BMW E34 M5 as an occasional trackday car?

[BoxheadTim]

I'm not having much luck with my recently purchased trackday shed MX5, basically it looks like the mods are OK on the road but if I want to use it on the track I have to spend an awful lot of time reworking the previous owner's turbo install until I deem it safe to use on the track in the sense that I can drive it to the track, drive it on the track and then don't need to trailer it back.

So I'm looking for a replacement but due to budgetary concerns (sunk too much money into that MX5 that "only needed a service") I either buy a really cheap shed (don't want to) or flog the runabout as well and end up with a dual purpose RWD car. I only do one trackday a month anyway at the moment so I don't really need a dedicated track car. The shortlist reads something like:

• BMW E36 325i or M3 coupe (but that's not the primary choice)
• BMW E34 M5 (would ideal as it can sit 4 adults in comfort for longer distances, which I need occasionally)
• Errr. Out of ideas error.

Any comments?

[RMac]

one track day a month is quite a lot imho.

options as far as I can see are probably to rent a car for track days - see bookatrack and their caterhams.

I can't imagine an m5 being suitable unless you throw £2k at suspension and £3k at brakes. Also make sure it has relevant cooling for oil etc.

I can't think of anything better than an mx-5 on a budget really! Just not one with a turbo.

3 series seem popular too but again, you will need to do something with suspension & brakes.

[BoxheadTim]

I would expect that I will have to do some suspension work on pretty any car I buy, so that's pretty much budgeted for. Brakes is a good point, I guess I better look into this before I buy something else. I'm usually not that hard on the brakes but that's with a car that weighs a lot less.

In a sense the MX5 would be a good trackday car but after running an N/A one I wanted something with a little more power to make up for my lack of ability . The one I've got at the moment is certainly fast enough to play with Elises and lower-powered Se7ens, but that is until I discover another bodge that lets go mid-session.

Glad I only paid for a half day at Lydden Hill last Saturday as it latest 3 1/2 sessions and then it was time to limp home.

Trouble with trackday car hire is the expense as I can't really afford a trackday per month if I'm staring at 700+ per day, plus there are no rental facilities at Lydden Hill, which happens to be my local track. Other than that, it looks like a sound idea.

[deadslow]

E34 M5 probably a bit too heavy. Great road cars though.

[mmm-five]

When I ran my e34 M5 as a road & track car (completely standard except for some track wheels & tyres) it worked out to cost £1000 a day once you factor in fuel, insurance, tyres, pads & discs, and the cost of petrol - and I used to do a day a month (winter events were cheaper as you paid less for the track day and you didn't wear out tyres as quickly in the snow/rain/ice). I stopped using the M5 after about 18 months as it was becoming really expensive to maintain and it was going through suspension parts at a rate of knots.

There are a couple of threads on M5Board.com about some stripped ones for track use, but they're not suitable as a daily driver due to having no soundproofing and no rear seats.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e34-m5-discussion...

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e34-m5-discussion...

I did have a good year where I rented one of BookaTrack's Caterhams - I'm sure they'll do a good deal for you if you pay up front (I think mine was about 25% less than the going rate if you paid for 5 days at a time).

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 24th March 11:48

[theturbs]

mmm-five said:

I did have a good year where I rented one of BookaTrack's Caterhams - I'm sure they'll do a good deal for you if you pay up front (I think mine was about 25% less than the going rate if you paid for 5 days at a time).

In comparison with a car which is heavier/more expensive to run on trackdays, hiring BaT Caterhams can be very cost-effective.

[BoxheadTim]

Thanks for the comments folks, looks like this idea might be going out the window then.

[Chris71]

Big heavy car. I suspect the same engine in a 3 Series would be more fun if you're handy with the spanners.

If you're going to do one a month I'd definitely look at something cheaper to maintain and more track orientated. There again, the Beamer gets points for originality.

[mmm-five]

They are fun on track, and they always amaze the spectators and other drivers when they see them being spanked properly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lvnO1tKLjY

However, don't forget your seasickness tablets as they are a bit 'bargey'.

[BoxheadTim]

Aaaarrrrgh. I had just resigned myself to either throwing more time and money at the MX5 or getting an M3 instead and now you post those pictures .

It is certainly tempting, especially if I can find some coilovers to uprate the suspension slightly. At the end of the day they're not heavier than Skylines and people track those, too.

Nice badge, by the way.

[JonRB]

BoxheadTim said:

It is certainly tempting, especially if I can find some coilovers to uprate the suspension slightly. At the end of the day they're not heavier than Skylines and people track those, too.

You can track anything you want, but that doesn't make it a track car.

Bear in mind that with something as heavy as an M5 you will be chewing through tyres, brake pads and other consumables at an alarming rate and it will end up very expensive.

[Chris71]

BoxheadTim]either throwing more time and money at the MX5 or... find some coilovers to uprate the [M5 said:

suspension slightly.

I suspect the amount of time and money to turn an M5 into a suitable track car is more than that for an MX5.

That said, I did see some cage'd E34 M5s being pedalled very effectively at the 'ring on my last TF visit - they do look fun.

[BoxheadTim]

Yes and no. If I wanted to turn the M5 into a caged trackday monster then you're very much correct. Due to various other things going on in my life, I should really reduce my car fleet a bit more and was thinking of replacing both the MX5 and the Golf TDI I have for my sins with a single car that I can use as a runabout but also as an occasional track car. So slight upgrades are OK, but full on track cars aren't.

[scrob]

Surely an E36 M3 is the logical choice? you can get them in 4 door too.

M5 which I haven't actually driven just seems too much of a barge. I had an E36 M3 Evo coupe and I'd have been happy to take it on track and apparently uprating ARBs and brakes makes them very good on track.

I think you're in a false economy though if you think either will be cheaper to run on track than your MX5 even if it has a DIY turbo..

[BoxheadTim]

Yes, I'm starting to look at M3s too. Of course for the full perversity factor, an M5 touring would be the ticket .

The exercise is only partially about cost. IMHO the MX5, while fine as a road car in its current guise, would need further upgrades and mods for more track use that will cost me either another few months in time if I do them myself or up to a couple of grand. Which wouldn't be that big an issue if I were to keep the car longer term but I'm planning to wander off to countries foreign sometime between the end of this year's trackday season and next years.

Using a slightly unsuitable car might reduce the overall cost, even if I need to spend some money on brakes, tyres and suspension. Plus I won't have to wait a for dyno time etc to get the car remapped...

[JonRB]

The other alternative is to pick up a tidy unmolested MX-5 similar to your current one, cherry pick swap any mods on the current one that you want to keep (eg. suspension) and then sell the current one on as a project car / lemon (delete as applicable)

[BoxheadTim]

JonRB said:

The other alternative is to pick up a tidy unmolested MX-5 similar to your current one, cherry pick swap any mods on the current one that you want to keep (eg. suspension) and then sell the current one on as a project car / lemon (delete as applicable)

That's another avenue I'm looking into. Depends what turns up, really. After driving a forced induction MX5, I would prefer another one (actually a supercharged one) over a standard one so I need to keep an eye out for the right one.

[Penguinracer]

I recall a day at Bedford where an E34 M5 was circulating extremely rapidly. The owner was running it on second hand slicks which he bought for about £40 each from a racing team. Apparently the team would use the slicks for one race day & then flog them. I think he got a few trackdays out of a set. Man that thing could could move...

[mmm-five]

Penguinracer said:

I recall a day at Bedford where an E34 M5 was circulating extremely rapidly. The owner was running it on second hand slicks which he bought for about £40 each from a racing team. Apparently the team would use the slicks for one race day & then flog them. I think he got a few trackdays out of a set. Man that thing could could move...

If it was this one...



then that'll be David Olias and his stripped out 3.6.

The tyres were either the tarmac rally cut slicks I sold him or the Pirelli P-Zero Corsa/C tyres from the old Porsche Cup cars (but I think I used all them myself).

Car is probaby only 1450kg now, so with 315bhp (in theory) it'll go quite well, plus it's got better suspension than standard.