Project E46 M3 Track Car
Discussion
Hi All, I am a fairly new member of the PH forum although I have been browsing the forum for the last couple of years. Yesterday I collected an E46 M3 coupe with the intention of building a track car over the next 2/3 months. Other than a couple of Subaru/Mitsi owners days, I've had very little experience on the track and hopefully by keeping a record of the build on here I can obtain a few pointers from other enthusiasts.
The car is late 2001 model, 2 former keepers and 54k on the clock. Unfortunately a little too good to track but it fulfilled the primary requirements, i.e. manual and minus a sunroof. Here are the pic's after collecting the car yesterday;
The basic plans for the build are;
Full weld-in Custom Cages rollcage
Seam welded chasis
Full re-spray in black
Coilover suspension with adjustable bumb & re-bound (yet to decide which?)
AP 6-Pot front brake upgrade
AP 4-Pot rear brake upgrade
AP peddle box
All fuel, brake lines etc re-routed through car
Carbon race seats & 6-point harnesses (yet to decide which?)
Stack race dash + cambus ECU link
Motec M800 ECU
De-Vanos
CSL wheels with Toyo 888 cut slicks
100-cell CAT's
CSL intake plenum
Carbon bonnet
Carbon CSL style boot
Still got to decide on gearbox and clutch. More than likely to be just a short-throw kit and ugraded flywheel/clutch assembly of sorts.
I've got a week or so before the first parts start to arrive so yesterday saw the start of stripping the interior and wiring loom. Next weekend will see removal of the engine + box so I can get underway with modifying the wiring looms whilst the shell goes away for rollcage fitting and seam welding.
With a little luck hopefully I can keep the thread up-to-date after each weekend of progress. In the meantime any comments/pointers most welcome!!
The car is late 2001 model, 2 former keepers and 54k on the clock. Unfortunately a little too good to track but it fulfilled the primary requirements, i.e. manual and minus a sunroof. Here are the pic's after collecting the car yesterday;
The basic plans for the build are;
Full weld-in Custom Cages rollcage
Seam welded chasis
Full re-spray in black
Coilover suspension with adjustable bumb & re-bound (yet to decide which?)
AP 6-Pot front brake upgrade
AP 4-Pot rear brake upgrade
AP peddle box
All fuel, brake lines etc re-routed through car
Carbon race seats & 6-point harnesses (yet to decide which?)
Stack race dash + cambus ECU link
Motec M800 ECU
De-Vanos
CSL wheels with Toyo 888 cut slicks
100-cell CAT's
CSL intake plenum
Carbon bonnet
Carbon CSL style boot
Still got to decide on gearbox and clutch. More than likely to be just a short-throw kit and ugraded flywheel/clutch assembly of sorts.
I've got a week or so before the first parts start to arrive so yesterday saw the start of stripping the interior and wiring loom. Next weekend will see removal of the engine + box so I can get underway with modifying the wiring looms whilst the shell goes away for rollcage fitting and seam welding.
With a little luck hopefully I can keep the thread up-to-date after each weekend of progress. In the meantime any comments/pointers most welcome!!
Oh yes, I like the idea of this project. Its a nice starter car too.
However, i would question the need for a different ECU when your not really changing the engine, if you were doing cams and manifolds etc then i could see a point. However the standard ecu is a good unit and alot can be done with WinOls and a bit of time.
However, i would question the need for a different ECU when your not really changing the engine, if you were doing cams and manifolds etc then i could see a point. However the standard ecu is a good unit and alot can be done with WinOls and a bit of time.
Unfortunately the standard ECU is located in the engine bulkhead where the rollcage is installed onto the front suspension turrets. Also the standard loom takes a fair amount of chopping about for the ECU change and I thought it would be beneficial to get this done in the initial build. Cams, headwork, etc. are likely to follow but not until later in the year. Hopefully it can be a good platform for things to come.
What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
paul26982 said:
this is oing to be a fantastic post, nice colour too, was expecting silver
yeah, don't see many in that colour!I wouldn't bother with the re-spray, probably going to cost a few grand and you could spend that money on other parts of the car that will be of more use on the track.
Cheers for all the positive feedback. Costs are going to be somewhere near £30k for the complete build, give or take. I paid £11k for my car, perhaps a little over the odd's but it was local and has an impeccable history including all paperwork from new, engine recalls etc. If you factor in this level of mod's with a CSL you would be looking somewhere in the region of £50k for the build and to be honest most of the CSL parts would be binned in the process! It's also bound to take a ding at some stage or other and bending a standard car over a CSL would be somewhat easier to swallow (or at least I'd like to think so).
Edited by m30dus on Sunday 11th January 15:02
m30dus said:
Unfortunately the standard ECU is located in the engine bulkhead where the rollcage is installed onto the front suspension turrets. Also the standard loom takes a fair amount of chopping about for the ECU change and I thought it would be beneficial to get this done in the initial build. Cams, headwork, etc. are likely to follow but not until later in the year. Hopefully it can be a good platform for things to come.
What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
If further mods are planned then i think your going about it the right way with planning for them now. (of coarse i would'nt be fitting a Motec What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
) Also of coarse will help with the Stack dash. Not sure if your planning on keeping the Vanos, but if you are make sure the ecu is controlling it properly and the cam control is actually mapped properly. I've seen a couple of ECU installs on other variable cam equipped engines where the mapper has not even bothered to set up the cams, makes a big difference.WinOLS is a program to access and map the standard ECU's. Its similar in theory to ECUtek (you get a rom file which tells you where in the various maps are located and allows you to access them) The 2 downsides are, its very complicated, you need to be good with hex code. and also its about 3 to 5K for the software. However many BMW mappers will have a copy.
Vixpy1 said:
m30dus said:
Unfortunately the standard ECU is located in the engine bulkhead where the rollcage is installed onto the front suspension turrets. Also the standard loom takes a fair amount of chopping about for the ECU change and I thought it would be beneficial to get this done in the initial build. Cams, headwork, etc. are likely to follow but not until later in the year. Hopefully it can be a good platform for things to come.
What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
If further mods are planned then i think your going about it the right way with planning for them now. (of coarse i would'nt be fitting a Motec What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
) Also of coarse will help with the Stack dash. Not sure if your planning on keeping the Vanos, but if you are make sure the ecu is controlling it properly and the cam control is actually mapped properly. I've seen a couple of ECU installs on other variable cam equipped engines where the mapper has not even bothered to set up the cams, makes a big difference.WinOLS is a program to access and map the standard ECU's. Its similar in theory to ECUtek (you get a rom file which tells you where in the various maps are located and allows you to access them) The 2 downsides are, its very complicated, you need to be good with hex code. and also its about 3 to 5K for the software. However many BMW mappers will have a copy.
Re Vanos I had planned to remove as keeping it with the Motec is complex and in all honestly not alot of use in a track car application (or so I've been advised).
m30dus said:
Vixpy1 said:
m30dus said:
Unfortunately the standard ECU is located in the engine bulkhead where the rollcage is installed onto the front suspension turrets. Also the standard loom takes a fair amount of chopping about for the ECU change and I thought it would be beneficial to get this done in the initial build. Cams, headwork, etc. are likely to follow but not until later in the year. Hopefully it can be a good platform for things to come.
What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
If further mods are planned then i think your going about it the right way with planning for them now. (of coarse i would'nt be fitting a Motec What is WinOls and where is it obtained? I'm guessing it's a similar application to ECUTEK?
) Also of coarse will help with the Stack dash. Not sure if your planning on keeping the Vanos, but if you are make sure the ecu is controlling it properly and the cam control is actually mapped properly. I've seen a couple of ECU installs on other variable cam equipped engines where the mapper has not even bothered to set up the cams, makes a big difference.WinOLS is a program to access and map the standard ECU's. Its similar in theory to ECUtek (you get a rom file which tells you where in the various maps are located and allows you to access them) The 2 downsides are, its very complicated, you need to be good with hex code. and also its about 3 to 5K for the software. However many BMW mappers will have a copy.
Re Vanos I had planned to remove as keeping it with the Motec is complex and in all honestly not alot of use in a track car application (or so I've been advised).
As for the Vanos, keeping/getting rid. The race guys will know more about this than me, not something i've attempted before.
I think that one has to take a hit with making track day cars in terms of depreciation, but...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/769801.htm
seems to have sold very quickly for asking price, so I think that this should be worth if not what it is costing you then very nearly?!
This sounds a bit sad, but I am very excited about this. Can't wait for the next installment!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/769801.htm
seems to have sold very quickly for asking price, so I think that this should be worth if not what it is costing you then very nearly?!
This sounds a bit sad, but I am very excited about this. Can't wait for the next installment!
Nice pair of M3s, I think these are the 2 I spotted recently near where I live. I remember thinking "there's a nice E46, wait a minute, isn't that an E92 M3 as well" 
It's rare to see especially nice cars where I live for some reason...
Hope to see you at Knockhill come the trackday season
It's rare to see especially nice cars where I live for some reason...Hope to see you at Knockhill come the trackday season
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