My E36 328 Drift Car - oversteer matters.

[dannyDC2]

Those of you who have followed my posts for a while will know I'm no stranger to an E36 328i, this being my third. I bought it from a friend of mine who had lost interest in the build.

I've always been curious about drifting. Sliding about on roundabouts is fun, but I wanted to get out there and do it properly on the track. Much like when I began to do trackdays in my Integra, it was time to have a proper go at it!

I may as well post my first two E36s before we begin (any excuse).

The first one was a 1999 Techno Violet Sport with grey leather, bought June 2013. Eibachs, M50, M3 LSD, simple mods that made for an excellent car.

029.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr
008.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

I had to sell that car after being made redundant, I sold it to my friend who ended up writing it off a few months later.

My second 328i Sport was bought December 2015. It was a bit council when I bought it, but the paintwork was immaculate. BMW Hellrot. I added my favourite all time E36 interior, cloth vaders, as well as a few other small upgrades.

DSC_0864 by DanielJames., on Flickr
Hellrot Red E36 by DanielJames., on Flickr


This was a lovely car, and I did really like it. I sold it to another PHer (and an old friend), who ran it for a few months before selling it on again. The last time I saw it for sale it was up for nearly £4k! It was in really good condition, but underneath it was due a refresh.

That brings us to my 3rd and current 328 - a 1996 Boston Green car. Originally an SE, it has quite an interesting history in recent years. I recently discovered it was used as a track car by a chap named Suj before ending up in Essex where it was parked up for quite a long time doing nothing. Then a friend of a friend bought it, presumably cheap, and decided to make a bit of a 'show car' out of it.

Here's some of the old pics I found from 2012:



The car had 153k on the clocks in 2012, it now has 166k I believe. The last 13k have been pretty tough, but the engine seems strong.


I haven't been able to find any pictures of the car between then and now, but here's how the car looked when I first saw it last September, which led to the eventual purchase.




Oh stance...


So the car now has 'overfenders', LTW wing, Sport bumpers, and Recaro seats. It also has a welded diff, but hasn't been on a drift day...

It was owned by an old friend of mine, I stopped over at his that weekend and couldn't take my eyes off the car. A month or so later, a deal was made, and I had my first drift car!

I paid a little more than I would have wanted for a drift car, but it did look pretty mean. I didn't end up buying it on the OZs, instead the car came on a battered set of Rondell 0058s.

Anyway, time to get this thread up to date! Just to confirm, the car already had:

• Welded Diff (stock ratio)
• BC Racing Coilovers (with rear coilover too, posh!)
• It came with 1 Recaro Pole Position. Luckily I'm a hoarder of said seat, so I swapped it out for a matching set I had spare
• M50 inlet, DaveF induction kit
• Stripped out interior, with custom door cards and switch panel
• a poorly steering rack
• a broken thermostat housing

I invested in a few mods before going drifting, but nothing crazy. I didn't want to fit a hydro handbrake, or modify the car too much without actually getting out there and learning how to do it properly. Instead I replaced the plastic thermostat housing for a metal one, as mine failed. Common problem, and it's only a £30 or so fix. I also changed the steering rack and upgraded it at the same time, to a 'purple tag rack' - if you're not aware some E46s and I believe Z4s? came with faster steering racks, known as the purple tag racks. They're a popular upgrade on E36 and E46s.

I did my first drift day last December and since then both me and the car have been getting better and better. I've had a few offs, but drifting really is a balls out sport. You need to go balls out, or you've probably got more chance of crashing. Having the confidence to just 'send it', and steer the car with your right foot, takes some getting used to, especially if like me you are traditionally used to maximising grip, not avoiding it.

Aside from regular maintenance, I've been upgrading bits and bats as I go along. (Well, my mechanic John has, I've been doing odd jobs, but mostly I leave it up to him).

The mods so far this year include:

• Rebushed most of the suspension with powerflex items, including M3 Evo front eccentric bushings for increased castor
• Meyle E46 Lower Front Control Arms, these give a much wider track (50mm), providing clearance needed for the modified knuckles
• Modified lock knuckles with parallel ackerman
• M20 single mass flywheel, lightened to 7kg. With this I also had to use an E30 325i clutch, which was brand new of course! (OEM LuK)
• Recaro Pole Position seats, a matching pair I robbed from the Integra when I bought some Profi's for it.
• 067 Purple Tag Steering Rack

I've tried to stick to the rule of only upgrading things when I feel I've reached the limit of the OEM part. The extra lock is pretty magical, as is the turn in provided by the front suspension changes. If you've ever driven a car with a welded diff, they do 'push on' when you enter a corner. With the mods listed above, that is minimised greatly.

So, how about some pictures (these are all hosted on Facebook, so apologies for the quality)







You'll see I bought some M3 alloys as 'skid rims'. I quite like the Rondells, I even had them refurbed last month, but they are pretty battered. One of the rear wheels is banana'd, but the fronts are pretty good. I fitted the front wheels with a set of Pirelli P Zero Nero's to give the front end as much chance as possible at gripping in all conditions. It baffles me how many drift cars I see at events on budget front tyres...

I also have chose not to fit a hydro handbrake. This is a bit of a 'triggering' subject in the drift world. Once I learnt to balance the car with the footbrake, I see absolutely no need for it. Perhaps as I've come from a trackday background, I prefer to simply throw the car around and make it dance using weight transfer, rather than relying on a magic wand to get those angles. It's different strokes for different folks I guess. I'm not too sure what you'd call the style of drifting that I'm doing, but you definitely don't see many doing it this way. I find that baffling, as it's so much fun!

So that's about it, I'm sure I've missed something but I've been typing this out for a while now I'll finish with some pictures of the car after a clean last weekend. If you'd like to see any footage of the car doing its thing on track, here's a video from my latest drift day

1090181 by DanielJames., on Flickr
1090182 by DanielJames., on Flickr
1090185 by DanielJames., on Flickr

I'm not too happy with the front number plate, or the black kidney grills, but drifting is a bit council so I think I'll leave them as is for now.

You don't see many drift cars on here, so hopefully this doesn't get flamed too much. I love E36s as you can probably tell, so it's been fun doing something different in one. Obviously they've been used for drifting for years, but it's been fun getting involved, and I intend to carry on doing so!

Cheers,
Dan

Edited by dannyDC2 on Friday 14th July 12:34

[snowen250]

I think that looks pretty cool! Nice write up too, my E36 M3 had one of those 'purple' racks and I was told it made a big difference.

Drifting isn't my thing really, but long as you are enjoying the car and enjoying yourself who cares? Think it suits the wheels too.

Simon

[DanielSan]

Looks cool, does it's job perfectly. It's a yes from me.

And in before all the miserable tts moan about stance, modifying/ruining a future classic and all the other st that gets trotted out by the same few posters...

[MRobbins1987]

I like this Dan, looks like a riot from your videos.

[SidewaysSi]

Good thread! I had an Integra DC2 and now also have a 328i coupe with a few mods. Interestingly I prefer the BMW to drive (and prefer it to an M3 aswell).

Got to love some oversteer! Mine will go very sideways very easily

[skylarking808]

mmm that techno violet sport made me go a little weak at the knees...

Seems like you are going the right way with the drifter, although the front number plate would probably test my OCD.
As much as I like standard/road E36 sports I think the mods and wheels are great - you obviously know your 328s.
Look forward to sideways updates!

Oh yeah, how many rear sets of tyres you got through so far?

[Onetrackmind]

I've been a big fan of this car since following your videos, Danny. I think it's the arches and LTW spoiler - just has a certain appeal. I've previously owned an E46 M3 and a 3.0 E36. Will be back on the lookout for another E36 in the next few months. Miss mine hugely. Love the look and build quality.

[BenLowden]

That looks like a lot of fun! Have been tempted to try and build something similar recently, even though I've never had a go at drifting other than mucking around in Caterham's. Hmm... Will watch this with interest.

[avenger286]

Nice read. Like the fact you have gone your own way regarding the hydro handbrake. I rally and don't feel the need for one ether cables work just fine.
It is nice to see something different being a drift car instead of all the tracks day cars and road warriors.

G

[dannyDC2]

Thanks for the replies all! The E36 is still going strong, last week I drove it up to Scotland for Driftland, kicked its head in all day then drove home

Before heading up there I did a few jobs on the car, such as:
[*] Removing the Viscous fan and installing an aftermarket electric item, using the OEM air con rad wiring and relay to make it factory(ish) plug and play!
[*] Installed E46 330* front brakes. My nearside front caliper seized up so decided to upgrade.
[*] Removed the Air Con pipes, radiator, fan, compressor, brackets - this was time consuming, as anyone who's done it on an E36 will know! (the bolts behind the crank pulley...!)

I got the car absolutely filthly up in Scotland, so gave her a good clean once we got home. I've got some pics of 'skidz' as well somewhere, will get them uploaded if anyone's interested!

1 year anniversary by DanielJames., on Flickr
1 year anniversary by DanielJames., on Flickr
1 year anniversary by DanielJames., on Flickr
1 year anniversary by DanielJames., on Flickr
1 year anniversary by DanielJames., on Flickr
1 year anniversary by DanielJames., on Flickr

Really hard colour to take pictures of, Boston Green. The Techno Violet car was the same!

You should hopefully notice that the black kidney grilles have gone too. I had to take the hammer to them yesterday as they were tiger sealed in! bks.

Anywho - plans for the future involve changing the diff ratio, I really would like to start doing some 3rd gear skids but it can't quite pull itself round at the moment with standard gearing.

It's an interesting world drifting and I'm still enjoying learning the ins and outs. It's not a very PH hobby to get in to I know, but I thought I'd keep this somewhat updated regardless

Cheers,
Dan

[BenLowden]

That looks fantastic, definitely something I'd like to have a go at. My concern with building a drift car is the limited use it would get though; what's it like to drive on the road? I'd assume it would be pretty hairy given that these are generally built to go very sideways, but I could be wrong!

[DanielSan]

BenLowden said:

That looks fantastic, definitely something I'd like to have a go at. My concern with building a drift car is the limited use it would get though; what's it like to drive on the road? I'd assume it would be pretty hairy given that these are generally built to go very sideways, but I could be wrong!

Not sure on Dan’s car but since putting the welder in my 330 there isn’t a massive difference in how it drives when blasting along a b-road.
It’s awful in car parks though

[JackP1]

Enjoyed watching the Youtube channel vids of this!

The E46 M3 is also mint btw.

[GEFAFWISP]

Just saw this pop up on Facebook, my missus' has now agreed that my next purchase needs to be an e36 (finally!)

Been following your vlogs for some time and especially enjoy the drifting vids, it has inspired me and hopefully I'll take the plunge and start doing some skids soon, just need to buy a car for it.

Look forward to seeing some footage from Scotland!

[HedgeyGedgey]

That compact you drive in your latest vid, my god the back end seems to rotate quickly. Is that due to the shorter wheelbase?

[dannyDC2]

BenLowden said:

That looks fantastic, definitely something I'd like to have a go at. My concern with building a drift car is the limited use it would get though; what's it like to drive on the road? I'd assume it would be pretty hairy given that these are generally built to go very sideways, but I could be wrong!

It's lairy on the road, especially in low friction conditions! I'm rather looking forward to a few winter drives.

In the dry it doesn't really have the power to come unstuck without forcing its hand, you can full throttle through the gears with confidence despite the rear wheels constantly travelling at the same speed.

Long story short - it's a lot of fun both on and off track!

[dannyDC2]

JackP1 said:

Enjoyed watching the Youtube channel vids of this!

The E46 M3 is also mint btw.

Thanks

GEFAFWISP said:

Just saw this pop up on Facebook, my missus' has now agreed that my next purchase needs to be an e36 (finally!)

Been following your vlogs for some time and especially enjoy the drifting vids, it has inspired me and hopefully I'll take the plunge and start doing some skids soon, just need to buy a car for it.

Look forward to seeing some footage from Scotland!

Drifting is excellent, not just for fun, but it really does improve your overall car control/confidence.

HedgeyGedgey said:

That compact you drive in your latest vid, my god the back end seems to rotate quickly. Is that due to the shorter wheelbase?

I believe that was more down to skinnier tyres (225 vs 195), less weight, more power, and a shorter diff ratio. All that together made it very different to drive than my E36.

My E36, although a drift car, is pretty damn grippy. Most of the E36s you'll see at drift events will be on skinny 195/205 rear tyres. I've been on 225 for a while now. Grip has proven to be more important than you'd think.

[BenLowden]

dannyDC2 said:

It's lairy on the road, especially in low friction conditions! I'm rather looking forward to a few winter drives.

In the dry it doesn't really have the power to come unstuck without forcing its hand, you can full throttle through the gears with confidence despite the rear wheels constantly travelling at the same speed.

Long story short - it's a lot of fun both on and off track!

Excellent, definitely something to look at more next year. If you ever bring it along to a Sunday Service, let me know! Would love to have a chat about it in person.

[dannyDC2]

BenLowden said:

Excellent, definitely something to look at more next year. If you ever bring it along to a Sunday Service, let me know! Would love to have a chat about it in person.

Yeah I keep meaning to get my ass to an SS! Did attend the Donington Park one last year in my Honda Civic EG (the red one..)

I noticed a crack in the front nearside wheel the other night on the E36 - pretty gutted. I remember hitting a plank of wood hard on the motorway coming home from Scotland last week so possibly that.

That means I can get new wheels though!

[BenLowden]

dannyDC2 said:

Yeah I keep meaning to get my ass to an SS! Did attend the Donington Park one last year in my Honda Civic EG (the red one..)

I noticed a crack in the front nearside wheel the other night on the E36 - pretty gutted. I remember hitting a plank of wood hard on the motorway coming home from Scotland last week so possibly that.

That means I can get new wheels though!

Ah yes I remember that, you were flying! We're planning a few more events further north next year, so will hopefully have something that's a bit more local.

That's a bugger about the wheel. Not that we generally need much of an excuse to buy more car parts! Currently have three sets for my Megane...