Yet another E36 328i track toy project?

[A.Wang]

To cure the Sunday boredom, I was thinking about how easily/cheaply a 2nd track day car can be built, with comparable spec/power/grin factor to my 944 S2, but more "disposible". So far I have come up with...

• E36 328i for less than £1000
• Stripped interior, bucket seats and harnesses
• Bolt-in roll cage
• Coil-overs
• New OEM brake discs
• New or refurbished OEM calipers
• Mintex (race) brake pads off my 944

...and that's it.

I know precisely nothing about BMWs, let alone specifics about the E36. I do, however, know that they're bullet proof, cheap as chips and handle well out of the box. The above list should cover the safety aspects (roll cage, bucket seats, harnesses), handling and stopping.

Would OEM discs and calipers from an E36 328i be good enough for track use, given the right pads?

The hardest part of this "project" is to find the above bits cheaply. I guess eBay is still a valid place for used bucket seats, bolt-in roll cages etc. I don't want to compromise too much, and certainly not on safety, so brake and suspension parts will have to be brand new.

Is £3k including the car realistic, or should I stop sniffing last night's left-overs?

[bull996]

I have just done this with a 325 E36.

Yes its possible for the money, mine was £400 for the car!

I have added coilovers, seats etc etc. Re the brakes.....I changed to grovved and drilled discs and am using Ferrodo DS2500 with decent fluid...They are great, and even at Oulton in 30 degree heat, they never faided at all. I feel that anything more would be overbraking the car and no benefit.

They only thing I need is a cage, but they are a lot. Quotes are coming in at over £1500 and the car needs to be totally stripped, which I cant do. There are some bolt ins available for £650 plus fitting (a nice chap on here offered his services).

I have more fun than I can put into writing, for a small outlay!

Do it.

[T89 Callan]

I'd forget about the cage and spend the money on some decent front discs and pads, decent tyres and coilovers if you can afford it.

[JonyPI]

worth getting an 'x brace' aswell, basicly a strut brace that goes under the car which help you rid the car of understeer much better than the normal stut brace on the top of the shock towers.

[GTWayne]

I have done the same as bull996 above, bought an e36 325i 'loon for £420, it has an LSD fitted as standard and I have managed to sell the grey leather interior for £200 already!
I bought the car on Wednesday and was on track @ Goodwood on Friday!
All I have managed to do so far is to fit an uprated anti roll bar and upgrade the brake fluid but even on the near knackered original button sized discs and pads the car came with I had no brake issues on the day at all but different tracks will require more or less from your brakes.
I am going to try and get the car on coil overs and AP's all for under a grand including the purchase price of the loon ( in all fairness I do have an M3 that is proper track tricked up and allot of the parts that I will be using for the loon have been donated from the M3 )
It may be worth bearing in mind that although the 328i does have more torque than the 325i, the max. bhp output is the same and in reality there is very little difference in performance although merely changing the inlet manifold on the 328i with that of a 323i or 325i is good for a 20 bhp gain alone but these facts a side I guess the point I am trying to make here is go more for the bargain rather than a specific model and you will achieve your objective

[Neal 182]

I have a E36 328i coup sport that i was turning into a track car so fair it had the back seat removed EBC pads braided brake lines, KW v2 coilovers next on the cards was seats belts and a 3.0L M3 LSD diff but at Croft last mouth a mate late me have a go in his westfield and I can't get it out my head so I'm going to be selling my 328 to make room for a westfield the car was a good one to start with a full bmw service history and I have spent over £1k on it and have a new set of front grooved disc's to go on just need some pads it's stands me at over £3k if your interested I'm putting it up for £2650

[GTWayne]

If a 328i happens to come along at the right price then fair do's but a 325i will be equally rewarding so don't discount it is all I am saying. You also need to consider the 'you can get a good one or a bad one' factor too.

[sniff diesel]

If you want a bit of inspiration:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Ring-shed E36 325i&mid=67799

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... E36 - Track Day Car&mid=67799

http://www.zonemotorsport.co.uk/phpbb3/viewforum.p...

http://www.bmwowner.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=26&a...

Shop around for parts rather than going nuts with a Deamon tweaks catalogue and you could build a very nice quick car for £3k.

[carlosvalderrama]

I did exactly what you're planning on. My 328 had been in a very mild bump and cost me £350, I repaired the bumper and headlight backs and fitted a pair of new indicators, all done for about £30.

Sold the insides, mirrors and other stuff and made just over £300 back.

Only a couple of points I can add, the first is I've never found a bolt in E36 cage, they've all been weld in, but I never looked that hard.

Secondly, the OEM discs and calipers are only just up to it. I used Brembo max discs and EBC blue pads (pretty good) and while they never, ever faded, despite serious abuse, they overheated a lot and the discs warped and cracked. This only happeded on an open pit day, it's a bit easier on them in a sessioned day. Try 8 series calipers and M3 evo discs for a budget upgrade.

[swtmerce]

I use Brembo Max discs and Performance Friction 97 compound pads on my 328i. Never had any problems with fade nor cracking/spotting etc. I once bought Nitrac discs (more than 3 times the cost of the Brembos)and they cracked after two events. They sent me replacements and they cracked too. You can't beat the Brembos.

[bull996]

[quote=carlosvalderrama]Only a couple of points I can add, the first is I've never found a bolt in E36 cage, they've all been weld in, but I never looked that hard.

[quote]

I thought that too, but have found (after muchos hard work looking) this site.
http://www.ca-at.co.uk/products-Y2FyX21ha2U9Ym13Jm...

It has bolt ins ...cool.

Edited by bull996 on Monday 27th July 08:11

[bull996]

Oh and one last thing.

I hear what folks are saying about the 325 v 328, but what also helped me decide was that 325s are not affected by nikasil.

[benny.c]

I'd say that either the 328 or 325 would make a good starting point - we went for early 325 non-vanos as it's fairly bullet proof. The 325 is a little lacking in power but a great handling car that stops well will always be quick. On a fast flowing circuit like Oulton the lack of power is less of an issue because we carry so much speed through the corners. An LSD isn't needed on a 325 with sticky tyres as it doesn't have the power to make it worthwhile.

First three things I'd recommend would be suspension, brakes and loosing weight. I'd then go for a weld in cage for safety and stiffness every time in a dedicated track car. In a lighter car (our is 1140kgs) I don't think poly bushes are necessary to start with - we don't run them and the car handles nicely. Same goes for the Z3 brace, I don't think it's a priority.

Much is made of the "slow" rack on the 325 but I can't say I've noticed it. Maybe on a twisty track it may be an advantage but at Oulton I've found the existing rack to be almost perfect. There's a hairpin and two chicanes and neither are a problem. By the time you've forked out for poly bushes, a Z3 brace and rack you are probably half way to affording a cage - of course then you've got to fit it

Edited by benny.c on Monday 27th July 11:15

[bull996]

I agree with everyting Benny said-I am very happy with my 325.

I has KW Clubsports put on, better discs and pads and stripped it out. Oh and a wrap with loads of graphics.

The reason I want a cage sooner rather than later is I am struggling to to find places to mount the shouler harnesses...any tips benny?

[benny.c]

bull996 said:

...any tips benny?

Yup, fit a cage

Not sure really TBH as I've never fitted any apart from the ones in our E36. Don't the manufacturers say the shoulder belts have to be at no more than 5 degrees or some thing like that. I was going to say have a read of this thread but you posted on it

http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&amp...

You can get harness bars but they aren't cheap:

http://www.racerwheel.com/spr-30007g.html

Edited by benny.c on Monday 27th July 12:14

[benny.c]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It'd be interesting to see the difference and we have some ready to fit once the stock ones let go. I have read that a fair few E36 race cars stick with the stock bushes though so who knows what's best.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yeah, it's strange as I've heard so many people grumble about it. Maybe ours is a different rack as it is a very early (Nov '91) car. It's certainly not like my E30 which is really slow.

[GTWayne]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It is interesting how some find the standard rack so poor yet the ratio difference between M3 and Z3 is only .3 of a turn lock to lock. I too changed to the Z3 rack on my 3.0ltr M3 and to be honest did not notice a massive difference but I can tell that there IS a difference
If I had had the chance to evaluate both racks on the same car before parting with my money I don't think that I would have bothered to be honest but having a slightly quicker rack and maybe a smaller diameter steering wheel has got to help some I guess?

[GTWayne]

^^^ Don't you find that some of us are more sensitive to certain weak points/inadequacies in our cars?
Eg. some say that the ideal amount of neg. camber on the front of the car is 2.5/2.7 degrees but I get on much better with 3.5/4 and factor in that some have more or less natural feel than others with regards to car control and there in the problem lies I guess.
One thing is for sure, if the M3 came standard with the Z3 ratio, we certainly wouldn't be swapping it out for a slower rack would we?

[benny.c]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Maybe we have got a different rack. I certainly don't swap hand positions anywhere at Oulton.

[bull996]

benny.c said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Maybe we have got a different rack. I certainly don't swap hand positions anywhere at Oulton.

Nor me-mine is a very early 1991 too.