Safari M Coupe

[Fumanchu282]

Thinking of going a different direction with my car. Anyone else thought about this? Seems like it has the potential to solve a lot of problems...

I've loved the M Coupe because of its versatility. It can do anything.

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But it doesn't excel at any of these things:

- Highway driving. I have over 100k on my coupe so it's definitely spent a lot of time on the highway. But there's a lot of road noise and the 5 speed transmission means cruising at 80-90 is even less sanguine. This is what a 7 series is made for, but even a Toyota Corolla would be better.

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- Street daily driving. I've really softened my coilovers (300 front, 500 rear) compared to most folks, but those are still double the stock spring rates. The car is low and small. People sometimes don't see it in traffic. If we're being honest, it's not a fast car anymore because Tesla people-movers and pickup trucks can go 0-60 in half the time nowadays.

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- Autocross. If you want to go out and have fun, sure! But if you want to be competitive, and if you want to learn to be a better driver, you should just get an E Street Miata. In the right hands, I think an M Coupe can give S2000s and Miatas a run for their money in STR, but it's always going to be at a disadvantage even if you prep to the limit of the rulebook.

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- Track. If you want to go out and have fun, sure! But if you want to be competitive, there's no race class for us. And the E30 rear suspension leaves a lot to be desired. If you want to go fast, get a C5 corvette, do some minimal prep, and you're in business.

The one thing it would be great for is as a weekend car for back-country cruising. Except I don't have any canyons, twisty roads, or even elevation changes around me here in Chicago. Just potholes!

The stock stereo sucks but a proper stereo upgrade is heavy so it's not appropriate if you're trying to be competitive in autocross etc.

The car's styling still surprises people at gas stations when ask about it and hear that it's an '01, could be the newest model year for all they know! But the major difference between the car and cars 20 years newer is the lighting technology. Stock headlights aren't strong enough these days, but retrofits almost universally don't look good in my (and most peoples') opinion.

Plus, my car isn't exactly a beauty queen any more. It's been in a ditch and had a glass-out repaint. Tons of rock chips pepper the front from many miles of highway driving. My wife tagged the rear bumper while pulling into the garage just last week. So keeping her all stock and pristine is a dream I need to let go of.

But...
What about a Safari build? Add a few inches of lift, a light bar, mudflaps, and maybe some A/T tires. Go ahead and improve the stereo and add some Dynamat, we're not racing anyone and yet it'll be easy to break those meaty tires loose on a highway on-ramp skid. Speed bumps and potholes? Take 'em flat. Parallel parking? No problem. Do that M Rain interior update and get the loud exhaust, it'll be funky and fun in this build instead of pimpy and racer-boi in a shiny street car.

Here's what I'm thinking...am I crazy??

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[Fumanchu282]

Kinda like this:


porsche-911-safari-RS.jpg 1983-Porsche-911SC-Safari-0-Site-Hero.jpg b2dfae3c-matt-porsche911-safari.jpg keen-project-porsche-911-safari-4.jpg

[kbollox]

I'd be interested to see what it would look like for sure (Safari all teh cars!)

Getting a few renderings done to see what potential there is would be a good start. If you're gonna mod an M you have a great base.

I've def seen the pink one you linked to before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTl4iK0AuVU

[BimmerBreaker]

I really liked the part where you said M Rain interior

A "safari" type build has been done before. Very cool build and roadtrip

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...d-of-the-Earth

https://petrolicious.com/articles/ta...s-a-great-idea

[mpire]

The stock stereo sucks but a proper stereo upgrade is heavy so it's not appropriate if you're trying to be competitive in autocross etc.

Are you sure about that? You can certainly replace the mids and tweeters without adding much weight at all. Plus they now have some really small lightweight amplifiers. The JL Audio 700.5 weighs only 6 lbs and I was so happy with the first one I bought one for the other coupe.

No reason to upgrade the head unit, as its just a pre-amp setup, but aftermarket single din Bluetooth type head units are feather light.

You could easily upgrade the stereo and reduce weight overall, just keep the stock subwoofer enclosure and replace the sub.

[bluptgm3]

Do you have the factory CD43?
You can get Rover units on eBay from time to time.


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[adonnan]

If you want to “safari” on a budget, I’d just buy a Subaru. Then when you crash into a ditch going Colin McCray, you’ve only stuffed a Subaru. But hey go fit it.

[Fumanchu282]

Did some experimenting today. In the rear, I've been battling my subframe for a few years now. The weld in camber correction plates interfere with the trailing arm's ability to fully drop down, so it's always been a big challenge to make any changes to the rear spring height. Too much load on the springs even at full (constrained) droop.

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Using a scissor jack to spread the suspension, two ratchet straps to compress the spring, and vise grips to hold the adjuster base while I turned the collar I was finally able to get the adjusters to full height. I also have 15mm condor speed shop spacers on the bottom and a thick OEM rubber spring pad on the top.

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Here's the final ride height. Not super high still! But as soon as you sit in the car you just FEEL higher which is surprising. Test drive around the block revealed desirable effects over speed bumps and road imperfections!

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[Fumanchu282]

While I was in there, I also noticed this:

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Sorry, crappy picture. But it's the forward differential mount point, and there's a stack of washers on the bolt. Does this indicate that my diff has been raised at some point in the past?

[bluptgm3]

The Z3M share upper spring perch with E36M3 and there are two upper spring pads

96+ M3 Spring “Hat”
UPR SPRING PLATE 31332227903
SPRING PAD UPR 3MM 31332227902 (stock)
Canadian cars SPRING PAD UPR 9MM 31332227901


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[BimmerBreaker]

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/h...ok-152371.html