Story of my E36 M3
#1
01-18-2010, 02:45 PM
Story of my E36 M3
So I'm thinking of selling the M3 and buying something more sensible, so I thought I'd put something together to remind me of the 'story' of my car.
So to set the scene, in 2008 I was out at the Nurburgring in my blue M3 3.2Evo
This is me, with my American 'pornstar looking' instructor (who is a great guy):
The car was a standard 3.2 with full interior, road suspension etc and no rear spoiler:
It was actually my second trip out there in this particular car, the first time out there, I bought the car on Monday, drove to the Nurburgring on the Friday
Anyway, the first picture you see is about 3 corners before I hit a patch of coolant and spun the car at around 80mph.
This is what happened:
So that was the weekend over for me.
As luck would have it, a nice guy came over and introduced himself to me in the car park whilst I was paying my fine (If you crash on the Nurburgring you have to pay for the crash barriers, track closure, cones, marshalls time etc, the bill was around $3000).
As it turns out this guy owned and runs a BMW garage near my home back in the UK.
So the deal was done, and the car was brought back to England and immediately sent to his place for the repair work.
It needed new suspension, wishbones, the chassis legs straightening, new rear quarter panel, door, and all the associated trim.
I also took the opportunity to make it more track focused and added some Oz SuperLeggera wheels, a Carbon fiber rear spoiler, front splitter and upgraded the brake components.
So buy the time the above was all done, the Accident happened in August, it was around December it was as per the above.
So the next opportunity to get to the Nurburgring would be April 2009.
However, In January, my gearbox broke (my own fault, or brought on by the crash, not sure, but the hydraulics failed) so it pretty much made the car too expensive to fix for my liking.
So, I was looking for a new car, and as it so happened, the BMW garage owner was building a new track car.
He had picked up this Dakar Yellow M3 from eBay
The guy building the car also builds cars for the UK BMW race series so he knows his stuff, this all took place to the standard M3 road car:
Boot floor cut out and flattened
Interior totally stripped and battery relocated
Rusty rear arches sorted
Catalytic converters removed and cross brace fitted
Poly bushes on rear subframe
This guy really pays attention to detail too, this is a breather hole in the diff casing for when it gets hot, as without it, the seals weep
ARP rod bolts
Inspection 2/Valve clearances carried out
Like I said, details. This soundproofing was removed
From inbetween the transmission tunnel and the gearbox!
Floating brake discs fitted with cooling ducts
Bilstein PSS9 suspension. Notice the sticker
Strengthened rear trailing arms
Interior stripped with cage fitted, aluminium door cards
Harness bars in cage
Throttle pedal made for easier heel/toe
Retained the heater at my request as it needs to be road legal and road usable, also short shift and Momo wheel
Strut braces front/rear and carbon air intake
Sparco seats and 3" harnesses
As it was when I picked it up, BMW Kumho rear spoiler and dont know what wheels
Then I decided if I must own a yellow car ( I STILL hate the color) then I'd make it crazy yellow
Got my Oz Superleggera wheels made black, and fitted the front splitter
Stickers are a black version of the E36 Lightweight flags from USA model lightweights, plus ADAC (which is like your AAA) as they are the the only recovery company that will recover your vehicle from the Nurburgring is you crash, so we did a deal. Plus some 1980's touring car type stickers to complete the look.
I decided to do a full year in the UK to iron out any issues on UK tracks, as opposed to being 600 miles from home when something needed fixing.
This is at Silverstone, before I sorted the brake Bias out
With my rain/wet tyres on, looks even more 1980's
Silverstone south
So, since I've replaced the Diff with the stronger version from the 3.2 car, and had a lot of bits and pieces sorted on the car.
Just as its starting to be perfect, I get bored, as always happens.
Welcome to hear ideas about what I should replace it with, I want something much more road friendly but something also take to the track 5/6 times a year.
About the only thing I can think fits the bill is a Porsche 911...
So to set the scene, in 2008 I was out at the Nurburgring in my blue M3 3.2Evo
This is me, with my American 'pornstar looking' instructor (who is a great guy):
The car was a standard 3.2 with full interior, road suspension etc and no rear spoiler:
It was actually my second trip out there in this particular car, the first time out there, I bought the car on Monday, drove to the Nurburgring on the Friday
Anyway, the first picture you see is about 3 corners before I hit a patch of coolant and spun the car at around 80mph.
This is what happened:
So that was the weekend over for me.
As luck would have it, a nice guy came over and introduced himself to me in the car park whilst I was paying my fine (If you crash on the Nurburgring you have to pay for the crash barriers, track closure, cones, marshalls time etc, the bill was around $3000).
As it turns out this guy owned and runs a BMW garage near my home back in the UK.
So the deal was done, and the car was brought back to England and immediately sent to his place for the repair work.
It needed new suspension, wishbones, the chassis legs straightening, new rear quarter panel, door, and all the associated trim.
I also took the opportunity to make it more track focused and added some Oz SuperLeggera wheels, a Carbon fiber rear spoiler, front splitter and upgraded the brake components.
So buy the time the above was all done, the Accident happened in August, it was around December it was as per the above.
So the next opportunity to get to the Nurburgring would be April 2009.
However, In January, my gearbox broke (my own fault, or brought on by the crash, not sure, but the hydraulics failed) so it pretty much made the car too expensive to fix for my liking.
So, I was looking for a new car, and as it so happened, the BMW garage owner was building a new track car.
He had picked up this Dakar Yellow M3 from eBay
The guy building the car also builds cars for the UK BMW race series so he knows his stuff, this all took place to the standard M3 road car:
Boot floor cut out and flattened
Interior totally stripped and battery relocated
Rusty rear arches sorted
Catalytic converters removed and cross brace fitted
Poly bushes on rear subframe
This guy really pays attention to detail too, this is a breather hole in the diff casing for when it gets hot, as without it, the seals weep
ARP rod bolts
Inspection 2/Valve clearances carried out
Like I said, details. This soundproofing was removed
From inbetween the transmission tunnel and the gearbox!
Floating brake discs fitted with cooling ducts
Bilstein PSS9 suspension. Notice the sticker
Strengthened rear trailing arms
Interior stripped with cage fitted, aluminium door cards
Harness bars in cage
Throttle pedal made for easier heel/toe
Retained the heater at my request as it needs to be road legal and road usable, also short shift and Momo wheel
Strut braces front/rear and carbon air intake
Sparco seats and 3" harnesses
As it was when I picked it up, BMW Kumho rear spoiler and dont know what wheels
Then I decided if I must own a yellow car ( I STILL hate the color) then I'd make it crazy yellow
Got my Oz Superleggera wheels made black, and fitted the front splitter
Stickers are a black version of the E36 Lightweight flags from USA model lightweights, plus ADAC (which is like your AAA) as they are the the only recovery company that will recover your vehicle from the Nurburgring is you crash, so we did a deal. Plus some 1980's touring car type stickers to complete the look.
I decided to do a full year in the UK to iron out any issues on UK tracks, as opposed to being 600 miles from home when something needed fixing.
This is at Silverstone, before I sorted the brake Bias out
With my rain/wet tyres on, looks even more 1980's
Silverstone south
So, since I've replaced the Diff with the stronger version from the 3.2 car, and had a lot of bits and pieces sorted on the car.
Just as its starting to be perfect, I get bored, as always happens.
Welcome to hear ideas about what I should replace it with, I want something much more road friendly but something also take to the track 5/6 times a year.
About the only thing I can think fits the bill is a Porsche 911...
#4
01-18-2010, 07:04 PM
Great cars and wonderful addiction you got there... I'm also a ring addict. May I suggest a Z3M or better yet a 3.0i (better reliability)? I see them quite recommended at the ring especailly among regulars.. Or if you can affordi go for the ultimate track toy by BMW, E46 CSL !
#6
01-19-2010, 01:42 AM
Nicely set-up! Agree with Jox that you will miss that car. Anyway, Boxsters are a bargain and with the right setup, can be made to really hussle on the track. 944 or 968 are also great cars on the track because of the balance. No need to get fixated on just the 911.
#10
01-19-2010, 09:11 AM
I think I made the wrong decision going for a 100% track dedicated car, as it turns out, I've been using it as my daily driver because we moved 3 miles away from the nearest train station and it used to be like 500 yards away.
Looking at my needs, which is mostly road but still a few track days and especially the Nurburgring, I need something which can do a reasonable job of road and track.
I also need to be aware that almost everything wont be as good as the E36 is on a track, but almost everything will be better on the road, so I want a 'best of both worlds' solution.
In the 'Ring car park, there are also many many E36s (very few E46's), the natural progession for those guys seems to be E36 M3 - 911 Variant.
There must be some reason behind this, 911's and E36 M3's outnumber every other car by huge factors.
Thus if I want something moderately fast, moderately capable on track, yet can still drive the road, it looks like the sensible choice would be a 911 variant.
Looking at my needs, which is mostly road but still a few track days and especially the Nurburgring, I need something which can do a reasonable job of road and track.
I also need to be aware that almost everything wont be as good as the E36 is on a track, but almost everything will be better on the road, so I want a 'best of both worlds' solution.
In the 'Ring car park, there are also many many E36s (very few E46's), the natural progession for those guys seems to be E36 M3 - 911 Variant.
There must be some reason behind this, 911's and E36 M3's outnumber every other car by huge factors.
Thus if I want something moderately fast, moderately capable on track, yet can still drive the road, it looks like the sensible choice would be a 911 variant.