After selling my race car (e36m3 IP car) in 2009 and moving from the left coast to South Carolina in 2011, I decided I needed some BMW fun in my life and I’d always wanted to experience some of the east coast tracks. I wanted a car that was primarily a street car but would be track capable. I loved the style of the e46m3 and envied their HP/torque so I went on the search.
I bought an ’05 but only kept it for about a year. I had it on track at CMP once. Fun, with loads of torque, but a little too civilized. Because I paid top dollar for a cream puff I didn’t want to tear it up and couldn’t afford to shovel more $$ at it. My new plan was to sell it and get something cheaper that I could wrench on, modify and take to the track occasionally.
I spent 6-9 months looking for the right e36m3. No joy. I got tired of not finding what I wanted and had pretty much given up on the idea.
Then one day I read where a good friend and fellow Club racer may be interested in selling his Touring. I contacted him and asked whatcha got and how much? The rest is history.
I bought the car sight unseen and had it trailered from CA. Turns out another Club racer buddy was heading from CA to Bimmerworld with an empty trailer. A third track buddy trailered it from Socal to the Bay area where it began it’s journey east. Lots of help from friends. I love it when a plan comes together.
When it arrived, I was not disappointed. A car that’s clean, good looking, unique and a sleeper.
Now for the car stuff. It started life as an ’05 325iT, 5-speed, Orient blue w/ beige leather. I’m not sure but I believe it may have been originally sold in TX. My friend searched hard for the right car and bought it out of IN in 2012. He and I have similar visions and we’re both nit-pickers. At that time it had 85K on the odo. When I got it, 3/2014, it had 96K on it.
I believe most of the changes from stock were done by my friend but I’m not positive about all the previous work. Here are the major upgrades that were done prior to me getting the car.
Cosmetic : M-tech II bumper, sport mirrors, M steering wheel and 19” Rotiform wheels.
Mechanical: AFE CAI, Evosport underdrive pullies, Koni Sports, Eibach springs and sways, e46m3 6-speed, Bimmerworld ltw flywheel w/ Kevlar clutch and 3.64 LSD diff built by Dan at Diffsonline.
Are those brake rotors tiny or what?
So far I’ve done a few cosmetic things. I added Umnitza angel eyes, polished the headlamp lenses and fixed a few little issues. I really like the way the car looks so there’s not much for me to do here. I have a couple of ideas for different wheels. Especially if I go to 18” for track rubber.
My main thrust will be towards mechanical upgrades. I’ve added a BMW performance shift lever. Fairly cheap, shortens the throw and a nice upgrade but nothing like the AutoSolutions Ultimate kit I had installed in my e46m3. I’ll be upgrading the wagon to the AutoSolutions kit when I have the S54 swap done. At that time, the BMW performance lever will be for sale.
I just finished my brake upgrade. After much research on different systems I decided I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. Many of the options would require changing suspension components or modifying the new BBK brackets. Cost was certainly a factor. So, I decided on a BBK from Rotora which was plug-n-play and got me close to what I originally wanted. Many thanks to another friend and Club racer, Brad Otoupalik, who is an impendent rep with clients including Rotora. He was a great resource with his race car build and track experience and knowledge of BBKs. He is also a former Rotora dealer.
I sourced the Rotora kits, along with several other bits and pieces, from Automotive Performance Export in Gilroy, CA. They are authorized Rotora dealers and the owner is another Club racer and very good friend. These guys don’t have a web site but they can get almost anything BMW and/or aftermarket at competitive prices. Also, plenty of Motive products. Give them a call with your needs at 408-848-6100 x150, or email to marco@apexportgroup.com.
Now, on to the fun. Fronts are 355x32mm rotors with 6-piston calipers. Rears are 330x30mm rotors with 2-piston calipers. These are very street friendly and quiet with the Rotora street performance pads. Rotora also offers at least a couple of iterations of track pads.
All ready to get started
Rears - 11.5” vs 13”
Rear backing plates had to be cut off just outside the e-brake shoes which are retained
Completed right rear - OE pad wear sensors can be used but I didn't - I just tied them back out of the way
I added Bimmerworld studs
Fronts – 11.75” vs 14”
Completed left front - ditto on OE pad wear sensor, tied back out of the way
Bleeding complete except for the clutch slave – who the hell has a 7.5mm open end wrench?
Dun! Will re-bleed with the good fluid after bedding pads and cycling ABS valves a few times
That’s all for now. Still searching for a low mileage S54 donor motor. Markert Motorworks will be doing the conversion and they’re helping to find a suitable motor. More to follow on that.
Throughout this thread I’ve mentioned good friends, fellow Club racers and track rats many times. What a fraternity we belong to. Most don’t think I’m very sane but they’ve usually been willing to help. The older I get the more I value this friendship. It’s special!
Last edited by jayhudson; 08-20-2014 at 08:52 AM.
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Very nice! Off to a great start
1996 328i (m52B28US) OBD1 euro ZF 5spd. 3.23LSD conversion / Chem. PnP Head/ DINAN stg.2 CHIP/ VAC race valves/ S52 cams/ A/C delete/ fan delete/ Washer Fluid resv delete/ ARP head studs/ Cometic 140MLS / VAC Solid Engine/trans Mounts/ CAI / 2.5"Borla race exahaust/ NGK R spark plugs, M50 Mani, S50 Oil Res, Riot Racing HFTB, SAMCO Hoses, JBR FW, X-Brace, Mtech Front Bumper, RE RSMs, stoptech SS lines, Bilstein sports, H&R Race Springs, S52 Reinforcement plates, Kosei K1 w/ bridgestone RE960as, Brembo/stoptech slotted rotors, M3 Trailing arms, M3 Calipers, M3 Axles, ACS strut brace, weight reduction.
http://mbuild.blogspot.com/
Great story Jay and great car - I have always liked wagons/estates. Looking forward to the rest of the story
Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link
Quick update...... thought we had a donor motor lined up. It had great compression numbers. Got it to the shop to perform a leakdown test. One cylinder failed. 40% leakdown. Bummer! The search continues.
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Fuggit! Got tired of running into walls trying to find a decent, low mileage S54. My head hurts. I've decided to have Markert Motorworks build a motor for me. Bottom-up build. Zero miles, zero worries. Pieces and parts heading to the machine shop as we speak. With any luck I should have the conversion done before the snows fly ;-) Stay tuned.
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Subscribed. That's a good lookin' car. Looking forward to see where you go with it.
Thanks - Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Love the build. Wagons rule!
1995 540i /6 speed, Black on black, VF m62 S/C kit v3 6psi - Cold air intake/ SSSquid Tune/racing exhuast, Vortech 8:1 RRFPR ,545 SSK /3.15 with LSD / rev-shift motor mounts/stage 4, 6 puck clutch/ K Sport coil overs / suede sparco 368 steering wheel, Recaro seats, N2O, M/T drag slicks
"Skill can only get you so far, then comes money!"
R . I . P Paul Walker - 1973 - 2013
There's been a slight delay at the machine shop. Seems like they decided to go to SEMA and they're backed up :-( I'd love to go some day.
Waiting........
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Welcome to the Wagon world... I track mine like I stole it... They make GREAT drive to the track cars!
I literally can load mine up with all my track goodies plus a passenger... 10x10 tent tires/wheels, tools, jacks stands, chairs cooler etc...
Go look at E46 Fanatics thread for Touring/Wagon lovers...
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=536138
Brake wise with a 2.5 motor you really don't need much more than OEM. I have E36M3 brakes on the front of my car and will be replacing with 332 Stop Tech kit this winter, and a host of upgraded driveline components.
Be careful with Rotora I had a customer who had brackets fail at CMP on the front straight.. Finding pads was an issue with his front and rear kits... ANY E36 kit will works with 285 thousands shaved off the mounting bracket.
They like 17inch wheels better than 18 to... I run 18's on the street though they look better. 17's on track.
Suspension wise I found you REALLY have to increase the spring split to get them to handle I run ISC's on mine with 550front and 850 rear still rides great even loaded up. And I run my ride height more for looks since it has to look good
Gary Gray
If you can take it apart you can make it faster!
Thanks Gary! I'll check out the thread. Say Hi to James. Seems I missed him at Road Atlanta. I saw Bassen's car as I was going thru the pits but don't know him and didn't know James was there too. Otherwise I would have stopped by.
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Will do. I was suppose to be there instructing but our Garage/Kitchen addition needed me more.
Warning... The Touring thread may make you want to do more touring mods... Good group of guys on the thread from all over the world.
I will be at RA in spring with the Wagonator.
You should hit VIR if you have not yet. Wagon friendly... Tarheel BMW CCA instructor group normally has THREE of us out there..LOL...
Gary Gray
If you can take it apart you can make it faster!
That thread is huge! It'll take hours to go thru it all. Fun. Odd how many of the wagons still have the roof racks on. I'll have to get a nice pic of mine to add to the list.
VIR is definitely on my bucket list. Road Atlanta as well. I'll try to get out there for the spring date, if only to watch.
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Finally, I have progress to report. It’s been slow going from the machine shop but their work is done. Seems like the good shops are always busy.
Here’s the donor motor in various states of disassembly. The “before”.
The machine shop was to clean and inspect all parts. Glass bead everything, deck the block, hone the cylinder bores, micro polish the crank, pressure test and resurface the head, install new freeze plugs and enamel the block. Additionally, a complete valve job, custom file fit piston rings and various other items.
After inspecting the block it was deemed as suspect so another donor block was acquired. The second block needed more than a hone so a plus one overbore was done which also required these.
Although Markert wasn’t expecting it, the machine shop also assembled the bottom end with the new rod and main bearings.
Here are the purty pics.
Markert Motor Works will be doing the final assembly of the motor and the swap, along with custom harness and ECU programming. Additionally, they’ll be relocating the power steering reservoir and washer fluid reservoir, freshening the VANOS, converting fuel system from non-M to M 3.5bar, complete belt drive overhaul and installing/coding an M3 cluster. Lots of other little things.
I may decide to have them do a proper oil cooler “while they’re in there”, you know :-)
More to come………..
Last edited by jayhudson; 12-15-2014 at 02:12 PM.
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
Looking good. Love the wagon thing, thinking seriously about the Golf R wagon if they bring it here.
I got lucky on my donor motor. I never did any compression/leakdown testing, but I had some limited knowledge of its history. It put down some good dyno numbers and has been running strong.
'95 M3 S54 Track Toy
'19 X5 40i M-Sport
'16 Cayman GT4
‘23 GR Corolla
A little tease from Markert. Actual prep work being done on engine assembly. I'll add a build segment, with description, to the thread as soon as I get a group of pics. For now, this is all I have.
IMG_0107.jpg
Jay
From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was
I really like where this is going. Going to be a sweet wagon!
There are no bad questions, just impatient people with answers
Amazing. Would love an S54 powered touring. Let me know if you ever decide to sell. K?
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