Page 2 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast
Results 26 to 50 of 169

Thread: The uphill battle... aka e36 M3 STR build

  1. #26
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    Quote Originally Posted by snakebit8 View Post
    Oh yeah National level events are a very different game. I used to run them more back in the day with other cars as well as attending nationals one year. Looks like you are giving STX a good run with a trophy recently. Congrats on that! I went through your build thread and i'ts always fun to watch the projects progress. Makes me miss my old STX car but the STR car is filling that void nicely haha.

    Bristol filled pretty darn quickly, quite a few from my region are going up and I wish I could join them but it wasn't in the cards this year.

    Have an update on the car I need to post, with videos this time. I'll get them up once I get everything together the way I want.
    Thanks! If you have any setup questions, don't hesitate to ask. We should be setting our cars up similarly anyways.

  2. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Since the last update the car has a had a few changes. The basic setup for the car has been set for awhile and I'm pretty happy with the car how it stands in the dry. Currently I'm working on weight reduction and power.

    1. Headers- I picked up a set of BMP OBD-II legal shorty headers from a user on the forums. They were in pretty good shape and maintained the SAP so they were perfect for my needs. Doing some reading I had heard how much of a pain installing shorty headers was and it absolutely lived up to that reputation. Getting to those last few bolts was so frustrating. So the big question was it worth it? I don't have any dyno results to support my butt dyno but I am very pleased by how it seems to have filled out the power in the midrange which was exactly what I was hoping for so I am pleased. Side note, they added a bit of a deeper growl to the exhaust which I like as well.

    oQ4CewZ.jpg

    XMIidGQ.jpg

    zHhQHiq.jpg

    P2Fk8rV.jpg

    q57ZRFX.jpg
    Last edited by snakebit8; 06-01-2020 at 07:39 AM.

  3. #28
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    2) New seats- Sparco recently can out with a new series of seats that sounded very promising to me so I had to look into them. the seat is the QRT-R I ended up getting my buddy that is a parts supplier to order me one to check it out. It claims to be lighter than current fiberglass seats (almost carbon weight) and have a smaller footprint for a larger internal size. The Pro 2000 II I had fit me well but left me wishing I could get it further over on the transmission tunnel to get the seat centered on the steering wheel. With this new seat I could get don to the STR weight limit while centering the seat better on the steering wheel and still fitting comfortably. Sounds like a win win win to me. Once the seat Got in I was pleased with the feel so I went ahead and ordered a second so that I could just have a matching set. I ended up selling my current seat to my buddy that already had a Pro 2000 II so now he also has a basically matching set. The one area I kind of like the Pro 2000 II better is the shoulder area is a little wider but otherwise I'm very pleased. While I had the seats out I hid some wires and sorted out a few other things to tidy up in the rear. Those jobs would be much harder once the race seats were in.

    The new seats mounted up slightly differently from the old seat due to some different hole placements for the side mounts. They mount much lower than other seats I have mounted with no real high option. (at least with the VAC Motorsports mounting Kit. As always with race seats its a tedious task but I'm very happy with the results. The seat is centered better than the pro was and its still very comfortable to ride around in. The supplier likened it to a new version of the Evo 2 seat and based on my past experiences I tend to agree with that assessment.

    Cf2ScUn.jpg

    sQ7GvoK.jpg

    gdce5g8.jpg

    dXkzGUP.jpg

    7AWqbHD.jpg
    Last edited by snakebit8; 07-18-2018 at 09:47 PM.

  4. #29
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    The work on the build continues in earnest. Probably the biggest handicap for the E36 in this class is its weight penalty compared to the other cars in class. It fairs well when it comes to power and its also narrow so its great at threading through tight sections but its weight is its weakness. The current series of modifications are all aimed at getting the car's weight down and get here light on her feet. First step was the seats which have a net loss of about 40 lb each. Next is the battery which will be another 40lbs which I will outline in this post.

    The factory sized battery weighs in at a fairly heft 43 lbs. It sits in the back corner of the car thanks to BMWs desire to equal out the weight. This kind of complicates things because I do want to drop weight but i would much prefer to drop it up front to help with the weight balance. This shift in balance along with the other group of weight reduction mods will cause the cars balance to shift but that's why we test and have adjustable shocks, ride heights, and alignment settings. Anyway back to the job at hand. My original intent had been to get the tried and true Odyssey battery and just be done with it. I ended up going with a small lithium battery since the price was the same and it weight almost literally 1/4 of the weight for the same price. 11.5lbs vs 3 lbs feels quite different when they are sitting in your hand. Plus the Li battery came with a 24 month warranty so what did I have to lose. I also grabbed a Li specific smart trickle charger to keep on it while the car sat between races.

    K0e4OCR.jpg

    I ended up having to order the post adapters online since no one local carried what I needed so I was not able to do the install. I ended up asking my codriver to throw it in when the parts came in since he is the one holding the car between races this season. Well he gets the parts in and starts the fitment process and realizes that the battery would be challenging to tie down tightly because the was a drip valley made into the bottom of the battery box to let and leaking acid drip out. This apparently was enough to no let it fit tightly enough for his taste so he used his 3D printer to make a base for the battery that allowed it to fit snug. I probably would have done a much simpler fix but this is his and it works really well. Perks of working with folks that have fun toys I guess.

    WjyNeqT.jpg

    3CnLwOH.jpg

    XTSH5Cw.jpg

    Nice little tidy set up with a quick disconnect to prevent any drain and the charging pigtails bolted on so its a quick plug in to trickle charge. Now I just have to chase the setup as the balance has changed a bit but the overall car feels more nibble and like a step in the right direction

    20XAsNv.jpg

    Next up: Exhaust- working with a local race shop to create a lightweight catted setup that drops as much weight as possible while still meeting the STRICT local 96db sound limit. Hopefully its a good weight drop and maybe a power jump. The shop wants to confirm the power gain on their dyno so I am hopefully getting my tuner Zack involved and getting the tune modified to optimize all of the parts on the car.

    As always thanks for reading! Until next time.

  5. #30
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    Have access to a scale when you're done? Curious what it's going to come out as.

    Mine is 2882lbs, with a stock battery and the toolkit in the trunk. A fellow E36 STR driver told me her's was ~100lbs more, but unknown level of weight savings. It is more prepped than mine with fancy Motons. I think you should easily be in the 2700's.

  6. #31
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    I have access to scales which I'll use later in the season after the exhaust is completed. I'm doubting I'll be in the 27xx range. From my understanding in ST prep e36 M3 low 29xx to high 28xx is the best I can expect. M3s tend to run a little heavier than the non M e36s. I know my old 325is was lighter than this M3 is. Now if I do every single gram i can take off maybe I can get that low in ST trim but that's quite a bit of effort to get there. Of course this is all a guess until I get it on scales. Going to be re aligning and re setting the ride heights soon so maybe that's when I'll get it up on scales.

  7. #32
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    Interesting... I know there was an STX prep 325is about a year ago and it was listed at 26xxlbs. That's why I thought your M3 could be around 27xxlbs. Interested in the numbers!

    Looks like there's one STR E36 M3 at nats this year. I've seen those guys registered for many years, and they've done STX too. Hope to see you out there next year!

    Edit: I can't read, the 325is was 2830lbs.
    Last edited by MINIz guy; 08-14-2018 at 10:58 PM.

  8. #33
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Herndon, VA
    Posts
    625
    My Cars
    98 M3/4/5, RIP 528e
    Nice build! It's always nice seeing someone build a car that isn't the "easy button" for the class. Good luck catching up to the twins!

    I'm sure you got it figured out already, but when I installed a Sparco steering wheel, no amount of disconnecting the ABS brain would make the SRS light turn off on the dash, so I eventually just pulled the gauge cluster, removed the SRS bulb, and painted the SRS indicator face. Apparently it will still light up even if you remove the bulb (I have no idea how)! But no amount of light can make it through black spray paint!

  9. #34
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Quote Originally Posted by 95maxrider View Post
    Nice build! It's always nice seeing someone build a car that isn't the "easy button" for the class. Good luck catching up to the twins!

    I'm sure you got it figured out already, but when I installed a Sparco steering wheel, no amount of disconnecting the ABS brain would make the SRS light turn off on the dash, so I eventually just pulled the gauge cluster, removed the SRS bulb, and painted the SRS indicator face. Apparently it will still light up even if you remove the bulb (I have no idea how)! But no amount of light can make it through black spray paint!
    Thanks! I'm not dealing with the twins unfortunately, I feel like that would be more of a fair fight, I'm dealing with the S2000s and the ND Miatas. Those guys have them crazy fast. I've heard the NDs race at around 22XX pounds!. Its been a fun build to try and use the extra power and make it work. Its a long term hope that the M3 gets bumped to STX with the twins but I'm not sure if that is in the cards or not.

    We were able to deal with the airbag light by putting a resistor in the circuit on the end of the wires. We have had zero issue with it so far and its still chugging along beautifly. Both seats and the wheel are out with no light so I'm thinking I'll be good to go going forward.

    7gHXsiI.jpg

    tdl8t4F.jpg

    ewOPttw.jpg

    I have a further update to put together. This past weekend we had a dual event weekend and I had a LCAB failure that make the car undrivable in the morning of day two. Luckily I had a buddy that let me jump in his so it was not a total loss. Now I'm debating a much stiffer LCAB since the Poly one failed. Anyone have any experience with the Condor Speed shop stuff? Just trying to decide my next step.

  10. #35
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Herndon, VA
    Posts
    625
    My Cars
    98 M3/4/5, RIP 528e
    Quote Originally Posted by snakebit8 View Post
    Thanks! I'm not dealing with the twins unfortunately, I feel like that would be more of a fair fight, I'm dealing with the S2000s and the ND Miatas. Those guys have them crazy fast. I've heard the NDs race at around 22XX pounds!. Its been a fun build to try and use the extra power and make it work. Its a long term hope that the M3 gets bumped to STX with the twins but I'm not sure if that is in the cards or not.

    We were able to deal with the airbag light by putting a resistor in the circuit on the end of the wires. We have had zero issue with it so far and its still chugging along beautifly. Both seats and the wheel are out with no light so I'm thinking I'll be good to go going forward.

    I have a further update to put together. This past weekend we had a dual event weekend and I had a LCAB failure that make the car undrivable in the morning of day two. Luckily I had a buddy that let me jump in his so it was not a total loss. Now I'm debating a much stiffer LCAB since the Poly one failed. Anyone have any experience with the Condor Speed shop stuff? Just trying to decide my next step.
    Do you happen to know the specs for the resistor? Got a pic of where you spliced it in?

    Looks like Turner came out with some monoball LCAB bushings last year, might want to check them out!

    955146_x800.jpg

    For the rear trailing arms, don't forget about the BW monoball setup. I've got them in my car and they've held up to rally-x just fine!

    E36_E46_SphericalRTAB_600.jpg

  11. #36
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Unfortunately the % of metal in the bushings cant be increased from stock, so Monoballs are not an option. If they were I would have gone that way already haha.

    The last picture is him finalizing the splicing of the resistors. They are 3 ohm resistors if I remember correctly? My co-driver put that solution together, we found some massive LED resistor at a local auto-parts store and make it work haha. they have big heat sinks on them for the planned application so totally overkill. Not pretty but like I said no issues yet.

  12. #37
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    No comment on the Condor Speed Shop bushings. I use AKG 95A myself, no complaints after 3 years.

    What Powerflex version did you use for diff bushings? I have RevShift 95A and hate them; they back themselves out and transmit so much whine. I'm thinking of going 75A or even back to stock, if the bushings don't matter that much in the diff.

  13. #38
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    I have use the powerflex black hard bushings for the FCAB the diff and the rear subframe. This is the first of the bushings that has failed so far but it was only after half a season.

    9oCeyNm.jpg

    IumMTjF.jpg

    All of the other bushing seem to be just fine but I am thinking of going firmer in the future since she sees no real street time anymore these days.

    I ended up choosing the Bimmerworld Centered Delrin bushings as a replacement (sorry for the blurry pictures).

    JYq7h7b.jpg

    bBUx8GK.jpg

    They feel great so far but I'll know more for sure after I get her back on the track.

    9T4T9Yy.jpg

  14. #39
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Little bit of an update.

    Lately I have been doing quite a few setup tweaks, including ride height and bushing changes. The front end of the car has been feeling a bit numb/unpredictable lately so I figured It would probably be smart to check the front sway bar and ensure I had not built up any preload in it. It had been a long long time since I had even checked that and lots of settings have changed since then, so I decided to play with that and see if I could get the front end more predictable. So with all that in mind back to the garage she goes.

    hfe2XOj.jpg

    Had to grab my ramps so I could load the front and away we went. While I was under there I did my normal walk through to check that all my bolts were tight and nothing was coming loose. Still finding stuff since the car was fully rebuilt so this seems to be a good habit to have as long as its on the lift.

    8PAdTpB.jpg

    Next was setting the left end link to my desired length and ensuring that it is all locked down. Then I tried to get the drivers side to the same length and left it loose.

    WADD5kj.jpg

    Followed by letting everything settle and loading the front suspension so that I could take all the preload out of the drivers side. Once that was set she got all tightened up.

    1fHsorI.jpg

    The next day We had an event so I go to try her out. Sooo much better. The nose was much more predictable and took a much better set on turn in. I wish I had just kept more on top of it so It would not have been so far off and bound up. The car felt more like I had expected her to and was much easy to drive at the limit. Kind of frustrating to have just overlooked this little bit of setup but you live and you learn I guess. Overall It was a fun event with a super quick course. I ended up 2nd raw out of 119 which I will take almost any day of the week.

    cAHzfUL.jpg

    Next up is not touching her for a few events so I can actually learn a consistent platform. I have been tweaking after every single event so far and I have not gotten to drive a car that feels the same two events in a row. Seat time is my top priority right now and after that my final few changes in the off season and hopefully she will be ready for national events next season. As always thanks for following along.

  15. #40
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    2nd fastest run from the last event. Fasted run did not record for some reason which was disappointing since it was nearly a second faster.



    Also have a video from earlier in the year that I never posted.


  16. #41
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    That looks loose when you apply throttle, but doesn't have much turn in. Is that right?

    Gonna be asking you for how to adjust JRZ's once next season comes if that's okay. Finally getting rid of my Stance coilovers.

  17. #42
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Quote Originally Posted by MINIz guy View Post
    That looks loose when you apply throttle, but doesn't have much turn in. Is that right?

    Gonna be asking you for how to adjust JRZ's once next season comes if that's okay. Finally getting rid of my Stance coilovers.
    Only loose when I'm too early on throttle. Actually has very good rear and front grip as long as I don't ask too much of it. It very slightly on the loose side which I like and just have to not be an ogre with my right foot. Always fun to over drive but not fast. The nose works really well with plenty of turn in actually. I dont have the front bar set super stiff so it doesn't dart in but It does not 3 wheel very badly either so for me the compromise is worth it. It also helps to not upset the car with a hyper fast turn in.

    JRZs are easy to adjust and every adjustment can be felt pretty well. So far I'm a fan of them. The are pretty darn good for a non remote at soaking up bumps and keeping the platform stable.

  18. #43
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    Quote Originally Posted by snakebit8 View Post
    Only loose when I'm too early on throttle. Actually has very good rear and front grip as long as I don't ask too much of it. It very slightly on the loose side which I like and just have to not be an ogre with my right foot. Always fun to over drive but not fast. The nose works really well with plenty of turn in actually. I dont have the front bar set super stiff so it doesn't dart in but It does not 3 wheel very badly either so for me the compromise is worth it. It also helps to not upset the car with a hyper fast turn in.

    JRZs are easy to adjust and every adjustment can be felt pretty well. So far I'm a fan of them. The are pretty darn good for a non remote at soaking up bumps and keeping the platform stable.
    Gotcha. Mine is as stiff as I can get it, but there's no bump damping available with my coils, so it still rolls like a boat. Mine doesn't 3 wheel anymore either, and is very neutral according to others.

    I decided to go full racecar when I jumped to the JRZ's. Have no idea how to deal with the adjustments, especially bump. I don't have a trick diff, just a 3-clutch, but otherwise I think our cars will be identical.

  19. #44
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Quote Originally Posted by MINIz guy View Post
    Gotcha. Mine is as stiff as I can get it, but there's no bump damping available with my coils, so it still rolls like a boat. Mine doesn't 3 wheel anymore either, and is very neutral according to others.

    I decided to go full racecar when I jumped to the JRZ's. Have no idea how to deal with the adjustments, especially bump. I don't have a trick diff, just a 3-clutch, but otherwise I think our cars will be identical.
    Heck I'm still learning what good shocks do as well. Have to tweek yourself and also have experienced co drivers to help give guidance when you feel like you have gone down the wrong path or really to just confirm the path you have already gone down haha.

  20. #45
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Fastest Run from the Event Sunday. Tweaked some shock setting that tightened up the nose a bit. May need to work on slightly slower hand speed with the change or dial compression back just a bit. Overall it was a fun day after resetting that shocks. Course was tricky with some odd visuals for the features so I felt i still left a lot out there being sloppy.





  21. #46
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    Is your lot super slick? Cause your car still looks really pushy where I see your input but there's no change in direction.

    This is the car I think is the fastest E36 for autox right now. It just rotates and looks very neutral on concrete (very different than your lot I assume):


    This is my car on a slick MetLife lot. I still think it changes direction better than yours, but it is nowhere was good as the car above:

  22. #47
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Yes the site is on the slicker side but I still don't understand why you think my car is pushy. Feels fine to me given its on beat tires on a slick lot. I'm not seeing any real difference in turn in initiation to direction change through most of the run. I saw one corner where it pushed a little bit but that was my fault for being a touch late. "changing direction better" does not necessarily mean faster it could just mean your front is not loading the tires smoothly and just slamming them. Having not seen your car or the other car in person I cant speak to which works better. What are you suggesting is wrong because it feels as i would expect. "Really Pushy" does not describe this car at all.

  23. #48
    MINIz guy's Avatar
    MINIz guy is offline #buttstuff2k14 BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Bear, DE
    Posts
    1,273
    My Cars
    rolls coal
    Sorry, didn't mean to step on your toes

  24. #49
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Sorry if My response came off as harsh it was not meant to be that way. My writing style may not always be the most polished as most have figured out by now i'm sure. Genuinely curious/confused as to your impression from the video. What are you suggesting is wrong with the car? I'm open to different inputs from others as long as the input has some explanation with it that can be constructive. No hard feeling from my side just trying to get the whole picture and possibly offer a counter to your input.

  25. #50
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Video from last weekend. Tried backing off the compression in the front shocks a bit to let the nose take a better set but tires are about done and it was cold out. Car was fairly balanced given the overall low grip but i'm really curious how fresh tires would fare.


Page 2 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Would It Be Illegal To Remove The Sunroof From An E36 M3 For SM or BSP If......
    By jmciver in forum Track, Auto-X & Drag Racing sponsored by Bimmerparts.com
    Replies: 54
    Last Post: 12-27-2009, 02:57 AM
  2. What's the going price on e36 m3's in the area?
    By Preppy in forum Middle Atlantic - US
    Replies: 25
    Last Post: 12-29-2003, 01:00 PM
  3. Problems with running coilovers in the rear of a e36 m3
    By Mantic in forum Track, Auto-X & Drag Racing sponsored by Bimmerparts.com
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 07-13-2003, 04:16 PM
  4. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 06-23-2003, 06:20 PM
  5. Is there any rim out there that will allow 265's in the rear of an E36 M3?
    By ADVANT123 in forum Tire & Wheel Forum sponsored by The Tire Rack
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 12-04-2002, 08:48 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
  •