March 2013 After having my previous red M3 saloon from about 2007, i spent a small fortune on it, ran out of money, had to get a real life & job combo so broke the car in 2009 and had a bit of a huff about the drift in general. In 2011 i bought an E39 540i, then p/x'ed it for another, thought it was rubbish and then went back into an E36 328i which i really enjoyed. As Driftland in Lochgelly was nearing completion, I hopped onto DW and went family deep into Mike|TDSW's E36 M3. I'd always liked reading about it on Trampdrift and I knew that Mike had spent a fair whack on the engine @ Redish Motorsport, it was a proven skidder and had all the basic stuff done to it. It wasn't overly tidy but was solid so was ideal. As soon as it arrived I got stuck in and about it preparing for an SXOC Crail Big track day, fitting the following: Replacement radiator Replacement oil cooler Replacement oil cooler lines JC Side Mount Rails Corbeau Pro Series Driver Bucket Oil and Filter Change Went for a blast out at Crail - really enjoyed the car. Massive step up from the 328. May 2013 Got a replacement front bumper and an LTW Spoiler. Prepared them at local paintshop Tooledesign. Got a pair of amber corners too. Fitted, admired. June 2013 Took it to a Jumanji Nights show day, parked it up for a little pose. First time i've had a semi-poseworthy sort of car really. Also noticed that one of the wishbones is being eaten by the lock - (shortened knuckles, E92 tie rods, E46 lower arms, 8.5J ET13 wheel, standard E36 rack with 4mm spacers, 205/40 tyre) Whipped off the lower arm, gave it to Kyle @ Chizfab.com to tig it back together - Readjusted the camber and caster on the car after this which appears to have stopped any reocurrence of this. The car had standard E36 M3 droplinks fitted - i swapped these out for some lovely rose-jointed HSD ones courtesy of the lovely chaps @ Driftworks. Went to crail again, did another skid. Was fun - then a diff whine that had quickly been getting worse turned rapidly into: Got the car back and looked to be a failure of the input shaft bearing. Diff was scrap. Got a replacement 3.64 diff from Joe JK Lane. Fitted M3 output flanges but the existing M3 input flange was goosed. At short notice Chizfab fitted a 328 input flange and I swapped the M3 3.0 prop out for a 4 bolt 328 prop.
July 2013 Took the M3 for the first Drifltand test day. Really enjoyed it - the replacment diff worked well and the car seemed happier with less camber & caster up front. It was also my first dry day with the car, and I loved it. Then DISASTER. My radiator had been quietly expanding at the bottom, developing a bow in the middle. this bow appears to gave grown enough to pop the oil cooler from its mounts. This caused me to drag the oil cooler along the track for a couple hundred yards, pissing oil everywhere. I noticed when i came to a big spin surrounded by smoke. Quickly bailed and shut the car off. I had a similar issue in 2009 with my first M3, running it low on oil pressure like this killed the engine. I was worried as buggery and couldnt afford to do anything about it, so had to leave it until June's payday. As soon as payday hit, I ordered an all-alloy rad from china in accordance with JK's recommendation. I also got a 325tds oil cooler - similar to an m3 one but slightly larger. I also got some tiny little seals from BMW for a horrendous price. This all recently arrived, so i slung it together and chucked some cheap oil in it. IT WORKS. phew. will use it at next Dritland day. VAC Motorsports big-end bearings did their job. Got Mr Chizfab to make up a crash bar/protection/oil cooler bracket - the replacement radiator doesn't have the brackets for oil cooler fitment.
August 2013 Fitted a Sparco Pro2000 Driver Seat and moved the corbeau to the passenger side. Ordered a CustomCages 6 point clubman cage for the car. Took the car for another practice day at driftland - again really enjoyed it. Found that the Diff backplate is leaking - this could be the reason for the last diff failure. Leaking out of the speed sensor. Replaced the diff backplate with the diff in situ. What a guddle.
September 2013 Used the car for Drift Taxis at driftland - only got a few laps in and again BANG. One-wheel driving (ish) - but not when the car was jacked up. Back to Chizfab for a bit of expert diagnosis. And we found the following: A snapped output flange on the diff. Brilliant. The whole back end of the car was pretty tired, so some replacement items were required: In total it needed another output flange, a pair of driveshafts, a wheel bearing, some driveshaft bolts and a brake disc. Chizfab got it all done and ready for a little September drifty day, again at Driftland. I really enjoyed this time - well worth the considerable investment I had to stand to get the car working again. Absolutely worth it many times over. It feels predictable and responsive and the amount of lock available is still a massive novelty for me!
October 2013 Still a small diff oil leak from an output flange, so Kyle has changed the seal on that side. The Custom Cages Clubman cage is being fitted at Chizfab just now. Car is booked in for an interior paint afterwards, i'm hoping it'll really clean up the inside. Specification Of Car: Body: 328i sport auto shell M3 re-enforcement plates welded in to the rear subframe mount points Front and rear rolled and flared arches Full Mtech Kit M3 High-LTW Fibreglass Rear Spoiiler HID Headlights, Angel Eye Sidelights Shit Bonnet Pins Clear Rear lights, Orange Fronts Engine: S50B30 M3 3.0 Engine Reground crank for 0.25 oversize shells (smallest regrind size) VAC motorsports 0.25 oversize Big End shells ARP conrod bolts. All brand new OEM BMW main shells and main bolts Engine Bay: Air con removed Secondary exhaust air recirc pump removed Complete ABS delete. Pump gone, sensors gone, lights gone, not an MOT failure anymore. HEL braided clutch line Decatted exhaust with stainless back box. Uprated Alloy Radiator 325tds Oil Cooler Custom Chizfab Nudge Bar/Oil Cooler Bracket Suspension, brakes and Steering: HSD's mono pro with Caster/Camber Adjustable Top Mounts Rose Joined ARB drop links E46 bottom arms. Powerflex eccentrioc LCA lollipop bushes E90 inner steering arms, chopped to suit 15mm hubcentric spacers on front Modified hubs for extra lock Steering spacers for extra lock 325i rack (M3 racks are weird variable ratio shite) Goodridge braided brake lines (full kit, front and rear) Powerflex Rear trailing arm poly bushes Powerflex rear subframe mount poly bushes Stud conversion all round. Transmission: ZF 5-speed gearbox 328 Propshaft Custom Built 3.64:1 welded diff. Interior: Sparco Pro2000 Driver Seat Corbeau Pro Series Passenger Seat JC Racing E36 Side Mounts for Driver and Passenger Fake OMP dished wheel and boss OBP vertical hydro HEL braided hydro lines Oil pressure gauge CustomCages 6 Point Weld-In Clubman Cage Weld In Harness Eyebolts Rear Strut Stop Strengthening Wheels: Dare RS BBS RS replicas. 8.5j et13 front, 10j et15 rears 205/40/17 Toyo T1r fronts 215/45 Nankang NS-2 Rears
Hey are you still rocking that 3.64 diff? Because I have a 3.45 diff on my 325i and I don't think I would want it any shorter geared... So do you really enjoy that differential? And what is the reason for the braided brake hoses? How much camber did you run when the wheel started rubbing? And how much camber do u run now? Do u run camber on the back as well?
Hi FAbity6032, Yes it seems like a good ratio for the Driftland track. It allows me to keep the car relatively high up in the rev range for most corners, as the S50 is much more lively after 4500rpm. The braided brake hoses were fitted to the car when i purchased it. I assume they are generally fitted to stop the flexi hose expanding under pressure and therefore making for a spongy brake pedal. I don't have before/after geometry settings. A full alignment of the car is something i would like to do once iIve installed rear camber arms.
So much love for this. Gonna be mint with a cage in. I wonder why I didn't get posh hsd drop links when I bought the kit? Your front wheels are et20 btw.
E36 have never come with the drop links, they're intended for the old E46 kit. Been a mixup selling them here, as we don't supply them for anything but spares for E46 HSD's. Nice car
Sounds like you should market them individually as well. Be nice to see a DW handling kit for bm's, camber arms, steering arms, etc.
thanks very much guys, much appreciated :-) cheers for the detail about the offset mike. cage is mainly there for safety but should be a nice addition. Seems to fit very snugly to the pillars. Has required plenty of Kyle's time and previous customcages experience however! The E46 links appear to fit nicely and are a nice piece of kit at a great price - so thanks for the mixup Kam! enjoying the marmite reception to the wing.
Not that it means much but I think that wing looks decent on there. Nice to see something a bit different.
