Track car rebuild

[bastardchild]

Hey there fellow owners and dreamers. I have a 328ci E36 which I dont use after purchasing my E46. I was considering turning it into a trackcar.

I want to strip the car complettly, install a roll cage, strut braces, proper brakes, manual gear box, new fuel pump and a few more things.

Has anyone done this before, or do you have any suggestions let me know.

[Anzeige eBay]

Hallo bastardchild,

 

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[LateNightCable]

Never done that before myself, but it sounds like a real cool idea. My suggestion would be to model it upon the M3 GTR racecars of the period. I assume you don't mind putting some money into this, so you might even want to go all out, and drop an M3 engine in there, though this is not nessessary to have a great track car. I would stick with parts and suppliers that are well proven in BMWs'.

I like the idea of stripping it out. And if you did model your car after the GTR, there are authentic body kits available in both fiberglass, and carbon fiber. See here - www.eisenhaus.com

Keep it street legal, ( if at all possible ) paint it up, and you would have a major head turner - and maybe even a sound investment. You may even find yourself driving your E36 more often. Keep us informed!

* No Rice Here ...

[thepolarfoxqx]

what year is year is it, that is important since it is an automatic transmission car, you may have to get the computer out of a manual transmission E36. If the computer can't find the transmission (since it won't be there), it will get disgruntled.Older ones, I don't believe had this issue, since older E36s (4spd ones) used a GM automatic, which I guess they didn't feel a need for the engine to talk to much. Newer ones although use a fully interfaced ZF box. You have a good start, since the E36 chasis itself isn't too heavy. The 2.8 is also an aluminum block motor, better yet. The M3 E36's ZF manual transmission is a direct bolt up to your motor. You will either need a new driveshaft, or have your's refitted, as it will need to be a different length now. A roll cage, coil-overs, and gutting the interior are all good ideas. I would also raise the idea of removing your power steering and A/C, as there is no use for them on a track car (and Power steering generates parasitic engine drag). Big Brake kits are available from many people, including bavarian autoworks (www.bavauto.com), with multi-piston calipers. People like turner motorsports have a lot of suspension goodies for you, and you'll want racing seats. You'll also want to gut your carpet, i suggest painting the floor though, get a texturerd spray paint (maybe rubberized) for it so as for it not to be slippery. You could have a field day making improvements under the hood, we can get into that more later, what you want from your motor. Body kits are all taste, but i'd beef the suspension up (thicker stabilizer bars, eibach coilovers), get wider rims and aggressive tires, also - tear out the noise insulation tucked in and under and around everything. you'd be amazed how much weight you can find there.

What is the new fuel pump for, you mean one with more output - what are you doing to the engine you'll need it?

[LateNightCable]

Body kits are taste, but in this case it would be authentic racing garb. I think what bastard means by the new fuel pump perhaps, is that he wants more fuel flow.

[bastardchild]

Yes that is what bastard was insinuating. I especially like the noise it gives before starting the engine, tick tick tick tick. To answer it is a 1996 european spec, with the auto transmission. The idea was to go with a m3 transmission as this resolves a few conflicts. However as you probably know all to well, when you consider something like this you start thinking about upgrading the engine as well to a 3L m3 from the e36. Just to match the transmission...

My feelings about stripping the car is to leave the bare essentials. I am not bothered about cabin noise or tempurature, only pure driving pleassure. So everything goes. When I start ripping it out I will post the weight as well.

Do you have any experience with an engine swap from the 2.8 to the 3L?

Pherhaps you even know where I can look for one?

I've started looking at the m3 gtr rebuild kit. But its a shame not to install the GTR engine as well. So I'll wait with that untill the oppurtunity arrives.

[thepolarfoxqx]

uh, finding M3 motors isn't easy. I've looked. The most economical way is to find a wrecked M-car with one under the hood an intact. A freind of mine upgraded his 318ti to a 3.2L E46 M-Roadster engine that way. It's a lot of searching, maybe even a trip to the auto auctions. Otherwise, they are available through a few people online and mail order, they are expensive though. As long as you are swapping engines, why not go for the 3.2L M3 engine, they are more available than the 3.0L. Swapping the engine would not only give you more power but also make the transmission swap easier and give you more access to performance parts. You will want the ODBI computer on your M- Inline six though, apparently the ODBII dynos close to 20hp less.

[LateNightCable]

Yeah, go 3.2 - it's only a natural progression. Plus, they are the least likely to give you any problems if ever there were any. More parts for it, and being that your car is a 1996, it makes sense anyway.

You must be in Europe then huh?

[bastardchild]

Yeah I am from Denmark but live in France and Poland.

I have a funny dilemma with the car though, its right hand drive. I want to convert it into conventional reasonable left hand drive. That shouldnt be too difficult should it?

I found a m3 3.2L engine for 11000 us dollars. Seems expensive, why do cars have to be so expensive. Is there not some sort of fund for track rebuilds.

Now I think this is going to take six to seven months to do and a round 30G. Thats more than the car is worth. Thank god for loving cars, otherwise I would do something silly like spend it on a house.

Do you have any suggestions for a roll cage?

[LateNightCable]

As far as making the car left hand drive, there may be differences in your car and a factory left hand car that might not be overcome without major modification. Or it could be more simple than that, Fox is a very techy guy, he could explain in greater detail. ( Fox, tech guy - Me, artist )

But I can tell you right now that it all sounds so expensive, that you might as well sell your present car, and buy another E36 - left hand drive, especially when an engine could run you $11,000. Or save yourself a lot of trouble, and put the money towards an E36 M3 and take it from there. " Why do cars have to be so expensive? " - my thoughts exactly.

My only suggestion for a roll cage would be that it's a smart thing to have if you intend to actually track race the car.

[skyline_r34v]

It took a guy over $14,000 to do a left hand drive from right hand drive on a Skyline, so no telling how much it'll cost for your car.

If I were you, the smart thing would be to get an E36 Euro spec M3 and you'd have that extra power that we US people are shitted out on getting.

6-7 months? Yeah if you have people working on it around the clock and barely getting any rest.

Expect this IF it's a DIY job to take over a year and IF you have help it'll take about 7-10 months. This will most likely be well over $30,000 especially if you do a particular hand drive conversion.

Selling your stock components will at least help with the spending costs for converting your car into a track car.

[Anzeige Amazon]

Hallo bastardchild,

 

schau doch mal hier zum Thema BMW (Anzeige)? Eventuell gibt es dort etwas Passendes.

 

Der V16 Motor zum Selberbauen (Anzeige) ist auch genial.

[bastardchild]

Its a true problem with this engine. I feel somehow its like giving your wife bigger titts, it works they're better but they just dont fit like naturals. I have no problems about shedding all the luxury and tossing in a roll cage and a few other things, thats just lossing some dead weight. But body kits and a new engine are like lippo suction and a firmer ass.

Dont get me wrong here, if I could go all the way with a full conversion I would do it in a heart beat, but considering the limp possibilities for getting an engine with lemans specs its well undeniably upsetting.

As far as selling it. Cant do that. I have over time developed a strong emotional bond with all my cars. Selling them would be like killing my dog.

Ofcourse there is always the possibility of buying an m3... I seem to have a weak spot when I go to the dealership. This would then still leave me with the original problem of not using the e36. So before I make myself broke and give plastic surgery to the 328 I will strip it, install a cage, and live with it. However if the oppurtunity comes up for the engine its going all the way.

Heres another funny thing. The 328 waggs its tail when I prompt for it, which is fine. But the 325 e46 has atc and even with it disabled it will not even consider drifting. I have noticed that the more km's(km 18952) I put on the odometer the more frisky and leniant it gets with allowing me to smack its rear sideways. I think its bmw propoganda. Something like heres a preview, we wont give you the whole show, if you want it buy the 330 or even better the M3. Haha ze germans zey win again yes.

[thepolarfoxqx]

lol, the germans.

I love it. I understand that attachment to the car, I have an E30 i keep for that reason. The E30 is fun because it's wild, it will do things newer, more refined bmw's won't. Sure it has issues, it's ride is incurably stiff and uncompliant, it's awful in weather, and uneven surfaces tear it apart, but it's a load of fun.

[LateNightCable]

I understand intirely about the emotional bond as well. To start, just rip out the unwanted stuff ( which really shouldn't cost anything ), beef up the suspension, and rolling stock, then see how you like it then. It'll be a good introduction, and will give you an idea about where you want to take it from there.