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

[NoLastName]

In an E36, my experience is a soft front/stiff rear sway bar combo sacrifices front grip and makes it tricky to put down power out of the corners.

Common knowledge says a stiff front bar should induce understeer with front engine RWD. But there's something about a stiff front bar on this chassis that helps the front hook up. I messed with front bar setups at Laguna Seca one day using an H & R 28mm that has 2 positions. I tried the softest setting, an intermediate setting with end links in one each soft and firm, and the stiffest setting. The car was faster and there was noticeably more front grip in the stiffest setting. Grip kept increasing as I went stiffer on front bar. The difference was significant - especially down the corkscrew and through Rainey Curve where there are hard back and forth transitions.

In the rear, the most grip seems to be had when the wheels are allowed to articulate somewhat independently instead of being fully locked together. I've run with no bar and an H & R 24mm using various spring rate combinations. No rear bar can work great, or it can be a bit understeery if your rear spring rates aren't high enough. Some of it depends on your driving style. My car seems to hook up well with the H & R 28/24 bars plus some rear toe-in and not a ton of negative camber (I run -3 F and -1.5R). I have 800F/900R springs now. When I was running the 28mm front bar and no rear bar it worked well with a wider split between F/R spring rates - I had 525F/750R springs back then. Now with the higher spring rates + rear bar I'm back to wanting an even bigger front sway bar to try it out. Maybe I'll figure out how much is too much

And you're right, if your dampers aren't up to snuff you might not learn much. Also, testing on streets will be tough. It's nearly impossible to sustain legit track cornering speeds and feel what's going on without endangering yourself and others. Use that track membership for sure.

[Takumi788]

Thanks for the advise guys. It is apparent that this car will be much different to setup than the FRS. There is a BMWCCA weekend coming up at my local track. I am planning on annoying anyone with a E36 M3 with a bunch of questions on their suspension setup. lol.

I have given it some thought and just decided to do coilovers and bushings over the winter so there isn't any down time during the summer. I figure that will give me a solid base so I can sort out the suspension in the spring. Now that it is running properly, I will concentrate on cleaning it up. Both the interior and exterior need some work.

I did just purchase the Garagistic trans mounts. They were only $30 and they will be a good start.

Next will be a handbrake assembly along with a few boring, yet, important things the car needs. Shift boot, E-brake boot, SS brake lines, exterior trim molding, new badges ect. Save all the big stuff for the 6 months where I wont drive it anyway.

Looks like rain for this weekend so my test day will have to wait. Got some days off with the upcoming holiday so I will probably spend some time there.

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[pbonsalb]

What durometer trans mounts did you buy? If they are stiffer than 80A, you will be getting another lesson in how what works on a BRS is not the best choice on an E36.

[Takumi788]

What durometer trans mounts did you buy?

95A poly. I was planning on swapping everything (subframe/diff/engine/trans) with the same Garagistic 95A poly bushings. But now you have me nervous.

[pbonsalb]

Yes, I don’t think you will like 95A trans mounts anywhere except on the racetrack. They are fine for the subframe; go 75D there if you want. For the diff, 95A will give some whine but it probably won’t bother you. For motor mounts, 95A is tolerable, particularly with a tune that raises the idle speed. Trans mounts seem to be the most sensitive mount.

[Takumi788]

Yes, I don’t think you will like 95A trans mounts anywhere except on the racetrack. They are fine for the subframe; go 75D there if you want. For the diff, 95A will give some whine but it probably won’t bother you. For motor mounts, 95A is tolerable, particularly with a tune that raises the idle speed. Trans mounts seem to be the most sensitive mount.

Thanks for the info. I'm sure it will be fine. And if it isn't it is just a 30 dollar part.

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah I have the 95A motor mounts and 80A trans mounts, and I'm considering going back to rubber for the trans mounts. It's a lot of extra NVH from the entire driveline via the trans. Definitely wouldn't recommend 95A on the trans if you're ever going to be driving it on the street.

[Takumi788]

Yeah I have the 95A motor mounts and 80A trans mounts, and I'm considering going back to rubber for the trans mounts. It's a lot of extra NVH from the entire driveline via the trans. Definitely wouldn't recommend 95A on the trans if you're ever going to be driving it on the street.

I really need to post here BEFORE I order parts. lol

Well, I guess I will return them. Thanks for saving me the grief guys.

[NoLastName]

You'll be learning the same lessons that many of us went through. I was going to say if you do any street driving at all, stock rubber trans mounts are best. I was also going to say if you install super stiff trans mounts you'll probably think you did something wrong - because the transmission will suddenly be noisy as hell - but that's normal.

[blckstrm]

I have 95A motor / 80A tranny mounts. This is a combination recommended (and sold) by Vorshlag.

I'll admit it can be noisy - it just depends on how much you tighten them and how much the noise bothers you.

The trans mounts are definitely the source of the most noise, mostly gear wine. I imagine a 95A durometer poly would be pretty intense. There is a fine line on the 80A mounts, and once you cross it it sounds like a real race car, straight cut gear whine and all.

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah I'm in exactly the same boat with the Vorshlag 95A/80A package, which is what they recommend (and tightened properly, which is key). Nothing wrong with it on the track (and the noises when driven hard are glorious), but it's somewhere near the borderline for anything resembling a daily driver. Given that most of the NVH is coming from the trans, I imagine 95A there would be at least twice as bad and would feel closer to a full on racecar where an average person would likely think something is breaking every time they shift or hit the throttle from all the noise and vibration. It would be annoying.

[DrftKingIII]

Welcome, young Fujiwara.

Looking forward to the continued progression of your BMW journey.

[Takumi788]

Quick update. I have not made it back to the track to test sway bar settings. I am hoping to get there at some point throughout the long weekend.

My car did not come with an under tray under the front bumper and the fender liners are cracked and ziptied everywhere. From what I have read the stock underpanels tend to remove themselves at speed anyway. So I bought fender liners and am going to snag the Motion Motorsport skid plate with radiator baffle.

I also ordered blacked out kidney grills, I hate chrome, and some fresh badges to replace the old, peeling AC schnizter ones.


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[pbonsalb]

The front corner lights have also been known to exit at 120+. I zip tie mine in place, use the MM under panel and have fender liners that are properly attached. Road tested to 160 mph.

[Takumi788]

The front corner lights have also been known to exit at 120+. I zip tie mine in place, use the MM under panel and have fender liners that are properly attached. Road tested to 160 mph.

You jinxed me. lol My corner light fell off and was quickly crushed by a jeep on the highway yesterday. New Depo projector glass headlights and replacement corner lights have been ordered.

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[pbonsalb]

Even brand new ones will blow out unless maybe you have perfect factory ducting that eliminates whatever pressure seems to force them out above about 120.

[blckstrm]

Even brand new ones will blow out unless maybe you have perfect factory ducting that eliminates whatever pressure seems to force them out above about 120.

Not to go down that rat hole too far, but I was struck by how different the glass euro lights fit compared to the plastic US lights. The euro lights adjust internally, while the US headlights adjust the whole housing. Which also means they need to have some gaps around them to allow for adjustment, and makes it hard to get them both aimed properly AND installed with a uniform gap around them.

Mine have never lined up properly, and I thought my front end was misaligned. I got euro headlights a month or two ago, and everything lined up perfectly.

The part of that that's relevant is that the corners were loose in the fender - there was a good 1/4" - 3/8" gap on the trailing edge of the light. With the euro lights in the correct location and mounted correctly, the corner lights are tight. The headlights are flush on the bottom and seal against the hood when it's closed. With the US lights there were huge gaps. That's got to be at least part of the excess pressure issue.

But man, those things are tight. I don't see how good lights with tabs intact and in their slots would blow out.

[Takumi788]

Even brand new ones will blow out unless maybe you have perfect factory ducting that eliminates whatever pressure seems to force them out above about 120.

I doubt I will ever have the car up to 120+ but if I decide to bring the M3 to a high speed course I will tape the corner lights

But man, those things are tight. I don't see how good lights with tabs intact and in their slots would blow out.

Hopefully I have better luck with this set. The car came with Hella glass headlights. I liked them but they were faded and broken where the corner light attached to it, which lead to its ultimate demise ironically 2 days after it was mentioned here lol. New Depo projectors are a welcome upgrade and will be better with HIDs.

New fun problem. My water drains are clogged and it stormed here last night for hours. Both footwells were soaked. Luckily the DME was dry as a bone. Cleaning those out soon.

[Takumi788]

Fixed the water drains just in time for the next failure. I was right. The front struts were bad. And now, after another session at my local track, they are oozing fluid. I was planning on buying coilovers anyway but all of the custom valved options have a long lead time. I flirted with the idea of putting it away for the winter but there are still 3 solid months of nice weather left in NY. So I bought a pair of Sachs front struts from Rockauto to keep her going until November and the coilovers are in.

I am planning on driving the car to Mpact at Pocono Speedway 8/8 with my wife and a few friends. I usually instruct the HPDE there but this year I will be there for the show.

[Takumi788]

Got the struts installed in time for my local track to hold an opening day style event where they offered paced laps. I ended up leading the paced laps for two hours and a friend got a few good pictures.

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[frbz]

Looks good

[Takumi788]

I have been busy the last few weeks. I took the M3 to Pocono raceway for a BMW car show then on vacation to Lake George a week later. A total of 900 miles in two weeks. I haven't had any issues except a new squeak at idle. I put a screw driver on the belt driven components and it sounds like it is coming from the water pump. It isn't overheating but according to the records it was last replaced in 2008, so it is probably due for another. I will be getting a high performance one along with the other supporting components.

I also picked up a 3.23 LSD with lower miles from a friend. I will be buying some bushings for that and putting it in asap. Any brand suggestions for bushings? I have read 95A for the subframe and diff is a good fit for the diff for a street/light track car. But after the trans mount issue, I figured I would ask you guys.

My wife loves driving the M3 so we went to a ladies night at the local track. We got on the track right as it started to rain but she kept it on the track and had a lot of fun. As a HPDE instructor is was a lot of fun for me to.

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[pbonsalb]

I’d go 75D subframe and 95A diff.

[blckstrm]

I have been busy the last few weeks. I took the M3 to Pocono raceway for a BMW car show then on vacation to Lake George a week later. A total of 900 miles in two weeks. I haven't had any issues except a new squeak at idle. I put a screw driver on the belt driven components and it sounds like it is coming from the water pump. It isn't overheating but according to the records it was last replaced in 2008, so it is probably due for another. I will be getting a high performance one along with the other supporting components.

I also picked up a 3.28 LSD with lower miles from a friend. I will be buying some bushings for that and putting it in asap. Any brand suggestions for bushings? I have read 95A for the subframe and diff is a good fit for the diff for a street/light track car. But after the trans mount issue, I figured I would ask you guys.

My wife loves driving the M3 so we went to a ladies night at the local track. We got on the track right as it started to rain but she kept it on the track and had a lot of fun. As a HPDE instructor is was a lot of fun for me to.

I assume you meant 3.38. I got extremely lucky and found one available when I lost the LSD cover inside of mine. I think it's the perfect upgrade - the right balance between getting more out of the car without ruining it's daily driveability.

[TexasMpower]

I will be buying some bushings for that and putting it in asap. Any brand suggestions for bushings?

AKG Motorsport makes great quality bushings.