"Do you need someone to take that to the scrap yard for you?" The $800 M3 project

[cemmett]

Got a bit more done last night! I admit I have way more motivation now that the end result is fairly close.

Fire bottle pull handle mounted and lines run across trans tunnel.

Netting mounting finalized and installed (permanently).

I'm a little worried about passing more stringent tech with the fire pulls, I should have put them on the corners. My plan was to put one in the center console where it is currently, and another on the passenger' side cage near the window. Looking online, most people have one on each corner so corner worker can get to it from either side. I can always relocate.






In terms of what's next:

1. Finish gutting driver's side door
2. Mount fire nozzles
3. Mount electrical cutoff
4. Wire push-to-start (not needed but I've always thought it was bitchin)
5. Weld tabs for sunroof panel?

[DunDunSkeert]

Sweet Build! Ever do any NCRC track days? Hopefully we'll meet at Thunderhill sometime.

[cemmett]

Sweet Build! Ever do any NCRC track days? Hopefully we'll meet at Thunderhill sometime.

Not in this car yet, but that was my plan! I have a few friends that run NCRC (white STI # 17) and global time attack up there. No GTA for me but definitely planning on NCRC!

[DunDunSkeert]

Not in this car yet, but that was my plan! I have a few friends that run NCRC (white STI # 17) and global time attack up there. No GTA for me but definitely planning on NCRC!

As soon as I can afford some brake pads that won't disintegrate I'll be doing another Ncrc day

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

[cemmett]

Long time no see! Just got back from a few weeks in Europe. Spent a good amount of time in Germany again. I was in Munich 2 years ago and ended up finding the M3 the week after I got back, so I figured I should probably do something special. Rented an F82 M4 for 24 hours, and drove back and forth from Austria and Germany. Got a thread about it here: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...mand-in-Munich






Got a bit of work done on the M3 as well! Finished stripping and painting the driver's door. Left in the crash beam and was a little more conservative with the cutting this time.







Which brings me to one of the stupidest things I've done. I've known for a while that the car has a remote alarm/immobilizer deal (knockoff Viper called 'Serpent' )
I've always wanted a push to start button with toggle switches like a real race car. The key start was working fine, but I decided to go ahead with it anyway. One toggle for Power, one toggle for Acc, one toggle for Ignition, and a momentary switch for the starter.

Came to find out that there was also a remote start module installed. Basically in-line with the ignition and included an immobilizer, neutral position sensor, and a ton of other wiring. My theory was that the ignition had worked fine with the key before, so I could proceed with the start button install normally and not mess with the remote start. If it ain't broke.....

I followed this thread here: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...-Bypass-Wiring

After wiring it up, with each toggle shorting the various wires to ground (see my shitty wiring schematic), I only get +12v on the Power (red) wire. Nothing on green or purple. Figured now was as good of a time as any, so I'm currently pulling out the remote start system. If anybody sees a problem with the way I wired, let me know, but I think I found the culrpit. There was a 12 gauge wire that came unsoldered from the clutch sensor module, probably when I was doing wiring before. Maybe the car thinks it's in gear and the remote start relay won't trigger.












- - - Updated - - -

Getting there.



- - - Updated - - -

Found the second culprit. The input from start position on the ignition was cut and spliced into an input/output for the remote start.

- - - Updated - - -

Whoever wired this in did a pretty bad job.... the main 30 amp 12v switched power to the remote start and the ignition:



All removed and everything back to stock.



- - - Updated - - -

Wait, did I wire it incorrectly? Should the ignition and ACC wires be jumped to +12v instead of ground?

- - - Updated - - -

IT LIVES!!



Edit: Yes, I did wire it incorrectly. I feel like an idiot. At least I learned more about reading wiring diagrams and troubleshooting automotive wiring in the last 3 days than I have in the last 3 years.

[cemmett]

Ahhhhhh Sheeeeeiiiitttt. Hope you guys didn't forget about me!

Back at you live from Al Gore's Information Superhighway.

Motivation to racecar-ify the M3 has been a bit low as of late due to work and blah blah blah.

Went ahead and bit the bullet and scheduled a windshield install for tomorrow, 2/28, thinking it would motivate me to get a few things done before the deadline. Success!



First thing's first: Cleaned up and bundled some of the wiring for the gauge and switch panel.






Also finalized the dash mounting with a few cotter pins to make it a bit easier to get in/out.






Modified the Turner dash block-off a bit.



Dash mounted and ready for seat/nets.





Seat in.




Nets in.










Few things left to finish.

1. Mounting tabs for the mirror were welded in bad spots; need to get that re-done.

2. Mount nozzles for fire bottles - I'd rather use weld-on tabs.

3. Re-do mounts for fire bottle pulls - one close to the shifter, and the other on the corner

4. Electrical cutoff install

5. Install mount for cage to seat

6. Install spring latches for trunk

7. Wire taillights

8. Mount high-density foam on cage

9. Re-hang doors. How did I manage to mess that up?

10. New guibo

[cemmett]

Windshield is in! It's looking like a real car again!



And trunk spring latches installed.

[cemmett]

Gave her a much needed bath, and started the clay bar work for my overspray.

Lesson learned: Mask things off better. Something about lessons learned in blood not being easily forgotten...? In this case, it's lessons learned in repetitive circular motions of the arm on every.single.body panel.

Also installed the +5hp M Power window decal.

[cemmett]

Finished the IO port seat to cage mount.

[cemmett]

And Signed up for the first track day! 3/25 at Thunderhill on the 2-mile course with SpeedSF.

[cemmett]

Very happy to report that the car is DONE. Looking like I will be doing a VANOS rebuild before next weekend, but it's not a big deal. Just a lot of low RPM noise that sounds like it's coming from the VANOS.

Finished the fire nozzle and pull mounts - 2 on the driver, 1 on the fuel rail, and 1 on the fuel tank. Finished a bunch of misc. stuff too.

[jakermac]

There's a big hole in your roof!!!

[cemmett]

There's a big hole in your roof!!!

You mean the custom roof-mount air vent?

Waiting on my welder friend to come by and get it tacked into place

[doktor b]

how do you like that Kirkey?
is it comfortable? or just light and supportive?
is it side mounted? or bottom?

great build. i always look forward to your updates.

[cemmett]

how do you like that Kirkey?
is it comfortable? or just light and supportive?
is it side mounted? or bottom?

great build. i always look forward to your updates.

Thank you!

Love the Kirkey seat. It's the 15" Intermediate Road Race seat. I'm 5' 11", 165 lbs, fits me perfectly. Very nice.

However, will be rotating it to passenger seat and going with a full containment seat for the driver (Kirkey also sells these).

As they're aluminum, you'll need to fab your own mounts or use sliders with a bottom mount. With where I wanted mine, the shop fabbed up a mount that has two attachment points on the bottom and two on the side. It can be either.

Also got the IO port cage to seat mount too. Really is the best seat IMHO - didn't want to futz with carbon or composite, just wanted strong, cheap, easy seat and this is it.

[doktor b]

Thank you!

Love the Kirkey seat. It's the 15" Intermediate Road Race seat. I'm 5' 11", 165 lbs, fits me perfectly. Very nice.

However, will be rotating it to passenger seat and going with a full containment seat for the driver (Kirkey also sells these).

As they're aluminum, you'll need to fab your own mounts or use sliders with a bottom mount. With where I wanted mine, the shop fabbed up a mount that has two attachment points on the bottom and two on the side. It can be either.

Also got the IO port cage to seat mount too. Really is the best seat IMHO - didn't want to futz with carbon or composite, just wanted strong, cheap, easy seat and this is it.

awesome.
i just got a new fibreglass seat for mine, but i may shuffle it to passenger side and do something different for me. we'll see.
i really like the look and simplicity of the Kirkeys.

[Venom13132]

awesome build! Pretty awesome find for $800!!!!

[cemmett]

awesome.
i just got a new fibreglass seat for mine, but i may shuffle it to passenger side and do something different for me. we'll see.
i really like the look and simplicity of the Kirkeys.

Agreed! Also, I like that you can replace just the cover when it wears out. I'm not sure about the longevity but I imagine it will be great.

Side note: The Full Containment seat that's FIA rated was pretty much the same as my 'entry level road race' seat. However, if you're looking for the best way to spend $500 I'd say it would be a HANS.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/k...eI0aAheJ8P8HAQ

awesome build! Pretty awesome find for $800!!!!

Thank you! I should have bought a lotto ticket that day, I got lucky. I'm just hoping it doesn't have any major issues that I don't know about. Since it was a bill of sale only, I haven't registered it for the street yet.

[mslevin]

I'm just hoping it doesn't have any major issues that I don't know about. Since it was a bill of sale only, I haven't registered it for the street yet.

Worst case, you can't register it and you now have a great excuse to buy a truck and trailer and remove all the pieces that made it even kind of street legal

[cemmett]

Worst case, you can't register it and you now have a great excuse to buy a truck and trailer and remove all the pieces that made it even kind of street legal

Haha true that, but I'm at the point in my life where I have all the excuses, but I need the money

[cemmett]

Great news! First track day went exceptionally well.

I'd planned on making it through one lap, having a catastrophic failure, and then spending the rest of the time fixing whatever broke. After not being driven for more than 6 years, the M3 did excellent. Ran through all gears to redline perfectly, and was hovering at about 11 seconds shy of the lap record (1.23 for a 911 GT3 RS, set that day actually). Got my times in to around 1.30 by the end of the day. The setup was great, and once I dialed in the tire pressure it felt even better. Five 20 minute sessions went by without a hitch. Few things I need to resolve mechanically:

1. Oil cooler is a must
2. Remove fan and radiator and replace with aluminum radiator and SPAL fan or equivalent
3. Increase rebound in the rear and add higher spring rate - surprising amount of understeer mid-corner

Only issues I had were oil temps hovering around 240-250 farenheit, overheating on the last lap (likely air bubble - temp dropped back down very quickly) and a LOT more valve noise at operating temp. I switched form Royal Purple 15w40 to Rotella T4 15w40 and didn't notice any difference - I think i'll keep running this oil.

Hopefully will have some official event pics soon.

[TXV007]

Congratulations on making to the track, sounds like you had fun. Don't pay too much attention to those lap times or this is where your $800 M3 becomes the $28,000 M3. I do especially love the wood trim e-brake, classy race car!

[cemmett]

Congratulations on making to the track, sounds like you had fun. Don't pay too much attention to those lap times or this is where your $800 M3 becomes the $28,000 M3. I do especially love the wood trim e-brake, classy race car!

Thank you much! I share a similar sentiment; just cool to see that the E36 is still a competitive and solid platform. This one's just for fun

[mslevin]

Re: valve noise at operating temp. Did you put an upgraded oil pan baffle in? I get a LOT of lifter noise/tick when coming off the track, I'm hoping the VAC baffle I put in will help that a little.

[cemmett]

Re: valve noise at operating temp. Did you put an upgraded oil pan baffle in? I get a LOT of lifter noise/tick when coming off the track, I'm hoping the VAC baffle I put in will help that a little.

That's a good question; I'm not sure. Since my oil temps were so high, I'm thinking I may switch to a heavier oil. Mine could also be VANOS noise. I'm not sure if a baffle would help with the lifter noise, or if the tick is even anything to be worried about.