Monday 22nd June 2015

BMW E36 M3: PH Carpool

One man's mission to turn his E36 M3 into a truly unique track toy

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Name: Darren Drinkwater
Car: BMW E36 M3 Coupe
Owned since: April 2013
Previously owned: "TVR Cerbera, Ford Racing Puma, VW Golf GTI, Renault Clio Trophy, 2x Smart Coupes, various E30 and E36 BMW 3 Series, Renault Megane RS250, Peugeot 309 GTI, Renault 5 GT Turbo, Volvo S40 T4, Vauxhall Astra GTE, Vauxhall Nova GTE, ex-police Ford Escort (don't ask) Volvo S40 R Design, Renault 21 Quadra ... the list goes on from there."

First M in a fair back catalogue of cars

Why I bought it:
"Despite owning several E36s in the past I'd never owned a genuine M car. Having sold my last track car, a 328i Sport, I had the opportunity to look around for a replacement and knew this had to be in the form of an E36 M3. I needed to pop my M cherry.

"Plus, 3.0 litres, one of best straight-six engines ever made, individual throttle bodies, and a cracking engine note - why wouldn't you want to buy one?!"

What I wish I'd known:
"I knew what I wanted to get and knew what I was getting into with the E36 - the M3 side of things hasn't yet in two years haunted me with something I wish I had known. Buy an M car and maintain it like one and there shouldn't be much you wish you'd known."

Art car livery looks the business

Things I love:
"Absolutely everything about this car. Well, almost everything. BMW 'M tax' can be frustrating but there are ways to work around that, and in fairness to my local BMW garage they do have an account with discount for me.

"But aside from that there are no gripes about owning the car. The noise from induction to exhaust, the way it rips round the rev counter giving every single one of the 101 horses per litre a chance to make their presence known.

"E36s got knocked at the time as not being the race homologation special the E30s were, but handling wise this car gives me everything I could ever ask for, especially on track.

"Speaking of which, the track is where the car was bought and built for, the chance to take the car out and enjoy the fruits of our labour with the small group of friends who helped me is when the best times are had. On the road the car is great, on track with friends, sharing a beer after or looking at GoPro footage of those 'moments'. For that the car is utterly brilliant.

"Easily one of the best 'loves' of the car was the opportunity it afforded me to meet the team at Mission Motorsport and have Dan and the team there wrap it for me. It's my homage to the BMW art cars with some Paul Smith influence. Meeting the team, hearing some of their stories, sharing cups of coffee and supplying ice creams, going back and forth on design and colours ... all part of the love affair with the car. Of all the cars I have owned this one has wriggled under my skin the most and is absolutely a keeper; there is just that much I love about the car."

Things I hate:

There's no missing it, that's for sure

"'M tax', though I might have mentioned that already! Driving the car on the street does seem to bring either the best out in people - I've had people ask if they can take a picture of the car (could be good or bad I guess, maybe I should start to trawl forums for threads about shockingly stripy cars!) or have their picture taken with the car. Then I have people who see the roll cage and act like utter imbeciles and try to race you off the lights or pretty much anywhere as they seem to expect me to drive like the street is a race track.

"But as for things about the car I actually hate, there's nothing; nada, zilch, zero, nothing at all."

Costs:
The car hasn't been that costly to run - that is based purely on man maths! Things like the roll cage, OMP wheel, harnesses, Recaro seats, Bilstein dampers, new wheels and tyres, larger ARBs, etc aren't really a cost if they don't need to be replaced but you just choose to. They aren't strictly a running cost, more an improvement cost. Ergo the car hasn't been 'that costly to run' - see what I said, it was based on man maths!

"The US is a great place to source parts from, just being careful that they understand it's a Euro M3 and not the US version, which is just a warmed over 328i. But there are still a lot of companies like UUC and Turner Motorsport who supply everything from clutches, single-mass flywheel, brake ducting - pretty much everything you could name. In the UK forums like Northloop have good contacts for tyres, brake pads and discs - think AP Racing, Pagid, Federal and you get the idea. CR-MTech in the UK are a goldmine of parts and they've helped me out many times, most recently for a replacement crank - don't ask, remember the man maths!"

Where better for a track-prepped M3?

Where I've been:
"The car has been out on a lot of tracks inc Snetterton, Silverstone (International and GP circuits) and several trips to the 'ring. The car is fully road legal, if not really road comfortable, so it's been driven to all the track day events as well as used for day to day stuff. Not managed to make it to Spa thus far, but definitely on the cards for this year as well as to the 'ring with Destination Nurburgring and around the UK circuits with Goldtrack and Circuit Days."

What next?
"Right now the car is in the process of a somewhat delayed winter rebuild. It's in the final stages, though the engine has yet to be fitted back in the car, other than taking care of that minor detail. Future plans include more weight loss, side and rear glass to be removed and replaced with Lexan, window motors and mechanisms removed and then the sunroof - yes I know 'proper' track cars don't have a sunroof to start with! I have a fibreglass filler panel for the roof and will pick up a non sunroof headliner to replace the current one. Combined hoping to lose another 40kg or there abouts - the winter rebuild already saw 29kg come out of the car, in addition to the early weight removal.

"Once the current wrap has had enough, or I've had enough of it, I'll be taking care of the paint and have a '65 BMW Sebring theme in mind for the next wrap. Oh and the small matter of shipping the car to the US to live once it hits 25 years old; did I mention that this one is a keeper?!

"I try to keep an up to date blog on the car as well as a history of the whole Project Nordschleife story. Attached are a few images of the car as it's changed over the last years, and yes it is really black underneath those stripes!"

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Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at [e-mail]!

[Richieboy3008]

Cool car, wish I still had mine. Bang for buck, not much comes close.

[Windymiller]

My old car. It was stood in my basement carpark for about 2 years unused unfortunately so it's good to see it's still alive!

I hear one of the shocks was only held on by about 2 threads when it was checked over?

[d_drinks]

yeah the car is still running. A lot of changes from when you had it

Ah a bit less than a couple of threads, the OS rear damper wasn't attached at all, the bolt was still in the damper, just not attached to the rear hub, dangling away free.

[helix402]

Love the wrap.

[JB!]

Like the wrap but for me these nail the art car a little better:

[Oz83]

Looks like it's made up of coloured stripes of vinyl, rather than a 'wrap' in the traditional sense. Bet that's a bugger to wash!

Looks great and exactly like a track car should look. Wild and memorable.

[d_drinks]

JB! said:

Like the wrap but for me these nail the art car a little better:

They are definitely better copies of BMW Art cars, the aim wasn't to replicate the art cars but develop a homage to them mixed in the stripes that Paul Smith is famous for. Hopefully the end result conveys something along those lines

Oz83 said:

Looks like it's made up of coloured stripes of vinyl, rather than a 'wrap' in the traditional sense. Bet that's a bugger to wash!

Looks great and exactly like a track car should look. Wild and memorable.

oh yes it's a bugger to wash though no where like the bd they were for the lads to apply, each stripe put on individually. The lads at MMS did an utterly brilliant job

[JB!]

d_drinks said:

JB! said:

Like the wrap but for me these nail the art car a little better:

They are definitely better copies of BMW Art cars, the aim wasn't to replicate the art cars but develop a homage to them mixed in the stripes that Paul Smith is famous for. Hopefully the end result conveys something along those lines

Oz83 said:

Looks like it's made up of coloured stripes of vinyl, rather than a 'wrap' in the traditional sense. Bet that's a bugger to wash!

Looks great and exactly like a track car should look. Wild and memorable.

oh yes it's a bugger to wash though no where like the bd they were for the lads to apply, each stripe put on individually. The lads at MMS did an utterly brilliant job

Yeah I see the Paul Smith influence now you mention it!

[MrBarry123]

JB! said:

Like the wrap but for me these nail the art car a little better:

They're a bit too sceney with the wheels though.

Great car OP - top effort.

[Windymiller]

d_drinks said:

yeah the car is still running. A lot of changes from when you had it

Ah a bit less than a couple of threads, the OS rear damper wasn't attached at all, the bolt was still in the damper, just not attached to the rear hub, dangling away free.

Really? Jesus. Wonder if someone was attempting to relieve me of them?