First track only car (BMW content!)

[will_c]

* NOW FOR SALE*

So I finally bit the bullet, stopped going for daily drifters and went for a track only car.

Since I've recently become service manager of a BMW specialist, I thought that a BMW platform would be a good advertisement opportunity for the company.. Probably won't be when i crash.. lots!

After some digging, I came across the little diamond in the rough..



Now it doesn't look like much, but the engine has cams and serious headwork amongst other things, a piggyback ECU and puts out 230bhp and 258 ft/lbs with stock bottom end.



Most of the donkey work ie stripping the interior has been done already, and the car came with not much more inside than the loom, clocks, steering wheel and an old sparco competition seat..



The standard bottle cap style wheels on the car came fitted with 4 good yokohoma cut slicks, and these MIM R33 GTR stylee rims came with 2 good dunlop cut slicks..



I gave this car a good looking over inside and out and the shell is very solid for its age (1991). There is not a bit of rust anywhere on the car save some surface rust on the subframe underneath. Even all 4 arches are like brand new

Few other small bits came with the car like ebay coilover springs, an M3 diff, ebay turbo manifold and a full service kit inc pads!


Have set a target of the first weekend in may to get it to what is track ready in my eyes. I'm going to try use as many oem BMW parts as I can whether bolted in or re-engineered, given the access to parts I have in work..

What I've sourced so far and am waiting for delivery on is:

Coilovers
E34 BBS
E36 316 auto diff
Polybushes
Extra lock parts
Spacers

Fingers crossed I'll have it at the next drift day in may, at which point I'll know how confident I am in the car, and if I am it's build cage time and enter prodrift!

[will_c]

Got to do a small few bits over the weekend.

Main thing on the list was to sort the seat out, it was far too low and too far back for me, and as i removed the seat i realised the seat rail was actually incredibly dangerous, there were screws holding it in in some places. So ditched it all out and started fresh.

This is what I found when i removed the seat


And what I finished with:


Im not happy with the box iron spacers which i carried over from the old frames for convenience sake, but im going to re do that part in the near future.



Some of you might notice that the steering wheel sits lower; i unbolted the column from its support, welded in an offset spacer of sorts so that the steering wheel sits in a much more comfortable position, and the seat/pedals and wheel line up better.

Through it up on a ramp too, and discovered that it has m3 shocks with stiffer springs, and still has the standard exhaust, So ill make up something better for that soon when i do a bit more research into what diameter would be best for the car.

[Diesel-Dick]

325i non vanos?? good luck lad ull have plenty fun anyway!

[will_c]

Yep mate 2.5 non vanos built by Martin Tracey, should be some good cheap fun!

[Chuck_g]

Nice job....... Some amount of Bimmers being built at the moment. Get rid of that stupid sound proofing too, the weight of it is actually silly

[Kensti]

this is exactly what i'm thinkin for as starting out...will be keeping an eye on this...

Are the BMW's considered heavy for drifting?
Would an E30 be lighter?

[sideways-theonlyway]

Best of luck man, I'll be keeping an eye on this one for some ideas!

[will_c]

Thanks everybody!

@ chuck yeah it's going soon, herself is getting some dry ice from the lab she works in to help remove it, it makes it really brittle and easy to remove!

@kensti e30s are a bit lighter but use a really primitive suspension setup which is expensive to modify! You can get the e36s down pretty light

[Chuck_g]

@kensti e30s are a bit lighter but use a really primitive suspension setup which is expensive to modify! You can get the e36s down pretty light

Fibreglass is your friend....! Failing that, gutting doors, boot, bonnet, boot floor etc reduces serious weight. The difference in this years doors and last years is unbelieveable.

[m3con]

this is exactly what i'm thinkin for as starting out...will be keeping an eye on this...

Are the BMW's considered heavy for drifting?
Would an E30 be lighter?

Once they are stripped out they are grand
Brilliant for drifting good ta see more BMWs
Drifting