Project E46 M3 Track Car

[m30dus]

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!!

[m30dus]

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?

[m30dus]

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]

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 ) 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.

So in theory I could extend/adapt the existing loom to relocate the stock ECU within the cabin and just remap the stock unit for now? Only real downside for now being that I would have to install additional sensors for the Stack dash..?

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]

john185k said:

Think i have seen your E92 M3 about Edinburgh - looks a great built - would love to get some pictures of the finished article.

John

Edited by john185k on Tuesday 13th January 20:36

Sure thing - am in and around Edinburgh most days or crusing up and down the M74/M6...

As for painting the windows, windscreen, engine, suspension, wiring, brake servo, infact pretty much everything has to be removed for fitting of the cage and then the cage itself and the interior need painting and so not much more in way of effort to paint the whole car, or so I've rekoned. Also I'm hoping the gloss black will look the dogs

Some toy's arrived with me today, Stack dash, front AP's and the rollcage should be arriving tomorrow. Can't wait to get the final bit's stripped off it this week and have a marathon sesion getting everything up on ebay...!

Have decided on the Intrax IK2 suspension and am hoping to get this and the CSL intake on order this week. Am getting the upgraded anti-roll bar kit too.

Hope it takes shape pretty quick - am getting quite into it..

[m30dus]

Digital said:

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

Sure thing - although the Exige looks like abit of a weapon...!

[m30dus]

Unfortunately things got in the way this weekend so no update to report. Hopefully we can finish stripping the car this weekend in anticipation of the rollcage turning up early part of next week.

Also some of the toy's starting to arrive (not looking forward to wiring this lot up!!)



Pitty that needle is never going to see the right side of 10,000 rpm







Quality is outstanding. Pitty it's not plug n' play!

[m30dus]

Apologies for the lack of updates, am swamped under a mountain of work at the moment and although I've not been up to the garage I believe everything is now stripped off and the rollcage/seam welding underway. Just waiting on the new peddle box turning up and with any luck it can start getting some paint over the next few weeks..!

Also had some more goodies show up during this week...

New seats, Corbeau Revenge in carbon









New zorst, full Miltek with racing cats





Hopefully some big updates to come soon when thing's start going back together.

Thanks for all the interest in the meantime!

[m30dus]

Don1 said:

Very cool. What sort of weight have you stripped out so far, and what's the target?

Not sure on the standard weight, but judging by all the bit's coming off and going on, it must be somewhere near a 150-200kg saving. The orginal factory seats were stupid heavy (so much so you thought 'hang on I've left a bolt in')...

On the subject of weight saving, my clutch and flywheel turned up today and it weights nothing! Hope it lasts..!











Thank's to Imran at Evolve - top service.

[m30dus]

Paul_M3 said:

This is a brilliant project. I shall be following this with interest.

I must admit to being extremely envious.

Many a time I have looked through the Demon Tweeks race catalogue, building my 'imaginary' track car in my head.

Thanks Paul, this for sure is my Demon Tweeks dream. Often used to wonder how they sold enough stuff to survive... gone and answered my own question now.!

[m30dus]

Unfortunately work has kept me away from the car this last month or so, but am now in a position to get it moving along again. The shell is now best part stripped and some 15kg + of sound deadening removed. Shell has now been dropped off for rollcage fitting/ seam welding and am told it will be finished this time next week

















Hopefully a big update to follow in the next couple of weeks!

[m30dus]

Some more toys arrived from Evolve (Intrax IK2 kit)..









Quality looks to be very good and they are substantially lighter than the original components.

[m30dus]

Jimbomofo said:

Your a braver man than me, its gonna be one hell of a car. When are you planning to have her ready for the track?

I thought I had learnt my lesson years ago when I poured £££ into my little 106. I'm in a little too deep with this now but am sure to be grinning on it's first attack of the tarmac

I'm really hoping to have it on the road in the next two months, otherwise it will have been an almost pointless exercise so far as this year is concerned. Can't wait!

[m30dus]

dan101smith said:

Are you planning on doing anything with the diff (like dropping the ratio)?

Had not planned to? should I be??

[m30dus]

Everything seams to be taking an age, but the cage is finally in!! Just waiting on the carbon roof, bonnet and boot before we start painting. We should be at this stage in the next week or so and then a case of bolting everthing back together and modifying all the wiring.

Some quick progress pics..



















As you can see, fitting the dash back in is going to be an absolute pig of a job. Any ideas where I could get some pictures of one thats been done before?

Cheers

[m30dus]

Unfortunately progress has been painfully slow of recent due to work commitments. Now that the worst of that is out the way, I'm going to be making a big push over the next month to get it all back together before missing too many more track days. I've also made some subtle changes to the original plans as I will, with a little luck be entering into the CSL Cup series. I'm also ditching the black paintwork in favour of white. Word is white is faster?

The biggest change will be to the suspension setup where I'd previously planned and unfortunately acquired my Intrax IK2 kit. At the CSL Cup meet at Brands last weekend the only other competitor running Intrax suffered a front suspension failure where the coilover literally snapped in two. Luckily he was ok but I don't fancy my chances if that were to happen mid corner! I'll be ditching these now in favour of a KW 2-way setup which are steel bodied.

I've also given into temptation and started fiddling with the engine which is being treated to Shrick cams and supersprint manifolds. I'm also trying my best to source an original CSL carbon airbox but I fear little success and I don't fancy the new price from BMW..!

The existing steel roof has been removed and is being replaced for a carbon item saving a good 15Kg in weight.

The following bits have also been received, mainly c/o Thorney Motorsport

AP 4-pot rear brake kit



Redtop race battery (for positioning behind passenger seat)





The all important steering wheel and snap-off boss





Fire extinguisher kit





Battery isolator



Power steering cooler



Timing transponder



100-Cell cats (Miltek)



With any luck I'll have pictures of a painted shell this time next weekend. Thanks for the interest so far.!

Edited by m30dus on Saturday 13th June 18:53

[m30dus]

sniff diesel said:

With an extra E46 to bulk up the grids they may be able to stop inviting the Kumho boys to take part in the CSL challenge.

There are a few other cars at similar stages to mine so hopefully the grid will fill up in time. It is early days but I'd be enclined to say they've done a great job so far. Now that the E46 is becoming more accessible it can't fail to be anything other than a complete hit. Just hope I don't get carried away and bend it!

[m30dus]

It's the Clubsport setup which is said to be on a par with the Intrax IK2 kit. The next leap up would be to a 3-way setup with remove reservoirs but they come with a hefty 6k price tag (ouch).

Being a 'novice' I can only imaging I'll be a year or two before I'd be in a position to setup and make the benefit of the 3-way kit.

[m30dus]

sniff diesel said:

philmots said:

Supercharger?

Not permitted in the CSL cup.

Besides not being permitted in the CSL Cup I'd be concerned about reliability in a track enviornment. I know there are a number of road cars running chargers but not sure about on track?

Guess I will just have to stick with good old n/a ///M power for now!

[m30dus]

s62 said:

sniff diesel said:

m30dus said:

I'd be concerned about reliability in a track enviornment. I know there are a number of road cars running chargers but not sure about on track?

There's a Finnish guy on here uses a supercharged S50B32 engine in an E30 M3 at the Ring. but that blew up not long after the conversion.

Hey I´m Icelandic!!!

And yes the engine blew but that was because the internals were too weak,
not built for FI like the original owner said

PS. The S54 with the CSL airbox is good for 360-370hp with a remap.

Ouch - hope the repair is well underway and not costing to much £££. You going forged or standard internals?

Crossie - thats quite a thread - Steve has had quite a journey with his car going by that!! I might look at my rear axle mounts now, wasn't aware those were a potential weak point..