Welcome AlpinaB3

[BMWFanaticscoza]

Hi AlpinaB3, and welcome to BMWFanatics.co.za :thumbsup:

Tell us a little about yourself and what you drive

To get your hands on some BMWFanatics.co.za stickers like these, Click Here.

 

[AlpinaB3]

Hi, my name is Andreas. I drive an E92 M3 as a daily driver. My main automotive interest is racing. I drive an E30 Alpina B3 trackcar (when not broken / damaged) and also have access to friends' E46 M3 trackcars.

 

[NoFear]

Sweet rides dude post some pics plz :ttiuwp:

Welcome to the forum!!!

 

[Kobus328i]

Hi Andreas

Welcome ! I was wondering when you would show up here. This community can learn alot from you, especially on the racetrack side ! :thumbsup:

I must tell you guys, I know Andreas from the E30ClubSA forum, and he has some serious cars. The Alpina B3 is an awesome car. The Track E46 in Laguna Seca blue is to die for, and then there is his E92 M3 :drool:. His brother has a turbo charged E46 M3 that, for lack of better words, f..cks off big time around a track. Ask Uber and the other guys.

Any how, welcome Andreas :wave:.

 

[///Marksman]

Always wanted to do this....
























PICS OR BAN!

heh, welcome man:thumbsup:

 

[freerider]

Welcome Andreas :thumbsup:

Sounds like you have a fantastic garage

 

[Nic_s]

Welcome :wave:

 

[Gandalf038]

hi & welcome! :wave:

 

[AlpinaB3]

Thanks for the welcome. Kobus325is, you invited me a while ago to have a look at this forum. As you know, my only interest is track events. Unfortunately this forum's track section is almost non existent.

Anyway, here are a few pics of my current cars.

The blue M3 currently rolls on these grey mags.

 

[freerider]

Great looking cats! Whats with the day-glo yellow sticker in the e92's window?

 

[zaleonardz]

:drool::drool::drool::drool:

 

[AlpinaB3]

Great looking cats! Whats with the day-glo yellow sticker in the e92's window?

That is an event sponsor sticker (ATS Motorsport) from the Krugersdorp Hillclimb. I just decided to leave it on there.

 

[Kobus328i]

Hi Andreas

I was hoping your track knowledge can spill over here. Some guys here also want to start track racing by building their own cars, and like me, racing their daily rides. Your knowledge will be worth gold ! :thumbsup:

 

[///Marksman]

Hey man nice cars you have there:thumbsup:

I wish we had a dedicated track section and the knowledge go to with it. I dont have any , but i would anything to learn

Couple questions,

who did the cage for you in the E46 and are you able to install it without gutting the car completely? - thinking of going with 2 l/w seats up front, removing the rears and installing cage, whilst keeping the carpet and trimmings. Is it even possible to have useable seating space at the back with a full cage in? (Yes - Supermodels count)

Is it safe to have a cage without wearing a helmut in your Daily Driver? Because i believe that in an accident, the occupants are mostly likely to crack their heads open on the cage (talking about driving on the street without a helmut ofcourse)

I'm guessing you are running with camber plates, coils and many more chassis mods, were these sourced locally?

^ i better stop there now... I'm looking forward to picking your brains on this subject in future, i hope you stick around:thumbsup:

 

[AlpinaB3]

Hi DiVinci

When a cage is welded in, you have to remove the whole interior. Your other option would be a bolt-in rollcage; that does not require carpet and roof lining removal AFAIK. Both the E30 and the E46 rollcages were done by Van Der Linde Systems. The man is highly skilled but very expensive; E30 was R17,000 and E46 was R23,000. I think TNT charges about R3500. You have to balance money spent vs chances of walking away from a bad accident.

The rollcage forms a large cross for strength in the rear passenger area. Getting in and out of that area is impossible in a two door car with both front seats installed. So unless your supermodel is also a contortionist, forget about the rear.

I drive the blue E46 M3 to and from track events without wearing a helmet. I am firmly strapped into the seat with a racing harness and hope that I would not crack my head on the rollcage. Even a racing harness is designed to stretch a bit and help absorb the shock of an impact with something unmoveable and some guys still hit the steering wheel with their face. So to answer your question I would have to say that in most cases the rollcage will help you but there might be situations where it works against you.

All the E30 suspension and brake components were custom built in SA. The E46 M3 uses a Bilstein PSS10 and other handling components imported from Turner Motorsport in the USA.

 

[///Marksman]

Hi DiVinci

When a cage is welded in, you have to remove the whole interior. Your other option would be a bolt-in rollcage; that does not require carpet and roof lining removal AFAIK. Both the E30 and the E46 rollcages were done by Van Der Linde Systems. The man is highly skilled but very expensive; E30 was R17,000 and E46 was R23,000. I think TNT charges about R3500. You have to balance money spent vs chances of walking away from a bad accident.

The rollcage forms a large cross for strength in the rear passenger area. Getting in and out of that area is impossible in a two door car with both front seats installed. So unless your supermodel is also a contortionist, forget about the rear.

I drive the blue E46 M3 to and from track events without wearing a helmet. I am firmly strapped into the seat with a racing harness and hope that I would not crack my head on the rollcage. Even a racing harness is designed to stretch a bit and help absorb the shock of an impact with something unmoveable and some guys still hit the steering wheel with their face. So to answer your question I would have to say that in most cases the rollcage will help you but there might be situations where it works against you.

All the E30 suspension and brake components were custom built in SA. The E46 M3 uses a Bilstein PSS10 and other handling components imported from Turner Motorsport in the USA.

yeah, i believe you cannot put a price on safety!

Lol @ the contortionist, you just never know these days

Yeah i figured it was imported, i was just HOPING it wasnt.
Once i find an e46 M, i'd like to start out with mild chassis and drivetrain mods and learn to track properly first before adding anything hardcore.

Things i was looking into for the drivetrain are a DSSR, SS clutch line, CDV delete & short shift kit, Transmission & Engine mounts. Do you have any recommendations, Yes's or No's?

On the subject of brakes, is it really necessary to go with a BBK?
I would prefer to change out fluid, fit SS braided hoses and pads - wont this be plentiful stopping power and be fairly fade resitent for an amature?

Chassis - shock mounts, camber plates, Adj control arms, poly suspension bushings, X Brace.
Also i know very well about the subframe issues with the e46 platform, should track junkies go with the re-inforcement kit from TMS?

^ Is that necessary for a newbie?

Oh yeah... Thanks for your help!

---

Andreas, Tell me how does the CSL and M3 compare, stock for stock, also how does the standard M3 come back after chassis mods?

 

[AlpinaB3]

Phew, so many questions. I'll dig into trying to answer them another day.

I have some onboard footage from my E46 M3 CSL when I was chasing regular E46 M3s around the track - childs play. The blue E46 M3 as it stands now, with minimal mods really, will slaughter a standard M3 CSL. The biggest advantage is the weight, now 1350kg (my brother's E46 M3 weighs another 100kg less), and the camber.

 

[Bmw.wp]

:thumbsup: Nice to have you here andreas.

 

[AlpinaB3]

Yeah i figured it was imported, i was just HOPING it wasnt.
Once i find an e46 M, i'd like to start out with mild chassis and drivetrain mods and learn to track properly first before adding anything hardcore.

Things i was looking into for the drivetrain are a DSSR, SS clutch line, CDV delete & short shift kit, Transmission & Engine mounts. Do you have any recommendations, Yes's or No's?

On the subject of brakes, is it really necessary to go with a BBK?
I would prefer to change out fluid, fit SS braided hoses and pads - wont this be plentiful stopping power and be fairly fade resitent for an amature?

Chassis - shock mounts, camber plates, Adj control arms, poly suspension bushings, X Brace.
Also i know very well about the subframe issues with the e46 platform, should track junkies go with the re-inforcement kit from TMS?

^ Is that necessary for a newbie?

Let me first answer your questions regarding the DSSR, SS clutch line, CDV delete & short shift kit, Transmission & Engine mounts. Those fall into the categories best described as 'cherry on top' and 'cool factor' and they do not make the car faster.

From a track driving point of view (after all safety mods), suspension is the first thing that you need to address. The standard car's minimal camber is a tyre killer and tyres will soon become a major running cost that you want to minimize.

The blue E46 M3 has standard brake calipers and discs together with racing brake fluid and Performance Friction pads. Rear brakes are totally stock. The yellow and white E46 M3 trackcars in our stable both have BBKs and while it definitely does make a difference, it is not essential.

Kris' white, wide body E46 M3 trackcar now has a custom, local built Marc Sax suspension. He builds all the highly successful Group N suspensions but has missed the sweet spot with this E46 M3.

Check out this video to see how the almost standard blue E46 M3 compares with the white wide body full out track M3. The white M3 has higher compression pistons, high lift Schrick cams, VANOS delete, carbon fiber airbox, full custom exhaust incl. bigger headers, MOTEC engine management, carbon fiber bonnet & roof & boot & doors, a 4.1 diff vs the standard 3.64, BBK, solid suspension mounts, fully adjustable rear camber and I'm probably leaving something out.

I think you'll agree that it is very easy to ruin rather than improve what M-Division has put there. You will also see a M3 CSL trying to hang on after being passed.

DiVinci I hope this gives you a better vision of how to move forward.

 

[///Marksman]

Yeah i figured it was imported, i was just HOPING it wasnt.
Once i find an e46 M, i'd like to start out with mild chassis and drivetrain mods and learn to track properly first before adding anything hardcore.

Things i was looking into for the drivetrain are a DSSR, SS clutch line, CDV delete & short shift kit, Transmission & Engine mounts. Do you have any recommendations, Yes's or No's?

On the subject of brakes, is it really necessary to go with a BBK?
I would prefer to change out fluid, fit SS braided hoses and pads - wont this be plentiful stopping power and be fairly fade resitent for an amature?

Chassis - shock mounts, camber plates, Adj control arms, poly suspension bushings, X Brace.
Also i know very well about the subframe issues with the e46 platform, should track junkies go with the re-inforcement kit from TMS?

^ Is that necessary for a newbie?

Let me first answer your questions regarding the DSSR, SS clutch line, CDV delete & short shift kit, Transmission & Engine mounts. Those fall into the categories best described as 'cherry on top' and 'cool factor' and they do not make the car faster.

From a track driving point of view (after all safety mods), suspension is the first thing that you need to address. The standard car's minimal camber is a tyre killer and tyres will soon become a major running cost that you want to minimize.

The blue E46 M3 has standard brake calipers and discs together with racing brake fluid and Performance Friction pads. Rear brakes are totally stock. The yellow and white E46 M3 trackcars in our stable both have BBKs and while it definitely does make a difference, it is not essential.

Kris' white, wide body E46 M3 trackcar now has a custom, local built Marc Sax suspension. He builds all the highly successful Group N suspensions but has missed the sweet spot with this E46 M3.

Check out this video to see how the almost standard blue E46 M3 compares with the white wide body full out track M3. The white M3 has higher compression pistons, high lift Schrick cams, VANOS delete, carbon fiber airbox, full custom exhaust incl. bigger headers, MOTEC engine management, carbon fiber bonnet & roof & boot & doors, a 4.1 diff vs the standard 3.64, BBK, solid suspension mounts, fully adjustable rear camber and I'm probably leaving something out.

I think you'll agree that it is very easy to ruin rather than improve what M-Division has put there. You will also see a M3 CSL trying to hang on after being passed.

DiVinci I hope this gives you a better vision of how to move forward.

Top Class driving, really man, it seems that you have superb car control.

After watching that it is quite clear to me that all of the mods in the world cannot cover up for an inexperienced driver, so i think thats where i'll start:thumbsup:

Ofcourse as you said, Safety first then brakes and suspension. After that i think hours of tracktime is essential.

Regarding your comment on the "cool factor" mods, i really was led to believe that those mods will make a subtle but effective difference. Thank you for your insight, I rate that money would be better spent on an instructor/driver training and tracktime

That CSL was pretty much left for dead, and btw what car was that in front of the E30 towards the end? Yes the one you were about to pass

I'm digging the Demon eyes at the end..lol

---

never mind i assume it was a supercharged e34 540i as per vid description...