Just starting out with an E46 330ci budget track car build
Discussion
The MV1’s with the pilot sports on are only for wets and driving to and from the track really so I fitted the team dynamics up just to see how they were regarding clearances with 12mm spacers and everything was fine.
One thing I have noticed is that the coilovers hardly droop at all when they’re off the ground!
I’ve followed some settings for ride height that I’ve found during my hours of research regarding e46 wheel alignment and optimum settings so I’ve set it to those heights and it sits really well, it’s not too low and it’s not too high. Most importantly when you go underneath and have a look the control arms are totally parallel to the ground which I believe will be optimum for track use.
One thing I have noticed is that the coilovers hardly droop at all when they’re off the ground!
I’ve followed some settings for ride height that I’ve found during my hours of research regarding e46 wheel alignment and optimum settings so I’ve set it to those heights and it sits really well, it’s not too low and it’s not too high. Most importantly when you go underneath and have a look the control arms are totally parallel to the ground which I believe will be optimum for track use.
After id got the coilovers fitted i thought I’d move on to sorting some of the bushes on the car! I’ve had some solid Z4M rubber bushes in my toolbox for ages so I went on with getting those fitted,
I think the old control arm bushes had seen better days,
And fitted, very castor offset,
The old ones were that knackered that I put a screwdriver in the bracket to try and twist them off and the outer of the bush was turning and the inner was staying where it was so they’d completely separated. They were causing a knock on braking too so that’s now gone!!
While all the trays and brace were off I gave them a quick power wash and clean up, I’m trying to clean things up as I go rather than all at once!!
With the trays fitted back on,
I’ve not driven the car far at all yet but the steering feels much more positive and precise so I can only imagine what they’ll feel like on track.
I think the old control arm bushes had seen better days,
And fitted, very castor offset,
The old ones were that knackered that I put a screwdriver in the bracket to try and twist them off and the outer of the bush was turning and the inner was staying where it was so they’d completely separated. They were causing a knock on braking too so that’s now gone!!
While all the trays and brace were off I gave them a quick power wash and clean up, I’m trying to clean things up as I go rather than all at once!!
With the trays fitted back on,
I’ve not driven the car far at all yet but the steering feels much more positive and precise so I can only imagine what they’ll feel like on track.
With all the suspension work and bushes fitted and out of the way I needed to get the geo done. Ideally I wanted to get the rear control arm bushes fitted prior to this but I’ve not got the time or the parts for that matter so I’ll just have to redo the rear axle when these have been fitted over winter or something!
I’m really lucky in that I’ve got access to a Beissbarth machine at work and can do all my own alignment!
So got the initial setup done,
I inputted all the ride height, tyre pressures, tread depth and wheel size and then got on with the actual alignment totaled! Again I’d been reading up online on what would be best in terms of settings and tried to get as close to these as possible!
Settings at the rear axle before adjustment,
And after adjustment, a little bit of toe in and as close to -2.2 degrees camber as possible,
Camber on the rear looks much better now,
Settings on the front before adjustment,
Again not far off really just the toe to adjust to 0 toe and pretty much keep the camber as is,
Front camber looks nice and aggressive now,
The end results,
Geo is obviously something that depends a lot on driving style, technique, car setup etc etc but I can easily change things if they don’t work out so this is a good base to start with I hope!!
I’m really lucky in that I’ve got access to a Beissbarth machine at work and can do all my own alignment!
So got the initial setup done,
I inputted all the ride height, tyre pressures, tread depth and wheel size and then got on with the actual alignment totaled! Again I’d been reading up online on what would be best in terms of settings and tried to get as close to these as possible!
Settings at the rear axle before adjustment,
And after adjustment, a little bit of toe in and as close to -2.2 degrees camber as possible,
Camber on the rear looks much better now,
Settings on the front before adjustment,
Again not far off really just the toe to adjust to 0 toe and pretty much keep the camber as is,
Front camber looks nice and aggressive now,
The end results,
Geo is obviously something that depends a lot on driving style, technique, car setup etc etc but I can easily change things if they don’t work out so this is a good base to start with I hope!!
One last little thing that I managed to get done was just to beef up the back of the car a little bit more. Now I know you should t fall into the trap of putting shiny things on a track car but the rear exhaust tips were so pitted that all the autosol in the world would not bring them back so of all things I purchased some B8 Audi A4 tailpipe trims!!
Only took approximately 3 years to arrive from China, the back of the old girl went from this,
Much better now,
Last jobs to do are seats, harnesses and steering wheel, coolant change and I think we’re all ready to go for Oulton, fingers crossed!
Only took approximately 3 years to arrive from China, the back of the old girl went from this,
Much better now,
Last jobs to do are seats, harnesses and steering wheel, coolant change and I think we’re all ready to go for Oulton, fingers crossed!
helix402 said:
Good update. Shame the alignment doesn’t show castor to see the difference the Z4 bushes make. I’d like to see how they change the driving experience.
It is a shame really because it would two fold on the castor side as I’ve set the top mounts to maximum castor adjustment as well. I don’t know about other geo machines but the one I’m using is quite an old Beisbarth machine so it definitely doesn’t have a castor readout. I drove the car to the petrol station this morning just to clean the brakes off really. Not driven it in anger yet but the main things I’ve noticed are that it feels very eager to turn in and feels nice and sharp on turn in. Also it’s hard, very very hard and noisy with the rear ended stripped out. Should be great fun on track though.
I also do have a light knocking noise from the OSF area, I’m not sure whether this is a characteristic of the solid top mounts or not!!
Andrew-b90y3 said:
I’ve followed some settings for ride height that I’ve found during my hours of research regarding e46 wheel alignment and optimum settings so I’ve set it to those heights and it sits really well, it’s not too low and it’s not too high. Most importantly when you go underneath and have a look the control arms are totally parallel to the ground which I believe will be optimum for track use.
Looking good!Any more details on the above please? Links or resources would be great. Thanks.
After work I managed to have 5 minutes on the car and sorted the knock on the OSF. When the coilovers came they came fully assembled from Gaz but with the top nuts loose so I used an Allen key to keep the piston from turning and nipped up (or so I thought) the coilovers to the spherical bearing top mounts! Checked these after work and with the weight of the car on the OSF now I managed to get a fair bit more tightening done so this will be the knocking sorted.
As far as articles go this is a very helpful website I found:
https://thebuildjournal.com/tech-guides/e46-m3-ali...
The rest of my info where screen grabs from M3 cutters etc as there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable/helpful people on there. Hope this helps!
TheDukeGTi said:
Looking good!
Any more details on the above please? Links or resources would be great. Thanks.
There’s isn’t really much info available on the non M chassis but obviously a huge wealth of info available on the e46 M3 platform. Logically I thought the M and the non M cars are a very similar chassis, rear wheel drive, high powered. Obviously they both have different track etc but a rear wheel drive BMW is a rear wheel drive BMW at the end of the day so I researched on e46 M alignment and applied it to my non M car.Any more details on the above please? Links or resources would be great. Thanks.
As far as articles go this is a very helpful website I found:
https://thebuildjournal.com/tech-guides/e46-m3-ali...
The rest of my info where screen grabs from M3 cutters etc as there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable/helpful people on there. Hope this helps!
So I managed to get a little more done before work this week!
The front of the car went from this,
To this,
Ordered some high tensile bolts and side mounts,
The carpet needed a really good hoovering under where the seats had been as I don’t think it had ever been done before.
The end result was this,
I think I’ve got the seating position spot on for what I want. Legs slightly bent with little to no effort needed to depress the clutch and the brake and with my arms outstretched I can rest my wrists on the top of the wheel giving me a slight bend in my elbows.
Still need to fit steering wheel and harnesses which will hopefully get done over this weekend!
The front of the car went from this,
To this,
Ordered some high tensile bolts and side mounts,
The carpet needed a really good hoovering under where the seats had been as I don’t think it had ever been done before.
The end result was this,
I think I’ve got the seating position spot on for what I want. Legs slightly bent with little to no effort needed to depress the clutch and the brake and with my arms outstretched I can rest my wrists on the top of the wheel giving me a slight bend in my elbows.
Still need to fit steering wheel and harnesses which will hopefully get done over this weekend!
Love the seats, they look fantastic.
I don't suppose you might have a link for the seat mounts and bolts please?
My 330ci build is now at a point where I would like to install some decent seats, and yours look great
Edit: Don't worry, I was being lazy. I've found the mounts on eBay
I don't suppose you might have a link for the seat mounts and bolts please?
My 330ci build is now at a point where I would like to install some decent seats, and yours look great
Edit: Don't worry, I was being lazy. I've found the mounts on eBay
Edited by Pig benis on Friday 1st November 09:02
Pig benis said:
Love the seats, they look fantastic.
I don't suppose you might have a link for the seat mounts and bolts please?
My 330ci build is now at a point where I would like to install some decent seats, and yours look great
Edit: Don't worry, I was being lazy. I've found the mounts on eBay
Thanks Benis, I’m really happy with them.I don't suppose you might have a link for the seat mounts and bolts please?
My 330ci build is now at a point where I would like to install some decent seats, and yours look great
Edit: Don't worry, I was being lazy. I've found the mounts on eBay
Edited by Pig benis on Friday 1st November 09:02
The bolts are M8 x 35MM high tensile bolts and washers. I’ve just looked at my eBay and the seller I got mine from must no longer be selling them as I can’t open the item, these are the same though,
Ebay item no: 141657800366
Also with the side mounts I bought these ones,
Ebay item no: 223474582604
The seller was extremely helpful and answered any questions that I had for him etc so id really recommend him!
Get some pictures up of your build mate!
Worth looking at the mirco seats from gsm
Deep and really comfortable
Well made and cheap as chips
Have some in the e92
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/shop/racing-seat-ha...
Deep and really comfortable
Well made and cheap as chips
Have some in the e92
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/shop/racing-seat-ha...
Edited by custardkid on Saturday 2nd November 22:43
Andrew-b90y3 said:
There’s isn’t really much info available on the non M chassis but obviously a huge wealth of info available on the e46 M3 platform. Logically I thought the M and the non M cars are a very similar chassis, rear wheel drive, high powered. Obviously they both have different track etc but a rear wheel drive BMW is a rear wheel drive BMW at the end of the day so I researched on e46 M alignment and applied it to my non M car.
As far as articles go this is a very helpful website I found:
https://thebuildjournal.com/tech-guides/e46-m3-ali...
The rest of my info where screen grabs from M3 cutters etc as there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable/helpful people on there. Hope this helps!
Brill, thanks for this. Great updates again!As far as articles go this is a very helpful website I found:
https://thebuildjournal.com/tech-guides/e46-m3-ali...
The rest of my info where screen grabs from M3 cutters etc as there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable/helpful people on there. Hope this helps!
Figuring that football would be off this morning I managed to get a couple of hours done on the car while my mini me was asleep!!
First off I got my new steering wheel fitted which my OH purchased for me for my birthday, she’s a goodun!!
Old bus type steering wheel,
New to me OMP wheel and boss,
I’ve not wired up or fitted a horn button as I’m on limited time at the moment so that’s a job that I’m going to be doing over winter. Initial impressions are good, the wheels 330mm so is smaller than the factory wheel, it needs a good clean but other than that I think it will give a nice positive steering feel to the car.
Next job on the list was to fit the harnesses into the car. First off I laid them onto the floor just so I knew what was going where Once they’re in,
And fitted on both sides,
I did run into a couple of issues with these, firstly I know that the shoulder strap angle isn’t ideal as they’re at quite and angle to the seat (I’m going to wrap them around the rear strut brace to address this)!! Also the side belts on the inboard I’ve fixed them to the car with these brackets I’ve made up,
Drilled and tapped high tensile steel with M10 x 1.5 harness eyelet bolts, I thought for the outer lap belts I’d be able to use the oem seatbelt bar but it’s too wide for the harness clips so I’m going to have to make a couple more brackets. Other than that all is good and it’s looking quite purposeful now!
Another little issue I ran into was that the when changing gear I was banging my arm on the armrest because the seats are so low so I quickly whipped out the arm rear and just reinstalled the center console!
First off I got my new steering wheel fitted which my OH purchased for me for my birthday, she’s a goodun!!
Old bus type steering wheel,
New to me OMP wheel and boss,
I’ve not wired up or fitted a horn button as I’m on limited time at the moment so that’s a job that I’m going to be doing over winter. Initial impressions are good, the wheels 330mm so is smaller than the factory wheel, it needs a good clean but other than that I think it will give a nice positive steering feel to the car.
Next job on the list was to fit the harnesses into the car. First off I laid them onto the floor just so I knew what was going where Once they’re in,
And fitted on both sides,
I did run into a couple of issues with these, firstly I know that the shoulder strap angle isn’t ideal as they’re at quite and angle to the seat (I’m going to wrap them around the rear strut brace to address this)!! Also the side belts on the inboard I’ve fixed them to the car with these brackets I’ve made up,
Drilled and tapped high tensile steel with M10 x 1.5 harness eyelet bolts, I thought for the outer lap belts I’d be able to use the oem seatbelt bar but it’s too wide for the harness clips so I’m going to have to make a couple more brackets. Other than that all is good and it’s looking quite purposeful now!
Another little issue I ran into was that the when changing gear I was banging my arm on the armrest because the seats are so low so I quickly whipped out the arm rear and just reinstalled the center console!
tombate911 said:
Coming together nicely now mate.
What long term plans have you got for the car?
Thanks a lot pal!What long term plans have you got for the car?
Long term plans at the minute are just get as much seat time in as possible now (which will be next year after Oulton this weekend).
The cars at a point nearly where I’m extremely happy with it and also my mini me means that time isn’t exactly plentiful for me.
Plans in the future will more than likely include a cage (probably the same as yours) a klarius exhaust and total strip of the interior and repaint.
I’m really aiming for a 330 challenge spec car!
Oulton Park preparation has continued this morning and I think I can pretty much call the car ready for weekend now!! I also reckon I’ve dodged a couple of bullets by doing some preventative maintenance on the car before weekend.
A couple of things which I’ve wanted to get done as an absolute bare minimum have been the water pump, thermostat and aux belt (you’ve got to remove it to do the water pump anyway) so this morning I set about completing the tasks and found a few curious things!!
Started off with aux belt in place,
Only took about an hour to get both the water pump and the thermostat off,
First bullet dodged is the water pump, on removal of the water pump I found that it still had a plastic impeller water pump fitted and was a gen BMW part so I would imagine this has never been changed (first bullet dodged)
Old,
New (with metal impeller)
Now I didn’t get any pictures of the second dodged bullet but on removal of the thermostat it was clear that the stat had been stuck shut for quite some time, the outlet to the bottom radiator hose was bone dry and dusty so there’s clearly not been any coolant flow into there for a while, phew!!
New stat,
Third bullet dodge of the morning was a good one, I knew the aux belt needed changing as it had cracked but on removal saw this,
Yikes,
All done!!
My advice to anyone wanting to track one of these as a first priority and one of your first purchases I would definitely as a minimum do water pump, thermostat and aux belt as you just never know!! Three potential ruinous things caught there by doing some preventative maintenance!!
I had to knock up a couple more brackets for the harness eyelets as a solution to locating the lower lap belt on the harnesses!! Also while I had a few minutes I cleaned up the team dynamics and rebalanced them, although looking at the forecast this weekend semi slicks aren’t going to be required!!
A couple of things which I’ve wanted to get done as an absolute bare minimum have been the water pump, thermostat and aux belt (you’ve got to remove it to do the water pump anyway) so this morning I set about completing the tasks and found a few curious things!!
Started off with aux belt in place,
Only took about an hour to get both the water pump and the thermostat off,
First bullet dodged is the water pump, on removal of the water pump I found that it still had a plastic impeller water pump fitted and was a gen BMW part so I would imagine this has never been changed (first bullet dodged)
Old,
New (with metal impeller)
Now I didn’t get any pictures of the second dodged bullet but on removal of the thermostat it was clear that the stat had been stuck shut for quite some time, the outlet to the bottom radiator hose was bone dry and dusty so there’s clearly not been any coolant flow into there for a while, phew!!
New stat,
Third bullet dodge of the morning was a good one, I knew the aux belt needed changing as it had cracked but on removal saw this,
Yikes,
All done!!
My advice to anyone wanting to track one of these as a first priority and one of your first purchases I would definitely as a minimum do water pump, thermostat and aux belt as you just never know!! Three potential ruinous things caught there by doing some preventative maintenance!!
I had to knock up a couple more brackets for the harness eyelets as a solution to locating the lower lap belt on the harnesses!! Also while I had a few minutes I cleaned up the team dynamics and rebalanced them, although looking at the forecast this weekend semi slicks aren’t going to be required!!
Excellent, looks like you're ready to go. I think my car also had the original water pump, thermostat and aux belt before the recent work... testament to how well they can last but certainly not something to take to circuit and risk losing out on track time! Look forward to your updates on the first track outing... really keen to hear how you fare with the GAZ coilovers... may need some more info on those.
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