Results 1 to 18 of 18

Thread: SLO E36 325i Budget Build. '95 Sedan

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan

    SLO E36 325i Budget Build. '95 Sedan

    Might as well get this started up. I've had the car for about a year now. Mostly doing reliability mods and replacing worn out parts with upgrades.

    '95 325i Hellrot Red Sedan 5spd. 215k Miles on her.

    Not many photos of the car right now, she's not the best looking out there. But I picked it up for less than $2k.

    Current Parts list,
    -Ebay Coilovers with custom Eibach spring rates 450#f 550#r, will be going to 400# fronts as soon as I have time. $600 to replace the blown OEM shocks and struts. Probably end up with Koni DAs
    -Eibach F&R sways, currently set full stiff rear, full soft front. but will change once the new front springs go on.
    -Delrin Offset FCABs
    -Poly RTABs
    -Adjust Rear lower arms
    -Upper and Lower Arm bushings need to be replaced, I have the parts, heim joint all around, just haven't had time.
    -Front and Rear Strut/Shock Tower braces. Not sure on brand, came with the car.
    -Custom made Short shifter
    -17x8 wheels, craigslist brand.
    -Custom made wheel spacers. 6mm front and 7.25mm rear
    -245/40-17 Bridgestone RE760, really good street tires. Haven't decided on my track tires yet.
    -Kirkey Seat
    -Need to finish gutting the Rear of the car so I can build my roll bar.
    -E46 M3 front brakes, still need to install these, with Stoptech rotors and Hawk HPS pads. Been too lazy to figure out how to mount them on my mill to shave the mounting surface down.
    -Collecting parts for a custom power steering return and feed lines and aluminum reservoir.


    I got tired of looking at my oem bumper that was falling apart. (Not me in the photo)
    13418559_10209949599363015_4498833310225647946_o.jpg
    I got bored of my rotting steering wheel
    10384927_10206084022846018_1125269900109627272_n.jpg
    Here's what I do for a living. I'm the head R&D Tech at a company that does mustang suspension parts. So I'm at the track, out in the shop, working in engineering, or answering people's silly tech questions. It keeps me very busy, because as you would expect, these cars need A LOT of work to get them handling well. Except for the new 2015-16 cars, they are AMAZING.
    13029593_10209528649879541_3062905738942740721_o.jpg

    The end goal for this car is to compete in NASA TTE next year. Then TT/PTD the year after. It's getting close, just need to fix what's broken and get it reliable first.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    LA
    Posts
    248
    My Cars
    1998 BMW M3 Sedan
    GL with the build, is that Buttonwillow raceway in the last picture?

    Any particular reason why you choose the sedan?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by usedunderwear View Post
    GL with the build, is that Buttonwillow raceway in the last picture?

    Any particular reason why you choose the sedan?
    It's what found me first, red 95 sedan. That's it. Now I'm kind of happy about it. Will make it a lot easier when building the cage for one lol

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    LA
    Posts
    248
    My Cars
    1998 BMW M3 Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by TheKolton View Post
    It's what found me first, red 95 sedan. That's it. Now I'm kind of happy about it. Will make it a lot easier when building the cage for one lol

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Janesville, WI
    Posts
    1,004
    My Cars
    1993 325is
    So you work for maximum motorsports, very cool. My twin brother got a white 91 hatchback with the maximum grip box from M&M a while back (was Luka's car i believe).
    Pretty much anyone that gets a ride in my brothers car is like "I usually talk shit about mustangs but this one is sick".
    1994 325is- M52 swap, Fan delete, AA chip, CAI, TC-Kline DA, H&R 28mm front sway, Kevin Higgins exhaust, kosei k1 17x8.5's with RA1's, DS2's with REO1R's, 3.23 lsd

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by Corky325 View Post
    So you work for maximum motorsports, very cool. My twin brother got a white 91 hatchback with the maximum grip box from M&M a while back (was Luka's car i believe).
    Pretty much anyone that gets a ride in my brothers car is like "I usually talk shit about mustangs but this one is sick".
    Hahahaha, Yup, sounds about right. It's amazing how much you can polish a turd.
    -
    -
    -
    -
    Got bored over the weekend, so I decided to quiet down my track exhaust a little bit. It's about 20 lbs lighter than my street catback system, and the aluminum mufflers were $40 each of ebay. They are motorcycle slip ons. We'll see how they hold up over time. Before it was just straight pipe, and super annoying. I hate driving loud cars, even race cars. I just can't concentrate.
    e36exh.jpg
    I've gotta say, with the rest of the exhaust factory, including that cats, it sounds REALLY good! Super deep tone at lower RPMs and then screams all the way to 6k until the intake noise overwhelms it. Which is awesome in it's own right, it lets me know when it's about time to shift without me having to look down at the gauge cluster.

    Eventually I'll be installing headers and a free flowing exhaust. Though I think I'll stick with these mufflers out back, and then do some cherry bomb style mufflers where the factory cats would be.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Finally had some time to work on the car a little last weekend. Basic stuff, oil change, fluid check, bolt and nut torque check, etc.

    But also decided to toss on my bigger brakes for the front! Still waiting on parts to get in for the rear.

    The kit is based around the E46 M3 front brakes. I went with these over the E46 330ci because of the thicker rotor (28mm vs 25mm).

    The problem with the M3 setup is the offset of the caliper over the rotor on a non-M e36. So I had to mill 6mm off the bracket to get everything lined up properly. Other than that, everything else, bolts and brake lines, all bolts right one.

    IMG_5571.JPG

    You can see a significant increase in rotor size lol. 286mm x 22mm vs 325mm x 28mm (11.25 inches vs 12.8 inches)

    IMG_5569.JPG

    Fitted on the car under the 17" wheel.

    IMG_5575.jpg

    For now I'm just running stock style pads until I get the parts for the rear. Going with 330ci rears. Stoptech slotted rotors and Hawk HPS pads.

    The brake pedal travel is noticeably longer. So will be going with a E36 M3 master cylinder soon.
    -
    -
    -
    Also had a little time to replace a bad upper control arm bushing. Took an interesting stack of cups and washers to remove and replace the bushing. I have 3 more bushings ready to go in as soon as I have some time. The uppers are spherical and the lowers are rubber. It looks like they are the same size though, so I'll be using OE spherical uppers in place of the rubber lowers. Might also make an actual tool for people to buy that would make this R&R much easier for the DIY crowd.

    IMG_5578.JPG
    -
    -
    -
    -
    Question Time!
    Do anyone know about the factory brake balance? There is no separate proportioning block, so I'm assuming it's part of the ABS unit. Has anyone figured out a way to remove the bias function from the ABS so we could install an adjustable brake bias unit? I haven't been able to find anything searching around. If not, anyone have a spare abs unit they would want to ship me? I'd pay for shipping of course.
    Last edited by TheKolton; 09-08-2016 at 03:42 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Finally got a chance to do my rear brakes. E46 330ci rotors and calipers. Hawk HPS pads to match the fronts (w/E46 M3 calipers and rotors).

    In the end, here are the sizes of everything
    Front;
    325mm x 28mm w/ 60mm Caliper Piston
    Rear;
    320mm x 22mm w/ 42mm Caliper Piston

    Edit** Failed to mention a few things lol

    The rear was a bolt on affair. BUT, you can no longer run the rear parking brake. The "drum" diameter is larger than the e36 and the e46 non-330. There used to be a insert that someone was selling, but I don't think it's being made anymore. I don't have the factory parking brake any longer, so this wasn't a concern for me. Running a hydraulic rear setup from my drifting days.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by TheKolton; 12-01-2016 at 12:17 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Finally ran my first event on Saturday. Was with the local chapter of the Porsche Club of America. They held an AutoX at the local airport. Car was a blast and did really well! Except for when I thought I blew my motor, but I'll get to that in a second.

    Most recent work on the car has been brakes, and they performed really well, though there weren't many heavy braking zones, and I've never been one of those drivers that has taken full advantage of my brakes. Something I need to work on. I need to swap in the M3 master cyl, the pedal travel was a little long and soft for my taste.

    Next up was handling balance. I think I've finally found the sweet spot. This will probably change once I get around to putting a LSD in the car. The car was very neutral through the corners and during transitions. Before with the 450# fronts and same rears, opposite sway bar settings, I was getting too much inside rear tire spin.

    Current setup;
    Front;
    400# springs, Eibach Sway on full stiff, non-m mounting.
    3.5 negative camber, and about 3mm total toe out.
    Rear;
    550# springs, Eibach Sway on full soft
    2.5 neg camber, about 1mm total toe in.

    Video of my first and last runs.
    https://youtu.be/Wg8REczm3Vw
    .
    .
    .
    .
    And my silly engine... On my last run in the first session, also my fastest run, I thought I blew the motor. I'm still not sure exactly what happened.

    After my run I came through the finish lights and tossed the car in neutral as I coasted to get my time slip. The car was barely idling, so I gave it a little gas to keep it alive and get back to my pit spot. Once there, it wouldn't run and it just died on me. I hoped out and popped the hood to take a look. Nothing obvious so I had a buddy hop in, start it up, and keep it idling at about 2000rpms. On startup there was a very bad knocking noise, similar to what I would normally say was rod knock, but it quickly calmed down and all I could here was valvetrain noise, much louder than my normal vanos rattle. I unplugged each coil plug, one at a time, to see where the massive misfire was coming from. All cylinders acted the same, so I was at a loss and I had to go work the course for the next run group. I come back about 45 minutes later, start the car, get some horrible valvetrain/vanos rattles for about 5 seconds, oil light went out after about 2 seconds, and then the engine ran and idled smooth and quiet like it has since I've owned the car. Took the car out and went easy on it for the next session, and had no issues.

    My current diagnosis;
    I have an aftermarket chip in the car, rev limit is at 7200. I think I was over revving it. I'm not sure on BMW motors, but other cars with hydraulic lifters can have an issue where you float the valves, and then the lifters lockup to the point where they are either not opening or not closing all the way. I think this is what happened, and while I was out working the course, they slowly freed up.
    Last edited by TheKolton; 12-05-2016 at 02:03 PM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Posts
    664
    My Cars
    99 328is, 03 X5
    Hope you get the motor/lifter issue sorted and I see at some NASA HPDE/TTs event in 2017. I plan to start in TTD w/ my 328.

    Also, once you get a real summer tire (200 treadwear), most inside wheel spin will disappear.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by Team Neverlift View Post
    Hope you get the motor/lifter issue sorted and I see at some NASA HPDE/TTs event in 2017. I plan to start in TTD w/ my 328.

    Also, once you get a real summer tire (200 treadwear), most inside wheel spin will disappear.
    I've been meaning to pickup a junk yard motor and rebuild it as a spare motor, so last weekend has kinda accelerated that plan.

    I'll be out there next year for sure. I still have to work my way up through HPDE to apply for my TT licence, but I'll get there eventually. I ended up working at all the Buttonwillow events this year, so I didn't have any time to drive. I plan on being at Chuckwalla in Feb. or Willow Springs in Mar., but we might use those events as a shakedown of a new race car build, so I would end up working the entire weekend again lol.

    I'm working on designing some anti-squat brackets for the trailing arm. Moving the pivot point up in the chassis will increase the anti-squat, and should create more corner exit traction. We'll see how this pans out, I'm still running the numbers.
    Last edited by TheKolton; 12-06-2016 at 12:06 PM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Finally had a chance to play with the car a little. Getting ready for Bimmer Challenge at Buttonwillow in March. Will be my first track outing in a VERY long time.

    First order of business was to change out my lower control arm to trailing arm bushings. Going from OEM rubber to spherical.

    I'm using the factory upper bushings, which fit perfectly.

    3.jpg

    Made my own little bushing press kit out of stuff I had laying around the shop.

    4.jpg
    2.jpg

    Is anyone selling/renting this? I might put some time into it and do a proper design that could be sold. Would cost less than $20 to make. I used the same setup for the upper bushings.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Next was to get some adjustable lower control arms on the car. What a pain getting that inner pivot bolt out. Had to do the diff shuffle, removing all the mounting bolts and pushing the diff up and over to get enough clearance to get the bolts out. Grumble.

    Arms are SPC, the were cheap and easily available. I might make some of my own though. These are very heavy, and don't have a proper spherical inner bushing.

    1.jpg

    Got some tires for the race weekend. Will be interesting to see how they perform. Got them from BimmerWorld as take offs from the Continental Sports Car series. Pretty much they are Hoosier R7s. 225/45-17. I'll be using these for NASA events too, once I get my TT license, as they will let my car stay in TTE.

    6.jpg

    And since I'm giving myself a lot more tire grip, it was time to increase the roll stiffness. So I finally changed the front sway bar mount over to the M3 style. Had some adjustable end links laying around from another car, and they seem to fit up just fine, even though they look to be a bit longer than E36 specific ones.

    5.jpg

    I'm really not pleased with the balance of the car now though. Way stiffer in the front than the rear. I need to run the numbers on the sway bars and roll centers again. I'm also confused as to what everyone else is thinking with their spring rates and the fact that most people are running a MUCH softer rear than me. My math and my butt both think people are crazy. I'll probably end up going with 50# stiffer rear springs.
    Current Setup, understeer.
    400#(376 wheel rate) front with 28mm Bar(M3 mounting on soft setting)
    550#(369 wheel rate) rear with 21mm Bar(stiff setting)

  14. #14
    mslevin's Avatar
    mslevin is offline Have you checked RealOEM? BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Sunnyvale, CA
    Posts
    915
    My Cars
    E36, E38, E46
    Nice to see someone from San Luis Obispo on BF! I went to Cal Poly, best 5 years of my life. I have a bunch of friends down there who usually make it out to the PCA AutoX. I did a few last year, they always have great track setups.

    If everything goes well, I might see you at Buttonwillow in March!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by mslevin View Post
    Nice to see someone from San Luis Obispo on BF! I went to Cal Poly, best 5 years of my life. I have a bunch of friends down there who usually make it out to the PCA AutoX. I did a few last year, they always have great track setups.

    If everything goes well, I might see you at Buttonwillow in March!
    Nice! I made it out to the last PCA event of the year last year. Had a great time, good people, fun course layout. I'll probably head out to a few this year.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    After action report.

    Finally got the car out on track over the weekend. The car wasn't really ready, but headed out anyways to get a real baseline on the track.

    We did Buttonwillow 13cw, the typical time attack layout. Since this is my first time on track in well over 5 years, I did the first session on my street tires to get familiar. Ran a 2:11.716. The car was working well and I got up to speed pretty quick.

    Second session I tossed my slicks on to give it a go for a quick lap. Instantly dropped 5 seconds! Ran a 2:06.520. This ended up getting me third place in Bimmer Challenge for B5 class. They didn't count our final session, though I would have ended up in 3rd anyways.

    Third session I ended up running a 2:08.4. Was a lot slower from having a passenger and trying some different braking points and different lines.

    Fourth and final session was my fastest. Very little traffic let me really push lap after lap. Ended up with a best time of 2:06.097. This didn't count towards the Bimmer Challenge results, but it wouldn't have changed my finishing position anyways. It would have put me 0.15 off second and 0.50 off first. This will be easy to make up once I have time to do some minor aero work. I probably left about 1 second up for grabs in just my driving. There were two sets of corners that I couldn't get the line right, even though I know what the right line is lol.

    Now I have a good starting point for the car, and I gained A LOT of knowledge about what I need to play with on the car.

    1st issue, my motor hates me! The entire event, I was stuck with needing to short shift at 6k RPM. This hurt me in two spots on the track where I had to be up one gear. One spot where I needed the car to be in 2nd gear, one where I needed to be in 3rd. The worst was the 2nd gear burst out of a tight corner then heading uphill. Revs in 3rd were down to about 3800/3900, NO POWER!

    I need to figure the motor out, but it has me kinda lost as to how to fix it. If I carry the revs over 6k for anything over a half a second, the car starts to misfire and I lose a lot of power. This lasts for 5 to 10 seconds before the motor smooths back out and the power comes back. My only thought is that it has something to do with the valvetrain. My only thought right now is sticky hydraulic lifters. I'm stumped though.

    2nd issue is the car was running hot. After about 15 minutes going at it 100%, the oil temps were up to about 255f and water temp was at about the 3/4 mark on the factory gauge. I'll be getting an aluminum radiator asap, but I'm not sure what to do about the oil temps yet(cooler kits for our cars are stupid expensive). We'll see how much to oil temps drop from having the water temps lower.

    3rd issue, that I knew would happen before I even got to the track, was the suspension balance. The car understeers way too much right now. I need to up my spring rates anyways now that I'm running such a sticky tire. I think I'm also going to make a 4 way adjustable 3 piece rear sway bar. Below is a link to the ones my company makes for the mustangs. Mine will be pretty much the same, just got to figure out where to mount it. Which means it's time to get the plasma cutter out and really gut my trunk, getting rid of the spare wheel well and battery well.
    http://www.maximummotorsports.com/Ad...2004-P546.aspx

    Attached Images Attached Images

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    251
    My Cars
    86' 951 / 95' E36
    Nice driving and times especially with the motor problems, a few of us from SLO go to BW and Laguna all the time, we'll look for you next time out, probably do NASA in April if everything goes as planned.

    -Brent
    86 Porsche 951 2.8 Stroker - (Track Car/ Street)
    95 M3 S54B32 \ 2600lbs - Track Car

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    Posts
    31
    My Cars
    95 325i Sedan
    Quote Originally Posted by Brent951 View Post
    Nice driving and times especially with the motor problems, a few of us from SLO go to BW and Laguna all the time, we'll look for you next time out, probably do NASA in April if everything goes as planned.

    -Brent
    Thank you, I'll post videos up below. Car was alright, too much under steer, not enough power, and a very rusty driver lol. I'll be at the NASA Buttonwillow event in April, though I'll most likely be working, and won't have my car out there. I'll keep an eye out and stop by.


    I've finished collecting parts for a new shifter setup so this won't happen again.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs40Ky_sT9E

    Here is an ok run. Fastest I got on camera. Lots of improvement to make for both myself and the car.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlxd5OHBLPY

Similar Threads

  1. '95 E36 325is Track Build
    By Sterk in forum Track Car Builds
    Replies: 92
    Last Post: 03-17-2023, 02:32 PM
  2. E36 WTB - Strut/ Spring combo for 325i Budget Build
    By millertimebmw03 in forum BMW Parts Wanted
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 10-05-2014, 06:24 PM
  3. E36 325is Turbo Build Route
    By Xenocide in forum Forced Induction
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 10-13-2010, 09:50 AM
  4. WTB: E36 325IS, 5speed, 92-95
    By Donny1977 in forum BMW Cars For Sale / Wanted
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 11-12-2005, 06:23 PM
  5. '92 E36 325i Auto vs '95 Honda Civic Manuel
    By Paperboy415 in forum Kill Stories
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 10-24-2005, 12:48 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •