Das Race: My '97 M3/4/5

[SlimKlim]

Amount of times over the last week I've contemplated dumping 8 grand from the savings and buying an E36.......tooooo many.

Talk to Jake, DJ and I before you pull the trigger on anything. If you wanted to pick up an E36 for a toy/track car I'd highly recommend buying the car as prepped and sorted as possible. Buying a street car to turn into a track car, or a rough car as a project gets really, really, really expensive and time consuming.

Unless you're really in it for the build, it's much cheaper and easier to buy a "turn key" car already prepped for the way you want to use it, and you can spend your energy on minor adjustments and fun stuff.

BTW if you were going to daily it don't buy an E36, get a nice example of an E46 ZHP and use that as an all-purpose car. If you're going to keep another DD, go crazy, racecar all the way. :thumbup:

[getfast]

Worth mentioning: my sorted/prepped silver sedan that did 53's on ancient Star Specs at the autoX the other day may be for sale in not too long. ;-)

[D_Eclipse9916]

Keep in mind the E46 does not have an LSD (and is expensive to do so in one). They make better drivers around town/highway. For fun/autox/track duty an E36 M3 puts it to shame.

[Jake]

Over the weekend, we got the "new" suspension bolted up. I have "new" in quotes because it came from a fellow NASA BMW guy named Mark. I got his setup, he got DJ's setup, and DJ is getting some pimpy stuff from a man named Danny. So, Mark's setup is a Ground Control kit that is effectively Koni Yellows + Eibach springs. Oh, and I have camber plates now for dat stance, bro.



This is how I set the camber for now. DJ claims I can get more, it looks like I already have #craptons, and I'm gonna have RRT align it anyway next week (more story below):



Remember how I complained it rode funny? Well, when the right rear shock tower was fixed (after it rusted out), the shop replaced the shock and they used the wrong one. So, I had A Bilstein and three Konis with my old TCKline kit. Guess that explains a lot.

So now, the issue is that when Joey removed the left rear shock, he said "oh." Turns out now this shock tower is starting to rust as well. This is what I get for buying a New Jersey car. It's not too bad at the moment - the rear shock mounts are larger and distribute the load - but I'm not tracking it until it's fixed. So, Wayne at RRT is ordering the part this morning and I'm dropping it off to be fixed on Saturday at the latest.

Problem:


Reinforcement plate:



Hooray, unexpected expenses! Thankfully, this won't be too too bad of a fix.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Jake, just a question but...
Couldn't you just clean up the rust, throw a few welds on the crack, and then weld the reinforcement plate down? I think that would be plenty strong. Kaan or Paul would be able to weld it. Or if you can borrow someone's welder, I can weld it up for you.

[xvxax]

GC setup is tried and true. Way more than important than slamming into the ground is the option to change spring rates with 6"x2.5 springs, probably the most popular spring size there is. I was paying $60-80 for a pair of springs with that setup.

Is that front camber plate maxed out on the slots? My strut nut sits against the edge of that lip at -4 camber.

If you're maxed out on the camber slot, then just max out your caster since there's no disadvantage there.

[Jake]

RRT called me today. They're working on the rust repair and I had asked them to give me a general shakedown of the whole car. It needs front lower control arms, tie rods, rear upper/lower control arm balljoints/bushings (4 total), the under-body insulation is rubbing on the driveshaft flex disc, and there are a multitude of oil leaks.

Sounds like an E36 to me

Good news is, I have the LCAs and tie rods from Joey's purchase of Jim's whole front end assembly. The rear balljoints/bushings are cheap. I can cut the insulation away or throw some self-tapping screws through it to hold it back up. And the oil leaks, well... whatever. Locate and fix as I have time.

[SlimKlim]

the under-body insulation is rubbing on the driveshaft flex disc

This is probably why my trans tunnel is bare metal and gets hot enough to fry an egg in the summer.

[*insertusernamehere*]

the under-body insulaon is rubbing on the driveshaft flex disc

This is probably why my trans tunnel is bare metal and gets hot enough to fry an egg in the summer.

This has happened to mine too. I need to tie it up cause i think can hear the flex disc rubbibg on it

[getfast]

They smell too, after a while, from the friction on the guibo. Finally cut mine out when we did the harness install.

[Jake]

Got the car back yesterday - thank you Joey for the ride out to RRT. They did good work, it's a much cleaner fix than the hackjob that the other shop did on the right side.



I'm going to do the front-end bits this week, cut away the insulation around the guibo this week, and order the rear-end bits today. Mo' money mo' problems.

Also, because I want to post these somewhere, the E30 is not dead! Mike is working on a mild restoration/cleaning-up and I got to see it over the weekend.

[Senor_Taylor]

Also, because I want to post these somewhere, the E30 is not dead! Mike is working on a mild restoration/cleaning-up and I got to see it over the weekend.

Oh shit! How can I feel nostalgia for something I had nothing to do with?

[Jake]

Oh shit! How can I feel nostalgia for something I had nothing to do with?

Read my E30 project thread (linked in sig) and you'll see what it used to be...

[SlimKlim]

I still wished we jumped that bitch over the railroad tracks when we had the chance.

[Jake]

I still wished we jumped that bitch over the railroad tracks when we had the chance.

We'll be down there for the carshow weekend... and it does run/drive as it is... with no paint or license plates... :thumbup:

[JPolen01]

Good thing you'll have an extra set of plates with you...

[SlimKlim]

Yeah, but its new owner might not be thrilled with us if we sent the front shocks through the hood.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Ask Paul to bring the welder

[Jake]

I've been getting more done over the past week or so. Starting to feel the time crunch to get this all done before VIR, but I know I have time - just can't afford to slack off.

Last week, I pulled the old control arms and tie rods. Joey bought our racer friend Jim's entire front steering assembly and only needed the steering rack, so I got Jim's newly-replaced-and-then-crashed lower control arms, tie rods, and front hubs with wheel studs already installed. My buddy Ken and I got the old bits out of my car and then wondered aloud how we'd separate the control arm/tie rod from each of Jim's hubs since nothing was attached to the car. Joey goes "why don't you just swap the whole hub since you want the studs, too?"

Durr, that's the easy button. Okay. Turns out once you have the LCA/tie rod removed, all you have to do up front is unbolt the brake caliper and strut assembly and the hub comes right off. :thumbup: So, I have the "new" hubs, tie rods, control arms, and wheel studs all installed up front. I am waiting on new lower control arm "lollipop" bushings that hold the rear-most point of the LCA to the car. Should be here by Friday. Should.

In the meantime, Joey replaced the head unit in his M3 and I figured I'd install his old one in this car. Nice upgrade from the stock unit, and has USB so I can keep my phone charged while I stream music/navigation on drives to/from the track. I had been using a cassette adapter and cigarette-lighter charger so this eliminates some wires.

Also bought Mike D's old passenger seat, since he sold his M3 to another friend of mine who was too big to fit the seats. Got a good deal on the seat + side mounts (thanks Mike!) and bought the passenger side VAC floor mount from another local friend (thanks Kyle!) for far less than the $Millions that VAC tries to charge for them brand new. I got the seat and my old harnesses installed last night, so I can finally take some passengers in this thing. Also, my dad is going to use it for a Hyperdrive in April, so I needed to have a second seat for an instructor.

Any current students want to Hyperdrive the car at the March VIR event?

[Goodspeed]

I like my beat down low and my top let back
Can see me ridin' 24's with a chopper in the back
Holla if ya like ya Kenwood high and ya top let back
If ya rims sit high and ya windows pitch black

In for higher sitting rims and pitch black windows. It's not too late to donk it.