. Dunno if I buy that.

Project looks great, if you can be bothered to strip out the heater and all the gubbins that go with it that's a fair weight saving.

[matt21]

sniff petrol said:

matt21 said:

very interesting story and having known the car most of its life i will follow this closely

wonder if that towbar would fit my 1994 E34 touring??

Matt - please don't show this thread to Bill. I feel like I'm wrecking his pride and joy, although it absolutely flies now it's been stripped.

All E36's use the same towbar apparently, not sure if it'll fit an E34.

I wont but spoke to him last night, he is glad its gone to an enthusiast who will enjoy it for a while rather than someone who just abuses it and doesnt care.

I bet it flies, it was always quick, remember trying to keep up in my Cooper S and was a bit baffled as he slowly pulled away in his 16 year old BMW

[sniff petrol]

dan101smith said:

absolutely said:

I would have thought a 2 door would have been a better option, greater stiffness for a track car.

A subject of much controversy, but the 4dr is said to be the stiffer of the two.

From memory, it sits lower on the driver's side due to it being developed in LHD form, and the extra drop on that side levels out when you have just a driver in LHD form. Apparently. Dunno if I buy that.

Project looks great, if you can be bothered to strip out the heater and all the gubbins that go with it that's a fair weight saving.

Interesting theory behind the lower on one side thing, it was definitely noticeable on my estate in the rear view mirror when the GF was following me.

WRT the heater, apparently you need a working screen demister for the MOT. I know a lot of rally cars use heated front screens (a la Ford Quickclear) but they cost several hundred quid. Hence to keep a working blower and demister I've had to leave the entire upper dashboard.

[Greendubber]

sniff petrol said:

dan101smith said:

absolutely said:

I would have thought a 2 door would have been a better option, greater stiffness for a track car.

A subject of much controversy, but the 4dr is said to be the stiffer of the two.

From memory, it sits lower on the driver's side due to it being developed in LHD form, and the extra drop on that side levels out when you have just a driver in LHD form. Apparently. Dunno if I buy that.

Project looks great, if you can be bothered to strip out the heater and all the gubbins that go with it that's a fair weight saving.

Interesting theory behind the lower on one side thing, it was definitely noticeable on my estate in the rear view mirror when the GF was following me.

WRT the heater, apparently you need a working screen demister for the MOT. I know a lot of rally cars use heated front screens (a la Ford Quickclear) but they cost several hundred quid. Hence to keep a working blower and demister I've had to leave the entire upper dashboard.

What about one that plugs into the fag lighter and sticks on the screen with 2 suckers?. Seen a lot of them in old VW's due to the screen demister being rubbish. Could mean you can ditch the heavy original and just slap this one on to keep the MOT tester happy perhaps?.

[sniff petrol]

matt21 said:

I wont but spoke to him last night, he is glad its gone to an enthusiast who will enjoy it for a while rather than someone who just abuses it and doesnt care.

I bet it flies, it was always quick, remember trying to keep up in my Cooper S and was a bit baffled as he slowly pulled away in his 16 year old BMW

Cool, good on him - I'd dread to think what condition some of my old cars are in now. This thing is deceptively swift, being as there's so particular sweet spot in the rev range there's no sudden perceived change of rate of acceleration, and with a cable operated throttle the response is perfect.

I guess the standard PWR is about 10bhp/tonne up on the MCS. Will be getting it weighed in the morning so will find out for definite, BMW quote 1330kgs with a full tank (what does 65 litres of petrol weigh?)

Remember the EVO Grand challenge from earlier this year? Theirs was dynoed at 187.1bhp and 175.4Lb/ft against a quoted 193bhp and 181Lb/ft. Theirs had also had a replacement engine so I'd hope mine was putting out similar figures. The fact that the mechanic that fitted the engine was keen to buy the car when he heard Bill was getting rid suggests to me that it must be good'un.

[sniff petrol]

Greendubber said:

What about one that plugs into the fag lighter and sticks on the screen with 2 suckers?. Seen a lot of them in old VW's due to the screen demister being rubbish. Could mean you can ditch the heavy original and just slap this one on to keep the MOT tester happy perhaps?.

You could be onto something there - got any links to a website?
Only other thing as Benny.c found out on his Jagermeister track car is that the cooling system becomes a bh to bleed without the heater matrix as it contains a bleed screw apparently.

[Greendubber]

sniff petrol said:

Greendubber said:

What about one that plugs into the fag lighter and sticks on the screen with 2 suckers?. Seen a lot of them in old VW's due to the screen demister being rubbish. Could mean you can ditch the heavy original and just slap this one on to keep the MOT tester happy perhaps?.

You could be onto something there - got any links to a website?
Only other thing as Benny.c found out on his Jagermeister track car is that the cooling system becomes a bh to bleed without the heater matrix as it contains a bleed screw apparently.

Something like these...

http://www1.westfalia.net/shops/car_accessoires/be...

Or...

http://www.gbdriver.co.uk/acatalog/12v-car-heater-...

I have no dount they look cheesy but should be enough to keep the MOT tester happy, plus it wouldnt be too hard to hide a power feed for it and just plug it in for the drive to the MOT station

[benny.c]

Nice one Look forward to reading more on this one.

Old school, 4 door touring car is the way to go

What did you use to remove the cats? Looks like a flexible fitting at one end? Do you think it'd be too loud for the noise test up at Oulton?

Edited by benny.c on Monday 28th July 12:42

[Spleeble]

Looks like a death trap! There is no way I’m getting in that shed! Only joking mate, I cant weight to give it a razz, I will have to teach myself how to drive a manual first though!

[Marf]

sniff petrol said:

(what does 65 litres of petrol weigh?)

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/One_liter_petrol_is_equal_to_how_much_kg 0.737kg/litre

Edited by Marf on Monday 28th July 16:43

[sniff petrol]

benny.c said:

What did you use to remove the cats? Looks like a flexible fitting at one end? Do you think it'd be too loud for the noise test up at Oulton?

Yeah Ben it's just a couple of 90cm lengths of flexible exhaust tube. To be honest it doesn't add any power, just noise. My mate's got a noise meter so I'll get it tested to find out for you.

Your's all ready for next Tuesday?

[Andy_sx]

Not another thread to keep track of that makes me want to spend money when i really shouldnt! damn you Sniff and Benny

looking good though mate

[sniff petrol]

Had it weighed yesterday and it came in at 1300kgs* including myself (80kgs) and just under half a tank of fuel, so I reckon 1200kgs empty. That still includes the full dashboard, all the seats and window motors, sunroof panel and radio and 4 speakers (I need my sanity on longer solo trips) so I reckon 1150kgs would be possible with 2 racing bucket seats, polycarb windows and a aluminium panel replacing the sunroof. Not sure what the full dash and heater matrix would weigh and whether it's worth the hassle of removing them.

• the weighbridge rounds off to the nearest 20kgs apparently, so it could be anything from 1290-1310kgs really.

[RatLad]

sniff petrol said:

dan101smith said:

absolutely said:

I would have thought a 2 door would have been a better option, greater stiffness for a track car.

A subject of much controversy, but the 4dr is said to be the stiffer of the two.

From memory, it sits lower on the driver's side due to it being developed in LHD form, and the extra drop on that side levels out when you have just a driver in LHD form. Apparently. Dunno if I buy that.

Project looks great, if you can be bothered to strip out the heater and all the gubbins that go with it that's a fair weight saving.

Interesting theory behind the lower on one side thing, it was definitely noticeable on my estate in the rear view mirror when the GF was following me.

WRT the heater, apparently you need a working screen demister for the MOT. I know a lot of rally cars use heated front screens (a la Ford Quickclear) but they cost several hundred quid. Hence to keep a working blower and demister I've had to leave the entire upper dashboard.

Never heard that about the demister. I dont have one in my car and it went through the MOT fine...

Having said that, I'm beginning to wish it was still there.

[sniff petrol]

RatLad said:

sniff petrol said:

dan101smith said:

absolutely said:

I would have thought a 2 door would have been a better option, greater stiffness for a track car.

A subject of much controversy, but the 4dr is said to be the stiffer of the two.

From memory, it sits lower on the driver's side due to it being developed in LHD form, and the extra drop on that side levels out when you have just a driver in LHD form. Apparently. Dunno if I buy that.

Project looks great, if you can be bothered to strip out the heater and all the gubbins that go with it that's a fair weight saving.

Interesting theory behind the lower on one side thing, it was definitely noticeable on my estate in the rear view mirror when the GF was following me.

WRT the heater, apparently you need a working screen demister for the MOT. I know a lot of rally cars use heated front screens (a la Ford Quickclear) but they cost several hundred quid. Hence to keep a working blower and demister I've had to leave the entire upper dashboard.

Never heard that about the demister. I dont have one in my car and it went through the MOT fine...

Having said that, I'm beginning to wish it was still there.

Right, I'd only heard it recently and never had to put it to the test but after a wet trackday in my 205 GTi (without a heater) it would have been usefull.

To be honest I think I've taken it as far as I want to for the trip to the Ring next month. If all goes well there then I might have a few more plans for it.

[benny.c]

sniff petrol said:

Yeah Ben it's just a couple of 90cm lengths of flexible exhaust tube. To be honest it doesn't add any power, just noise. My mate's got a noise meter so I'll get it tested to find out for you.

Your's all ready for next Tuesday?

Would be interested to know the results as our next work will be some cheap new headers off ebay, de-catting and losing the middle boxes. Don't want any hassle at track days with the noise though. Like you say, no performance gains but will make it easier to hear the engine in a helmet.

All set for next week. Got some ex BTCC wets as the weather looks like it could go either way at the moment. Turns out they are Matt Neil's, but on the plus side they are unused

Last time out, we had a rather horrible noise coming from the diff area on the last lap I did and we investigated properly last night. I was all for taking it to a garage as the cylinder head incident from our last outing has mentally scarred me. Mike then spotted that a solid brake pipe had worked it's way loose and was resting on the prop shaft Fortunately no damage done but it could have been nasty. It's amazing how much noise the pipe was making when the prop shaft rotated - it really sounded like a gear or bearing had been destroyed.

So all ready to go. Just got to get a new gear knob - I broke the stock one when we fitted a short shift lever

Edited by benny.c on Tuesday 29th July 14:51

[sniff petrol]

benny.c said:

... our next work will be some cheap new headers off ebay, de-catting and losing the middle boxes. Don't want any hassle at track days with the noise though. Like you say, no performance gains but will make it easier to hear the engine in a helmet.

I'd have thought that you'd be better off spending the money on an M3 engine now your car stops and handles more than well enough?

[cg360]

Re stiffness, I remember when the M3 saloon came out, a couple of mags mentioned the 3-door being stiffer.Apparently you need more chassis rigidity when there are two holes in each side, than if there is only one. Does that make sense?

[sniff petrol]

cg360 said:

Re stiffness, I remember when the M3 saloon came out, a couple of mags mentioned the 3-door being stiffer.Apparently you need more chassis rigidity when there are two holes in each side, than if there is only one. Does that make sense?

I remember seeing some Nurburgring laptimes between the M3 coupe and convertible and there wasn't a lot between them, about 2-3 secs so enough to take into account the extra weight of the cabrio but not the stiffness. If I did cage it up anyway it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference between a 2 or 4 door, and I'd rather have the extra access to carry spare wheels and stuff to trackdays.