Backstory:
Hello! I have been "doing" car things for a few years, with my first track day back in 2016, 2 months after I finished grad school - I was FLAT broke. I got hooked up with an incredibly awesome group of nearly all-queer BMW (and one BRZ) track rats. Hanging out with people I identified with in this highly intersectional space was super awesome. My first track day was **fabulous**. It was also with a painfully stock E46 M3.
The Car:
1994 BMW 325i sedan. 106k Miles on the clock. Heated seats, no pass through, ASC, no LSD.
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Build Ethos:
TLDR; I wanted a low power, low grip, fun-to-drive, "vintage" looks (barf, RealOEM calls it vintage, I feel old AF) - damn it, I wanted an E36. Fast-forward a few years, some other cars, a lot of brake pads, and a painful cross-country move, I **finally** have picked up a dedicated "track rat" car to turn into my training wheels. I specifically wanted a low-torque, long wheelbase, easy-to-drive platform because I was/am desperately in need of seat time with a platform I can actually learn with and enjoy. In December of 2020 I booked a 1-way ticket to MSP and purchased a 1994 325i automatic., A friend was kind enough to meet me at the dealership in their hometown of St Paul, and from there, the planning stages began.
With in a few days, I was connected to some of the NASA Spec3 folks - who are wildly helpful and knowledgeable. I was stoked to plan a car out that would take me through HPDE, TT, and eventually in to W2W if I get there. Then...parts started showing up....annnnnd...despite helping tidy up the constructors guide, yours truly didn't read the Spec3 rules quite carefully enough.
A fully rebuilt 338 LSD and double-adjustable coilovers were bought and paid for before I realized I had become a Spec3...FELON. There was no going back - I am in too deep.
SO - where does that leave me now? In the Midwest (which is claimed to be worldwide by some descriptions), we have ClubTR with GridLife. THIS TIME reading the rules a bit more carefully - All I have to do is show up with either a wild K24 swapped Miata, or anything up to 2.5L N/A and collect scene points.
The Work List (A WIP):
- Manual Swap
- Suspension Setup
- Rear End
- Chassis Reinforcements
- Acquire seat time
The (planned) Parts List
- Manual Swap, CAE shifter (YOLO, after all)
- FA 510's
- UUC DTM exhaust
- Tune of some sort? No idea yet.
- OMP WRC's
- Harness Bar
- some sort of fire suppression for HPDE cars?
Updates:
- 5/1/21: I will keep this build plan updated as we progress. A hell of a lot more photos are coming soon.
- 5/2/21: Manual swap (S5D) complete. Turns out the car has a 3.91 open = LOL fun with 5 speed, a 3.38 from an automatic M3 is going in it eventually.
Special Thanks:
The list of people to thank for helping me out is huge. Rich, Mike, Max, Eric, Noah, Jake, Tyler, Taylor, Samuel: y:all rock.
Anyone know how to make inline post photos medium sized?
Last edited by Pyrojim1; 05-04-2021 at 05:45 PM. Reason: updates
Very cool to see this!
can’t wait to watch the car evolve and the eventual seat-time!
Yassssss!
What’s the plan for wheels, tires, and brakes?
There are a few directions. To be ClubTR legal - we have to use Falken 660's. There is a very real chance the first time on the track in this car will be on the "vintage" Style 5's and who-knows-how-old rubber
I am looking into running TRM C4's with 996 calipers, or something like M3 take offs.
But this is putting the car before the horse... I need a working vehicle - and the M3 at home still does not drive... 2sleep:
Manual Swap complete!!!
Ill now turn my focus to the suspension.
Details and Findings:
To get the car rolling, we skipped wiring in the reverse light switch for now - we did have to jump part of the wiring harness - specifically the neutral/park position switch. In that particular clip, you'll want to jump together the 5th and 7th wires. You have to look very closely (tired eyes make this hard), but they are marked. You can splice the wires together, or jump the connector. We spliced for clean install and to minimize non-reversible actions while we finalize the car over the next few months.
From what I understand, it would also be a good idea to run a stainless steel line all the way from the slave to the master. Running a stock OE hardline requires some fiddling and bending to fit. If you are going the distance, you might as well.
Driving the car around, it is pretty clear, with the solid/chassis mount shifter, there is a marked increase in NVH. Does it bother ME? NO: I am after all, building a literal track rat toy. I think its *awesome*. Once the intake/exhaust goes in, I doubt I will notice the NVH increase much.
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Last edited by Pyrojim1; 05-04-2021 at 05:42 PM.
Some thoughts:
1) Top work completing the auto --> manual swap.
2) With any chassis mounted shifter, you really need stiffer motor and trans. mounts. Otherwise your shifter becomes a mount keeping the transmission in place and it's not designed for that.
3) If you have the play money for a CAE, you have the money for a proper bolt-in rollbar. Get this harness bar trash out of here.
4) You're definitely not too deep to build a Spec3. You have made a silly suspension purchase but it's not even installed yet. Just sell that stuff, buy the Spec3 bits and you'll probably come out ahead. Just run the Spec3 exhaust -- it's way cheaper. Run the 3.38LSD until you're ready for W2W then find a 3.15LSD. It would be awesome to see a Spec3 build out there competing in some other rando class. The capability of a Spec3 will surprise people.
5) You may be a felon now, but with some restorative justice, I think you can be saved.
@the_perfect_curve did the manual swap in the Chicagoland area, is the only one I let work on my vehicles. Thank you for saying something!
Upgraded transmission mounts are already in! BimmerWorld engine mounts go-in, in 2 weeks! The car has been driven home from the shop, and thats it!
I am either going to do a cagekits.org rear half (if they will build one), or a Ben Sipson of Bayside roll bar. To me, in my mind, a proper roll bar is a harness bar, not the other way around.
There is a not small chance I just buy a prepped Spec3 car and pay someone to store it for me. Also "some rando class" for a very large motorsports org
Gotta bring the NASA Spec3 po-po to the midwest. Until then. I AM LAWLESS
Last edited by Pyrojim1; 05-10-2021 at 01:57 PM.
Mannnnnn, I got real pumped about those E36 cage kits until:
"This kit uses 1.5” x .095” 1020-1026 DOM tubing to meet Formula Drift requirements."
That won't pass NASA tech. Needs to be one of these:
1.500” x 0.120” Seamless Alloy (4130), Seamless mild steel (CDS Mechanical), DOM, or Docol R8 (only)1.750” x 0.095” Seamless Alloy (4130), Seamless mild steel (CDS Mechanical), DOM, or Docol R8 (only)
Still, a very cool concept that they have built. Just wish it were spec'd for road racing and not the sliderz.
I had not had the chance to yet reach out to them yet - seeing how much they do on CAD design... in theory (I am speculating aloud, danger) It shouldn't be too hard to get a cage that meets specs. They likely have not had anyone ask for the wheel-to-wheel in NASA use case yet, OR to build an HPDE roll bar, or both.
Of course, Bayside is an option too. But I like the mission of the organization a LOT.
Well?
No updates? Worst build thread ever
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