New BMW E36 328i Track Toy

[splintheter]

Hi All.

I have been along time "stalker on bmwfanatics.co.za, mostly because I have been in the UK for the better part of a decade. Well now I am back, and its time to ask for some advice. :ty:

We have bought a 1998 328i with the plan of turning it in to a track toy ( I have read both InFrA007 and BruceET 's threads over last 24 hours, and boy have you guys provided invaluable information. THANKS):idea:

First things first. I really need some engine advice. The car has got 255000km, 2 owners from new, current owner had it for the last 150000km and serviced it on time, and has dropped over R40k on maintaining it, anyway we bought the car knowing that the engine overheated and that at the very least the car has popped a head gasket and has a crack or two. So after chatting to Bruce Craig (Bruces BMW) he reckons bottom of engine is almost bulletproof as it the cast iron block and that worst case scenario will be to replace the head and obviously find out why she overheated (cooling system issue no doubt) He reckons to budget between R6000 - R1000 for this, failing that he has a 2.8 from a Z3 he can drop in fully fitted for R15k.

So My Question is, anyone used Bruce for mechanical repairs (not just buying spares), I obviously want a good competent job doing. Also would you go for head replacement or entire engine ?

Ok now that that's out the way.

I need some help advice sourcing some of the parts that we will require, please don't think I am being lazy and not doing the research myself, that's not the case, I just prefer recommendations and to possibly help any of the forum sponsors. If I cant source locally I will simply purchase all items in the UK and get my office there to courier them here.:thumbs:

Things I want to Do ASAP

1) LSD (I presume this will be from an 3.2 M3 ? )
2) Braided brake hoses
3) Brake pads, I always ran EBC Orange stuff or Ferodo Ds2500 in UK (can you get these here or can you recommend an alternative)
4) Brake Disks - Do these need changing, ?
5)M50 Manifold (I guess Bruce will have this)
6) bigger wheels and tyres - Currently she has standard 15" wheels. I was thinking 16" wheels and 225 tyres all round (maybe Toyo or federal semi slicks ? Don't think you get the khumos here)
6) Decat (will get this done at powerflow)
7) Chipped (Mace in Tokai, any feedback)
8) Front and rear strutbrace -- Where can I get this?
9) 2 x Racing Seats (recommendation please)

Anything I have forgotten that needs doing ASAP. raise:

And then Later

1) Full roll cage (any fitters in cape town ?)
2) Full Inside Diet for car and Driver :yuck:

Guys, I appreciate your help, and I will keep you updated as the project goes on.

MANY THANKS!

 

[JayDrft]

It wil be a great build once tackled.

You have left out a crucial component for a track car - Suspension.

Get hold of Moranor on the forum. He is the go to guy for Suspension.

Best wishes with your build bud! :thumbs:

 

[moranor@axis]

I can provide front and rear Brace

have a look at the TarrTech Braces

when its time for suspension give me a shout I have many options :rollsmile:

 

[splintheter]

It wil be a great build once tackled.

You have left out a crucial component for a track car - Suspension.

Get hold of Moranor on the forum. He is the go to guy for Suspension.

Best wishes with your build bud! :thumbs:

Are you trying to tell me the wallowy marshmallow suspension on E36 wont be fit for a track :rollsmile:

That is one major oversight :flyfun:

Thanks

---

I can provide front and rear Brace

have a look at the TarrTech Braces

when its time for suspension give me a shout I have many options :rollsmile:

Money will only be spent on wasteful things like food if I don't start spending it can you PM me the price for braces and suspension options ?

 

[InFrA007]

e36 Track Cars - Taking over SA's tracks one at a time by the looks of it, Brucet in Jozi, me in PE and now another one in Cpt(there are others)!

Well done for coming out of hybernation :rollsmile: I hope the while you were in the land of rain & clouds that you went to spend some time across the pond on the Green Hell as your avatar suggests?

All the best for your build, start a build thread so we can follow it as well, keen to see what others are doing, even though our goals are all pretty much similar if not the same, we all have our own ways and flavours of getting there. If I may, purely based on my experiences over the last few months, provide some input:

1) LSD (I presume this will be from an 3.2 M3 ? )
All I can say here is dig dig dig dig phone scrapyards, beg and plead once you find one but firstly do a lot of reading to make sure that you are looking for the right size diffs before spending any money, Gizmo was invaluable in this and offered sound advice in assiting me to do the right thing. There are different size LSD's out there, smaller and larger crown wheel sizes, buying the bigger one won't fit in our cars without going and buying the entire matching M3 Rear Suspension Subframe...
2) Braided brake hoses
Take a look at the link posted on Brucet's build thread not too long ago, otherwise Powerbrake also supply braided hose kits for our cars, I haven't done this just yet but it will happen. Other options are having them made up, some might frown on this but a decent Hydrolic company can make up hoses for you based on the stock rubber hoses at a fraction of what some of the brand name companies charge, I know a few people at the track in PE who have gone that route and they do the job.
3) Brake pads, I always ran EBC Orange stuff or Ferodo Ds2500 in UK (can you get these here or can you recommend an alternative)
No experience here yet, I've bought EBC Yellow Stuff from Star Brake & Clutch in Jozi, they carry the whole range. Mine will be fitted soon so can't say much about them yet. Some guys suggest turfing the OEM e36 brakes in favour of e46 330i disks and calipers as they're bigger but are a bolt onto the e36 hubs, a friend of mine ran e46 330i disks and calipers in the Regional Saloons Series here for the whole of last season on the same set of OEM BMW Brake pads on his e30 2-door race car so they're definately a good upgrade.
4) Brake Disks - Do these need changing, ?
Same as above, other options I'm aware of and have looked at are OEM replacement Powerbrake or EBC disks to fit the stock calipers or the same for e46 330i. Personally I'm just going to "finish" what I have as far as the stock disks go before upgrading the brakes, will help me guage the differences as well.
5)M50 Manifold (I guess Bruce will have this)
I'm sure he can help. Got mine from local Merbeda spares for R800, this is only the half of it, the actual DIY process to fit the M50 Manifold is time consuming and takes a little trial and error(granted I'm a complete amateur here), I followed numerous DIY's to get it right as no one single DIY found online explained every step, it was however part of the learning curve when building the car and the results are worth the efforts.
6) bigger wheels and tyres - Currently she has standard 15" wheels. I was thinking 16" wheels and 225 tyres all round (maybe Toyo or federal semi slicks ? Don't think you get the khumos here)
Not sure about Kumho Semi's locally but I know you can get Hankooks as well as the Federals, look into the sizes and their associated prices carefully, with road tyres 16" are sometimes pricier than 17" counterparts due to the fact that they're a rare'er size in the grander scheme of things. Stay away from pricey Carrera Slicks, they lose air like you can't believe.
6) Decat (will get this done at powerflow)
7) Chipped (Mace in Tokai, any feedback)
Also check with Rolph - Promotec, I think he's in Cpt as well
8) Front and rear strutbrace -- Where can I get this?
Rear can be welded in as part of the cage, up to you
9) 2 x Racing Seats (recommendation please)
ATS Sell the cheapest FIA Approved seats on the market that I am aware of, these being the COBRA Monaco Pro's which I bought, they're quite comfy and with FIA approval suited my needs from a safety perspective.

1) Full roll cage (any fitters in cape town ?)
Not sure, just make sure they're FIA Approved so there's no funny stuff in the cage design and the welds are done properly with sufficient load paths and triangles in the design.
2) Full Inside Diet for car and Driver
HAHA! Seems we all do this... car's diet complete, driver in progress :fencelook:

 

[kabal]

welcome back ant, this should be a fun build.

as mentioned, give Anton at APS a call. they do a lot of work on bimmers, including rebuilds.

 

[moranor@axis]

braces are as follows:

e36 TarrTech Front brace R 2500
e36 TarrTech Rear brace R 2000

suspension is alot more complex so we need to discuss it a little and see what your needs/budget is will PM you on that

 

[splintheter]

InFrA007 you are a Legend for taking time out to provide some advice. :ty:

Can you or someone else suggest the best oil for the motor (once I get her back)

I have always been a Castrol man, but I see there seems to be a lot of chat about liqui moly (this is an oil I know nothing about ?) any suggestions.

 

[InFrA007]

I have no idea wtf was in my motor before but it seeped out like melted chocolate last week which is scary for a 148000km car with FSH, I imagine whatever was in there was a mix of 1l from different filling stations.

I've done this oil change with Liqui Moly Top Tech 4100, will do another change after maybe 3 or 4 trackdays again or 2000km purely because by then it should have cleaned up most of the gunk. Will stick to it though, it's a semi syntehetic oil but exceeds BMW's specifications for the motor. I know Freerider used it in his 328 track car Scrappy.

 

[Doomsdaya]

A track car isn't complete without coilovers Moranor can also help you with that...