E46 330Ci Drag Racing Build

[PEI330Ci]

This is a car being built to conform to 3 different sets of rules, so there may be features that won't make sense to some. It is primarily being built to compete in Targa Newfoundland, however it will also be used for a lot of drag racing, and some road racing when time allows.

Before I share my build, I'd like to acknowledge the examples that I've used to help me with this project.

- Bimmerworld E46 World Challenge car
- Bryan Watts E36 M3
- Ryan James E36 M3 (In primer at that point)
- Chris Lewis E46 M3
- PTG E46 M3 GTR

Thanks to these individuals and teams for taking the time to share.

[PEI330Ci]

360 degrees of 330Ci:

























The cage is pretty much complete, however there is still more gausetting, seam welding, and sheet metal work to be done.

[dejablu311]

any more details on what you have in mind?

[CP Louie]

That the first time I have seen that chassis do a barrel roll! Very nice.... Thanks for the nice mention as well. Good luck and let me know if I can help in any way. If you were close by I would come over and seam weld that puppy for you.

Chris

[Steve J.]

Where's teh jaffster love? lol

You should make an animated gif of those pictures.

Do you have a closeup of the rear shock tower/bulkhead area? Whats that big column?

Also, are you running full rear coilovers?

Engine plans?

[PEI330Ci]

any more details on what you have in mind?

Could you be more specific? This is a ground up rebuild where 90% of the stock components will be replaced.

[PEI330Ci]

That the first time I have seen that chassis do a barrel roll! Very nice.... Thanks for the nice mention as well. Good luck and let me know if I can help in any way. If you were close by I would come over and seam weld that puppy for you.

Chris

Thanks Chris!

If I wasn't 1200+ miles away, I'd take you up on the offer.

[PEI330Ci]

Where's teh jaffster love? lol

You should make an animated gif of those pictures.

Do you have a closeup of the rear shock tower/bulkhead area? Whats that big column?

Also, are you running full rear coilovers?

Engine plans?

Steve,

80% of the design was finalized the fall of 2006. By October of 2007, everything was pretty much decided on and most of the bars had already been cut and fitted. If your cage had been completed earlier, "the jaffscage" might have been mentioned.

Good idea with the GIF.

Rear suspension will be stock configuration with Moton Clubsport dampers. (You can see the bump stops still mounted to the bottom of the car)

The entire stock rear bulkhead and parcel shelf has been removed from the car. Considering that every rear suspension pick-up point has been tied into the cage, we didn't see a need for the stock rear bulkhead so we cut it out to reduce weight. We then tried to minimize the amount of material used to build a firewall for the trunk-mounted fuel cell. This placed the "wall" behind the rear shock mounts, which left the rebound adjustment knob on the damper out of reach. The solution was to create a semi-circle recession that you could easily access the dampers from inside the trunk:









The engine will be a fully built M54B30 with a Euro S50B32 intake manifold.

[Steve J.]

Interesting, thanks for the pics.

You going with a carbon roof I hope

[PEI330Ci]

Interesting, thanks for the pics.

You going with a carbon roof I hope

Your welcome.

Yes a C/F roof is planned, although it may be from an alternative source. (Not MS or Vorstiener)

[ScotcH]

Ok ... who'll be the first to make an animated gif of that thing on the rotissary Make sure to morph them into each other so it's smooth! (I'm at work, so I don't have the software here!)

edit: I see Steve beat me to it

[PEI330Ci]

Ok ... who'll be the first to make an animated gif of that thing on the rotissary Make sure to morph them into each other so it's smooth! (I'm at work, so I don't have the software here!)

edit: I see Steve beat me to it

I don't have the software for that, but if someone is interested in doing this I can re-shoot the car at lets say 15 degree increments.

By the way, I believe I owe you some pictures of your car...

[CP Louie]

OK if you are SERIOUS about drag racing, eliminate all unnecessary brackets IMMEDIATELY!!

[PEI330Ci]

OK if you are SERIOUS about drag racing, eliminate all unnecessary brackets IMMEDIATELY!!

Chris, those are still needed for the fuse holder and battery hold down.

Nice try.

[CP Louie]

Chris, those are still needed for the fuse holder and battery hold down.

Nice try.

You should be using a battery that is so small that it won't fit in the stock holder (unless the rules don't allow it). I also believe that most race cars eliminate the fuseable link, but I could be wrong on that. I cut out a many brackets as I could and it was like 7 lbs. total. I am still cutting them out. Took 5 lbs the other day. Working on 4 lbs of personal fat that needs to go as well.

Chris

[PEI330Ci]

You should be using a battery that is so small that it won't fit in the stock holder (unless the rules don't allow it). I also believe that most race cars eliminate the fuseable link, but I could be wrong on that. I cut out a many brackets as I could and it was like 7 lbs. total. I am still cutting them out. Took 5 lbs the other day. Working on 4 lbs of personal fat that needs to go as well.

Chris

We are on the same page Chris. My fabricator and I spent over 2 days removing brackets and unessessary sheetmetal from the car. Here's a small sample of this:



Probably the biggest PITA was the multimedia bracket on the left side of the trunk...we ended up having to do a bit of welding to fill in the holes. LOL

Battery is a PC680 with custom bracket. (Stock bracket got ditched) I also have to run a rear mounted battery cut off switch for drag racing. (More pictures of that later)

Last week I was having fun with the wiring harness:



What is left:



What was removed:




This weekend I'm hoping to finish with the undercoating:



How did you mount your DME Chris?

[Steve J.]

Are you allowed to run stand alone ecu?

[PEI330Ci]

Are you allowed to run stand alone ecu?

I am.

[White Knuckles]

1st of all I'm dizzy!
2nd...Enjoy some video clips

E21 http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=0

E30
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=2

E34
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=9

E36
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=7

another view http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=7

Engine bay http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=8


just for fun, bitchin scooter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Z9oC2hdTg

Perhaps you enjoy the trusted Wankel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKrQzkl65lE

Crazy Audi...turn up the volume http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...lee+audi&hl=en

I know there is a video of some crazy Z3 coupe dragster that does the gnarliest launch I've ever seen...think top fuel, but harder..I can't find it though.

[jdholder]

What was removed:

That is simply amazing!!!! So much CRAP!!

Looks like a great build - subscribed!

[PEI330Ci]

That is simply amazing!!!! So much CRAP!!

Looks like a great build - subscribed!

Thanks!

The chassis is staying street legal, so there are a couple more wires that could be removed in a race car.

[PEI330Ci]

Finished up stripping the rest of the undercoating off last week:





More undercoating to add to my collection:







Total in the container: 10 Lbs.

Another 2.2 Lbs was removed previously about a year ago, and another 2 lbs was removed after the 10 Lbs was weighed.

So there's just under 15 lbs on the bottom of an E46 Coupe

[PEI330Ci]

Lightweight firewall



Photo for Chris:



Working on the dash:







What came off:



Tomorrow I'm having the dash dyed.

[PEI330Ci]

Fuel system work:

[jone30]

Nice work.