What an amazing year I've had in the E36. From leather-lined
sales chariot
VLN practice car
, it's been an amazing journey.
Dale remains very pleased with his Nitrons
This time last year I was just getting to grips with replacing my sports cars with a four-door block of Bavarian steel. Academically I knew that the E36 could do the job, otherwise why would they have been so successful racing here at the 'Ring for so many years?
But being honest, I had my doubts that a saloon car could ever be as much as fun as something like my old MX-5 turbo or even the ill-fated RX-8. It's too tall, too big, too heavy, I thought. And there's a 6-cylinder boat anchor hung over the front.
It took some serious expertise, a fair bit of cash and a lot of work to turn the 328i into the dedicated 'ring-tool that it is today. Now it's capable of lap after lap at full speed, and at lap times that would make the old RX-8 blush.
Winter wheel and tyre combo is staying
The biggest improvement, both in measurable times and in subjective feel can still be attributed to the Nitron suspension that was
custom-spec'd by Spires
. This year my racing has put me behind the seat of quite
a few tasty cars
, but only a couple of them have handled as well as my old E36. That's quite an achievement really. Especially when you consider that the Nitron kit and set-up by Spires would set you back around £2,500, and both the cars I would consider superior had KW kits worth more than my BMW and Nitrons combined!
The Nitrons work with all those new M3 bushes, bearings and the E30 uniball front arms to produce such a beautifully direct feel from the wheels to the hands. It's brilliant, and something that Infiniti can only dream of with its new fly-by-wire steering.
The E36 has come quite a way...
I've been doing some more laps in tourist traffic, just enjoying the driving. I've finally settled on a brake set-up that doesn't cost the earth. E46 calipers might offer an increase in disc size, but the fact is that stock BMW 325s can do 4-hour and 6-hour races here on standard discs.
So after a conversation with Freddy at Special Brakes I handed over the cash for some Hawk DTC pads. They're a bit sharp, and they took some serious getting used to, but they're what a lot of the race teams use here. And I can see why. They took some serious bedding-in and they don't like it when you use them gently, as deposits build quickly, but they are really strong. As in lock the wheel at 140mph strong. Grabby at first, but you soon get used to them.
And keeping the original disc sizes mean I can still use my 15" wheels and snow tyres. So the season's not going to be finished for a while yet...
Fact sheet
Car: 1997 BMW 328i SE
Run by: Dale Lomas
Bought: September 2012
Purchase price: £950
Last month at a glance: Did a few laps of the 'ring, commuted to work and back. Didn't need fixing!