advice on building a track car....

[arcdef]

Used to own a humble e30 316i but moved onto newer thigns, however i now have a bug in my system to get one back and track the hell out of it, im thinking the normal (non-sport) 325i and just need some tips on what i should start doing to it in the way of suspension and brake upgrades, best roll cage, are strut braces worth it, same with polybushes, and where the best place is to get them all and mainly can it all be done for a budget of £2k work being done by myself???

cheers

All advice welcome!!!

[1an]

Used to own a humble e30 316i but moved onto newer thigns, however i now have a bug in my system to get one back and track the hell out of it, im thinking the normal (non-sport) 325i and just need some tips on what i should start doing to it in the way of suspension and brake upgrades, best roll cage, are strut braces worth it, same with polybushes, and where the best place is to get them all and mainly can it all be done for a budget of £2k work being done by myself???

cheers

All advice welcome!!!

you can probally bild a useable track car for that money but you will struggle with bits like a cage etc in your budget,

in my opinion polybushes are a worth wile upgrade especially on the track,

[arcdef]

ok seeing as the full set of polybushes are over £200 what ones should i start with? just the front or is the rear more usefull?? you say a cage wont be easy in the budget, how much would one cost on average? seeing as its a safety thing wouldn't want to attempt it myself! really jsut want to get it sorted handling and safety wise before i spent anything tuning it

cheers

[1an]

you might aswell do the full kit,

an SD cage is £800ish i believe

then a suspension kit,

then a seat and harness.

[zaust]

If you get an eibach arb kit they come with all the polly's, Just get an extra rear diff bush from powerflex.

You will need to get decent discs and pad's though.

[arcdef]

thats a good point then it will only be an extra £60 more than the bushes on their own, another question i just thought of....is there any advantage of getting a coupe over a 4 door (strength weight etc) as obvously i want the lightest option

so far essentials are:

car
Rollcage,
seat, harness
brakes
suspension (just springs or worth getting matched dampers??)
anti roll bar with bushes
not to mention stripping the hell out of it!!!

missed anything??

[Nelly]

Tyres once everything above is done.

Stick to 15" alloys

[northloop]

4 doors are fine

[oldroydsr4]

car: 1k
suspension: 500
h&r rollbars: 250
poly bushes: 200+ fitting
lsd: 250
new disks: 100
new pads: 100

over budget already. 2k isn't much when building a track car. best to buy something half started and wait for the appropriate 2nd hand parts on ebay etc.

[AlpineAde]

....is there any advantage of getting a coupe over a 4 door (strength weight etc) as obvously i want the lightest option

The weight difference is nigh on negligible. If anything, given that 4 doors are seemingly so unpopular, the 4 door might be a better way to go. It might allow you to get near your budget given that you could pick one up for less money than a 2 door in similar nick..

If you're especially lucky and get one with a good leather interior flog it. Here in Australia that sort of thing goes for pretty decent money.

[arcdef]

thanks for all the advice so far guys!!!, i know it wont add up to much but once stripped i will be selling any parts so that will drum up some cash....

is a LSD vital at first?? most powerful car ive driven has had 130ps and FWD so no idea if i will actually need it seeing as the car wont be pushed too hard to start with. would you not advice spending less than 1K on a car then oldroydsr4?? was thinking more around £500 for the car hence how i could get in budget, did see a car on pistonheads which comes with exhaust system aswell as suspension set up but cant get the car for a month or two yet so that was gutting!!!

with regards to tracking the car, does it need to have insurance and mot or can i just trailer it to the track and drive anything??

cheers

[Nelly]

It doesn't need mot and trailering is fine - track day insurance is optional.

My track car in the sig pic has cost me in total £1650 inclueding the cage and 16"Alpina RG reps - best thing to do is wait for the bargins to come in, there out there waiting for you to find them.

Look in 'cars for sale', there's a touring in R/Blue with a knacked engine that's crying out to be refind into a weapon - at least that way you've already got the better brakes all round - - - - no conection with the seller.

[shorty73]

If you trailer to the track then you don't need an MOT or insurance but the car must be "roadworthy" or I think the jargon is "fit for purpose". Can't just turn up with a bag of nails and spill oil and shite around the track

Your obviously not that daft so that goes without saying

LSD is vital if you want to have a maximum enjoyment leaving bends

[1an]

ive got an iS that needs the ring gear on the flywheel looking at, MOT has run out and tax is up next month, it runs if you bump it but ownt start of the starter motor,

give me a pm and ill send a few pictures over if you want, otherwise im going to break it.

[shorty73]

Now that looks like a good starting point. Once you start the budget will go out the window!

[Jon_Bmw]

ive got an iS that needs the ring gear on the flywheel looking at, MOT has run out and tax is up next month, it runs if you bump it but ownt start of the starter motor,

give me a pm and ill send a few pictures over if you want, otherwise im going to break it.

Have you pulled the starter motor and had a look then. If not: Do a search on my name and starter motor, I bet you find a very easy solution.

[oldroydsr4]

The reason i recommended at least 1k for a car was because 500 will get you a rotten turd.

If you build a trackcar on a good base the end result willl be far better.

[1an]

ive got an iS that needs the ring gear on the flywheel looking at, MOT has run out and tax is up next month, it runs if you bump it but ownt start of the starter motor,

give me a pm and ill send a few pictures over if you want, otherwise im going to break it.

Have you pulled the starter motor and had a look then. If not: Do a search on my name and starter motor, I bet you find a very easy solution.

you have a pm Jon

[chips]

If you can wait for the right car then £500 could get a nice one. I picked up a mint, rust free 316 with 86k and no sunroof for £500. I'm changing the engine though, extra cost you would have to take into consideration.

[northloop]

My donnor 4 door cost £500 and I sold a few bits out of it which pretty much paid for the purchase price of the car.


However I have then spent close to £10K making it look like this



£2K isnt much of a budget especially if you wont be doing the work yourself

[arcdef]

im not planning on getting thst much of a track car lol!! plus everything but the cage will be done by me and a mate so that should save a fair bit!! thought it coudl be done for £500, will jsut have to keep my eye out!!

[Rik178m]

You can build a track car for £2k easily! People will sell shells for max £200. they may need abit of welding but its not that hard. wide range of engines m50, m30, m20, m42 etc. Sure second hand rollcages can be found for £200-300. BTW Im not sayin it will be the best or fastest for your budget but U'll have alot of fun! Look in the forsale section and ebay etc. Northloop - I lurve your track car!

[Brian28]

I built a PBMW car with change from 2k, met all tech and scrutineering requirements incl plumbed in extinguisher etc, and good enough for consistent top ten finishes. Doing your own work 2k will build you a very decent track car as long as you spend it on useful bits rather than bling bits

[geoffrey]

I agree 2k is a reasonable budget for a track car. As long as you dont want it to be the prettiets looking thing in the world £500 could get you a good car.

My first advice is go for a 325 over a 318 or 320 as they are a much better starting point. I bought my track car for 1k and it had a lot of work done but the head gasket was gone and i suspected the head was cracked, which it was. I built a new head up starting with a brand new casting and very good condition 2nd hand valves rockers and shafts and a brand new schrick cam. I've only done 1 track day so far but it's unreal what you can keep up with. To say the very least the car most certainly doesnt embaress itself.

In total i have probably spent roughly 2k now but the car has an LSD, it's a 2.7, got a bbr 6 branch and full stainless exhaust, bigger throttle body, eibach roll bars, had a remap by AMD and has 2 buucket seats and harnesses.

With reference to the brakes - dont go out and buy some silly brake upgrade kit. What i would say is 100% vital is brake ducts. You could lock the wheels in mine at the end of the 110mph straight for the 1st 3 laps but after that even with ap racing fluid in, it cooked the brakes. A simple set of brake ducts will release the full potential of the already capable standard brakes.

If you're just looking for a car thats a lot of fun the 2k will be plenty.

[oldroydsr4]

Bit of curve ball, but for 2k you could probably build a better e36 than e30 with out the rust issues.

[geoffrey]

But round a track the e30 is going to be quicker.

[arcdef]

i was contemplating a e36 aswell if i found one in better condition for same money, plus i could get a 328 much easier in a e36, why would it be slower though?? more weight i guess but surly it would be a better handling car??

[chips]

They are heavier, but I've also heard that the chassis/body isnt as strong so its not as stiff. Nothing a decent cage wouldnt sort though I'm sure.

[oldroydsr4]

e36 has a superior suspension set up end of and a 328i can be had for not much cash.

[arcdef]

so for the engine better suspension and less rust an e36 is looking better.....dont look as good though!

[fieldl]

Started out looking for an e36 328 after we had looked at loads ended up going for an e30 325. Much better overall condition than most of the rubbish newer cars we had seen.

[geoffrey]

You wont build a e36 328 track car for 2k. The main benefit of the e30 is the bang for buck. To build an e36 thats quicker than a e30 325 round the track thats cost you 2k you'd have to spend more like 4 or 5k building the e36.

[arcdef]

why would an e36 be so much more expensive, if i can find a car for same money but with a bigger engine and apparent better suspension or am i being naive

[sohlman]

I built my car for £1500 initially. Then over the last year and a half i have slowly upgraded this and that and it now owes me £2500

I bought a rust free shell 325ise 3 door with some very minor rear end damage for £100 from a friend. Omp cage was £200 on ebay. Seats were £200 for a pair on ebay. Belts i bought brand new and were just shy of £200. I then took out all unessasery weight including going over the car with a heat gun and scrapper taking out all the tar. (50Kg's of the stuff). I added door bars £80 and a fire extinguisher system £100. I bought some 15" bbs wheels for £50 and put on some cheap named brand tyres part worn. The car was then serviced, all fluids were changed and a set of lowering springs were added £200 all in. I then MOT's the car and had to do a few things including buying a backbox £100. Then just fitted new genuine pads all round and dot 5:1 ing fluid £100. It was not quick at first, but was great fun and was a good tool for learning.

First track day the car managed 2.5 hours of hard driving. Then had a calliper sieze at the rear which made me go pretty sideways i can tell you.

For the next track day i changed the callipers and fitted reconditioned units £300 and changed the brake lines for stainless steel ones. I bought some new Toyo t1r tyres £150. The car was much better on braking and grip. Car managed about 3 hours flat out when i hit my limit and decided to call it a day. In the day the rear shocks had burst.

Next track day fitted fiberglass bonnet £100 ebay and bumper £free, spaz suspension £350. Bought another set of 15" bbs wheels £51 ebay and fitted toyo r888 tyres also off ebay for £130. It then rained and i was rubbish in car, but when it dried out it was amazing. So grippy and much faster. this was an open day and the car ran until we had emptied the tank.

The car developed a bit of a miss at the end of the day and was the plug leads which are now past there best. Also the rest of the exhaust system is not great.

Next track day is in around 6 weeks time. I will be changing the distributer car, coil and leads £150, checking to see if the pads can do another day and have just sourced a stainless steel exhaust £150 ebay.

I think with your budget and by scouring ebay, breakers yards and forums like this you will have no trouble getting a track car up and running.

Important things stage 1: -

Rust free shell
Cage
descent seats to take harnesses
6 points harnesses.
access to welder
Suspension does not bounce
lowering springs

If you buy a more expensive car like say £1000 - 1500 with some nice parts like for example leather recaro's, radio etc. When you strip the car you can sell off the nice bits and pieces and recover monies. I would do that.

Hope this helps

James