Project "eBay E36"

[tptrsn]

Very interesting! I actually found myself watching the GeekPro camera footage more I think. I didn't mind the audio from it, either.

I bought a Hero4 Black for this weekend, and I have a crappy old Hero HD, I guess it is. I have to figure out how I want to mount them -- especially the Hero4 Black -- and what resolusion/frame rate I like...

[JesterMX6]

i'm all about smoothness so i typically record in 720p60. the mounts i use are RAM mounts

https://www.amazon.com/Ram-Mount-RAM.../dp/B002IV6OHC

[tptrsn]

Damn, that's a quality looking mount.

[JesterMX6]

OH hey guys! So a lot has happened that has had nothing to do with the drift car.

In January on my 31st birthday I had an MRI that showed multiple tears in my rotator cuff and the early stages of one in my biceps tendon. So a week later I had rotator cuff repair and bicep tenodesis on my right arm. Recovery was a bitch but i'm back to mostly normal function now. I still can't reach behind me as far as i used to and can only lift about 10 - 15lbs in my right arm but i'm told all is normal and my only restriction now is discomfort. If it hurts, stop.

Since i was rendered useless by the lack of a right arm, I took the money i'd planned on using for the eBay E36 and dumped it into my PC instead.

Idk how many of you are PC nerds too but here's what i ended up with

Motherboard: Asus Z170-A
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700k
RAM: 32GB Corsair Vengance DDR-4
OS/Application Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD and a few random smaller SSDs to go with it
Long Term Stroage: Seagate 2GB External USB 3.0 Drive
GPU: EVGA GTX 1080ti
Case: Thermaltake Core P5
Cooling: Custom water loop with Alphacool rad and EKWB pump and blocks.





It goes without saying that this is the most fun i've ever had doing non-car things. And it screams. I also picked up a Logitech G27 wheel/pedal/shifter combo second hand and hope to build some form of sim rig this coming winter.

Now onto the good stuff. Last year we traded my wife's 02 330i for a 2013 Grand Cherokee Limited. Originally I was going to keep it as a daily, but the subframe was falling off and the rust on the body was spreading so I gave up on it.

I started looking for a better daily and was about to pull the trigger on something like turbo Jetta or similar when last month I was able to score a deal on a 97 Z3 2.8. Quite literally a dream car of mine from 21 years ago when I first saw one at age 10.



2017.06.09 - First drive to work L by George Fayad on 500px.com


Paint and body are a little rough but the drivetrain is superb. I spent the last month fixing the necessary faults (Control arms, LCABs, shocks/struts) and am in the process of replacing the top.

She's now lowered on H&R Sport springs and Billy sport struts/shocks. the top should be finished this week if i can get my arm to stop hurting long enough to finish. The car will be my DD except for the most extreme of weather conditions. I'll likely enter some autox events as well just for fun.



2017.07.26 - Left Side White by George Fayad on 500px.com


WIth a better car to drive than my gas guzzling durango, i've moved back to the eBay E36. The last event in my area is coming up in October ( we just had an event saturday, but i worked tech/grid for that one since my arm was giving me trouble and the car wasn't ready yet).

I picked up some style 68s for the car and after fitting them, need to do some trimming. The fenders are literally resting on the tires and i can't really drive it in and out of the garage, let alone turn the wheels lol



Style 68s on e36 by George Fayad on 500px.com


In keeping with tradition, i'll likely pick up some flares off of ebay (universal s13 style) and if i can't get them fitted in time i'll just run no fenders for the october event.

Other than that I hooked the battery up and the car fired right up without so much as a hiccup. After taking essentially a year off, i'm excited to drift this one event before having to park it for the winter again.

[jalopi]

Holy crap, that is one serious gaming rig

Also, the paint on the Z3 came out looking great after the buff job. How tiny are those cars on the inside? My standard for cramped is Miata/S2K

[JesterMX6]

buff job? i haven't touched the body yet lol. Just the wheels. The clear coat is peeling in a bunch of places so it's probably going to be plasti-dipped as a temporary fix until I pony up a few grand for a proper "restore" level paint job.

It's not bad. Tighter than the E36 but not as cramped as a gen1 miata. I haven't been in any other miatas besides the popup light models so idk if they got better with the newer generations. videos i've seen (top gear etc) of the more recent miatas seem to match how the Z3 feels.

The seats though. Dear lord i would have never known BMW could manufacture such piss poor seats for a car that's intended purpose is to throw around corners. There's virtually zero bolster support, the seat belt cuts into your collar bone, and the buckets, wihle being 2 years newer than my e36, are basically flat and have no wings to hold you in. It's one of the more uncomfortable cars i've ever driven for more than an hour or so. I'm keeping an eye out for sport seats since nothing else really fits in there. E36 seats can kinda fit with some modifications, but the top will rub the shoulders i think. The rails are also offset slightly on the Z3 which made fitting my S5 RX-7 seats into it virtually impossible.

[Mikestokman]

Smaller tire and a bit of a pull will save you from having to run gay fender flares

[JesterMX6]

its a drift turd. couldn't care less. there's already a lot of pull on those fenders and the whole point of these wheels is to run wider tires up front.

[Mikestokman]

Meh, I've been running 215/40 steer tires for 2 years now and have no understeer ever, wider doesn't always mean better

[JesterMX6]

i just want the style points

[Funkyflynz]

What happened to this build?

[JesterMX6]

After having my rotator cuff fixed, I just kept driving it and enjoying it.

00202_l2ug2cc6vwn_1200x900.jpg

skids_o.jpg

And ironically enough, I sold it this week.

Edit:

Few more i found.

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22424289_1944165825795388_2900367278607849907_o.jpg

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[protomor]

whyyyyyy

[tptrsn]

Why did you sell it? Getting something different?

[JesterMX6]

It's finally time to finish this:


2014.09.13 turbo mock up by jestermx6, on Flickr

I will say if nothing else, i proved to anyone who questions what can be done on the cheap, that it is 100% possible to build a capable drift car for a ridiculously low budget.

This was the final build on the E36 (taken from my FS ad):

1995 BMW 325i Sedan - $3500
5spd Manual
140,000 miles (or something around there)

Powertrain:
2.5L M50tu
Ebay cold air intake
Ebay chip - good for a few HP/Tq and increased redline
Mishimoto Intake Boot for the ASC delete
Ebay headers, open with turn downs
Ebay short shifter
Revshift Poly engine/trans/diff mounts
3.91 Welded Diff
Fresh oil/filter every season
Tuneup was done this March

Cooling:
Mechanical fan delete
High flow water pump
Aluminum thermostat housing
Lower temp thermostat and fan switch
Sits at normal in 100 degree heat with no issues

Brakes/Suspension:
PowerStop Rotors/Ceramic pads all around
Wheel stud conversion. Nice and long ones.
Ebay coilovers and camber plates
Eibach 750# rear springs
Extended control arms
E90 inner tie rods
SpinPreventionKits angle blocks

Misc:
NRG disconnect and wheel
AKG rear tie downs for tow straps
Schroth Harness (designed for OEM mounting points in E36)
Comes with a pair of Borbet
LED bar headlights
Stickers. Plenty of stickers.
Front bumper removed due to fitment and just generally being in bad shape
Some rust

Still has heat/defrost
Partially stripped interior - no back seats or trunk liner, door panels removed.
No A/C
No radio
Comes with a set of Style 45 Wheels (pictured in orange and the rear green wheels) and a pair of 5 spoke Borbets
Check engine and ASC light are on for obvious reasons

What i didnt include with the sale were the Style 68s that i had just gotten powder coated and wrapped in Falken Azenis tires, and the numerous spare wheels i'd accumulated over time.

All in all, a true budget build E36 sedan was doing 80+ mph entries and hanging the tail out with a less than capable driver behind the wheel and no hydro-brake. I had a blast with the car and the experience I gained is priceless. But i'm ready to finish the E34 and have some fun with that.

[protomor]

As long as the E34 has a steering rack and not a box. I'm ok with this.

[tptrsn]

You don't like box bro?

In all seriousness, the steering box in my 540 works perfectly, and has not given any perceptible difference to a rack and pinion. I used to blame the steering box for sloppiness, but then I realized it was actually an issue with a rear wheel bearing getting sloppy... Anyway, just throwing that out there.

[JesterMX6]

it's still a box but i have a lot of bookmarks under the topic of "rack swap" lol

[protomor]

Slop isn't the only issue. Geometry doesn't seem to like steering angle.

[tptrsn]

Slop isn't the only issue. Geometry doesn't seem to like steering angle.

Interesting... I thought that was basically the same between the two types of steering systems also... Gotta ponder!

[protomor]

I googled for a minute and couldn't find anything. Basically, the box is just a pitman arm (iirc, I dunno the specific bmw one). And the articulation of the ball pushes and pulls on the tie rods unevenly throughout the range of motion for the wheels. Works fine in low angle situations or parking, but not high angle grip like drifting.

[tptrsn]

It does seem like the addition of steering angle would at least be rather non-linear, doesn't it... I haven't noticed that from behind the wheel, but it does seem like there would be sort of an odd situation with the steering box and links setup.

Bottom line though, it's a moot point. Basically nobody is going to run a steering box by choice.

[protomor]

You never know lol. E39s usually come with boxes but some models come with a steering rack. So you might "run what you brung" until you can get a rack. But even that isn't a simple swap IIRC.

[tptrsn]

No, it's far from a simple swap at all, since the steering box cars (E39s) are the V8s, and the rack and pinion cars are the I6s. Completely different subframe, oil pan, exhaust configuration, everything. But E39s are pretty bad for drifting anyway. I took E39 540 turbo out to an event a couple weeks ago:

540 Drift Bank 1.jpg

Maybe the I6 ones are a little better in terms of steering configuration, but they would still have the same rear suspension, most of the same portly weight, and in most cases less power than mine. Yuck.

[JesterMX6]

You can get [I]some[/I more ]angle with E32 (7 series) arms bolted to the alternate mounting point. That'll basically be my band aid until i decide if i want to take on a proper rack swap.

If i end up not liking it for drifting, i'll just use it for regular track use and probably find another e36 slut for drifting down the road.