BMW E36 "M3 LTW"

[Track_M3]

Thank you guys

Jhonno said:

Great build.. Love the old S50's

Those Deadweight batteries are mint, love mine.

Great piece of kit, had the bigger one in my M2 for couple years nd was faultless.

Networkgeek said:

Incredible E36, they really do look fantastic with this style of rear wing.

Out of interest, what mods did you do to your M2? I have an 18-plate OG in LBB that is completely stock, I intended to keep it this way, but the modifying bug is starting to creep in

The list would be pretty long is a link to my M2 build thread at the top... I'll apologise in advance to your wallet.

bumskins said:

Love that Sam, thanks for sharing looking forward to seeing how you get on with it. Funny as a youth one of my dream 'builds' was an E30 with an S54 swap, however with age i've begun to prefer the S50-series of engines - don't sound quite as raspy as an S54 and sound more mechanical/raw

Love the S50! I just wish they weren't so heavy.

SturdyHSV said:

That looks so right, great job so far!

May I ask a simple question though given the amount of quality work done so far...

The OEM radio blank, would that not be an ideal spot to drill 3 holes in and mount the oil pressure etc. gauges up there nearer your eye line?

I know what you mean, having the oil pressure gauge closer would be good but its only a small glance away.
If they were at the top I'd have to try fashion a non-oem blank for the lower section and the radio blank I will be attaching my phone to for "apple car play" sat-nav ect.

ashisgrumpy said:

Great progress Sam
Loved both the previous builds, attention to detail and focusing on the chassis work and setup rather than just upping power gets massive approval in my book.

Love the rawness of the E36 compared to the newer stuff.

Was this a factor in swapping out the M2? Didn't seem to keep it for too long.

Always what I've done, power is nothing without a good chassis.

Totally! M2 just got a little boring, it was a great car but definitely lacked feel, don't regret going DCT as that's the right box for that car but its so nice to be back in something lighter with a manual box, hydraulic power steering and no traction control that you've got to hold down a button for 5 seconds to disarm properly... just get in and go!

Actually had the M2 for 3 years but those were covid years so didn't feel it.

shalmaneser said:

Lovely car, I had an e36 m3 Evo coupe in black and i still look back on it fondly. The s50b32 is better than the s54 imo, and the chassis was lovely.

Have you fitted sway bars? Might have been tempted to go with 996 brakes all round for the matching look!

You mean anti-roll-bars unless you're American... Yes car came with Eibach adjustable ARB front and rear.

My friend has 996 one the front of his E36 328i and I just don't think they cut the mustard, done a few track days in it and I feel it definitely needs for more... plus mine will always be basically a person heavier than his as iron vs alloy engine. So I was always going to go AP after previous experience with them on past cars.

[Court_S]

This is going to be ace given how good the previous builds were.

When is the first track day?

[i_am_ash]

Love this and all of your other builds too. Will this be at players classic this year?

[Its Just Adz]

Did the M2 get sold? I loved that car.

That said, I do love an E36!

Excited to see what you do with this.

[TheOctaneAddict]

Love your threads, this one i'm sure will be just as epic as ever!

[bnbrndn]

Followed your e46 and M2 for a while now, big fan of this!

[SturdyHSV]

Track_M3 said:

I know what you mean, having the oil pressure gauge closer would be good but its only a small glance away.
If they were at the top I'd have to try fashion a non-oem blank for the lower section and the radio blank I will be attaching my phone to for "apple car play" sat-nav ect.

Ahhh yeah that makes sense, and that will be more useful more of the time up there. Good call

[Track_M3]

Court_S said:

This is going to be ace given how good the previous builds were.

When is the first track day?

Thank you

Hopefully April time, still fair amount of jobs to complete and want to get a few road miles under my belt first.

i_am_ash said:

Love this and all of your other builds too. Will this be at players classic this year?

I’ve applied for track time so fingers crossed.

Its Just Adz said:

Did the M2 get sold? I loved that car.

That said, I do love an E36!

Excited to see what you do with this.

Got put back to basically stock and shot into WBAC then took over 6 months and 2 different dealers to sell.

TheOctaneAddict said:

Love your threads, this one i'm sure will be just as epic as ever!

Thank you

bnbrndn said:

Followed your e46 and M2 for a while now, big fan of this!

It’s got a lot to live up to haha

SturdyHSV said:

Ahhh yeah that makes sense, and that will be more useful more of the time up there. Good call

Aaaand a perfect place for Harry’s lap timer

[EdmondDantes]

Looks incredible!

[Track_M3]

Not a busting amount progress has been made lately

Made a power steering overflow/catch can using a motorbike brake fluid pot

These always spill over and make it look like you've a power steering leak so hopefully this should do the trick

IMG_8991 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

IMG_8994 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

[Track_M3]

Picture of the whole front end is back together, like the OE look of the Eibach ARB in black with Powerflex black bushes

Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Next up is rear hub 4x bushes and Millway Motorsport camber arms

36's rear lower outer bushes are a solid rubber so swapped them out for a Lemforder ball joint

Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Great design of the arm as all of the adjustment can be done hub end so no worries of the exhaust being in the way for a geo

I want to try make a little gasket for the front Intrax top mount to not let any of the road grime in.

Few more little jobs to button up and it will finally be time to get some road miles on it ahead of a track day.

Also have some track wheels on order

[Dylan318Ti]

Nice car, so clean. People are really starting to look after their E36s! The front calipers look a proper bit of kit too. I've got the recall for the steering joint, can you call up and get the part only? I'm not sure BMW would do the job on my car given how modified it is.

[MDMA .]

Great build. Many years ago, I had the chance to buy an immaculate E36 M3 GT in British Racing Green. I thought it was a little bit expensive at the time at £15k. Bad move

[Joehow]

Looks unreal Mr Ratcliffe

Edited by Joehow on Monday 20th March 21:38

[cerb4.5lee]

Dylan318Ti said:

Nice car, so clean. People are really starting to look after their E36s!

I followed a really nice E36 328i yesterday, and it was great to see one out on the road I thought.

[Track_M3]

Dylan318Ti said:

Nice car, so clean. People are really starting to look after their E36s! The front calipers look a proper bit of kit too. I've got the recall for the steering joint, can you call up and get the part only? I'm not sure BMW would do the job on my car given how modified it is.

No you'd more than likely have to book the car in, they'll do it regardless of mods on the car. I know a tech at my local so some fudging was done.

MDMA . said:

Great build. Many years ago, I had the chance to buy an immaculate E36 M3 GT in British Racing Green. I thought it was a little bit expensive at the time at £15k. Bad move

I'd have loved one of them... BRG is so nice along with the GT details. But only issue I wouldn't want to take it away from original equipment.

Joehow said:

Looks unreal Mr Ratcliffe

Edited by Joehow on Monday 20th March 21:38

Thank you Joe track day soon

cerb4.5lee said:

I followed a really nice E36 328i yesterday, and it was great to see one out on the road I thought.

Any 36 I see on the road gets a good eye balling - you see ones driven by old folk that have probably had since new and garaged and think that will make a perfect project base haha.

[Dylan318Ti]

Thanks, I'll have to see what my local BMW dealer say. I've got my F20 going in for an air bag recall so can ask them then. The joint looks in good condition, I can't see any issue with corrosion. Seems a strange recall.

[Track_M3]

IMG_9127 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Another afternoon/evening spent on the spanners

One thing that was going to really annoy me was the void in the Intrax top mounts that will just let in all kinds of road grime - so before I get a geo I took them off the car and top mounts apart to slip in a 0.5mm sheet of carbon I got from Caterham F1 when they went pop. Caster is set level side-to-side where I want it and can afford a adjustment while still covering the hole, then camber is set on the main 3 bolts so won't affect the gasket at all.

The gap

IMG_9140 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

IMG_9137 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Also makes it a lot easier to reinstall as the carbon holds up the fixing that usually just drop straight out the bottom

IMG_9139 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

IMG_9138 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

All done and for a test drive

IMG_9148 by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Stuck 25/30 miles on it and all seems well - didn't go mad as needs a geo after everything has been changed and just eye balled back together, brimmed the tank and just waiting on track wheels to show up as want to make sure they clear the arches to what its been set to.

If all goes well this week I'll be driving up to Snetterton to see a friend on a track day and if all feels well with the car I will try sign on for the afternoon

[Track_M3]

After 6 long months I finally got a track day - well just an afternoon as signed on at lunch

Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Managed 4 average length sessions as the circuit kept on getting red flagged over and over, believe was 10+ throughout the course of the day.

Was raining/wet/damp most of the afternoon then when did start to dry out between red flag stoppages someone blew up and dragged an entire engines worth of oil all the way around Coram & Murray’s… far from ideal.

(Pre warning - brakes squeak a little)
Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Problems highlighted from the shakedown :
.Brake pedal felt rubbish - going to try an M3 master cylinder and figure out how to bleed ABS
.Once dried started to understeer - will knock front ARB to soft and go again
.3.15 final drive is painfully long - planning to go 3.64
.Stock LSD needs spicing up as is starting to let go/peel a wheel
.Cooled off a session early as oil gauge is Fahrenheit and I don’t know how to read in black & white
.Stock M3 oil cooler maybe started to weep & looks tired so will replace with a 325tds unit
.Brake squeak was mad once hot - hoping just a mating/bedding process

Pros :
.Intrax felt amazing even in road clicks - was mixed conditions so left at a happy medium
.Michelin PS5 are an amazing tyre in the wet and still surprising in the dry
.Even with a 100kg+ passenger it still felt nimble
.Nothing broke well other than the near side front indicator ejecting out over a curb

Driver errors :
.I’m rusty!
.Need to work on my foot work - loose fitting Vans might not have been the most suitable option
.I’m not use to a car that you can line up for a bend then nail without it biting back
.I need to learn how to drive a slow car fast

Untitled by Sam Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Track wheels will be here tomorrow so be getting tyres on and want to have a ride height tweak over Easter now the Intrax have had time to settle

Need to ceramic coat both wheels

Front adjustable GT lip is on order - apparently bit of a douch to fit

Heading to Caffeine | Machine Easter Friday to get some more road miles under my belt.

[Dr.Hellno]

You build the best beemers, and this is no different. Going from an M2 to a e36 is admirable!