Project: 2002 325i Drift Car

[noah_salvato]

Well... I haven't updated this thread in a long time and have a lot to share. Since 2019 this thing has been both a massive headache and a really fun project. I didn't take nearly as many pictures of the progress over the last year as I should have, but this is going to be a bit of a long brick of text and some photos I've dug up today. 

Dust shields/backing plates for the e-brake were completely destroyed, so that was the first task when I started working on this thing at the start of the COVID lockdowns. Old backing plates were cut out, rusty bolts snapped, drilled out, and retapped to install the pretty new ones. After a few hours of work, and I had a parking brake again. Just a few more things to get the car "ready" for my first track day.

Picked up a helmet from OG, figured I could make the factory "sport seat" work. Boy, was I wrong (we'll get to that later). Got a 1lb extinguisher mounted on a metal bracket right behind the center console, works for me. The steering wheel was torn to shreds and I'm sure it would cut my hands up, but I didn't have time to take care of that. Angle wasn't too much of a concern, but I went ahead and picked up some eBay adapters that change the tie rod pickup point to allow for a little quicker steering; although they ruin the geometry because you are just changing the tie rod pickup point by cutting the tie rods and moving them back on the knuckle. Didn't matter, angle achieved. Measured from the stock to the cut/relocated tie rods, it picked up maybe 5deg, not much but for $25, not bad. 

Next came tackling the biggest issue the car had which continued to rear its ugly head in my limited ownership to this point, the cooling system. Having had to replace an upper rad hose and expansion tank already; I pulled the trigger and ordered new everything for the cooling system. New radiator, temp sensors, OE expansion tank, radiator hoses, thermostat and housing, and water pump. With the wrong (green) coolant in the car, I drained, flushed, and filled with the blue stuff from the dealer. FCP Euro was my savior here. Went ahead at this point and replaced the belts as well as they were already off (while I'm here tends to be how this car goes)

With o2 sensor codes still presenting issues, I took the car for a drive only for it to get pissed and throw a few codes leading me to realize the cats were clogged. I had seen people have issues getting the manifolds off due to rust, but luckily I got all the nuts off without pulling studs out of the motor; only to realize that I had to lift the motor up a bit to fish the old manifolds out, meaning I had to disconnect the motor mounts. Mounts turned out to be original to the car, which meant the 20 year old fluid mounts fell apart while loosening them. So... Condor Speed Shop solid motor and trans mounts were on the way. Headers had to be heated/the bungs bent and rewelded a bit, learned a little about metalworking here. O2 sensors replaced, DISA valve replaced, and the rear o2 sensors bypassed and fuel trims were back to a decent number. Good to go for the track. 

With that done, it was time to hit the track for the first time. Having such little experience (and faith) in the car, nerves were insane; but at least it was a private day with a lot of seat time. Buddy of mine had some wheels he bought and never ran, worked out a deal with him, and had something that looks a little better than the stock wheels. Rotiform RSE's look pretty good on the car for now. 

Track day went pretty well, learned a whole lot about myself, improved as a driver, and got much more comfortable in the car. Trying to stay on a tight budget by keeping the stock steering wheel and seat proved to be a mistake, as I braced my knees against the door and center console while cutting my hands on the ratty steering wheel. Those would get replaced in the next few weeks. Plus the car wasn't loud enough for me, so the rear muffler had to go. 

With some shaking still present in the steering wheel, I decided it was time to replace the FCAB's which didn't turn out as easy as I expected. One of the bolts into the frame snapped... then I broke a drill bit in it... then I broke an ez-out in the bolt after drilling the bit out. Picked up a tungsten carbide burr for a dremel and spent a few hours cutting through the bolt well enough to run a bigger drill bit, re-center the hole, and tap it to a larger size. What a headache. 

Friend of mine had a seat I could borrow, threw that in; got a cheap wheel to get me by, and hit the track again. Much much better day. I didn't have to fight to stay planted in the car anymore, could let the wheel slide through my hands; something I got better with throughout the day. I keep forgetting to take in-car footage even though I have the gopro mounts, but a friend took a video at the start of the day. *hopefully it posts properly*

Progression throughout the day was wild to me to experience and I wish I had more video to look back to. Got a few photos from this event and the next one which took place in the rain; a whole new level of difficulty with car control and setup. 

Body roll became an issue that I felt was holding me back, and I had bent a few tie rods from the car loading all the weight to one side and binding. Also killed a power steering pump which meant replacing that at the track. Ended up ordering some Fortune Auto 500 coilovers which I've dialed in street driving the car but am yet to get to feel out on the track. Upgraded tie rods to the HD ones, and picked up and welded a 3.46 diff out of the automatic cars as the little 2.5 is tough to keep up in the power band in 3rd on the banks. 

The car started consuming a fair amount of oil and smoking a bit once the weather cooled down, leading me to finally pull the manifold and replace the CCV system, all the vacuum lines, and seals. Also dropped the oil pan, safety wire tied the oil pump nut (common problem on these at high rpm is it backing off and dropping oil pressure) and cleaned up a few of my leaks in the process. Followed Taylor's approach to reinstalling the dipstick tube with a block of wood and a hammer (thank you for that!), and it's back together and running well enough to pull out of the garage. 


Still chasing some abnormally high fuel trims, likely from a vacuum leak somewhere that I'm going to have to chase/smoke test when I'm back in town, but overall happy with the job.

Dual mass flywheel sounds like it is starting to separate and the clutch is finally giving out after 120k miles and a year of drifting. Will be converting to a single-mass flywheel with a sprung 6-puck here once the weather is nicer and I'm back from school. Just gotta get through this semester and get back to wrenching, hitting the track, and breaking things! 

I'm going to try and stay on top of this a little better once I get back to wrenching on it, and will throw up some more pictures/video once I find them.