Just starting out with an E46 330ci budget track car build
Discussion
Sf_Manta said:
That's good, i was confused cause the gearknob has 6 speeds on it 
Still, means that ECS flywheel kit will fit straight on, and it uses a stock E34 M5 clutch so if you ever needed a replacement, easy to source one and good for over 400ft/lb of torque, perfect if one should decide to go forced induction
Ah yeah the 6 speed came out of my old car!Still, means that ECS flywheel kit will fit straight on, and it uses a stock E34 M5 clutch so if you ever needed a replacement, easy to source one and good for over 400ft/lb of torque, perfect if one should decide to go forced induction
Hhmmm forced induction! Many many years down the line and after a lot of seat time and getting used to this car I think that forced induction may be the way it’s headed!
I’ve always wanted an e46 M3 or e9x M3 but the more track days I do and the more I realize how much things cost and consumables etc I think the m3’s may have to stay as a dream, not to mention the value of them alone is enough to scare me on a track!!
Little bit of a nice update on the car from today, I dug the car out of the garage and took her to work for her first wash since Croft.
Once I'd got her washed and dried I raised her up on the ramp to have a good look over things because it's been in the garage for a while. Everything is good, brakes are a little rusty but they'll clean off once I've given her a proper drive.
Now for the exciting part of the update, I've been wanting to fit my new wheels for ages, I managed to find some Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in 18 x 9 et35. I got them used off a really nice chap with an M3. They were straight but well used so I gave them a really good clean, also they came with 2 Nankang AR1 tyres on them which were 265/35/18 so they were too wide for my needs so I managed to sell those so the wheels ended up being a really good deal. I ordered a set of 255/35/18 Nankang NS2R and fitted those up but they were too wide to fit the rear without rolling the arches. I did actually buy a wheel arch roller to roll the arches but changed my mind in the end.
I changed my mind because I managed to find a good set of Michelin PSS in 245/35/18. I've always liked the PSS and find that they are an excellent compromise between dry and wet tyres and for my current level of skill they will do just fine, I also get the clearance I need for the rear arches.
I also ordered a set of black bolts to freshen things up when the wheels are on. Bargain off ebay.
Once I'd got her washed and dried I raised her up on the ramp to have a good look over things because it's been in the garage for a while. Everything is good, brakes are a little rusty but they'll clean off once I've given her a proper drive.
Now for the exciting part of the update, I've been wanting to fit my new wheels for ages, I managed to find some Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in 18 x 9 et35. I got them used off a really nice chap with an M3. They were straight but well used so I gave them a really good clean, also they came with 2 Nankang AR1 tyres on them which were 265/35/18 so they were too wide for my needs so I managed to sell those so the wheels ended up being a really good deal. I ordered a set of 255/35/18 Nankang NS2R and fitted those up but they were too wide to fit the rear without rolling the arches. I did actually buy a wheel arch roller to roll the arches but changed my mind in the end.
I changed my mind because I managed to find a good set of Michelin PSS in 245/35/18. I've always liked the PSS and find that they are an excellent compromise between dry and wet tyres and for my current level of skill they will do just fine, I also get the clearance I need for the rear arches.
I also ordered a set of black bolts to freshen things up when the wheels are on. Bargain off ebay.
Some pictures of the wheels bolted up and on. The fronts are perfect, the rears are close but they'll be fine!!
Really really happy with how the car sits now, Pro race are such a nice looking wheel and I've wanted a set for ages now. They're extremely light too. I'm not sure what practical differences the wider wheels will give me out on track but hopefully I'll find out soon enough.
Really really happy with how the car sits now, Pro race are such a nice looking wheel and I've wanted a set for ages now. They're extremely light too. I'm not sure what practical differences the wider wheels will give me out on track but hopefully I'll find out soon enough.
Andrew-b90y3 said:
Xcore said:
Looks awesome on the wheels, this thread always has me browsing eBay after then I realise 330cis arnt cheap anymore!
Thank you mate and yes it looks like they may become the new E36 328's!
Love how this car's working out.
I haven't done an update for a while so I thought it was a good time to update the thread. After the Croft mis shift I knew the clutch needed some attention as it was slipping quite badly. I had a few spare minutes after work tonight so I set about yanking the box out and having a look at what had been going on!
All in I think I had the gearbox out in about 45 minutes. It was quite easy as I had already had the exhaust off so the studs etc were all free. One tip. For anyone taking a gearbox out of one of these a little tip is that there is a 10mm holding the dust shield to the gearbox, make sure you undo that before you try using a pry bar to get the gearbox out!
Anyway pictures of the clutch,
Clutch is absolutely goosed, looking at the friction plate I think it may have been on its way out anyway and the mis shift at Croft has just helped it on its way really. The flywheel seems to have come off OK though which is a good do as I haven't bought one!
I went gen BMW with the clutch as I thought with something like this I didn't want to risk any parts failing shortly after fitment!
I left it at that for tonight so will be having an early start in the morning with a few other nice bits going on too!!
All in I think I had the gearbox out in about 45 minutes. It was quite easy as I had already had the exhaust off so the studs etc were all free. One tip. For anyone taking a gearbox out of one of these a little tip is that there is a 10mm holding the dust shield to the gearbox, make sure you undo that before you try using a pry bar to get the gearbox out!
Anyway pictures of the clutch,
Clutch is absolutely goosed, looking at the friction plate I think it may have been on its way out anyway and the mis shift at Croft has just helped it on its way really. The flywheel seems to have come off OK though which is a good do as I haven't bought one!
I went gen BMW with the clutch as I thought with something like this I didn't want to risk any parts failing shortly after fitment!
I left it at that for tonight so will be having an early start in the morning with a few other nice bits going on too!!
With the clutch off on Friday night and the flywheel being confirmed as OK I could crack on with refitting the new clutch, I didn't have the right clutch alignment tool as it wouldn't fit in the centre of the flywheel bearing and was slightly too small to sit flush with the pressure plate. Good old electrical tape came to the rescue and I soon had a centring tool fashioned up and ready to go.
I had to grind the end of the tool down a bit and then pack it out with electrical tape but it got the job done. When it came to putting the gearbox back in I struggled with lining up the Bell housing dowels with the dowel holes on the block. I think it was because there's a gasket which acts as a dirt shield that goes around the block dowels however I'd managed to bend it a little removing the gearbox and so I centre punched around the dowels and it sat down a treat. Starter motor was a bit of a pain too because it bolts in the opposite way and is under the inlet manifold but it went on in the end.
A modification that I've been really looking forward to came next. I've had this in my toolbox for months and couldn't wait to get it fitted.
I'd heard really good things about these and Maher from RTD was excellent to deal with, it was expensive but compared to the likes of some shifters it wasn't actually that bad. My reasoning behind it was also that all the detent springs in the gearbox needed replacing, when I priced those up it was similar money to just install a shifter which has all the springs in built so I wouldn't need to bother with the detent springs. It was easy to get the old shifter off, the gearbox end was already disconnected and that just left a little bracket at the rear to undo and out it came.
Fitting the RTD was simple enough, I spent a lot of time thinking about what to do with the rubber boot from the old shifter, in the end I trimmed it down and fitted it in the position that it was in on the old shifter and all seems well.
Once it was fitted and connected up I had to test out the shift and its absolutely superb. When it was first fitted 3rd gear selection wasn't a straight push it was off to the right and then up which is incorrect. The procedure is to put the shifter in 3rd, back off and then tighten a small Allen key bolt on the bottom of the shifter and that centralised it so happy days. Honest feedback would be that it's going to take some getting used to, it feels very stiff and the throw is that short it feels like it's not in gear sometimes, feels ace though!!
I had to grind the end of the tool down a bit and then pack it out with electrical tape but it got the job done. When it came to putting the gearbox back in I struggled with lining up the Bell housing dowels with the dowel holes on the block. I think it was because there's a gasket which acts as a dirt shield that goes around the block dowels however I'd managed to bend it a little removing the gearbox and so I centre punched around the dowels and it sat down a treat. Starter motor was a bit of a pain too because it bolts in the opposite way and is under the inlet manifold but it went on in the end.
A modification that I've been really looking forward to came next. I've had this in my toolbox for months and couldn't wait to get it fitted.
I'd heard really good things about these and Maher from RTD was excellent to deal with, it was expensive but compared to the likes of some shifters it wasn't actually that bad. My reasoning behind it was also that all the detent springs in the gearbox needed replacing, when I priced those up it was similar money to just install a shifter which has all the springs in built so I wouldn't need to bother with the detent springs. It was easy to get the old shifter off, the gearbox end was already disconnected and that just left a little bracket at the rear to undo and out it came.
Fitting the RTD was simple enough, I spent a lot of time thinking about what to do with the rubber boot from the old shifter, in the end I trimmed it down and fitted it in the position that it was in on the old shifter and all seems well.
Once it was fitted and connected up I had to test out the shift and its absolutely superb. When it was first fitted 3rd gear selection wasn't a straight push it was off to the right and then up which is incorrect. The procedure is to put the shifter in 3rd, back off and then tighten a small Allen key bolt on the bottom of the shifter and that centralised it so happy days. Honest feedback would be that it's going to take some getting used to, it feels very stiff and the throw is that short it feels like it's not in gear sometimes, feels ace though!!
Once the shifter was finished I needed to change the spark plugs, last time out at Oulton the car got a little bit of a misfire that cleared once I cycled the ignition so I thought spark plugs would be a good simple way to start and try and rectify any issues.
Simple job really and looking at the state of the plugs its no wonder the car was developing a misfire when it was really warm under load.
Another little job I'd wanted to do for ages was to sort out the location of my aux plug, seen as I had all the ashtray out to fit the shifter it was a perfect time to just neaten the install a bit and fit the plug into the blanking plate.
I forgot to mention that when I fitted the shifter I fitted some m3 gearbox mounts too, I wanted to stay oem but go for slightly stiffer so that the shifter and gearbox would have less movement in it.
All done and ready for Oulton now, just needs a good clean.
Simple job really and looking at the state of the plugs its no wonder the car was developing a misfire when it was really warm under load.
Another little job I'd wanted to do for ages was to sort out the location of my aux plug, seen as I had all the ashtray out to fit the shifter it was a perfect time to just neaten the install a bit and fit the plug into the blanking plate.
I forgot to mention that when I fitted the shifter I fitted some m3 gearbox mounts too, I wanted to stay oem but go for slightly stiffer so that the shifter and gearbox would have less movement in it.
All done and ready for Oulton now, just needs a good clean.
Oulton Park next weekend is approaching really quickly so I needed to put a few miles on the car because I've not driven it since I did all the work. The weather's been nice this weekend so I thought I'd get out over the tops in Saddleworth and stretch her legs a bit.
As soon as I headed up the M62 towards Leeds the fog descended on the hills so it wasn't really the spirited drive I was hoping for, I did get a few good runs over the tops though and the car was great. Shifter feels amazing, I've said it before though it's defintely going to take some getting used to, 4th to 5th is particularly strange becaee of the strength of the centreing spring a lot of force is required to push it across. Really happy with it though.
Exscuse the car it still needs a clean but I'm going to do that one day this week.
As soon as I headed up the M62 towards Leeds the fog descended on the hills so it wasn't really the spirited drive I was hoping for, I did get a few good runs over the tops though and the car was great. Shifter feels amazing, I've said it before though it's defintely going to take some getting used to, 4th to 5th is particularly strange becaee of the strength of the centreing spring a lot of force is required to push it across. Really happy with it though.
Exscuse the car it still needs a clean but I'm going to do that one day this week.
I got one more little job done on the car this morning before work. I've had this box on the top of my tool box for who knows how long now so I thought it was about time I got it fitted!!
What it contains is a centre console armrest delete. All genuine BMW items too which weren't actually that dear which was a nice surprise. Started off with this,
As you can see the oddments tray sliding mech is broke. The armrest has been removed because you can't change gear without banging your elbow on it and it wasn't even bolted down at the rear. Took 2 screws to remove the old unit,
Lots of dust and grime under there so took the opportunity to hoover the carpet while it was out and get it looking better even though you can't see it.
To fit the non armrest centre console you need to fit a small bracket which the console screws to at the rear so you can see that fitted with the 13mm here,
It was the just a case of popping the new console in, bolting it down and refitting the handbrake gaiter, hazard switch and the new cup holders and oddments tray. My pre track day coffee will have somewhere to go now rather than me spilling it on myself.
Much neater and tidier now! I also had an old gear gaiter in my toolbox that wasn't doing anything so I trimmed that up slightly and fitted it over the rtd shifter to complete the look.
Pre track day wash tomorrow then we're good to go for Saturday.
What it contains is a centre console armrest delete. All genuine BMW items too which weren't actually that dear which was a nice surprise. Started off with this,
As you can see the oddments tray sliding mech is broke. The armrest has been removed because you can't change gear without banging your elbow on it and it wasn't even bolted down at the rear. Took 2 screws to remove the old unit,
Lots of dust and grime under there so took the opportunity to hoover the carpet while it was out and get it looking better even though you can't see it.
To fit the non armrest centre console you need to fit a small bracket which the console screws to at the rear so you can see that fitted with the 13mm here,
It was the just a case of popping the new console in, bolting it down and refitting the handbrake gaiter, hazard switch and the new cup holders and oddments tray. My pre track day coffee will have somewhere to go now rather than me spilling it on myself.
Much neater and tidier now! I also had an old gear gaiter in my toolbox that wasn't doing anything so I trimmed that up slightly and fitted it over the rtd shifter to complete the look.
Pre track day wash tomorrow then we're good to go for Saturday.
Oulton Park 20-11-21
I was really excited for this track day, I haven't done one for a while and the last one that I did only lasted about 6 laps and the car was broke so I couldn't wait to get out on track at Oulton. I'd been checking the weather forecast and it was looking dry all day with a nice temperature so weather was all good.
Got to the circuit nice and early and got signed on, did the sighting laps and the car was feeling really good. The track stayed dry all day so I managed to get a lot of decent laps in, I tend to find the best thing to do with the car is do 4 or 5 laps and then come in for 20 minutes or so, let the car cool down and then go back out again.
I had a couple of issues throughout the day, one of the issues was that the nsf caliper was binding when really hot causing a really bad brake judder, I brought the car into the paddock and worked the caliper in and out, lubricating the piston all the time. It survived the day but I think its warped the disc but I have a brake upgrade anyway! Another thing to note was that when the car was really warm I was getting quite a loud rotational noise when stationary. The noise would go if the clutch was pressed and a gear was selected so I think that maybe a gearbox oil change is required as the oil might be thinning out when the cars hot. Also onto tyres. I think Mich PSS are brilliant tyres, they're a great all rounder however I did notice that after 3 or 4 laps the car seemed to develop a fair bit of oversteer and the tyres didn't seem to offer the grip levels that they did initially. I have a full set of semi slicks so they'll be going on for the next track outing next year.
One final note for the car is some praise for the M54. Its got to be up there with one of the best engines BMW have ever made, its silky smooth, bags of power and just an all round brilliant engine. There's no need to rev it to its limit, it just pulls and pulls and changing at 5 to 5.5k is perfect still retaining loads of power without being too hard on it.
I've got a few bits planned on the car over winter but it's mainly just maintenance bits!! Anyway onto some pictures from the day.
I was really excited for this track day, I haven't done one for a while and the last one that I did only lasted about 6 laps and the car was broke so I couldn't wait to get out on track at Oulton. I'd been checking the weather forecast and it was looking dry all day with a nice temperature so weather was all good.
Got to the circuit nice and early and got signed on, did the sighting laps and the car was feeling really good. The track stayed dry all day so I managed to get a lot of decent laps in, I tend to find the best thing to do with the car is do 4 or 5 laps and then come in for 20 minutes or so, let the car cool down and then go back out again.
I had a couple of issues throughout the day, one of the issues was that the nsf caliper was binding when really hot causing a really bad brake judder, I brought the car into the paddock and worked the caliper in and out, lubricating the piston all the time. It survived the day but I think its warped the disc but I have a brake upgrade anyway! Another thing to note was that when the car was really warm I was getting quite a loud rotational noise when stationary. The noise would go if the clutch was pressed and a gear was selected so I think that maybe a gearbox oil change is required as the oil might be thinning out when the cars hot. Also onto tyres. I think Mich PSS are brilliant tyres, they're a great all rounder however I did notice that after 3 or 4 laps the car seemed to develop a fair bit of oversteer and the tyres didn't seem to offer the grip levels that they did initially. I have a full set of semi slicks so they'll be going on for the next track outing next year.
One final note for the car is some praise for the M54. Its got to be up there with one of the best engines BMW have ever made, its silky smooth, bags of power and just an all round brilliant engine. There's no need to rev it to its limit, it just pulls and pulls and changing at 5 to 5.5k is perfect still retaining loads of power without being too hard on it.
I've got a few bits planned on the car over winter but it's mainly just maintenance bits!! Anyway onto some pictures from the day.
Cadwell in a couple of weeks is rapidly approaching and the maintenance list that I need to carry out on the car is as follows:
New Front Calipers
New front discs
Brake fluid change
Engine Oil Service
Now I'm just wondering what discs and calipers people would recommend, I'm keeping the RS29 pads that I've got as they aren't worn yet but I'm really struggling of what brand of calipers and discs to go for, can anyone offer any advice?
New Front Calipers
New front discs
Brake fluid change
Engine Oil Service
Now I'm just wondering what discs and calipers people would recommend, I'm keeping the RS29 pads that I've got as they aren't worn yet but I'm really struggling of what brand of calipers and discs to go for, can anyone offer any advice?
Andrew-b90y3 said:
Very nice setup that is!
I'm swapping like for like though so staying with oem size discs and calipers!!
It honestly removes a lot of issues with heat and caliper sticking issues, parts list below:I'm swapping like for like though so staying with oem size discs and calipers!!
- Porsche 986 (Boxster 3.2) Brembo front calipers - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325076185865?hash=item4...
- Caliper mounts - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190473823639
- Lines can be had from HEL
- Brake level sensor from Ebay
- front discs are either stock M3 or CSL M3 (18inch wheels only)
- 15mm spacer with hubcentric setup.
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-parts/performance-...
2 sets would cover front and rear.
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