E36 M3

[Geeesammy]

Picked this car up yesterday after putting a deposit down on it this week. Got it for a reasonable price and I've been itching to get into an M3 for a bit so I figured what the heck. It needs some work but it is a good starting point to get into Autocross and HPDE next year.

 

1995 BMW M3

S52 swap

Some form of lowering springs

5 speed

 

 

It could use some TLC at this point. 250k on the clock and the previous owner tracked it a lot. All the bushings need replaced, mounts and basically anything that moves could use a little love. He had done some weird stuff with the interior I am planning on getting back to stockish condition. I got it on a pretty decent deal since it was overheating on the test drive. I knew it was likely bled incorrectly since those systems are hard to get the air out of, and to the best of my knowledge, S52's are notorious for head gasket issues. I had poor heat and a strong fan pull so I rolled the dice and got lucky.

 

Plans are all new bushings, coilovers or new springs/shocks, new tires, good brakes, tint, maybe wrapping the hood and getting some of the trim reattached and replaced in some spots.

 

Sucks that the paint is past saving on the top side, but the car started life down south and the underside is spotless minus an oil pan leak. I mainly was after the cars handling and balance instead of the looks, although an E36 M3 has always been something I've wanted to own. It is surprisingly quick to me honestly.

 

 

A few pics to get started, basically as it was when I picked it up. I got the owners manual and a repair book for it, which is nice considering the resources I have at work (mainly alldata) are hit and miss on older stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cordell]

Surprised to see you posting this, but glad I’ll have someone else to autocross with. Looks like a good project for that, even though I know nothing of BMWs.

[RyM3rC]

Sweet pickup man, values on those has gone pretty cray the last few years.

 

Wow, that interior though...

 

Every bit of info you could want is out there for these, but I'd expect a car that was tracked to have WAY more front camber- which is really easy to get on the e36.

 

How do you even fit in there? I'm pretty slouchy with a helmet on in an e36.

 

Look forward to seeing you get this one squared away, mebbe at some events even?

[Smokey]

It s a bit of a basket with the interior and exterior but you should be able to sort the mechanicals and have a fun car for cheap. I still miss mine sometimes they were really fun to drive and very forgiving.

 

Bimmerforums and M3forum are your friend. Pretty much anything you’d want or need to do on the car has been documented with a write up. You should be able to do the head gasket no problem with a couple additional tools.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. Hope to see it getting driven within an inch of its life this coming year.

[zeitgeist57]

You know I’m a fan! Good luck getting it back up to snuff, Grant!

[Aaron]

Track first can help with seat lowering suggestions and gear.

 

Then come hpde with us.

[Otis Nice]

Nice pock up. Always loved the looks of those.

[Geeesammy]

Sweet pickup man, values on those has gone pretty cray the last few years.

 

Wow, that interior though...

 

Every bit of info you could want is out there for these, but I'd expect a car that was tracked to have WAY more front camber- which is really easy to get on the e36.

 

How do you even fit in there? I'm pretty slouchy with a helmet on in an e36.

 

Look forward to seeing you get this one squared away, mebbe at some events even?

He said before they listed it they took a lot of camber out of it since the front tires still have some life left, which they do kind of... he didn't say exactly how much they had in it but it did look to me like someone had recently been on a few things that make his story add up.

 

Street driving is fine with it, the sunroof helps a lot with headroom. I can fit comfortably for street driving, but the wheel is a touch too far away from where I would like it.

 

Plan is to get a seat that basically puts my ass on the pavement and maybe get a good harness bar fab'd up by someone who is capable.

It s a bit of a basket with the interior and exterior but you should be able to sort the mechanicals and have a fun car for cheap. I still miss mine sometimes they were really fun to drive and very forgiving.

 

Bimmerforums and M3forum are your friend. Pretty much anything you’d want or need to do on the car has been documented with a write up. You should be able to do the head gasket no problem with a couple additional tools.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. Hope to see it getting driven within an inch of its life this coming year.

Kind of where I am with it. It's rough on the edges, but I don't mind getting crafty on some of the little interior and exterior things. I'll grab some vinyl wrap and do the hood and roof, get a better decklid and wrap it to match so it doesn't look terrible and just sort the suspension out as needed,

 

Track first can help with seat lowering suggestions and gear.

 

Then come hpde with us.

 

Yeah I was gonna shoot him a message post-holiday and see what he thinks should be done. I visited there once, IIRC he is similar in size to you and I so he should know my struggle. Really just wanting a good seat for me, a harness bar that is made right, and an aftermarket quickly removable wheel to be about 3" closer to me then I'll be fine with it as far as seating position. I'm glad people actually make solid solutions for this platform that will make it a little more plug and play than what I was doing before.

[Aaron]

Yeah Tim is 6'3" ish I believe, and is big into BMWs so he is who I'd speak with.

 

A hub extender and a dished wheel, along with a seat mounted low and you'll be all set.

[Geeesammy]

So I’m needing some ideas

 

Needing a good rotor and pad for 60% road and 40% track, any ideas from anyone? I’ve been told Napa blanks and carbotexh pads, just not sure how true that is.

 

Same goes with tires, I’m leaning towards having 2 sets of wheels/tires, what are some decent entry level tires for autox and hpde that aren’t insanely sensitive to heat cycling bs?

[Geeesammy]

I’ve got some things squared away and enough miles on it now to get a grip on what it needs. Definitely going to have to do basically every bushing on it, rear diff bushings are loose, while I’m there I’ll just do the rear trailing arm bushing and such.

 

I got all the wind noise and water leak issues I found fixed. Got a few spare minutes at work and changed the oil, fairly surprised at the amount of oil this engine takes. Got the engine cleaned off as much as I could to diagnose some oil leaks. All the fluids need done for sure, the trans feel is garbage so I’m hoping fresh fluid and a new bushing can help resolve that.

[Cordell]

I never run anything other then blank rotors, lots of proof out there that most drilled/slotted/whatever rotors are just not worth it. Carbotech pads are popular with Corvette drivers and I like their compounds.

 

As for wheels and tires go I’d just consider some quality summer performance tires on whatever rims you want to run on. I don’t know the car to give specifics, but I wouldn’t be swapping wheels out all the time. I’d just run those all the time throughout the summer. I don’t see any reason to go crazy just starting out.

[Cordell]

Just go on tire rack and select “extreme performance summer” that’s pretty much the autocross tire category. Read some reveiws and look into sizes. I have a set of Bridgestone RE-71R that are really good. They’re great autocross tires. They may have issues on a road course with heat, but you also have to drive hard enough to use them up, so it’s not just the car and the tire, it’s your abilities too.

[Aaron]

Rotors, get oem blanks, one with a warranty wouldn't hurt. Powerstop trackday pads, cheap and work well overall. ate 200 fluid.

 

340tw Firestone indy500 are pretty great for what they are. I did a few track days on my GT with them and they wore so well, would recommend those for your first year on the stock wheels. Cheap too.

 

Camber also.

 

Keep it simple as cordel said. Get.on track with the above relatively cheap route and gain experience. From there you can figure things out after some events.

[RyM3rC]

if you have the 17s I have a set of prob 30% ? rs3v2 (245/40/17) tires you can have. they're def past their prime, but will hold up on track and you can have some fun and figure out if you want to pay a bunch for 200TW tires or get some pover-summers like the firehawks, htrz3, or etc

 

the trans bushings in my e36 were done before I got it, and the shifter feel was WAY better than any other one I've driven.

 

powerstop (poverstop) track day pads ($80ish per axle on rockauto) are what I've been running the last few seasons. they're def not on par with a top tier pad like a PFC for wear or performance, but they do fine on track at fast-streetcar pace, are cheap, and I run em year round no fucks given. Cut and tie the pad wear sensors, ain't nobody got time fo dat shit. Mine get me through 2 track days and about 10k street miles before they're worn enough I don't want to chance getting low on pad for the next track day. but my car has a ton more power and weighs a ton more, might last forever on an e36 lol

[Smokey]

I’m of the belief in having separate track and street brake pads. Good track pads make tons of noise and have horrible dust on the street. Street pads can’t handle the heat of the track.

 

I’m also pretty fuckin meh on Carbotech. The upside to them is that they’re really easy on rotors, but sacrifice lots of life for it. Also any time you call them for recommended compounds they tell you too low of a compound and they overheat. Happened to 3 different people I know who tried them.

 

Hawk pads are cheap, readily available, and work great....but hurt rotors. The DTC compounds will crack the shit out of rotors quickly. If you run cheap and readily available rotors that trade off might be worth it.

[Geeto67]

I'm just happy to see you have a car you are into again. Good luck with it.

[Geeesammy]

So I kind of forgot i owned this thing for a few weeks.

 

Who is the go to for the aftermarket stuff for these? ECS Tuning, Bimmerworld, where else? Mainly looking for upgraded stuff as well as OE replacement. SS brake hoses, a few gaskets (obviously rockauto or amazon), coilovers (any recommendations?), adjustable sway bar links, etc.

[Robochan]

So I kind of forgot i owned this thing for a few weeks.

 

Who is the go to for the aftermarket stuff for these? ECS Tuning, Bimmerworld, where else? Mainly looking for upgraded stuff as well as OE replacement. SS brake hoses, a few gaskets (obviously rockauto or amazon), coilovers (any recommendations?), adjustable sway bar links, etc.

 

MCS for shocks.

[wagner]

Always loved the styling on these cars, it doesn't take much to make them a killer ride for sure. Vortech also makes blowers for them if you bump your head and want to get stupid with mods.

[RyM3rC]

rockauto ftw, but the vendors you listed are good. add turner motorsports in there but kinda spendy, tckline has some stuff so does tckline

[Toph6888]

So far I've only used Hawk pads, and will probably try carbotechs this year. I use blank rotors, and never had an issue with them. $25 for cheapos, $50 for nicer ones on rock auto for my car.

 

Started on HPS. They are quiet on the street, and initially on track I was fine with them but quickly outgrew them. I have them as daily pads right now, but I don't overall care for them.

 

Moved up to HP+, they squeal a bit during stopping in stop and go traffic, so if you don't care for that, i would use them only on track. A lot more stopping power compared to the HPS, so if youre looking for a street strip it would be my go to (its what I have on my miata for daily pads/autox now). They make a shit ton of dust though, and if the dust sits for a while its a real PITA to get off.

 

I tried Hawk DTC60's this year finally, and they are by far the biggest change to how the car handles on the track, I can go way harder into braking zones without fear of not being able to slow down. But like others said, lots of dust, and hard on the rotors. I had them on pretty much new rotors, and after 1 day at Mid Ohio and a weekend at Pitt they are looking pretty used. No cracking through the rotor, but lots of microcracks and some grooving. This is with a 3300lb car, 13" brakes, and 400hp with lots of gear. At pitt there are a lot of hard stopping areas (three or four that are 120-130mph down to 50-60mph) so its pretty hard on the brakes. One of my upgrades this year is to add the brake ducting to help keep temps down.

 

I could maybe get one more day out of the DTC60's and rotors, but I think 3-4 individual days is gonna be about the max on them. I'm still working on increasing cornering speed, so I'm hoping to gain a balance on hard braking and maintaining corner speed so as to not use the brakes quite as hard as I was initially doing when first trying the DTC's.

[Robochan]

I dislike pretty much everything about Hawk pads after trying Gloc, carbotech, PFC, Ferrodo, cobalt.

[Aaron]

I dislike pretty much everything about Hawk pads after trying Gloc, carbotech, PFC, Ferrodo, cobalt.

 

This. Haven't tried Cobalt though.