Takumi788's Track-able 3 season daily 1995 M3 build

[Takumi788]

Hey Bimmer Forums. I recently purchased a 1995 M3 and have been lurking for the past few weeks. I enjoy keeping build threads so I figured I should make one here.

This story starts when I took my 2013 Scion FRS off the road last year because I ruined the street-ability by making it a track car. It has gone so far to the track side that is is no longer comfortable, safe or enjoyable on the street. Daily driving my truck is a nice luxury but it is pretty boring. Anyway, I have been looking for a street toy ever since. I usually purchase from the Japanese market but the wife mentioned a back seat and that limited my JDM options to cars I didn't really want.

The BMW life choose me when a close friend was selling his immaculate E30 325i coupe earlier this year. I have done all the maintenance and modifications on this E30 over the 4 years he has owned it and the car really grew on me. It seemed to check all the boxes including the wife's back seat request. I was set to purchase it but when he drove it home from storage he fell back in love and decided to keep it. I started looking for other E30s but a clean example is few and far between in the Northeast. I still hope to buy this car when he gets bored again. lol.

I contacted another BMW friend and told him to keep an eye out for me. He mentioned taking a look at the E36 platform. At first I dismissed his recommendation due to "being too new". (I hate dealing with OBD2 non-sense with older cars). However I knew the E36 is a good chassis because I see them at the track all the time. I drove a fellow instructors track prepped E36 M3 2 years ago at NJMP and really enjoyed it. So I started looking. I saw a few non-M versions on Marketplace but nothing stood out. My friend called me back later in the day saying a 1995 M3 just popped up on Craigslist 15 mins away. And get this; It was just shipped to New York from California in October 2019 and garaged ever since. So it was rust free and OBD1. The owner has to move back to Cali and didn't want to pay to ship it back. It has 191k with three manilla folders full of maintenance history dating back to 1997 including the modification receipts. It needed the typical E36 maintenance but looked very solid and well taken care of otherwise. I bought the car that night for well under my budget and have been updating and correcting some small things ever since. My plan is to make it a track capable car while maintaining everything that makes a car comfortable for the street. More emphasis on the street portion than lap times.

First steps are:
- Removing amps and subs: Stock speakers will do.
- Cooling system update: The rad/hoses/thermostat/housing/water pump was replaced in 2007 but I plan on replacing all of them now along with an aluminum rad.
- Replace clutch fan with E-fan: The clutch is going on the OEM fan. So I am replacing the whole fan with a Spal 16" efan.
- Replacing the wheels/tires: Wheels aren't my style and the tires are VERY chopped due to bad tie rods.
- TC Klein Suspension components: The rear sags on the passenger side so I am replacing the H&R rear springs with TC Klein springs and adjustable perches.
- Inner tie rod: Probably why the tires are so chopped. Replacing the inner and outer on both sides.
- Alignment: replacing the front upper strut mount with 96+ units for more camber and adding strut tower reinforcement pads. Corner balance, then alignment.
- Fluids: replace all the fluids

That should keep me busy for a while.

The day I bought her:
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My track car FRS: In case you were curious.
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[MauiM3Mania]

If you wish to share images, you will want to load the images to a photo hosting site. There are many no-charge sites, if you don't use one now look around and see what works best for you. Options include Wix, DropBox, Google Photos, 500px, etc. Avoid using Photo Bucket or ImgUr as both make it difficult to link to forums.
Once uploaded to a hosting site, either use the INSERT IMAGE icon when composing your post, or copy the link of the photo into a forum message. The link would be something like; http://hosting_site.com/your_pic.jpg


I hope that helps!

[Takumi788]

If you wish to share images, you will want to load the images to a photo hosting site. There are many no-charge sites, if you don't use one now look around and see what works best for you. Options include Wix, DropBox, Google Photos, 500px, etc. Avoid using Photo Bucket or ImgUr as both make it difficult to link to forums.
Once uploaded to a hosting site, either use the INSERT IMAGE icon when composing your post, or copy the link of the photo into a forum message. The link would be something like; http://hosting_site.com/your_pic.jpg

Every forum is different. You couldn't see the photos before? I have google photos but I have never gotten to get the link to work with forums. The link that Google gives me is similar to your example but without .jpg. I just uploaded them using the insert image tool. Hope that works better. Thanks

[Takumi788]

I am confused. I was replacing my fuel injector o-rings last night to fix the slight "misfire" at idle. (It worked BTW. Car runs super smooth now.) The issue is I believe my fuel pressure regulator has been bypassed. The back of the fuel rail was left unconnected (1st pic) and the fuel pressure regulator was modified to fit the fuel line on the bottom instead of the vacuum line (2nd pic). I believe the previous owner replaced the FPR with this (pic 3). Any idea why anyone would do this to an otherwise stock car?

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[pbonsalb]

Buy a used obd1 rail and go back to stock.

Looks like an old school regulator. Maybe it was used to lower pressure for larger injectors or raise pressure for a turbo or supercharger

[Takumi788]

Buy a used obd1 rail and go back to stock.

Looks like an old school regulator. Maybe it was used to lower pressure for larger injectors or raise pressure for a turbo or supercharger

Hmm. well now I am worried they aren't stock injectors. The car shows no sign of ever having forced induction. How do you know that is an OBD2 fuel rail?

[pbonsalb]

It’s an obd1 rail.

[GG///M3]

Those look like factory s50 injectors to me


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[Takumi788]

Hey guys. Thanks for all your help. I have verified that they are the stock injectors and ordered an stock FPR. After taking a closer look at the 3 binders of service work I discovered that in 1997 the owner installed a chip and the FPR. In 2007 the DME went bad and it was replaced with an OEM unit. I am going to check the DME tonight to make sure it is stock. Still not sure why they added a FPR with stock injectors but whatever.

I also got the cooling system refresh, new radio, rear springs, front 96+ strut mounts, wheels, tires, stud kit and alignment all set. Hit her with some cleaner wax then carnauba wax. Shes looking good and running much better. Replacement fog lights come today. I'll keep you updated on the FPR when that comes in.

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[pbonsalb]

Someone was trying to add or decrease fuel through pressure instead of programming in the ECU. Tuning was not as advance in 1997, so probably the tune had issues.

[GG///M3]

I might have a tune for you from my past 95 m3


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[Takumi788]

So it still has the chip. Dinan D900-2941. After doing a little digging I found that this chip SHOULD work with stock components but that aftermarket FPR still makes me nervous. Replacing it with an OEM unit tonight. Worse case it runs terrible with the OEM FPR and I have to switch back.

Also flushing the brake and trans fluid. I scheduled some time at a small local track this weekend to see what she's got.

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Screenshot_20200615-163014_Chrome.jpg

[pbonsalb]

Some of the Dinan tunes used a 4 bar regulator in place of the stock 3.5 bar but I don’t have much info on that. I think it was part of a “stage 4” modification package and the concern was the stock 17 lb injectors used on obd1 cars might not be adequate for the additional power.

[Takumi788]

I contacted Dinan. They said there is no reason for that chip to have an aftermarket FPR. So I replaced it with a OEM unit and replaced the fuel filter while I was there. Glad I did. I found cracks in the vacuum line and a pinched fuel line. I wasn't expecting a difference in anything. Acceleration feels the same. Only differences I can feel is it sounds smooth under deceleration, instead of exhaust gurgling, and the idle seems more stable.

I can now say that I have a solid base to move on from here and don't have to worry about someone else's modifications being a hindrance.

I didn't get to the trans/brake fluid flush but that is next. Then trial by fire at Pineview Run on Sat.

[Takumi788]

First track test went well. After about 4 laps my power steering pump started making noise. I will start problem solving this by replacing the fluid.

The M3 is very different than the FRS and was about 9 seconds slower; crossing the line at 1:21.2. My goal for the car is to be able to comfortably drive the car to Pineview and be in the 1:15s on a 200tw tire.

The weight of the inputs is the most noticeable difference. The amount you have to turn the wheel to get the car to actually turn is almost comical. I was forced to shuffle my hands in a few corners. (Pineview is a very tight, high speed autocross.) The shop where I got the car aligned mentioned the rack had some play, so I will be replacing the rack with a quicker ratio rack over the winter.

The torque was a welcome difference. That is something I am not used to. lol.

Overall the balance was fair. I was fighting for front grip the entire time. I am going to try adjusting the sway bars but I doubt that will be enough. Looking into coilover options now. I have read good things about the TC Klein setup. I am also considering the KW V2 but they don't list the spring rate in the description. If anyone has a suggestion for a comfortable daily but track-able coilover setup, I am interested.

[blckstrm]

Overall the balance was fair. I was fighting for front grip the entire time. I am going to try adjusting the sway bars but I doubt that will be enough. Looking into coilover options now. I have read good things about the TC Klein setup. I am also considering the KW V2 but they don't list the spring rate in the description. If anyone has a suggestion for a comfortable daily but track-able coilover setup, I am interested.

You should be able to get to a responsive, neutral setup without going full race car.

I read you got 96+ front strut tops. Assuming you run them swapped, you should have plenty of camber for most tracks. If you're not running them swapped, that explains much of your understeer.

I don't recall reading about an xbrace or aftermarket sway bars, which would also help.

You'll read mixed reviews on strut bars. I went ten years without one based on what I perceived as dubious benefit.

This was wrong. I found an aluminum mason race bar on the CCA classifieds for half off, and finally pulled the trigger. It made an amazing difference in how the car feels, and was really the last thing I needed to make it complete.

I got the car at about 120k and did new Billy Sports within the first year. I honestly didn't notice any difference. Did all the normal refreshes, marginally better.

Did Vorshlag motor and tranny mounts, made a huge difference, as well as changing the character of the shifter (to my liking, but possibly not for everyone).

Got an xbrace - people swear by them - but I honestly couldn't feel any difference.

Went from Style 68s (square tires, staggered wheels) to ARC-8s, 17x9 et30 square. Style 68s look good and fit, but the rears have an et50 offset, which is more than stock. Et30 is was less than stock, so that change alone made almost an inch of difference, plus the slight width increase = over 2 inches wider rear track, and over 3 inches wider front track. This made a huge difference in overall grip and was also a huge improvement in balance.

Next I got Turner sway bars. Not huge, but this made an appreciable difference. I like it best at full stiff on both ends.

That was the first five years.

I still had more understeer than I liked, I had to manage weight transfer just right to avoid understeer, so I finally swapped strut tops. That was magic - finally did the trick. That and setting my toe to zero really made the car balanced.

I also had to replace my steering rack, so I got a ZHP rack and also used an E34 steering ujoint instead of the stock e36 guibo. That was ALSO magic.

About a year ago I finally replaced all the ball joints in the rear control arms and the lower one in the tailing arm, and got adjustable camber arms just to make adjustment easier. I used a solid RTAB (delrin, though I probably should have gone spherical bushing there). Pockets are reinforced, and losing all compliance back there was not a bad NVH tradeoff for me personally for the gain of removing all the play in the rear end.

Six months ago I finally got the front strut bar, and now it's perfect. That was the last little bit of magic it needed.

I don't go to the track much anymore, but there is a nice little road here in Austin called Lime Creek, like our own little half Nurburgring (without the high speed section, just the good windy bits).

The car instantly goes where it's pointed and holds on - sharp turn-in, no understeer, no drama.

It's also not too much. I daily it - it's my only car. I mean, we have other cars in the family, but I don't have a weekend car and a weekday car. I just have the one.

If I've learned one thing from being here for ten years, it's that some things work for everyone. Some things that work for everyone don't work for you, and some things that don't work for everyone will work for you.

I'm not racing, so I can only say what I liked - I can't provide lap times. But if any of that helps or gives you ideas, I'm happy to help.

[Takumi788]

Wow. What a helpful post. You guys are certainly different than the FRS/BRZ forums I am used to.

Yes I have 96+ strut tops. Mine were shot when I bought the car so I just replaced those. The strut nut is toward the inside of the engine bay to create 2.2 degrees of camber and 7.1 degrees of caster. Verified at time of alignment.

Strut bars. I usually dismiss any one who says they help on track bc I feel they are just one of those snake oil chassis braces for "track inspired" show cars. However, the car came with one so will re-install it and see if there is a difference.

The car came with an X-brace and Racing Dynamics sway bars. I would rather have oem sway bars and just use the proper spring rate. But I have them, so might as well make the best of it. I kept the rear sway at full stiff and adjusted the front from full stiff to full soft after the track sessons. I will prob swing by the track this weekend to do a session or two. See if that helps at all. I will prob trade them out for turners at some point. The rear bushings have seen better days.

My first purchase was 17x9 +30 Apex Arc8s and 245 hankook RS4s. I have experience with the RS4s on the FRS. Perfect street/track 200tw tire.

My winter plans involve a new PS rack since mine has some play in it. Thinking ZHP or Z3 haven't decided yet. I am REALLY looking forward to driving this car with a decent steering ratio.

The biggest difference will be coilovers as I am pretty sure my front struts are nearing the end of their life anyway. The KW V2s and Fortune Auto 510s are tempting. Still looking into them tho. That will prob also be a winter project.

For now I am really enjoying driving the car. I have a few small things I am planning on doing while continuing to drive it through the summer. Black grills, bigger front lip, fix the headliner, HIDs. Small things and fixes. Next year I am going to need her to perform a little better tho, so the off-season might get interesting. Thanks again for the info.

[pbonsalb]

I am not a racer but regularly read that the E36 racers tend to go big front bar and little to no rear bar. You seem to be doing the opposite, but you have racing experience and seem to know what you want.

[Takumi788]

I am not a racer but regularly read that the E36 racers tend to go big front bar and little to no rear bar. You seem to be doing the opposite, but you have racing experience and seem to know what you want.

I cant argue anything with this chassis as I have only been researching is for a few months now and dont have much on track experience with it. However. When a front engine rwd car is understeering, generally u soften the front or stiffen the rear.

U may still be correct as I am sure the track guys u are seeing have the correct spring rates. Where mine are WAY too soft with tired shocks and struts.

I just signed up for 2 hours at the track Saturday. Going to lap with and without the strut bar. We will see how it goes. I'm thinking I can knock a second off as long as the power steering issue was resolved with a flush.

[blckstrm]

I am not a racer but regularly read that the E36 racers tend to go big front bar and little to no rear bar. You seem to be doing the opposite, but you have racing experience and seem to know what you want.

Just size wise, front bars are bigger than the rears. And this conventional wisdom of running stiffer in front has proven true for me as well as those I know personally. Stiffer front than rear is the opposite of what you'd expect based on conventional car setup engineering, but that's what you do to eliminate understeer on this chassis. I've forgotten the technical reasons this car is different than most other cars in that regard, but that's how it is.

This post is informative for alignment targets - you may have already read it.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...or-your-E36-M3

Also, I've read about rotating '95 strut tops, and swapping 96+ strut tops, but not rotating 96+. I assume you meant the arrow is pointing in instead of forward?

I had mine like that on accident - my buddy has had a race car so long he didn't remember if the arrows were supposed to point in or forward, so we installed them pointing in when I first installed the Bilsteins, and it was like that for a couple years before I rotated them to the factory position. It was 2-3 years ago that I swapped them (pointing forward, one the wrong side).

All this swapping seems so convenient, someday I want to ask the engineer for this car's suspension if they did it on purpose.

---

One last thing. I was getting TERRIBLE tire wear, and was chasing RTAB setups as the solution (why I went to the Delrin). And my car was crazy tail happy, too. It was at zero toe, but even still, it was looser than it should have been.

When the delrin RTAB didn't fix the tail happiness (and again, I'm diagnosing via rampant oversteer and awful tire wear), I finally decided at 24X,000 miles that it was time to replace the trailing arm ball joints and the control arms / control arm ball joints and bushings. They might have been a little overdue. They were in TERRIBLE shape, should have been replaced a decade ago.

We all focus on the front arms and the RTABs, because they're a little more regular wear items, but at the mileage and age we have on these things, those other ball joints and bearings need to be refreshed, too. If there is no record of it being done in the three manila folders, you may want to add that to the list.

[Takumi788]

Stiffer front than rear is the opposite of what you'd expect based on conventional car setup engineering, but that's what you do to eliminate understeer on this chassis.

Also, I've read about rotating '95 strut tops, and swapping 96+ strut tops, but not rotating 96+. I assume you meant the arrow is pointing in instead of forward?

One last thing. I was getting TERRIBLE tire wear, and was chasing RTAB setups as the solution (why I went to the Delrin). And my car was crazy tail happy, too. It was at zero toe, but even still, it was looser than it should have been.

When the delrin RTAB didn't fix the tail happiness (and again, I'm diagnosing via rampant oversteer and awful tire wear), I finally decided at 24X,000 miles that it was time to replace the trailing arm ball joints and the control arms / control arm ball joints and bushings. They might have been a little overdue. They were in TERRIBLE shape, should have been replaced a decade ago.

We all focus on the front arms and the RTABs, because they're a little more regular wear items, but at the mileage and age we have on these things, those other ball joints and bearings need to be refreshed, too. If there is no record of it being done in the three manila folders, you may want to add that to the list.

Weird. Everything I have read about spring rates on these cars suggests that you want approximately a 150# split between the front and rear. Front being 150# softer.

Strut top arrows are pointing forward. Where the strut nut protrudes through the mount is in towards the engine and back. It is in the position that makes the most sense to have the most camber and caster.

I am most likely going to go through the rear suspension with new bushings and joints over the winter. Like I said above. Things will get interesting in the off-season. I am sure I will find a bunch of worn components.

[SexualChocolate]

Weird. Everything I have read about spring rates on these cars suggests that you want approximately a 150# split between the front and rear. Front being 150# softer.

You are correct but he was talking about the sway bars, you need a stiffer front than rear. I am running the largest Hotchkis front sway bar with the stock rear.

I am actually only running a 50lb split in my springs (600F and 650R) on TCK DAs. I am not sure why they were spec'd this way, but that was the recommendation at that time. I have since procured 750lb rears, but would like to run with this first and see how it feels.

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah I couldn't recite you the mechanical reasons for it but I read in an article while back that it was due to the front suspension configuration and geometry of the E36, that's why these cars like having really stiff front bars and relatively soft (or sometimes no) rear bars. In many other cars with different suspensions it's more balanced or the opposite. If you run softer front bars you weirdly end up with more understeer, which again is sort of the opposite of what you'd expect on many other cars. I think it has to do with how you start losing negative camber on the E36 as the front suspension compresses, which isn't what you want for grip.

[blckstrm]

Yeah I couldn't recite you the mechanical reasons for it but I read in an article while back that it was due to the front suspension configuration and geometry of the E36, that's why these cars like having really stiff front bars and relatively soft (or sometimes no) rear bars. In many other cars with different suspensions it's more balanced or the opposite. If you run softer front bars you weirdly end up with more understeer, which again is sort of the opposite of what you'd expect on many other cars. I think it has to do with how you start losing negative camber on the E36 as the front suspension compresses, which isn't what you want for grip.

This is roughly my recollection as well.

Also, for the record, I don't have stiff springs - just a normal H&R Sport / Bilstein Sport setup. I have Turner bars, set full stiff front and rear as previously mentioned.

This is definitely one of those situations where this platform responds differently to modification than conventional wisdom would dictate.

Takumi, you should be able to change this and go for a drive and see if feels better - no need to wait for the track to confirm you're at least moving in the right direction.

[Takumi788]

Yeah I couldn't recite you the mechanical reasons for it but I read in an article while back that it was due to the front suspension configuration and geometry of the E36, that's why these cars like having really stiff front bars and relatively soft (or sometimes no) rear bars. If you run softer front bars you weirdly end up with more understeer, which again is sort of the opposite of what you'd expect on many other cars.

This is definitely one of those situations where this platform responds differently to modification than conventional wisdom would dictate.
Takumi, you should be able to change this and go for a drive and see if feels better - no need to wait for the track to confirm you're at least moving in the right direction.

Well this car will certainly be an adventure then. Truth is, until I get decent shocks and struts, it really doesn't matter what I do. But for the sake of trying things, I will try how I have it now, soft front; stiff rear, and then I will undo a link in the rear to see how it reacts without the bar. I dont have very many roads that I am comfortable with testing things out near me. Besides, the street doesn't have a metric, like lap time, to measure yourself against. You are just flying by your butt dyno. I am a member at a private track about 20 mins away. Might as well use that membership.