E36 M3 Street/Track build on college budget

[connore36m3]

Hey guys, I apologize in advance for some of the bad pictures, and some of the build pictures are not as in depth as I would have liked but I am compiling and pulling pictures that go back a year or two.

In my sophomore year of college I finally decided to sell my 1998 e39 540i and start looking for my first M car that I could track and autocross. The 540i had been good to me but the lofty handling and the fuel consumption did not fit what I was trying to accomplish, so it had to go. Coming from auto-crossing Miatas I was looking for something from the BMW family I could daily drive, autocross and track while also being faster than my Miata.



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This was the first BMW I really modified, although most of the enhancements were cosmetic including:
-Genuine e39 M5 staggered wheels (painted dark gray)
-e39 M5 front bumper
-Depo European
-Post face lift black kidney grills
-Muffler delete


After four months of researching, internet searches and even traveling three and a half hours each way to look at a car in New Jersey, I finally found the perfect M3 only 30 minutes south of me. It was a 1995 avus blue coupe with only 80k for $8,000. It sat in a garage in California for the majority of its life, being the owners weekend car. This was the bare bones model and had almost none of the options which was perfect for what I wanted.



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Our trailer works well for Miatas, but the M3 is a bit bigger...


All washed up and detailed after I got it home

The previous owner told me the original under panel fell off during a drive and cracked into a million pieces, so my first modification was some protection. I found Motion Motorsports and their heavy duty racing under panel to protect the underside of my engine, sub frame and radiator. I was impressed by the quality of both the mounts and the under panel plate itself. Before the panel was installed the front bumper was loose (from hitting autocross cones) but after the panel, you couldn't move the bumper around if you tried.





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[Inflame]

Great project, are you going into Mechanical Engineering? I'm about to start my senior year LS swapping my M3 haha

[connore36m3]

Just before finding my M3 I convinced my good friend to look into BMWs for his next car. He started off looking for a nice e34 540i, but ended up finding a gorgeous e34 M5 and bargained the seller down to $4,500 with only 115k. It also has a 850ci Brembo big brake upgrade, Bilstein shocks with H&R springs, gutted cat and a Racing Dynamic front strut bar.

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About three weeks into owning the car my parents woke me up early one morning telling me not to panic. I thought someone in the family died, but it had turned out a ten foot, seven inch thick branch had broken off a tree my car was parked under, and fell straight on to the windshield, fender and hood. The force was so great that some of the branch ended up in the cabin through the windshield, missing my A pillar my milometers.

I was thankful only the glass was damaged along with a decent dent on the right fender, it could have been a lot worse.

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After the under panel purchase and the car itself my initial budget was pretty tapped. I was told by some local seasoned racers to just start spending money on events to really learn the car and hone my own skills. The first autocross I attended I placed reasonably well but I did discover a few things. One was this car was much faster than anything I had ever autocrossed which was great but I had to learn not to over drive it (which was never an issue in my 100 hp Miata). This was also the first car with an LSD I had ever driven, and man was that fun. Some weak points on the car at this point were the brake pads, and the suspension had seen tighter days.

[vitiokas95]

How the hell you can find such a great deal on E34 M5??? For deal like this I would fly to end of world to drive this car back home. Good luck on your track experience. It is addictive

[NJohc]

Subbed because budget builds are the story of my life. Cant wait to see the car come together.

[IronMunkie]

MOAR!
Love it. <3

[zeyers]

love the avus blue

[connore36m3]

Near the end of my sophomore year a few friends and I got together and started a college car club. We quickly organized a group and started to attend local auto-crosses held by the local SCCA and BMWCCA Boston chapters. After three or four auto-crosses of top finishes, I really started to get to know the M3 and decided the next round of modifications would be tires and brakes.







During the summer in between my sophomore and junior year I had finally saved up enough to enter my first track day at Lime Rock Park with the Mid-Hudson Valley SCCA. I picked up a set of StopTech rotors, along with some Hawk HPS front pads from Turner Motorsports and ordered a set of Hankook Ventus V12 EVOs off tirerack.com. I had heard mixed reviews about the Hankooks, but for the money it seemed like the best deal in my price range.


The clutch is for Mac's M5

[connore36m3]

The Stoptech rotors went on without a hitch, and the corrosive resistant hubs were a big plus. Unfortunately Turner was out of slotted rotors so I went with cross-drilled
set. I have heard of cross drilled rotors cracking at the track but had very limited time before the track day so I pulled the trigger.







- - - Updated - - -

With the brakes finished and fluid changed next task was mounting up the new tires.






With everything finished (or so I thought) I headed to Lime Rock for my first track day...

[emagdnim33]

I was in the same boat last year. Pads rotors and tires is all you need for a track day. Stock suspension FTW!!!