Craig's 328i Sport - e36 Track Car Build Thread [Archive]

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Craig

24-03-2010, 03:53 AM

I decided in late 2009 that I was going to go ahead and build a track car after many years of talking about it, but never actually doing it. At first I was going to use my daily driver at the time; an EP3 Civic Type-R, however I really wasn’t convinced by it, as all I have ever really drove on track is RWD cars. As good as the Civic was, and don’t get me wrong out the box they are an awesome car, I just could never warm to the fact it was FWD and hankered for another BMW after my short lived ownership of an M3 CSL.

So in October 2009 I started looking into what to choose, the obvious been an e36 M3 but a little more research brought up another contender, an e36 328i Sport. Not only was insurance one third of the cost, the Sports are a lot lighter at the front end which on tighter tracks meant less under steer, sure it’d be 100bhp down but I was convinced it’d be a good base car to start with.

Roll on December and I’d found a 328i Sport I really like the look of, however it wasn’t for sale I’d just seen the pictures on a forum that both myself and the owner are members of. I decided to ask the owner, Jon, a few questions... just about what he thought of the car, and if he had to do it again would he buy another. Anyway, one thing lead to another and it turned out due to driving excessive miles that Jon was considering selling the car for a more eco-friendly option.

I jumped at the chance and agreed to come and view the car, snow however put a stop to that for a few weeks but by mid-January I was the proud owners of a Hellrot Red 328i Sport which had covered a mere 167,000 miles!!! Yes that’s right 167,000 miles but don’t let that put you off, apart from a few stone chips and a small bit of rust on the front drivers side wing (which has since got worse due to salt!) this car was by far the best conditioned example I have ever viewed and came with EVERY single receipt for parts/work carried out dating back to when the car was first registered in August 1998.

Here are some pictures of the car after I got it home and gave it a quick clean;

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The car came with both the current winter wheels; M3 Saloon Contour II’s plus a set of standard BBS RC042 wheels in need of a bit of refurbishment, mainly due to water getting under the lacquer.

For the first few weeks of ownership I was debating whether to actually spend money on the car, or just leave it as an un-abused example, I had even sold my Type-R and given the 328i Sport ‘daily driver’ status.

In February, a few friends and I decided it would be a good idea to kick the track day season into action and booked up to go to Oulton Park on the 24th. The journey down was wet and miserable but our spirits were not dampened, we got there signed on and went out on a very wet and slippery track. But something rare happened, for the first time of 2010 the sun actually shined and by the afternoon the track was dry and I started to enjoy the car a lot more, this was bad news for my bank balance as I had now decided to bite the bullet and get cracking on re-freshing a 12 year old car to make it a bit more track friendly.

Lots of plans run through my head, and also so did many £ signs. But I decided to start work on planning the chassis, brakes and running gear, leaving the engine and interior for the time being. Due to the car been a later car it had the good alusil engine without the nikasil worries, however it was lacking a limited slip differential a small price to pay I guess for peace of mind.

I decided at first just to keep everything 328i and just fit a 3.0 M3 diff and swap the input flanges over so I could use the standard 328i prop shaft and fit some quality discs and pads to the standard callipers. The plans were to keep everything to a budget, hence the name ‘Project Credit Crunch’ but I decided to go a bit further, still sticking to the plans of a budget track build, however getting it right first time, instead of spending money on parts that would later be replaced by superior parts.

By March the list of work to do was as follows; replace all bushes, upgrade the brakes, upgrade the suspension, fit a limited slip diff and a X-brace off a convertible. So the spending begun.... The parts started rolling in, and the final list of parts to be fitted before my next track day on the 19th of April at the Nurburgring was as follows;

- Eibach Pro-Street S Coilovers
- Camber Adjustable Top Mounts
- Rogue Engineering Rear Top Mounts
- M3 Convertible Front X-Brace
- M3 Evolution Front Wishbones
- M3 Evolution Front Hubs / King Pins
- M3 Evolution Front Brake Set-Up
- M3 Evolution Rear Trailing Arms
- M3 Evolution Rear Brake Set-Up
- M3 Evolution Rear Diff Carrier w/ 3.23 Limited Slip
- M3 Evolution Rear Drive Shafts
- M3 Evolution Brake Servo + Master Cylinder
- Powerflex Black Rear Trailing Arm Bushes
- Powerflex Rear Subframe Bushes
- Powerflex Concentric Front Wishbone Bushes
- Powerflex 25mm Front Anti-Roll Bar Bushes
- Powerflex 19mm Rear Anti-Roll Bar Bushes
- HEL Braided Clutch Line
- Goodridge Braided Brake Lines
- Z3M Short Shifter
- Replacement Gear Selector Bushes
- Replacement Bolts for Rear Trailing Arms
- Replacement Exhaust Bolts + Studs
- Redline ATF Gearbox Oil
- Castrol SAF-XJ Differential Oil
- Mobil Engine Oil
- Silkolene DOT4 Brake Fluid

So I had a lot of work ahead of me, with a short amount of time to do it all. In fact I only had 5 days off work in between ordering the parts and the track day so it was going to be tight, remember this car is my daily driver too!!!

As I waited for the part’s to arrive I decided to give the underside of the car a little clean, as I really didn’t want to be laid under a car with dirt dropping into my eyes every 5 seconds, and I only had a 3 day window to fit most the above parts so I wanted to asses everything thoroughly first.

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As well as cleaning I decided to free off all the old bolts and copper grease them to speed up the dismantling process, I also decided to remove and temporarily replace the heavily corroded exhaust bolts as this would save time in the long run and keep my stress levels low on the day of fitting the new back axel.

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Now the first parts stared arriving at the door, most were useless without other parts accompanying them however the BMW X-Brace wasn’t and I decided to fit this straight away. Fitment was simple, you need to make some bolts up that will help compress the riv-nuts but other than that it was straight forward.

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The bolts that compress the riv-nuts, be careful when doing this you need to apply some lock tight to the riv-nut to stop it turning, thus allowing it to compress. All went fine until the 4th nut, the lock tight had hardened so much that when removing the bolt it sheared and we had to carefully drill it out without causing any damaged to the riv-nut threads.

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All fitted and in place, hopefully this should stop a little bit of front end twist.

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Next to arrive was the coilovers and top mounts, I rebuilt the top mounts making sure that all bolts had a good dose of copper grease to stop any corrosion, and made sure the spherical bearing had a good coating of white lithium grease. Same for the coilovers, these were stripped down and rebuilt with copper grease applied to the threads to stop corrosion, a bit pointless since their stainless steel but it’s just become habit.

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Here’s some more pictures of the parts, braided clutch line, rear top mounts, replacement bolts, polyurethane bushes and braided brake lines.

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Halleluiah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

Finally all the long awaited M3 Evolution parts arrived, work got pretty much straight under way with these bits, I even called in a few favours at work and used the press in the fabrication shop to speed up the removal of the old trailing arm, wishbone and diff carrier bushes. Time was not on my side, I had a few hours in between shifts to get everything ready and painted for my weekend off (19th March) but I managed it, just!

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Callipers after been given a lick of paint and a good once over, what can I say I’m a tart and really like red brakes and think it will go well with the red and black theme that will eventually end up been carried out on the car.
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Now came the painting of all the rear axle parts, I opted for boring black because I like things also looking OEM and not screaming look at me.

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Now came for re-assembly of part of the rear axle ready for bolting straight up to the car, I decided to leave the trailing arms off for the time being to reduce the overall weight of the axel when moving it around and of course offering it up to the car.

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I’d just scraped the deadline, finished work at 22:00 on the 18th and went straight home to rebuild the axel ready for my 3 days off where I had planned to at the very least get the rear axle, gear shifter bushes and rear brakes done. Everything was now set for an early morning start, time for bed!

Well I say everything, there was only one gamble, I still had not received the M3 3.0 prop shaft... so on Wednesday night I spoke to Russ @ M3 Spares and asked if he had any, he did and promised to send it out on Thursday via 24 hour, it was a gamble as if it didn’t arrived I would be without transport on Monday when I was due back at work.

Morning loomed and the weather was on my side, I got the car right up in the air and secured on 4 large axel stands. First to come off was the rear wheels, then disconnect the brake lines, the abs sensors and the rear pad wear sensor. Then onto removing the X-brace to gain access to the exhaust, my previous fitting off new bolts speeded up this process and all was off within an hour or two.

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Next up was to drop the rear axle, again planning in advance and removing and copper greasing all the bolts ensured everything came free without any drama, I’d also previously WD40’d the brake lines to help when it came to splitting them too.

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We were only a few hours into it and already we were ready to bolt up the new axel, from here the picture get a little vague as we just concentrated on the job in hand, and guess what... the prop shaft arrived!!! *PHEW*

Once the rear axle and trailing arms were on, along with all the rear callipers, drive shafts and hand brake cables in situ I decided to crack on and fit the Z3M shift and replace all old bushes with brand new ones to remove any slop from the shift, after all the car has done 167,000 miles remember.

This was a very fiddly job, especially in the dark, laid on my back working on a gearbox that was still in position. The top clip which needed removing was a case of working blind simply by feel, but after 20 minutes I had got it to release. The whole process probably took an hour or two but there was no rushing about it was nearly mid-night by this point. It was worth doing though as even without driving the car the shifting was much tighter and the Z3M shifter had made the shift a lot more precise.

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Saturday morning and it was pissing down, but I carried on with the help of some friends we got the prop-shaft fitted, re-fitted the heat shields and exhaust as well as fit the Eibach Pro-Street rear dampers and springs, along with the Rogue Engineering top mounts.

All was going well, but then we hit a snag when bleeding the brakes one of the unions was not sealing correctly, it looked like the threads were shot and at this point I decided to call it a day as I was soaked through and loosing my temper.

Onto Sunday, I had access to a brake pipe flaring tool and got hold of some copper pipe and unions, but things did not look good. To run a line correctly the prop shaft and exhaust would have to be re-removed and also the fuel tank dropped. Fortunately luck was on my side, on further inspection only a tiny bit of the lower thread was damaged and this was stopping it making a perfect seal, after a little rub over with a thread file all was fine and my blood pressure returned back to normal.

We bled the brakes through and proceeded to also fit and bleed the braided clutch line, as well as adjust the handbrake correctly. All was done, after a lot of hard work and the help of a few good friends we had successfully achieved what we had planned.

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Upon driving the car the back end is so much tighter, the diff really is noticeable and the brake feel is good, soon to be further improved when the fronts are fitted. The shifting is perfect, the car feels like a brand new car, and removing the stupid delay valve and fitting a braided line has done wonders for the feel of the clutch.

So far I’m seeing a lot of potential from this car on track, I’m going to be fitting all the front end parts next Monday and Tuesday, and then hopefully I’ll be all set for Germany in a few weeks time. I’ll be posting updates as and when work is carried out, so be sure to check this post again soon!!

NZ_M3

24-03-2010, 04:09 AM

Very nice ...

I have to say, it must be a Honda owner thing .... if it wasn't for the car being a BMW, I swear that the post style and write ups are almost always identical between Honda owners when they "toy" with their cars - extensive photos, almost step by step instructional directions and the forever perserverance when you hit a snag (short of losing your temper and taking a big hammer to the problems) ...

:supz::supz::supz:

Dan

24-03-2010, 10:30 AM

Cool post Craig, nice little read, thanks for sharing :thumbs:

I'll look forward to some more updates soon ;)

glendog74

24-03-2010, 12:05 PM

Nice write-up Craig and looks like you had your work cut out!

This is what i would do to my 328i Sport if i didn't also have the CSL for track. There is a lot of potential in those old E36 models - especially if you start making it lighter too :thumbs:

Craig

24-03-2010, 03:42 PM

More updates are to come next weekend, it was a big relief to get it all back together and ready for work on Monday morning!

englebert

24-03-2010, 08:04 PM

Cool little project there, the 328 is great value! Know a few people who have had them in the last couple of years.

Craig

27-03-2010, 03:18 PM

Spacers and front braided lines have arrived, so I'm all set for doing the front end work on Monday / Tuesday.

Craig

31-03-2010, 12:47 AM

Just a small update, the weather put a stop to play Monday / Tuesday as did a little hiccup.

At the moment the old beam is blocking access to my garage and I really didn’t fancy working out in the rain, so I decided to do something about the beam in case this rain stays for the next few weeks!

Here’s the beam in all its former glory;

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Now it has been reduced down to parts, to be moved to a more appropriate places before I get round to selling it on, speaking of which by the time the front end is done I’ll have the following kicking about; Rear Axel, Drive Shafts, Open Diff, Prop-Shaft, Rear Brake Set-Up, Front Wishbones, Front Brake Set-Up, Front Hubs and some Bilstein Suspension w/ Eibach Springs.

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Cleaned and prepared some of the front end parts in my free time, below we have pictured the 3.2 Master Cylinder + Servo, 3.2 Floating Front Discs and of course the 3.2 Front Hubs.

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I also got round to painting the front callipers and re-assembling them with copper grease in all the right areas. Please note I did paint every inch of metal, then once dry I proceeded to remove the paint from surfaces that made contact with the pads of front hubs as I didn’t want the paint to cause sticking of the pads.

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I also got round to fitting the front Powerflex bushes into the ‘lollipops’ and placing them on the wishbones. Also the little hiccup mentioned above can be spotted in the below pictures too, guessed what it is yet?

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That’s right, spotted the ball joint rubber boot had a crack in it, no problem I’ll press out the old ball joint and order another one. Ball joint came out without any issues, but hey most things would come out without issue with the size of the press I used. Ordered a replacement Lemforder (OEM Spec) ball joint from ECP, only to find out it’s the wrong size and will not fit my wishbone!?!

Anyway, to cut a long story short it turns out the M3 wishbone ball joints are not replaceable and BMW want £150.00 for a new arm... HOWEVER all is not lost, I may have come up with a solution to the problem. After measuring an old E30 ball joint it seems its identical to the E36 M3 one, so I have ordered one in (due tomorrow!) and will press that into the E36 M3 wishbone. The quality of the E30 one may not be as long lasting as the standard E36 ones, but after all it’s a car that will be kept on top of maintenance wise.

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Next up is just a few shots of the BBS RC041’s split down ready for paint, I’m going to keep them track friendly by painting them black, however there’s a little twist. I’m going to do the centres matt black and the outer rims gloss giving them the effect of a polished rim with a painted centre like OEM finish just black.

I just need to find a company willing to powder coat or paint the pieces at a reasonable cost, a local places wanted £40.00 + VAT per item that would bring the total to £640.00 + VAT, sod that!!! If I get time I might look into firing up ye ‘ole spray gun and going for a bit of DIY paint action too.

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Also to keep with the red and black theme I have also picked up a second hand set of face lift kidney grills and a 328i badge, these are both going gloss black too. More details on these bits when I get round to painting them, at the moment the front end is going to take priority!!!

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Bounce

31-03-2010, 01:23 AM

Keep up the good work mate,you've got more patience than i have.;):thumbs:

DazBlackCSL

31-03-2010, 01:27 AM

Keep up the good work mate,you've got more patience than i have.;):thumbs:

You and me both :hahaha:

Would of been up the pub long ago, even struggling waiting for the pics to load :hahaha: :clown:

Craig

03-04-2010, 09:02 PM

Believe it or not, I'm a very impatient person and sometimes have to just walk away for a break before I end up resorting to a petrol can and a match lol.

Very small update;

Ball joint idea worked a treat, first two pictures show the E30 ball joint lined up in the wishbone ready to be pressed in and the last two show the ball joint all pressed in and functional. Sat side by side with a normal un-craigified wishbone the height and thread length all match up perfectly, job well done if I do say so myself.

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Also had an hour spare yesterday so checked everything would come apart, all seems fine but the inner ball joint looks like it’s going to need a gentle bit of persuasion and a normal ball joint splitter won’t suffice. So picked up this little beauty, a ball joint fork it should do the trick!

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Hopefully I’ll be posting here on Wednesday saying how the front end work is complete and the car’s all set for Germany on the 16th of April.

AlexGTT

04-04-2010, 12:48 AM

Good work Craig. :thumbs:Look forward to meeting you and the car in a couple of weeks.

Craig

07-04-2010, 11:32 PM

Woohoo, as planned today was the day and all the front end work has been carried out. Of course it wouldn’t be modifying without the dramas of incorrect fitting parts and having to use your noggin to overcome small problems.

First started by getting the car up in the air and making it secure, then sprayed everything that needed to be freed off with WD40. Everything came apart with ease, brake unions cracked straight away and the ball joint fork was a god send and made splitting the inner ball joint a doddle. Normal ball joint splitter on the tie rod end ball joint, and a range of sockets and all the parts were off within an hour.

Here’s everything fitted and working as it should be;

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Powerflex front anti-roll bar bushes in place, the 328i Sport requires a 25mm bush and it only took a few minutes to fit, much easier than fitting the rear’s as they were a really tight fit, in fact a little too tight.

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Concentric Powerflex rear wishbone bushes to suit the M3 3.2 Evo wishbones... again really easy to fit, fits nice and tight however no presses were required and it all lined up fit without any adjustments needed anywhere.

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M3 3.2 Evo front brakes with floating discs, also 10mm hub-centric spacers. This is where the problems arose, the spacers although nicely machined were not perfect, the inner bore that sits onto the hub lug had been machined 2mm too short causing a gap between the spacer and hub face. A trip to Halfords to get some emergency 9mm spacers (needed to clear the coilovers) paid off as they had some 3mm spacers on the shelf which fit fine behind the spacers causing a tight fit and also still retaining the use of the hub-centric lug.

Not ideal but it’ll have to do, next I’ll look into getting some 12mm spacers. I also found out I need even longer bolts, I ordered 35mm thread length but due to the extra 3mm spacer I’m going to have to find some 38~40mm bolts tomorrow.

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Goodridge braided front brake lines in place, I used the existing rubber brake line bung to secure the brake line to the strut like OEM fitment. Also a big thanks to my friend James for helping me bleed the brakes and also provide emergency transport to get to Halfords for the spacers.

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Eibach Pro-Street coilovers in place, let’s hope there up to the job.

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Camber adjustable top mounts in position I still have to set the geometry up.

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Now coming from a M3 CSL something was lacking from the 6 pots engine tone, it needed a bit of induction noise and the DaveF filter did the trick. OK it’s not as aggressive sounding as the CSL, but it gives a great tone and brings out the true induction noise of the M52B28 engine.

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After spending hours staring at the car in the works car park I decided it needed something, I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was then it hit me, the front lights are very dark inside however the clear indicators although much better than tango units just stuck out a little too much. I decided it needed some smoked corner indicators so tracked down some Auto-Lamp lenses.

The fit is good, it’s not OEM perfect but as far as aftermarket indicators go there fine and will tie in nicely with the red and black theme going on.

Next up is to set the geometry, I’m going to just set it up roughly for the moment but hopefully on Saturday will be able to spend some time setting the camber and toe up ready to hit the track.

Craig

11-04-2010, 11:52 PM

Well I managed to spend a few days playing about on the car doing some finishing touches and generally giving it a good once over. First off came the painting of the grills and rear badges, I like to try things different so instead of the usual satin black I thought I would give gloss black ago, the idea behind it is everything that was chrome will now be gloss black. Excuse the bug splatter haven’t got round to cleaning the car this week.

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If I’m honest, I’m not convinced on the look however I’ll leave it for the time being and see if it grows on me, the kidney’s look OK however the rear badge just doesn’t look right at times, maybe black on a darker colour might have gave the effect I was looking for, I also think it clashes with the silver chrome details on the rear BMW roundel.

Next up was to tidy the garage and gather up the old front end parts, needed to make room for the possibilities of doing the geometry in the garage if the weather didn’t hold out.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_91.JPG

Fortunately for me if I don’t have the equipment my friends do, and they were ever so kind to lend me these alignment gauges. First been a Dunlop optical alignment gauge for setting the toe, the other a camber gauge.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_92.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_93.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_94.JPG

I didn’t get any pictures of the process, but to start with I balanced up the suspension height all round, setting it at 305mm wheel centre to arch at the rear, and 320mm wheel centre to arch at the front. Once the height was set I took it for a test drive to let the suspension settle itself and then double checked the measurements.

Next up was the camber, at the rear this was set to -1.5 degrees and at the front -2.5 was dialled in, the adjustable top mounts really did make it easy to set the camber. Once the camber was set we could then move onto the toe; remember to set camber before toe.

The rear toe was pretty much spot on, a small bit of toe in which would be fine. Next was the front, at first this was toe’ing out heavily, once I’d managed to free off the track rod ends I then set about balancing both sides up by eye to give 0.0 toe. A quick test drive and the car really has been transformed over these last few weeks, but there was a little dead spot in the steering suggesting toe out was still present. Got back and set the toe properly using the optical alignment gauge, ended up setting it at 0.5 degree of toe in.

Final test drive and the car is now perfect, I’m really happy with how it drives and for the first time in weeks am looking forward to getting it out on track. Between now and this Friday there maybe a little update with the latest tyre choice and maybe one of two other track enhancements but until then it’s all set for next weekend, the deadline I keep going on, and on about.

Once back from Germany I’ll then start to plan the interior and get to work on that, more on that subject at a later date.....

DuncanR

12-04-2010, 12:31 PM

Well done Craig, cracking job mate, wish I had the time to do similar, maybe one day !

Bealo

12-04-2010, 04:10 PM

Great project and write up :thumbs:

Wish i had your know how.....

Dan

12-04-2010, 08:02 PM

I really like the look from the front now mate, perfect! :)

Craig

12-04-2010, 08:44 PM

shane@mbtech

12-04-2010, 10:00 PM

Yeh, dropped the fog lights earlier and it now looks a lot more aggressive.

The drivers wing really, really needs urgent attention and lets the car down but i'll wait till after Germany to fix that, and whilst I'm at it will get some other areas painted... could also do with a good polish, but just havent had the time.

With my limited time I figured I'd rather get the suspension / brakes / geometery right than making it look perfect.

Looking good Craig, nice when you do a job start to finish and stop/look and think I done that. Only real way to know the Jobs done right. ;):thumbs:

Glad you have a focus after your csl misadventure. :beer:

Craig

02-05-2010, 06:15 PM

Well I made the deadline, only just mind and with quite a few minor incidents along the way. However there is a few shock instalments to this update that I bet no one (me included) was expecting.

First shock update is the interior, although this is a temporary measure I really didn’t expect to have the time to make the seat sub-frames let alone get it all fitted and functional. It started a few days before departure for Rotterdam, a friend and I were sat staring at his current project; a Pegueot 306 Rally track car, which he’d just bought some new seats for. So surplus to his requirements were these seats;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_95.JPG

They are Sparco Sprint seats, not the world’s most elusive set of sports seats but they’d certainly do a better job of holding me in than the current OEM 328i Sport seats. One thing that was noted is that they have a strung base and are not hard backed. This actually made them really comfortable for long journeys and was a huge relief from the normal pain and discomfort endured for hundreds of miles.

First up once the standard seats was removed was to work out how we were going to make the seat sub-frames. We decided to stick to a basic 5mm flat bar steel square frame which would incorporate the factory mounting points, and we would later space the seat to the correct height.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_96.JPG

Once the frame shape was made and welded up the holes were drilled and the frames painted satin black. The above frame as you can see is not quiet finished, there was four holes drilled from the frame to floor mounting, and a further four for the frame to seat mounting points.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_97.JPG

It’s worth noting that the seats are off set and should sit as near to the centre tunnel as physically possible, with the passengers frame (above) this wasn’t too essential however on the drivers frame due to the centre position of the steering wheel it is. On the drivers frame (not pictured) the near side seat holes were actually drilled into the flat bar that run from the front to back of the car, due to the lack of space between the frame and carpet to fit nuts and bolts underneath, the welded bar that was now 10mm thick was threaded with an M8 thread.

The drivers seat has a sliding runner fitted which was 12mm thick, and it also required a further 25mm of spacing to get the correct height. The passengers seat sits really low, I need to raise this at a later date.

Here is the two seats mounted in situ complete with some Schroth Profi-II ASM 4-Point harnesses.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_98.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_99.JPG

Next up was the tyres, the current Hankook RS2’s were running a little low so decided to fit a fresh set of rubber all round, I couldn’t quite decide what to run but eventually settled on a set of Kumho V70a semi-slick tyres, they are in the same league as R888’s however I had never tried them before so didn’t know what to expect.

I went for the usually 225/45/17 and 245/40/17 staggered fitment sizes.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_100.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_101.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_102.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_103.JPG

This is where the problems started it was 36 hours before I was due to leave for Germany and I only had 2 front tyres, the rears still hadn’t arrived. I also decided that if I was paying for the tyres to be fitted, I might as well offset the cost and get the wheels re-furbished at the same time, a risky chance that would hopefully pay off.

Thursday morning arrived and the rear’s were no where to be seen so I dropped off all 4 wheels and tyres at a local refurb company that is just in the process of setting themselves up. They said they would refurb the wheels and fit and balance my new tyres all within the previously set price, which was great if I had 4 tyres to fit!!!!

Stress levels went through the roof during the course of the day, however a phone call at 16:15 to say the rear tyres have arrived brought them back to normal. At 17:30 the car was ready to be collected, I was at work so a friend offered to collect it and bring it home. Looking good if I do say so myself...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_104.JPG

Got home from work and was really happy with how the car had transformed in the space of a month, give the car the final once over ready for the morning, I say morning, I was giving the car the once over at 3am so it already was morning.

All was fine until I checked the front wheels, one spacer had been fitted arse over tit (refer to above spacer problems) they has fitted the 10mm first and then the 2mm spacer and proceeded to tighten it right down to the point the hub-centric lug sheared off the spacer. Balls, I had all but a few hours to get this problem sorted, it wasn’t going to happen, or was it....

I placed an urgent plea out for anyone who may know of a set of hub-centric spacers kicking about either in the UK or Germany, or anywhere on route. Fortunately for me Darren Langeveld who was organising the Nurburgring track day (www.destination-nurburgring.com (http://www.destination-nurburgring.com/)) knew of a place in Coventry who would have some on the shelf, he offered to pick them up on route to the ferry and give them to me on board, so I would have them in time for the track day. Perfect, this was the news that I was waiting for and I could finally relax and enjoy the holiday.

Finally boarded the ferry Friday and was on the continent by the morning, stopped by Spa in Belgium to have a nosey round the Porsche Club Francorchamps track day on the Saturday morning and was in Nurburg by later afternoon. I won’t turn this topic into a trip report, there will be a separate topic for this another day.

Monday came and the weather was perfect, the car was ready and so was I. The track day was on the full Nordschleife + GP Circuit so it was going to be a good day, here’s a few select pictures from the trip, I do apologise for the quality of some pictures my brothers laptop broke after the trip so all pictures had to be downloaded off the likes of Facebook & Photobucket.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_105.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_106.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_107.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_108.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_109.JPG

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_110.JPG

Really am impressed with the car and its set up, after 15 laps at 17.5 miles a lap all was still running fine. The tyres I can really say are worth considering over the R888’s especially with the price difference these days, and the brakes pads which are Mintex 1155 at the front and 1144 at the rear really do work well with the M3 Evo callipers and discs.

Since getting back I’ve give the car a once over and the only problem to report is one of the lower rear trailing arm ball joints has a small bit of play in it, this is the same joint I was suspected of it having a minute bit of play before I left for Germany anyway, so there’s no shocks there. I’m going to replace the ball joint and use the car for the next few months as it is, will concentrate on taking a bit of weight out of the car and also decide what the final plans will be.

Hope you’re still awake after reading all the above! :P

glendog74

02-05-2010, 06:24 PM

Nice one Craig - i take it you sorted the brakes in the end then? :thumbs:

Craig

02-05-2010, 06:50 PM

Ohh yeh forgot to add that bit, yes flushed it through with ATE Super Blue and found 3 small bubbles of air in the rear nearside brake line. So all was good after that!! :supz:

sailorbaz

04-05-2010, 01:18 PM

Good write up mate, always interesting reading.

Sorry I never managed to collect that stuff off you, I had to sprint off to ROT as I couldn't get through to P&O to change the ferry to Tuesday due to the carry on with Icelands' ash!

Craig

06-05-2010, 03:47 PM

Cheers Baz, you're going to have to get yourself back over to Germany for the boot carpets just remembered thats where I left them! :whistle:

DuncanR

06-05-2010, 04:06 PM

Good job Craig , nice bumping into you out there mate :thumbs:

Craig

15-05-2010, 02:51 AM

Nice bumping into you too Dunc, sorry to hear you're trip down the shops ended in disaster!!!

Well as I mentioned in my last update; the passenger’s side rear trailing arm lower ball joint was showing signs of wear and I thought it was best to replace it. Although it probably would never have caused an issue on the road, with me going back to the Nurburgring on the 20th of May I wasn’t going to risk it.

I’ll be honest I wasn’t looking forward to attempting the task, and had visions of me having to drop the rear trailing arm to be able to remove the bush with a press. I did a bit of research and there was mixed responses, some people had managed it with the arm in situ, some had not. Anyway I set aside this weekend to complete the job giving myself time to get the arm to a hydraulic press should I require the use of one.

Started the day by removing the rear camber arm and dropping that out the way, once that was out the way I also removed the rear calliper, rear disc, rear handbrake shoes and then removed the bolts holding the heat shield on to allow a bit more clearance underneath. With all the above items out of the way I then gave the ball joint a few quick squirts of WD40 in the hope it would free things up.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_111.jpg

I then set about finding a suitable sized socket to aid the removal of the ball joint, I found with the rubber boot of the joint removed a 1 1/4” socket would fit fine, tapped the socket into place and gave the ball joint a few swift hammer blows. To my surprise the bush was moving so I continued to bash at it until it was free, failing this the tool I made to fit the new ball joint (more on this below) would also double up as an extraction tool.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_112.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_113.jpg

Next step was to fit the new ball joint, I constructed a tool consisting of a bit of tubing, some 5mm steel plate, 10mm threaded bar a 36mm socket and a few 18mm nuts and washers. I drilled a 10mm hole into the steel plate and mounted a length of threaded bar to it with nuts and washers either side to hold it in place, then I welded the steel tube centre of the threaded bar. This would allow the ball joint to be extracted into the tube, if you were removing the ball joint you’d use this with a 1 1/4” socket, but to fit the new ball joint I used a 36mm socket.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_114.jpg

Fitment was simple, place the tool to the back of the hole on the trailing arm, slide the bush along the threaded bar and offer it up to the front of the arm, fit the 36mm socket and then a washer and an 18mm nut. Then simply tighten the nut down until the ball joint is in place.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_115.jpg

Job done... even had time to pick myself up a new set of NGK spark plugs and fit those too, I went for the bog standard BKR6EK as at the end of the day they’ll get replaced often enough so ‘enhanced’ platinum plugs were not required.

glendog74

15-05-2010, 11:37 AM

Nice job Craig - i like your ingenuity! :thumbs:

Craig

16-05-2010, 02:23 AM

Well today the car was finally committed to the realms of the track car, the weight loss started. I’ll let the pictures do most the talking...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_116.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_117.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_118.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_119.jpg

I decided to remove all the carpets from the back, also all the carpet underlay and any other un-needed items in the cabin. The front seat belts were removed including the B-Pillar slide adjuster however I did keep the B-Pillar cover.

The plans are; whilst the car is still used as a daily driver the interior is to be finished in a ‘Club Sport’ spec. I’ve removed the bulk of the weight, and will continue to remove un-needed items including the tar sound deadening (more on that below) but I will be keeping the thin boot carpets just without any of the additional sound proofing under layers. I will remove un-needed brackets however I am going to keep the head lining and A/B/C pillar covers, then once the roll cage has been fitted I’ll trim the rear bench and fire wall with a thin black carpet.

The idea is to remove as much weight as possible whilst keeping the car within reasonable comfort for travelling in, at this moment in time the car will not be racing so there is no need for drastic weight loss and the few hill climbs and sprints the car will compete in will purely be for enjoyment at the moment.

Now onto the tar sound deadening, this stuff is easily removed with a bit of heat and then solvents can be used to clear up the mess left by the glue. I turned to my, well my friends, trusty heat gun to help with the tar removal.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_120.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_121.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_122.jpg

More on this at a later date, sometime in the summer I’ll also remove the main carpet and remove all the tar from under there too.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_123.jpg

All the junk removed, only the thin grey boot carpeting and the plastic boot trays will be re-fitted. Going to carry on with more work tomorrow, I’m thinking of just using hair dryer heat on the tar that is affixed to the inside of the body panels such as the doors and rear quarters.

Craig

28-05-2010, 08:29 PM

Well the tar removal carried on and the following pieces were removed; Spare Wheel Well, Rear Quarters, Rear Bench, Rear Boot Panel and Inner Arches. I also re-fitted the grey rear boot carpeting and my cargo net which secures down anything in the boot as with the seats removed there is no form of rear bulkhead.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_124.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_125.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_126.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_127.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_128.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_129.jpg

I then decided to treat the car to a nice holiday in Germany, here’s some pictures from a few of the small towns around Nurburg where we stopped for lunch. The first two pictures are of the car in Cochem the next two were taken in Altenahr, both places are worth visiting if you are in the area!!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_130.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_131.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_132.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_133.jpg

The car was performing near faultlessly all weekend, and it really is punching above its own weight considering it’s meant to be the underdog compared to the M3. The turn in is very sharp, very little feel of under steer and phenomenal levels of mechanical grip. Of course the extra 100bhp would be nice when it comes to the fast uphill sections, but apart from that I am taken back by the capability of this car.

I’m not into timing, however one passenger I took out timed me doing an 8:59 in traffic, the same person also followed the 328i out for a lap in manic Sunday traffic and got a 9:11 with plenty of hold ups. The big surprise came when it turned out a Subaru behind me on a quiet lap had a camera sneakily mounted to a motor, he was behind me the whole lap and his video shows him completing an 8:38 with me crossing the gantry a few seconds before him.

The one small niggle I did have was a minor one, but it could have lead to a major problem if it wasn’t spotted in its early stages. On one outing, after coming out of Schwalbenschwanz it sounded like a rear bearing had collapsed, coasted off and noticed that below 60mph the noise wasn’t there. Upon further inspection you could see that when the wheels had been refurbished the backs of the wheels which touch the hub had also been painted. Now in April this did not prove to be a problem, however in May with the temperatures a little higher you could see where the paint had gone soft and ‘squeezed’ itself from the back of the bur causing in effect the wheel to come loose. A quick tighten and all was fine, this is one to keep on top of and if need be the paint will be removed. The picture below shows the little strands of paint that have been forced out between the gap.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_134.jpg

Below, some all important action shots.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_135.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_136.jpg

The car has since made it home and been given the once over, all bushes and bearings have been checked plus the brakes have been stripped down and inspected; the front pads have around 25% wear and the rears around 50%. The BMW seems to wear pads at the rate of roughly two rears to every one set of fronts, the pads are wearing well given they have completed over 600 track miles.

The only problem of concern which came to light during the trip home is the from passengers side wheel bearing rumbles a little, upon further inspection it sounds dry however there is no play... this will be replaced within the next few weeks as a matter of course.

MQP

29-05-2010, 11:27 PM

very cool your self made tool:thumbs:

i changed last time on the csl with org. BMW Tool:
http://www.abload.de/img/img_0432yojd.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_0432yojd.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_0434jpdm.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_0434jpdm.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_04350o0o.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_04350o0o.jpg)

windy

16-06-2010, 02:09 AM

Craig, I had the same problem with 'melting' the powder coating off the mounting-face of my wheels at Oulton last week. I've got AP's on my E36 and I'd been leaning on them a fair bit all morning. Anyway, just as I turned into Lodge, I got the horrible collapsed bearing sound so went straight into the pits and found my wheel almost hanging off! Scary.

Had to tighten them up another 2-3 times throughout the day as I melted more coating off the back.

Apologies for the picture whoreing but this is where all E36's deserve to be these days... on the track :thumbs:

http://www.soloartist.co.uk/public/E36M3/trackdays/oulton090610/07.JPG

Alex1411

16-06-2010, 10:06 AM

Wow!Like It!Thanks for sharing!^^

Craig

16-06-2010, 05:33 PM

Nice to know my home made tool is very similar to the BMW tool, and Windy nice looking car once mines got the interior finished off the next parts to attend will be the rear wind and front lip spoilers.

Speaking of my car, I finally got round to replacing the passengers’ side wheel bearing, first things first though before any work could commence I needed a wheel bearing. Phone the dealers and got a few quotes, now the bearing comes as a complete unit; hub with the bearing pressed into it. This certainly would make the job faster, but at the same time five times more expensive.

I decided to look into other alternatives, one been pressing a new bearing into my current hub. Now fortunately for me, I remembered I still had the 328i Sport hubs sat in the garage and began cross referencing parts on the off chance they are the same... and they are, bonus!!

So before I even decided to get the car up in the air, I thought it would be best if I split down the 328i hub ready for fitting. The job in itself was simple enough if you have the right tools the main one been a 46mm socket to loosen off the centre hub.

Start with removing the brake callipers then the brake disc, next use a screw driver to prise round the outside edge of the centre hub cap. I resorted to tapping all the way round it with a hammer and screw driver to break the seal, and then with a simple twist of a large flat bladed screw driver it simply popped out. With the cap removed the next step is to loosen the hub nut which will require a breaker bar at the very least, you may even have to resort to Mr Scaffolding Pipe too if it’s not budging, don’t forget to also bend the metal locking tab back before loosening or you’ll be there all night.

With the centre hub loose the next step should be simple, slide the hub off the front upright. If it fails to move with ease you may need a slide hammer, the most effecting slide hammer for this job is fit your brake disc onto the hub backwards with the wheel bolts in by a few threads and simply ‘bang’ the disc back and forth between the hub and the wheel bolts.

You should now have the hub off, and all the following parts;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_137.jpg

My 328i hub came off intact without any problems, so next step was to get the car up in the air and remove the same parts and slide on the new hub unit, simple, right!? No, when I attempted the task on the car which has the M3 Evo hubs I was left with the inner race off the wheel bearing firmly attached to the hub.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_138.jpg

There is two ways in which this inner race could be removed, one was to cut a fine slot into the race with a dremel then simply split it with a chisel and a swift hammer blow the other method is to use a set of pullers with fine enough jaws to grab the machined lip on the inner race, you cannot get behind the race due to the brake dust shield been in the way. Believe it or not all my small pullers did not have fine enough jaws so I ended up resorting to this beastie which required two people (Thanks Dad!!);

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_139.jpg

I was now left with the old hub, inner race and seal off the car.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_140.jpg

Now with the inner race off the car was ready for its new hub, I simply side the hub onto the upright, it required a few light hammer taps to get it sitting all the way on the shaft but jobs a good ‘un. Next was to fit the hub nut and torque it up to 300nM, refit the dust cap as well as the brake discs and callipers, fit the wheel and lower the car onto the ground and you’re done!

Here is my old bearing, you can see its shot inside just look at the ball bearing on the bottom of the picture. First sign of the problem came with a weird vibration which went away, jacked the car up and the bearing felt fine then it came back and got progressively worse. Upon the next check you could hear the difference between the sides, one bearing ran smooth, the other smooth but it had a grumble to it.

I also got round to one other minor task, on the way up the A19 after dropping off an e46 M3 CSL DSC unit to a guy who was in desperate need of one I lost a front kidney and the grill behind it, no idea how but fortunately I also had the old standard chrome ones which I took off.

First step was to wash it off the fairy liquid to remove all greases and grimes, next it was wet and dried down to give the surface a key and then I applied 3 coats of grey primer and 3 coats of gloss black paint. Unfortunately my camera died during this process so I only have the one picture.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_141.jpg

Once again the car is back to 100%, apart from been used daily its next major outing is at RAF Barkston Heath for a sprint event, more on that later.

Craig

12-07-2010, 12:39 AM

I mentioned last update that the cars next major outing was going to be at RAF Barkston Heath, well that’s been and gone which means an update is due. But where to start!?!

I’m rather new to sprint events, I really didn’t think it would take my fancy however a friend of mine put my name down for this event as one; it’d be a good weekend away with the lads and two; it was cheap, around £100.00 for two days on track and three; I think he wanted to see how I’d react in a competitive environment.

Fast forward onto Saturday, nice and early start set off at around 5:30am and arrived at Barkston Heath for around 8:00am. Pulled up at the gates and we were all escorted onto base, there was very few road car’s at this point everyone was towing a trailer with their pride and joy hidden undercover so I had no idea what the competition would be. Turned out that Saturday was a 16v Mini Owners Club track day followed by timed runs in the afternoon and Sunday was an RAF MSA event.

As everyone was unloading their Caterhams, Westfields and Mini’s with an array of engine conversions; Honda VTECs, Suzuki Hyabusas and Vauxhall Valvers I sat about wondering what the hell I had signed myself up for, and that feeling was even more pronounced when I saw the circuit... TIGHT is one of many words to describe it along with tactical, testing and challenging especially in a lardy road going BMW.

But this didn’t phase me, so I signed on and proceeded to number up the car;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_143.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_144.jpg

First run out really did illustrate just how tight the circuit was, and the chicanes were so tight I had visions or me re-modelling them during the course of the day, in fact my first question to the clerk of the course was ‘are those white marker poles plastic or metal!?’ after all I didn’t want to risk serious body damage.

Fortunately for me they were plastic, as I proceeded to hit my first one. However the one I hit was on a small square base that wasn’t set level, so it ‘twanged’ up against the car making a neat white mark (which would later polish out) one thing it showed I was using as much as the track as physically possible, and I was consistent too as I hit it a second time *doh*.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_145.jpg

I was obviously getting faster as the day progressed as the white lines got further and further down the wing!!

Afternoon came about and it was first of the timed runs, at first I didn’t pay much attention to the times and just used the runs as more track time and to play about with car control. However after I was informed the BMW wasn’t dead last, and in fact it was actually quiet far up front I started to take an interested and was hooked checking my times after each run, I had officially been bitted by the sprint bug.

Highlight of the day for me was also taking my friends purpose built V8 Westfield for a run, my god what a car!!

Sunday morning came thick and fast, and after a fantastic BBQ and evening with the 16v Mini Owners Club I was ready for the RAF MSA sprint. This was a whole different kettle of fish, most the cars from Saturday were competing but there was a lot more saloons and hatchbacks which made the competition a bit fairer but at the same time inside I didn’t want to be beaten. With the sign on and drivers briefing out of the way it was time to get down to business.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_146.jpg

The course was slightly different for Sunday the last corner was a lot faster and this proved to be advantageous to me in the BMW as I could lay down some of its power. First few runs and it looked as if I had some stiff competition, I needed to switch my brain from track day mode into race day and stop worrying about getting the car home and just drive it properly. After a quick mental pep talk with myself I started to brake later and hold the power for longer and as the times showed this was paying off.

As the day came to rest and the final times were up and overall the BMW had come 10th out of 39 and in its class it was second only beaten by a really nicely prepared Subaru which looked far from standard, was I happy? You bet I was.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_147.jpg

I also couldn’t resist getting this picture to, as it’s not often you get this kind of opportunity.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_148.jpg

Sorry for the long post that really doesn’t have much about the build of the car, but after all its summer and this is the time where the car should be used. Next weekend it’s back out in Germany and then maybe after its return I’ll look at finishing off the interior and then planning the next moves.

DuncanR

12-07-2010, 10:17 AM

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_131.jpg

Lovely post Craig, and well done on the sprint mate, but tell me, where can I get one of those flag holders for the front of the BMW ? ...do they do one slightly smaller ? :hahaha:

Craig

15-07-2010, 10:48 PM

Dunc, I'll get you one in black to go with your newly cleaned car... never realised it was gloss black till today! :hahaha:

Here's a video from the sprint weekend; RAF MSA - Barkston Heath - BMW 328i Sport - June 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTuiVAy8Wu8)

Also worth looking at the V8 Westfield video as that car is an animal!

alexk

15-07-2010, 11:03 PM

Craig well done mate !
Your car is very nice, you have improved it very well.
It's a perfect example that you don't need to have a tuned 997 GT2 to have fun or be fast on a track.
:thumbs:

Craig

09-11-2010, 08:30 PM

This thread is long overdue an update, although not too much has changed I’ve just spent the last few months enjoying the car and making the most of the Summer / Autumn months.

First up, the Kumho V70a’s... I managed to get 8,000 miles out of the front tyres, and 11,000 miles out of the rears which to me is pretty impressive given that their track day tyres. Not to mention the fact that the car is used on track on regularly and driven spiritedly on most outings. As you can see from the pictures below they wore pretty evenly too, a sign that the geometry is correct.

Would I use these tyres again, yes without a doubt!!

At this very moment in time though, now the bad weather is here, I have a full set of Falken 452’s fitted and I also rate these, exceptional wet grip and feedback and pretty good in the dry too. A great ‘all year’ tyre which again I’d recommend.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_149.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_150.jpg

The rear brake pads were finally up for renewal, upon changing them I noticed some cracks in the rear discs however the camera hasn’t really captured them.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_151.jpg

I managed to get outstanding mileage with the Mintex 1155 front and 1144 rear set up, the fronts far out lasted the rears and still had 50% life left, but I changed them anyway due to the fact the front discs needed replacing.

Other than that, the only other work the car has had is another oil and filter change its still going strong at 177,000 miles.

sailorbaz

09-11-2010, 10:22 PM

Nice one Craig, this thread is long overdue right enough.

I've put a E36 on the road for the winter... shame it's a puny 318is though. It feels weird being back in an E36, even moreso when it's not an E36 M3. Nice place to be though.

Top work.

Craig

10-11-2010, 12:12 AM

This next update is one not normally associated with a track car; paintwork restoration. I decided in August that the BMW was starting to look a little ropey for my liking due to all the tar, rubber and road grime so one weekend I set about cleaning it.

Now this won’t interest most but I started with washing the car, moved onto tar removing then the clay bar. Once these steps were done the paintwork was corrected with Meguires Polish #83 and Speedglaze #80 using a Kestrel DAS6 random orbital polisher with a mixture of Meguires, 3M and Lake County pads. The final steps were to treat all the black trims and give the car two coats of Dodo Juice – Purple Haze wax.

Below are the final results.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_152.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_153.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_154.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_155.jpg

Couldn’t resist these two shots!!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_156.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_157.jpg

sailorbaz

10-11-2010, 12:26 AM

Could I have seen these photos on another forum somewhere Craig? If it was back in August, it's quite likely right enough.

Looks well mate, good work.

Craig

24-12-2010, 04:39 PM

For awhile now I had planned to do track days at both the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps, in April I was lucky enough to do the first Destination Nurburgring and now, after many visits to Spa as a passenger or additional driver I finally bit the bullet and booked for Monday 4th October through Circuit-Days.

The trip first involved a few days socialising at Nurburg, from the moment I left the house till the point we arrived in Germany it like been stuck in India during monsoon season! I feared that it was going to be a wet weekend, but the weather gods were on our side and as we rolled up at Adenau the weather was damp and foggy but the rain had eased up. The weekend just got better from there, on Saturday I was sat in a queue for fuel and the temperature gauge read 26.5 degrees in the baking sunshine!!!

Monday came, and we made it to Spa just in time after a few minor detours. Signed on, completed the drivers briefing and then after a few sighting laps we were good to go... they say pictures speak a thousand words;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_158.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_159.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_160.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_161.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_162.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_163.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_164.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_165.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_166.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_167.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_168.jpg

The day was not without drama, we decided that the latest we could leave for the ferry port was 15:30 in order to make it in good time. I decided at 15:10 to do one last session, famous last words I guess but at 15:24 I saw the coolant light creep and amongst a lot of swearing I pulled over to find that the car had burst a coolant hose!!!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_171.jpg

Panic set in, but fortunately the whole group chipped in and we managed to by-pass the hose that went from the block into the heater matrix valve using one of the existing pipes, this would leave the car without a heater but still least it would get us home. We had to make another sacrifice, the scuttle panel cover had to be cut off as we could not get the wipers to release, but this is easily replaced. Work complete the car was filled with coolant (read: tap water) and it was time to go, we left Spa at 15:57 and had some time to make up, but fortunately made the ferry with 6 minutes to spare!

All in all had a fantastic weekend, already planning to do some more days at Spa it’s a great circuit and gives a different ‘buzz’ to the ‘Ring, I’d happily drive both most weekend and not get bored!

Craig

24-12-2010, 05:10 PM

Well winters well and truly arrived, had a planned outing at Mallory Park booked for the 28th of November but that got cancelled due to the snow and the cars barely moved a wheel since then!

I managed to pick up a Rover 400 cheap, which very quickly got nicknamed Snover R400, to use through the snowy months... that is if it lasts that long, its verging on the edge of the dreaded head gasket failure and the massive mounds of snow I’ve rammed it through have started to pull its exhaust off at the flexi-pipe!

Anyway, less Rover talk; I now need to decide what to do with the BMW whilst it’s off the road. Do I leave it as it is, keep using it till it dies then let its soul rest in scrap heaven or do I spend some money on the old girl? To get the car exactly to how I want it to be, at the bare minimum would involve replacing the suspension (again!), fitting a roll-cage, fitting a different steering wheel, fitting a GT splitter and spoiler, replacing a rusty wing and maybe sort a few bodywork niggles out before the tin worm starts to spreads. This all costs money and that doesn’t take into account the worry that the car is now on 182,000 miles and could be due a clutch / gearbox / engine at any moment.

Decisions, decisions... What I do, like, no LOVE about this car is the fact that its stood for 4 weeks under a huge mound of snow and all I did was clear the snow, turn the key in the ignition and it fired straight into life as if it has only been run the day before!

Its moments like these that make me want to stick it out, keep the car and turn it into my vision of a perfect e36.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_169.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_170.jpg

mattCSLnut

24-12-2010, 05:21 PM

Craig

30-12-2010, 07:50 PM

I don't think I'll ever be posting pictures of the Rover online, lol... if you're that interested search 1998 Rover 416i with Regatta interior in google, its lush! Ha!

In a bid to motivate myself into finishing off the car properly I decided to give it a good winter once over to remove any of the salt that might have been sat feeding the tin worm. Not much of an update, just any excuse to post a picture I guess... ohh and my brother was dying to try out his new fish eye lens.

Cleaning the car also gave me the chance to see how the shell is standing up to the winter conditions, to be honest its fairing up well if I was to be fussy there’s two small chips on the doors that are slightly starting to bubble, and one of the rear arches looks like it’s getting a trace of bubbling on the inside edge. Driver wing is shot, but I knew about that as this was the only flaw with the car when I first bought it.

I think if I go ahead and finish the car off I’ll have to seriously consider either leaving the bodywork be (after all, it’s a track car!) or going the whole hog and getting it all sorted at once!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_172.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_173.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_174.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_175.jpg

Craig

15-02-2011, 07:44 PM

Well I guess it’s time for another update;

Got bored the other week, decided to go into the garage for a play... I’ve always hated the faded purple rear parcel shelf so decided I would remove it to re-black it, easier said than done with fixed bucket seats and harnesses as the only way to get in was to remove these first. Anyway, got the cabin clear and made my way into the back all that was needed to do was pop the lights out the C-Pillar, remove the covers from either side then the parcel shelf simply lifted (well, more jiggled) out.

It was at this point I noticed a load of fibre sound deadening as well as the usual stick on tar sound proofing, and decided to remove it whilst I had access to it.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_176.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_177.jpg

Well, one thing lead to another and I decided since I had the heat gun out I should finally get round to removing all the tar sound deadening underneath the main carpet, after all I’ve been bleating on about doing it since April!!

First off was the centre console, shortly followed by the sill covers and front speaker covers. Then the driver’s side lower dash cover was removed along with the glove box and lower cowling, next came the on-board-computer and finally the centre of the lower dash. Once all this was removed the carpet could finally be lifted up, I was not going to take the heater matrix out to removed the front carpet so got some new Stanley and cut as closely and neatly round the heater as possible, this would make re-fitting the carpet easier too, and the centre console completely covers the cut / join lines.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_178.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_179.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_180.jpg

Next up was removing the under floor heating channels, then it was onto the tar. With the promise of beer and pizza I had managed to lure in a few friends to help with the removal, this really did make life a lot less stressful it only took three people and hour or two to complete including larking around. All that was used was a heat gun and some plastic ice scrapers, I chose to use plastic scrapers so that the paint didn’t get damaged underneath.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_181.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_182.jpg

With the tar itself removed, all that was left was to get rid of the sticky residue. After trying all sorts of different techniques over the years, I have found using petrol soaked flannel (Sorry Mam!!) in a well ventilated area the best, a cut towel will suffice too. It would appear that flannel / towels work better than old t-shirts and rags due to the larger surface area caused by the plush bobbly bits, yes that is the correct scientific term for them too, ha!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_183.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_184.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_185.jpg

As you can see in the last picture I have pulled back all the un-needed rear wiring, I will eventually removed this, along with the air bag wiring at a later date. The aim is to just have the bare minimum amount of wiring, which is the rear lights, central locking filler cap and boot locking mechanism even the third brake light has been removed due to the spoiler that will eventually be fitted.

Not content with just removing the rear aerial wire, CD changer lead, rear speaker wiring and other optional extra wires that weren’t needed I decided the stereo loom was too cluttered too. So below as you can see is the standard stereo loom, now going the Club Sport route I decided that I would keep the main front speakers and door tweeters for those long road trips where a little music was required, so most of the wiring in the below loom could be hacked out.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_186.jpg

I didn’t like how the OEM loom went into an ISO lead, then into the Alpine power lead so decided to make a loom from scratch using all existing OEM/Alpine connectors. Below is all the wiring that has been removed from just the sound system in the car alone;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_187.jpg

Now my new loom consists of the following;

- Live (Fused)
- Switched Live
- Neutral
- Front Right Speaker (+/-)
- Front Left Speaker (+/-)

I have utilised the OEM BMW power plug which connects under the carpet in the passenger’s side foot well and the Alpine head unit connector plug. The speaker leads run into some existing aftermarket cross over boxes which power both the door speaker and tweeters, after re-fitting and testing everything worked flawlessly. Here is my new lightweight no-frills loom;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_188.jpg

As Porky Pig would say... “That’s all folks!” well for now! ;)

azrael

15-02-2011, 08:10 PM

Are you sure you weren't sent to your room! Talk about doing hard time. Admirable though!

glendog74

15-02-2011, 08:12 PM

Nice update Craig - you've put some work into that 328! :thumbs:

I would have removed all of the stereo components and loom as an iPod works so much better on long trips than the crappy OEM setup ;)

Craig

15-02-2011, 08:24 PM

I did think about that and it may still be an option, but I found that the stereo equipment had been upgraded heavily and it was running some nice gear in it so just left it in... its also been dynamat'd behind the speakers and around them, I left this as it was really awkward to remove, it was not worth leaving a black gooey mess in what looks like a nice clean floor pan.

alexk

15-02-2011, 09:46 PM

Good stuff Craig !
:thumbs:

Question, did you weight the bits that you removed ?
I am in the process of reducing weight from my Z3 coupe.

sailorbaz

15-02-2011, 09:55 PM

As Rob says, you've put some work into that car. Why not leave the carpet out? Too much?

Good write up!

Craig

18-02-2011, 02:46 PM

Baz; I'm not going too far with this car as I am keeping it Club Sport for now, however at the same time it will have just the bare minimum needed to keep it bearable as a daily driver. I'm trying to make it as OEM as possible, I want it to look more like a factory special than a full blown track hack.

Anyway they say a picture speaks a thousand words...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_189.jpg

shane@mbtech

18-02-2011, 03:53 PM

Craig

18-02-2011, 05:21 PM

My seats mounted that low there there is no way my head will make contact unless I've already broke my neck and been decapitated, but will double check all this when fitted too. :)

Craig

21-03-2011, 02:28 AM

Well it’s been a few weeks without an update, but here’s a big one so you’ll need a fast internet connection at the ready, several cups of coffee and a few pro-plus caffeine pills to keep your tiredness at bay!

First up came a bit more wiring removal, mainly taking out the airbag wiring, several un-used connections and generally anything that wasn’t of great importance such as the vacuum line for the exhaust valve. All in all there was a fair bit more un-needed wiring removed since the last update.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_190.jpg

Car now sporting a light weight, no-frills interior wiring loom.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_191.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_192.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_193.jpg

Now came a tiny bit of weight loss, since the car didn’t have any airbag electrics I figured I’d no longer need the airbag controller mounting plate and whilst the grinder was out decided the rear seats would never be re-fitted so that fixture could also be removed.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_194.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_195.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_196.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_197.jpg

Now for the important bit; roll cage floor mount fitting. I hope people will understand the reasons there’s so few pictures, it’s a bad enough task for two people to undertake without having to stop every two minutes to take a photo.

First up the car was parked on flat level ground and the floor pan was marked where the floor plates were to be welded in, next the grinder and sanding disc was used to prepare the surface for welding.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_198.jpg

Then with the floor plates loosely placed in position the cage was fitted into the car and tightened up to ensure the correct positioning of the plates. This all sounds easy, but trust me the cage was in and out of the car several times before this process was complete.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_199.jpg

Next the floor plates were tacked into place and the cage, once again, removed. Now came the main welding, this needs to be done in a well ventilated area with one man on designated fire watch. The under body sealer will burn and it’s advisable to remove it before welding, or have someone scraping the warm sealer as the welding takes place.

Again, I must stress I’m making this all sound very easy but I enlisted the help of a friend who is very talented when it comes to building special conversion cars with cages, his current project is a Mk2 Escort with an LS1 V8 engine. I recommend either taking your car to a specialist for a job like this, or having someone with a similar set of skills help out, you don’t want to ruin your shell.

Now with the floor plates painted, they were coated with Galva-Zinc, a Zinc rich anti-corrosion paint. I applied three coats to both the floor plates and the underside of the car, allow several days for this paint to fully cure before painting on top of.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_200.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_201.jpg

Again, killing two birds with one stone whilst the welder was out I decided to fit some harness spreader plates to the exhaust tunnel. I didn’t want to remove the exhaust, prop shaft and heat shields for this job so decided to get some FIA approved plates that could be fitted internally. As you can see from the picture the threaded lug is staggered so it cannot be easily broken away or pulled through the plate in the event of an accident.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_202.jpg

Again more anti-corrosion paint was used.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_203.jpg

Now as mentioned several times before, the carpet in this car is to be re-fitted so I needed to paint the floor plates black so that they wouldn’t look out of place when they protruded through the carpet. I simply used some satin black paint for this job, and used the anti-corrosion paint as a primer.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_204.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_205.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_206.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_207.jpg

With the carpet going in the under floor heaving vents and wiring tracks were trimmed around the cage floor plates and re-fitted.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_208.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_209.jpg

Next came the trimming of the carpet, this was a task I was dreading as I didn’t want to keep dragging the carpet in and out of the car, but at the same time wanted to get it right first time. I worked off the sill measurements and managed to get it relatively perfect, there was one mistake but using an off cut of the trimmed carpet this area could be patched and blended back into plate.

For cutting the carpet I’d suggest investing in some fresh Stanley knife blades, you’d be surprised how many you go through too.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_210.jpg

Finally the carpet was re-fitted, along with the dash and all the other interior trim that was to go back into the car.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_211.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_212.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_213.jpg

Now the rear of the car looked pretty bare, the red rear bench where the seats once were was exposed as well as a few wires. At first I thought I would just paint the rear bench black in hope to draw the attention away from it all but then decided to trim it, and make a proper job of it!

First things first, I needed a rear fire wall... for months I’ve had a CAD file that someone was kind enough to send me from when they did the job, after a bit of digging around I struck lucky and found a company who would cut it at reasonable cost. So the following week I picked up one alloy rear fire wall, added a few bands in it to match the curves of the car and I was left with this;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_214.jpg

To fit, I simply used a drill and some pop rivets.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_215.jpg

Finally, came the last stage of the interior; making a rear carpet, another task which I was dreading but been honest it went a lot better than planned.

After looking at several carpeting options I settled on using a thick acoustic carpet, this gave a good match to the existing carpet and was also quiet flexible and followed the contours of the rear bench nicely. The carpet was made in 4 parts; base, back and two arch sides, to affix the carpet I used the ‘hooked’ side of some heavy duty 45mm thick Velcro this seemed to work a treat!

Once the carpet was in the rear door cards were re-fitted too.

Here’s a few shoddy pictures of the job, I’ll try and get some better quality pictures up shortly. The camera flash makes the carpet look a total miss match but in natural light it’s as good as a match as I could find.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_216.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_217.jpg

Two other interior touches were the rear parcel shelf was re-blacked using Autoglym Black Dye, in all honesty I’m not too happy with the job as its not totally black, but instead of been light sun-faded purple it’s now a deep shade of navy and the third brake light was removed and the space where the light would be was blacked off using black vinyl.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_218.jpg

That’s all for this instalment of project infinity, more to come over the next week or two...

Craig

12-04-2011, 06:33 PM

Well I said the next update should be a big one, and I don’t want to disappoint!!

I’ll let the pictures do all the talking; don’t think a write up is needed here... ;)

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_219.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_220.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_221.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_222.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_223.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_224.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_225.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_226.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_227.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_228.jpg

alexk

12-04-2011, 06:35 PM

looks good :)

rstoughy

12-04-2011, 07:14 PM

Brilliant work Craig :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:
Looks amazing.

mattCSLnut

12-04-2011, 07:28 PM

Fantastic work there Craig :thumbs: Great to see you going all the way, full steam ahead with this one :beer:

sailorbaz

13-04-2011, 01:51 AM

Excellent work Craig, looks really well and finished to a top standard. Get the seats and harnesses in for some more photos, top man.

Craig

14-04-2011, 01:57 PM

Cheers for the comments guys, some more updates coming along within the next few weeks!!

northernjim

14-04-2011, 02:07 PM

Great job you're making here Craig, have you a target weight in mind?

Excellent work Craig, looks really well and finished to a top standard. Get the seats and harnesses in for some more photos, top man.

can't wait to see it all finished Craig:beer:

azrael

14-04-2011, 03:35 PM

Excellent dedication to the cause :)

Bounce

14-04-2011, 04:34 PM

Looking good Craig,get some updated pics up.;):thumbs:

Craig

16-04-2011, 02:28 AM

Got my seat frames back fresh from the powder coaters the other day, so wasted no time in getting the seats in the car. I have modified the frames slightly so instead of using 10mm steel packers to get the correct height, it now sites on 40mm box section which reduced the weight a fair bit as well as making the seats easier to fit.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_229.jpg

Here’s some pictures of the interior, it’s now 99% complete the only jobs left to carry out are;

- Fit the harness lap strap eye bolts.
- Adjust and correctly wrap the harnesses round the rear cage.
- Fit the ‘piece de resistance’ into the centre of the steering wheel.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_230.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_231.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_232.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_233.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_234.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_235.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_236.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_237.jpg

As the boss kit used was for a non-airbag car the slip ring for the horn could not be re-used, so instead I’ve mounted a neat horn button on the side of the steering wheel cowling. For the MOT I’ll obviously label it up, however once through the label will be removed as I like the subtle ‘OEM’ look.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_238.jpg

Next up, the car’s going for paint where there will be a mild cosmetic overhaul complete with a bit of overall body protection and of course replacing the nasty corroded front drivers’ side wing. Hoping to have another update within a week or two, then after that it’ll be back onto the final mechanical work before the car is complete.

Bounce

16-04-2011, 08:47 AM

looking good,great job craig.:thumbs::thumbs:

sailorbaz

16-04-2011, 09:31 AM

Good work Craig, I'm loving this write up.

But you say 'car is complete'... will it ever be complete? :hahaha: I don't mean that in a nasty way but if you're anything like me, you'll find something else to change, adjust, modify in one way or another. :supz:

Craig

16-04-2011, 10:43 AM

Nope, cause once that stage is complete i'll want to fit the 4.0 V8 and the GTR wider arches!!

glendog74

16-04-2011, 11:33 AM

As the boss kit used was for a non-airbag car the slip ring for the horn could not be re-used, so instead I’ve mounted a neat horn button on the side of the steering wheel cowling. For the MOT I’ll obviously label it up, however once through the label will be removed as I like the subtle ‘OEM’ look.
http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_238.jpg

I think it's a little past the stage of being able to look 'OEM' fella... :hahaha:

Some great work you have done there. My OCD would make me want to paint the obviously 'silver' nuts and bolts that fix the red cage; or replace them with red anodised ones ;)

shane@mbtech

16-04-2011, 06:35 PM

Great work Craig
:smokin:

s.mac

17-04-2011, 09:09 PM

looking good :smokin:

northernjim

18-04-2011, 02:10 AM

Is red your favourite colour???:whistle:

seriously tho it looks great, I love the red stitching on the wheel too:smokin:

Craig

24-04-2011, 11:34 PM

Funnily enough, no word of a lie, I hate red... yet the Ducati is red too!!!

My only concern with the interior is the 'chav' seats, its crying out for a nice set of Recaro Pole Positions but I'm also at the point where I look and think how much exactly do you spend on a 328i before you draw the line.

Craig

01-05-2011, 08:56 PM

Well the tin worm finally chomped though enough of my drivers’ front wing that I decided to bite the bullet and get the car painted. Below is attached a picture of the front wing, it’s amazing how corroded it is compared to the rest of the shell is near on perfect.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_239.jpg

I figured if you’re going to do a job, you might as well do it right so I decided that I’d get all the other body imperfections sorted at the same time. The list of work whilst the car is in the body shop is as follows;

- Replace front drivers’ side wing.
- Paint full front end to eradicate stone chips.
- Paint lower drivers’ side door, two stone chips were slowly bubbling the paint front underneath.
- Remove small dent from underneath the rear light.
- Remove scuff marks from rear bumper.
- Replace plastic wiper panel.
- Replace cracked wind screen.
- Protect rear arches; very small trace of bubbling on the inner arch lip which I may as well nip in the bud now before it spreads.

My only problem was finding a body shop who’d let me strip the car down, and oversee certain aspects of the work. Fortunately a guy who I work with has his own spray shop and came recommended, he was willing to take on the work and let me work alongside him too!

Here’s some pictures of the work so far;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_240.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_241.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_242.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_243.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_245.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_246.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_247.jpg

Even Chris, the painter was surprised how strong the shell is; there are no signs of corrosion on the floor pan or behind the wings, even behind the rear bumper and lights was spotless! When we attacked the arches there was barely any corrosion, just light surface corrosion which had started to bubble the paint.

Hopefully will have more of a progress update in a week or two’s time.

sailorbaz

01-05-2011, 09:27 PM

Another top update mate, good stuff. Coming along nicely. Keep up with the updates.

Craig

06-06-2011, 12:52 AM

Quick update on what’s been happening the last few weeks;

A tin of this...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_248.jpg

Plus a bit of skill and talent...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_249.jpg

Equals a shiny, stone chip free, hellrot red BMW!!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_250.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_251.jpg

As you can see the rotten wing has been replaced (Big thanks to RobBMW for the wing!), and the whole front end looks like new once again. I’m really happy with how the whole job has come out and the paint match is 100% perfect, which is pretty good considering it’s a thirteen year old solid coloured car on 182,000 miles!

There have been a few other little cosmetic add-ons that have been made, more on this within the next few weeks, but here’s a sneak peek;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_252.jpg

The car is due to be photographed by Total BMW magazine on the 18th of June, once they have got their pictures I’ll release the final snaps I have of the car, all I can say for now is WOW... I am really impressed with the final outcome the whole car has come together over the last few weeks perfectly, I couldn’t have wished for a better result.

It was also that time of year where I check the whole car out and give it a good going over before I start hitting the track once more, first up on the planned maintenance was to remove all the arch liners, clean off all the road silt and give the wheels a good scrub too.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_253.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_254.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_255.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_256.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_257.jpg

Next up is to fully strip and rebuild the brakes, run some fresh fluid through there and check all the bushes and ball joints, the suspension is also going to be replaced with a new set, once I’ve decided on what set to go for!!

As well as the above the car will be treated to new oil, filter, coolant, gearbox oil, differential oil and maybe even a viscous fan delete... the plan with the fan delete is to utilise BMW parts across the range i.e 316i lower temperature thermostat and fan switch plus the air conditioning electric fan, I don’t want to run any external non-OEM wiring or parts if I don’t have to.

I can’t wait to post the final pictures of the complete car, as soon as I’ve got some that I’m happy with I’ll get them posted.

Craig

15-06-2011, 05:44 PM

The cleaning didn’t stop with the last update, next the brakes were fully stripped, cleaned and rebuilt along with the disc centres painted silver to tidy up the wheel area a little bit more.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_258.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_259.jpg

Then various bits of trim were removed and all rubber seals taped up to stop polish residue tarnishing them.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_260.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_261.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_262.jpg

Over the next few days the car was treated to the following processes;

- Pre-Cleaned with PH Neutral Snow Foam
- Cleaned with PH Neutral Shampoo
- Clayed with Sonus Green Clay & Meguiars Quick Detailer Spray
- Polished with Meguiars #83 Dual Action Polish & Red Meguiars Pad
- Finished with Meguiars #80 Speed Glaze & Yellow Meguiars Pad
- Waxed with two coats of Dodo Juice Purple Haze

Here are the final results...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_263.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_264.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_265.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_266.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_267.jpg

Just need to treat and re-fit the black trim and the car is just about done, I’ll worry about sorting the service, viscous fan delete and new semi-slick tyres after the weekend!

Craig

16-06-2011, 08:42 PM

The final touch to the interior arrived today, this was one item that took a lot of finding / research but it’s defiantly been worth it... it is a genuine BMW badge which I cross referenced as been the right size after hours of trawling t’interweb it’s not a cheap replica badge that never looks right, it’s the read deal!! :)

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_268.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_269.jpg

Bounce

16-06-2011, 09:06 PM

Craig

17-06-2011, 01:38 PM

Aye, last few touches are just going on its nei on complete and is looking awesome! :drool:

Craig

07-07-2011, 11:26 PM

Finally after all the wet weather we’ve had a nice dry patch which allowed me to spend most of last Monday having the long awaited photo shoot with Total BMW, was an interesting day with some cool photo’s been taken. As soon as the feature has been released the photographer will be sending me all the shots which I’ll be sure to post in this thread, there’s some great action shots too.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_270.jpg

I’ve been using the car over the last few days to check she’s still running fine and so far so good, there is one or two niggles that have to be rectified; first off was the battery has gone weak due to lack of use so this has been replaced, the next is a small electrical issue the car will never turn off ‘Ignition 1’ so the clock, trip meter and stereo always want to stay on... I’m thinking this may just be the ignition barrel switch has gone faulty.

With D-Day looming, 15th July, I’ve decided to leave the current suspension on the car and even run the current Falken FK-452 road tyres. This was how the car was last used in October at Spa-Francorchamps and although I would prefer a more track focus suspension set up and to run a set of Kumho V70s’s, I really think I just need to start using the car again and fettle it again after a few outings.

I can already see a full brake up-grade / overhaul including a set of 4 pot callipers, bigger front discs and new brake lines all round, maybe even an ABS removal too.

mattCSLnut

08-07-2011, 12:14 AM

Hey Craig.
Loving that "LEGO" look for the RED beast ;) :hahaha:
BTW, I recognise that Fugly scribler on the left ;) :hahaha: Mr A. Everett I believe :whistle:

Finally after all the wet weather we’ve had a nice dry patch which allowed me to spend most of last Monday having the long awaited photo shoot with Total BMW, was an interesting day with some cool photo’s been taken. As soon as the feature has been released the photographer will be sending me all the shots which I’ll be sure to post in this thread, there’s some great action shots too.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_270.jpg

sailorbaz

08-07-2011, 12:47 AM

Top work Craig, I'll be sure to be picking up a copy of this when it comes out with your car in it. Be sure to give us a shout when 'it goes to print' as they say. Sorry, I'll get me coat.

Craig

08-07-2011, 03:30 PM

Haha, yeh its that new prototype blocescent paint, I'd say it works quite well if I'm honest bit rought to polish on the old hands mind!

It is indeed Andy, how do you know him? I have no other experience other than him approaching me about a possible mag feature many months ago.

DuncanR

08-07-2011, 03:47 PM

It is indeed Andy, how do you know him?Dont tell him Pike ! .. take note young Jedi the testicles of the CSLRegister reach far beyond your Universe !!

mattCSLnut

08-07-2011, 05:28 PM

It is indeed Andy, how do you know him? I have no other experience other than him approaching me about a possible mag feature many months ago.

I've worked with Andy for quite a few years on Total BMW when it was owned by A&S Publishing (it's early years) and then when it was bought out by Future Publishing.
Small world ehy ;) :whistle:

Craig

08-07-2011, 08:00 PM

mattCSLnut

08-07-2011, 08:36 PM

Yeh, it is indeed... the photographer did a great job, its all down to Andy now lets just hope his pen to paper skills are good. Nothing worse than spending all this time and getting a poor, miss-quoted write up!

Andy is a decent scribbler mate :thumbs: lets hope the snapper's artistry is up to scratch and the pic Editor @ the Mag does his work justice when it all goes to print :whistle:

Craig

08-07-2011, 09:05 PM

That was the photographers worry, he said there was some amasing fast road shots and he hopes the editor decides to use them but said sometimes the BMW scene mags can be more about show than go.

Anyhow, now the pretty pictures were over with, it was time to get down and dirty with the car again starting with, as previously mentioned; Viscous Fan Removal.

I figured with my car having A/C I could get away by replacing the current 92 degree thermostat for an 80 degree thermostat from the M30 engine at the same time I’d fit the lower 80/88 fan switch, this would allow the A/C radiator fan to be used as an engine cooling fan when stuck in traffic. The parts and tools required for this job are as follows;

- 80c Thermostat (from M30 engine)
- 80/88c Fan Switch (from M44 engine)
- Thermostat Gasket
- Thermostat Housing Gasket
- Fan Switch Crush Washer
- Coolant Drain Plug Crush Washer
- 32mm Spanner
- Larger Screw Driver
- 10mm Socket
- 13mm Socket
- 50/50 Mix of Coolant & Distilled Water

First up was to remove the viscous fan, this was done by locking the water pump with a large screw driver (or the BMW approved tool if you’re feeling flush) and then using the 32mm spanner on the viscous coupling, remembering that it’s a left handed thread. With this loose the fan could be dropped out the way and the plastic fan cowling could be removed too.

Next up was the drain the coolant, this is done by loosening the plug on the bottom of the radiator and removing the drain plug from the drivers’ side of the engine, just under the headers near the oxygen sensor. Once the coolant was fully drained both plugs were re-fitted. Next the thermostat housing was removed; this was simple it’s only held on by three 10mm bolts and two 13mm bolts that hold the engine removal bracket.

With the housing removed the new thermostat could be fitted, and everything put back together using the correct gaskets, also remember to make note of the ‘up-arrow’ on the thermostat make sure its mounted the correct way round! It’s worth noting that if your water pump has never been replaced, it would be worth replacing this at the same time for the superseded item that has a metal impellor as the plastic ones are prone to failing.

Now onto the fan switch; like everything else this only takes a matter of minutes to change, simply un-screw the old and replace with the new. The only modification you will need to make here is to the plug that connects to the switch, you need to cut off a small tab using a sharp Stanley knife blade, this will be made clear when you look at the two switches together and try to connect the new one to an un-modified plug.

With all the above done you’re now ready to fill it up with coolant, bleed it through and enjoy your latest modification. Once bled, I tested my car and it got up to temp, then when stood the fan kicked in, it cools off a touch then it cut back out whilst the temp gauge stayed slap bang in the middle where I wanted it to be, so I see this as a very successful way of doing the viscous fan delete modification.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_271.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_272.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_273.jpg

Craig

10-08-2011, 09:20 PM

Here’s a quick report from the cars first major outing of the year, a track day at the Nurburgring.

Set off on Friday 15th on route to Hull to catch the overnight ferry to Rotterdam, arrived in Germany on the afternoon of the 16th after a flawless drive of over 340 miles. The drive over was the car’s first long run for over 8 months so it was a great relief that nothing went wrong. Here are a few pictures of my car outside the hotel, for anyone who is planning a trip to the ‘Ring I highly recommend staying at Hotel Burgstube with Martin & Heidi the service you receive is first rate, it’s always a pleasure to stay there!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_274.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_275.jpg

Sunday was a day of Touristenfarten, we spent the day spectating and taking photos as I was saving the car for Monday’s track day. Later than night we decided to head out to Mullenbach for dinner at one of my favourite places; LaLanterna where the car was also left in good company.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_276.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_277.jpg

Monday morning came fast; it was day one of a double header track day at the Nurburgring. The weather had been a bit hit and miss all weekend, but fortunately for me it was pretty sunny with only the odd showery spell.

The car again performed without so much as a niggle, and completed 264.6 miles on track, so around 18 laps. Here are a few pictures taken by a friend who just happened to have his camera handy whilst having lunch, thanks Johnny.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_278.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_279.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_280.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_281.jpg

Rest of the holiday was spent relaxing, final picture of the car loaded up and ready for the journey home.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_282.jpg

It still amazes me how well this car does perform, the overall value for money factor is exceptional... remember I used to heavily track a brand new Lotus Exige S and an M3 CSL.

I’ve now hit a point with the car where I feel as if I’m at its limits of the parts it’s currently running. I’m going to take it on a few more track days where I don’t know the track, that way I won’t keep getting frustrated knowing how I want the car to feel, turn and brake... after that I’m thinking the car is going to get progressed slightly further, to an even more track focused chassis set-up.

Ideas which I have floating around my head are;

- KW V3 Clubsports
- Porsche 4-Pot Callipers / AP Racing Brakes
- Semi-Slick / Slicks on Spare BBS Rims

But we’ll see what comes in time, happy just to be using the car for the moment... and yes, it’s my daily driver too.

s.mac

10-08-2011, 10:06 PM

sounds like you are really enjoying the car, best of luck which ever way you take it, car looks :smokin:

Craig

19-08-2011, 01:43 AM

News in brief; got bored, clean bolts...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_283.jpg

Used a bench grinder with a wire wheel attached to it to painstakingly clean 160 nuts and bolts, take precautions such as safety glasses as those little wires like flying all over the shop, most ended up stuck in my torso!!

Once cleaned, all threads were checked and a few nuts and bolts had minor thread imperfections removed by use of a tap and die set or thread file. I also split the BBS centres down so there is no plastic left in the centre cap lock nut, this will allow them to be acid dipped, shot blasted and powder coated.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_284.jpg

Planning to powder coat them over the next few weeks... a local wheel specialist who appreciates the work I’ve put into the car is willing to let me help out with the refurbishment, whilst teaching me a few new skills along the way!!

Craig

23-08-2011, 01:44 PM

Just a few snaps of the car parked up outside the house, the neighbours must think ‘WTF!?’ sometimes especially when they see all 6ft3 of me jumping in and out of it over the roll cage daily.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_285.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_286.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_287.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_288.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_289.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_290.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_291.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_292.jpg

Bounce

23-08-2011, 07:59 PM

Looking good Craig,you aint done a bad job there.:thumbs:;)

mattCSLnut

24-08-2011, 12:26 AM

Great work there Craig :thumbs: The car looks :smokin:

Craig

27-08-2011, 07:50 PM

It’s with great sadness I post the following pictures;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_293.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_294.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_295.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_296.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_297.jpg

Driving home late last night, having been up since 04:00 due to work, I simply had a temporary lapse of concentration when on a road I’m vaguely familiar with.

I was travelling down a country lane in the rain and mild mist, this road has a T-junction in which I would normally turn right and then immediately left on to continue down the same road. On this night the junction appeared to come out of nowhere, bearing in mind I was only travelling at around 50mph, I panicked hit the brakes and just slid straight up a high kerb and into a tree-like hedge.

Gutted doesn’t really describe how I feel, I’ve crashed cars before and obviously felt bad about it but this literally feels heart breaking knowing how many hours worth of work has gone into the car over the last 20 months not to mentioned all the memories it’s made too.

I did a damage assessment this morning and to get the car back to where it was before it’ll need;

- 4x Wheels & Tyres
- 2x Front Wishbones
- 2x Anti-Roll Bar Drop Links
- 1x Rear Camber Arm
- Air Conditioning Radiator
- Power Steering Pipe
- Front Slam Panel & Bumper Bar
- Headlights & Indicators
- Bonnet & Grills
- 2x Wings & Arch Liners
- Inner Arch Work
- Front Splitters
- Paintwork

From the above list I can’t really see it been viable to repair the car, if I could do the bodywork side myself I think I’d have give it a go but this is one area I’ve always had to enlist the help of friendly body shops.

Maybe it’s time to break and move on?

shimmy

27-08-2011, 09:15 PM

Sounds and looks bad Craig, but surel you can't need all that stuff, Inc 4 rims and Tyres?

I was hoping you'd have her all ready for Spa in October:bigcry:

mattCSLnut

27-08-2011, 09:49 PM

Bad luck Craig :( but I hope you're OK :thumbs: Would be a real shame to brake this car :bigcry: after all the hard work you've put in, especially on the interior. Surely most of the panels you need are bolt on and cheap enough now to source second hand, then send them off individually to the body shop and reassemble at home. Everything else, except perhaps the A/C rad. you can source off fleeBay/ BMW breakers s/hand as well :thumbs: Unless of course the chassis is bent, then I'd say get another E36 328i coupe and transfer all your bits over :thumbs: Keep us posted.

whopwop

28-08-2011, 12:44 AM

aH bOLLIX......................
I was scrolling down through the pix and thought thats stunning until I got to post 96............. tough luck :bigcry:

mickaldo

28-08-2011, 02:00 AM

fukin gutted for you craig been following this from the start.you dont seem to have a great deal of luck with bm`s.:bigcry:

CraigMillwardCroft

28-08-2011, 10:47 AM

As long as you are okay, maybe in time you will rebuild the car as you know you will miss the old girl and all the enjoyment you get from driving the car.

Craig

28-08-2011, 07:00 PM

Thanks for all the positive comments, I’ve had chance today to strip off all the damaged parts and asses the state of the inner arch and chassis leg, the results are as follows;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_298.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_299.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_300.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_301.jpg

It doesn’t appear to have moved the chassis leg anywhere else other than where the front cross bolts to it, the inner arch is in a bit of a state but nothing structural has been affected. I’m thinking if I could get a body shop to repair the inner arch then the rest could be re-built by me.

I’m even thinking of attempting the spray work myself, kind of a ‘re-built to be driven’ attitude it’s had its photo shoot this time round spend a little less time worrying about the cosmetics then I won’t be so worried about using it properly and it receiving the odd battle scar.

I now need to price up some parts to see if it’s even worth considering, I might sweet talk a few BMW breakers to see if they’ll do me a deal on a bulk lot of parts. I’m hoping I can travel to the breaker and remove all the parts myself, that way I’ll be certain I have everything I need!!

Bounce

28-08-2011, 09:26 PM

Bad luck Craig,gutted for you.:bigcry::bigcry:

shane@mbtech

28-08-2011, 10:30 PM

Gutted for you Craig as that was one really nice e36.:bigcry:

But as you say, build it back up and it will be great again.

sailorbaz

29-08-2011, 03:28 PM

Really sorry to hear of this Craig, that's some garbage news mate. Now that the damaged parts are removed and you can see the real extent of it, it doesn't look too bad to tell you the truth.

Good luck with it mate, ;-)

Craig

03-09-2011, 01:49 AM

Time for quite a positive update;

Mid-week I contacted Chris @ CR M-Tech regarding some bits, he informed me that he had an immaculate ’99 M3 3.2 Evo in ready for breaking, he mentioned that he’d seen the pictures of the my 328’s build and demise and would be more than happy for me to come down and break the car for bits myself as I had previously requested.

So, roll on 05:00 this morning when I fuelled up the trusty Astra Estate steed, purchased purposely for this job at an almighty price of £200.00 (with Tax and MOT!!) and set off on route to Shrewsbury. The journey down was pretty un-eventful as most parts runs are however I arrived in good time at 09:00 just as they’d opened for business.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_302.jpg

Next I was greeted by a stunning purple M3, the colour is one I’ve always had a soft spot for and thought it’d make a great track car, I was even more shocked when I found out this was the car to be broken... aside from the fact it was an SMG and had a sun-roof it was very, very tidy.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_303.jpg

Work begun and within an hour it was missing most of the front end;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_304.jpg

Next I tried the bonnet up for size in the Astra, to my amazement it fit which was a good as I really didn’t want to have to hire a van and hunt locally for a bonnet which would be in nowhere near as good condition as this one.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_305.jpg

With the panels off, next it was time for the engine and gearbox. All this had to be removed as I wanted the front corner chassis to aid the repair of my own car. It was only a good few hours into the job and the engine was out ready to be split from the gearbox and cleaned.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_306.jpg

Now it was finally time for the car to rest in pieces, what was a beautiful M3 was now banished to the world of scrap in less than a few minutes, all in aid of repairing a lesser 328i.
First up; grinder at the ready!!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_307.jpg

Ooooh and arrrr’s at the ready, it was now time to give the garage some light commencing with an array of orange and yellow sparks; sparklers ain’t half got better since I were a lad! ;)

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_308.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_309.jpg

And here it is, one OEM BMW bandage ready to heal the 328’s wounds.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_310.jpg

Back to what I mentioned earlier about the engine; cleaning. I couldn’t help but notice everything in Chris’s parts store was spotlessly clean and free from grease and grime usually associated with second hand parts from breakers.

It turns out, even though he doesn’t like to admit it, Chris has a cleaning obsession everything must be cleaned before it leaves the premises. Even though I wasn’t bothered, he insisted he cleaned all the parts before I left so that they were good to use straight away. I also noticed he was very anal about making sure all parts are supplied with the correct nuts and bolts, which was for me, a nice thing to see as I hate receiving parts only to find out I need to go buy a load of fitting hardware to mount the damn thing.

Next the Astra was loaded;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_311.jpg

It may not look to bad but in this car there is as follows; bonnet, wings, bumper, crash panel, inner arch section, under trays, arch liners, wishbones, brake ducts, rear control arms, headlights, grill panels, aircon pre-rad, electric fan, a big box of bits and four wheels complete with tyres!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_312.jpg

I got home and was able to cross off every single part I required off my list, and more!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_313.jpg

I’d highly recommend Chris and CR M-Tech (cr.mtech@btinternet.com) for any of your e36 needs it was nice to deal with someone who also had a passion for the vehicles that were been broken. I liked how everything had to be right, if a part on the car wasn’t 100% it wasn’t allowed to be taken instead a perfect replacement was taken off the shelf, I also liked the fact he trusted me with his own tools and to disassemble the car at my own free will.... so I’d just like to say thanks Chris!!

Now... Let the re-build commence!!

sailorbaz

03-09-2011, 09:22 AM

Jesus H mate, that's seriously good going and a stroke of good luck I might add.

Much did he lighten you of for that lot, if you don't mind me asking? See the chassis leg though, forgive me for asking but doesn't it look damaged also?
http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_310.jpg

What was wrong with the car that it was to be broken anyway?
Astra looks tidy enough for £200, I so need one of them!

mattCSLnut

03-09-2011, 11:37 AM

Your persistence is admirable Craig :thumbs: Good luck with the rebuild :thumbs: Loving the "Cash Point Special" Racing Red Astra :smokin:

Craig

03-09-2011, 12:28 PM

No, they already have bends like that it as a crumple zone if it didn't have them mine would have caused more terminal damage. It was a good price, but you have to take into account I stripped the car down for him.

Craig

05-09-2011, 01:26 AM

Progress... huge thanks to Iain Fitz who came down from the Scottish borders on his weekend off to help with the panel work, I say help he did most of the work whilst showing me the ropes along with way.

Below pictures just shows the panels offered up to the car, nothing has been tightened up or aligned yet. A quick test fit later showed it’d align right and then we called it a day ready for a Sunday roast to warm us up after getting soaked wet through.

Next step is to take everything back off, and re-build it again with all the bolts and clips in their correct locations and of course get some colour shot onto the panels.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_314.jpg

sailorbaz

05-09-2011, 09:14 AM

Excellent mate, that's some progress already. Looks weird but definitely a step in the right direction.

Looks like some good polish on the TV M3 too, why was it being broken up?

outnumbered

05-09-2011, 10:02 AM

How tricky is it going to be to weld that bit of donor chassis back - presumably the fit has to be absolutely spot on given that you've got half the shock tower there ?

Craig

05-09-2011, 04:08 PM

Ahh you don't use the whole section I cut off, I just lopped the donor leg off in any random place as I first thought I only needed to section two parts out of that leg, in the end it was only one part (the tail end of the leg that supports the bumper) more pictures will show you what's been done these will follow shortly.

azrael

05-09-2011, 05:42 PM

Great effort Craig and nice write up

Craig

10-09-2011, 09:35 PM

Here’s a proper update to elaborate on the previous post’s repair work;

Upon arriving at my house, Iain and I decided it would be best if we first attempted to straighten the panels that were already on the car, this would eliminate any issue of miss-matching seam sealer and would keep the OEM under seal. We had great success with the inner arch, wing rail and bumper brackets, so much so that we didn’t need to use any of those panels off the purple section I’d previously sourced.

Next was to make sure the car was straight, fortunately I was lent a CD with all the e36 jig info which gave all the alignment and measurement information needed to check the car was still true, and it was the only casualty was the bumper support cup on the end of the chassis leg. We at first tried to pull this straight, and although there was a small bit of success we weren’t happy with it, it was not time to face facts and one again the grinder was out.

First a bit of spot the difference;

Before...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_315.jpg

After...

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_316.jpg

As you can see the only part used was the end cup, this was now to be welded onto my existing chassis leg. It was handy getting the whole sections as it allowed us to take measurements and cut correctly... measure twice, cut once.

Once welded, the welds were cleaned up with a grinder.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_317.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_318.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_319.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_320.jpg

I wasn’t ready to prepare the surface and paint yet, so I used cling film to temporally protect the bare metal surface from the elements.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_321.jpg

Today all the front end mechanics were done, new wishbones and anti-roll bar drop links fitted. I also took the time to strip down the front end and re-build everything using anti-seize compound and also re-lubricated the poly bushes which were surprisingly dry considering they’d only been fitted over a year ago.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_322.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_323.jpg

Unfortunately the power steering pump pipe got a bit bent by debris that was dragged under the car, so was replaced.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_324.jpg

The plastic power steering pump pulley also took a knock, this too is to be replaced... obviously!!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_325.jpg

Next it was time to replace this;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_326.jpg

Believe it or not this DID NOT get bent in the accident, it got bent with the straps used to winch the vehicle onto the tow truck, there is a lesson to be learnt here as only after researching this did I find it was a common occurrence due to the arms been so weak and designed to fail in a knock.

All the online jargon said due to running a large case differential there was no way this arm could be replaced without the whole rear arm been dropped or the differential lowered out of the car. Now I’ve replaced one before with a medium case differential and that was a royal pain in the back side, so I couldn’t see this task been any easier.

After removing the outer and inner control arm bolts it was obvious the diff was going to have to be moved, but I wasn’t convinced it’d have to come out. Instead I removed the two lower diff bolts (pictured below) which hold it to the rear support bracket, after that I used a trolley jack to lift it up, and a pry bar to move it across and the bolt just to say come out.

Job done, without half the hassle that was expected bonus!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_327.jpg

New arm in place, ready for the car to be re-geo’d.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_328.jpg

As well as all the above, I also got round to starting the prep work on the inner panels but it started raining so quickly covered them back up and will hopefully get to resume work tomorrow!!

sailorbaz

10-09-2011, 10:49 PM

Excellent progress mate, keep up the good work.

Craig

12-10-2011, 12:06 AM

Don’t worry, I haven’t given up on the old girl... I’ve just been that busy with work and rushing to get the car finished in time for its final holiday of the year to the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps that I’ve not had time to update this thread.

First off, I must apologise for the lack of pictures but as mentioned above time was not on my side so the last thing on my mind was stopping to take photos along the way, plus as dark nights loomed I often found myself laid on my back in the pitch black!

So, carrying on from the last update; I’ve managed to remove any imperfection to the surface, mask up the surrounding area and prepare the repaired panel for paint. First step was to acid etch prime the surface, for this I used Acid #8 from Halfords.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_329.jpg

Next, not shown in the pictures there were several coats of Halfords Red Primer. The primer was then allowed to harden before been flatted down and painted with some colour matched Hellrot Red base coat.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_330.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_331.jpg

Whilst still tacky I removed the masking tape to avoid any flaking of the paint of harsh lines.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_332.jpg

The final result, although it looks a little ‘glossy’ over the last few days of using the car it’s dulled down and blended in with the OEM finish quite nicely. Compared to how the car looked a few weeks ago, who’d have thought it’d have looked this good once again!

Next up was to replace the PAS pulley, which wasn’t too much of a task once I’d figured out how the tensioners worked.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_333.jpg

Un-fortunately this is where the photo’s stop, here’s the repair once the car is all back together and a picture of the multi-coloured front end... afraid I just ran out of time when it came to getting the panels done in time for Spa, I was still doing the alignment and geometry 30 minutes before I was meant to leave on route to the ferry port.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_334.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_335.jpg

Next up, was the problem of vision, and lack of it! At this time of year the low sun and no sun visors was really causing a problem, fortunately Alex had a spare sun strip and was kind enough to donate it to me. This simple, yet effective measure saved me at the ‘Ring and Spa where without it I would have been pretty much blind 90% of the time.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_336.jpg

And here’s a few pictures complete, just for good measure... the purple is really growing on me!

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_337.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_338.jpg

Winter plans, well where does the list end? Main priority will be to re-build the back axel and run some new brake lines, and of course paint it red again! Whilst I’m at it I really want to get some good 3-way suspension on there... rumour has it HSD & Track Culture are in the process of making an awesome yet affordable track set-up so I’m going to hang fire and see about giving these ago as after driving an e36 M3 with the normal HSD’s they really do seem like good value for money.

As always, stay tuned as even I don’t know where this one is heading!!

alexk

12-10-2011, 09:36 PM

Looks very good Craig !

Craig

23-04-2012, 05:35 PM

Well the long awaited magazine feature is here, it’s in this month’s Total BMW (May’s issue) and the feature is fantastic! The car has a small slot on the front cover, the inner index and a full centre spread five page feature, it’s all well written and the photo’s came out as expected to so I couldn’t be happier.

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_339.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_340.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_341.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_342.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_343.jpg

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_344.jpg

And as for an update, the TVR has been sold which leaves more time to play on the little e36 first plans obviously will be to get it all back to one colour and a GTR front splitter re-fitted. The BBS split rims are 90% complete, more on these shortly and I’ll have to get the BBS Sunflowers re-coloured to black or maybe even a light anthracite haven’t decided yet.

alexk

23-04-2012, 06:57 PM

:thumbs:

looks cool

EVLXGE

23-04-2012, 08:53 PM

Your a handsome fooker Craig....has to be said :smt055

sailorbaz

23-04-2012, 10:34 PM

I was just thinking the other day that we hadn't heard from you in a good while mate. Sounds like things are going well, and it's back to working on the BM away from Trevor, good article.

mattCSLnut

23-04-2012, 11:34 PM

The "Red Shed" is looking splendid Craig ;) :thumbs:

Craig

13-01-2013, 11:39 PM

Thought I best update this thread as it’s been quite awhile since I have, in fact it’s been quite awhile since I’ve used the car too!

First off, the reasons for not updating this thread are described in the next picture;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_345.jpg

Yes, bricks and mortar!

Basically I bought a house that ‘needed a quick spruce up’ this very quickly turned into gut the whole thing and start again. So, over the last few months I’ve fitted new internal doors, external doors, windows, French doors, re-pointed, re-plumbed and fitted new radiators to the whole house as well as rip out all the old decor and start again!

Obviously all this work has took up any spare time I was to have to spend on the BMW, and it’s still not done just yet but give it 6-weeks and it’ll be there.

One of the main plans, and the reason why I bought this specific house was because of the potential for a 3 car drive and an oversized double garage, again I was expecting to do this in the fall but the house work put the brakes on those plans.

So, before knocking down the old garage I thought the best thing to do was utilise the old for now and get the BMW ready for some 2013 track days;

http://www.cmpracing.co.uk/uploads/328i_sport_346.jpg

There she is, in all her purple and red glory.

Plans, well same as I planned last winter and never got round to; re-build the back axel and run some new brake lines, and of course paint it red again. Nothing too exciting but really looking forward to spending some time on the old girl, not to mention driving her!

Bounce

14-01-2013, 08:12 AM

Nice one Craig, keep up the good work mate:thumbs:

alexk

20-02-2013, 09:01 AM

Hey Craig,

I was wondering whether you did any modifications to the exhaust ?
I didn't see anything in your posts.

Craig

22-02-2013, 01:31 PM

Nothing done yet, the rear hangers of the current system are on their way out so may do something when I replace them. Problem is I like noise, but that stops access to most tracks so I found it easier to just leave it standard for the time being.

alexk

22-02-2013, 08:22 PM

I am planning to change the exhaust manifold (put the one from the S50B32) of mine and place cats underneath the car.
Should not be more than 550 EUR for manifold and mid-pipe with cats.
This manifold is supposed to give >10HP throughout the powerband.

KlausH79

05-11-2014, 07:41 AM

Hey Craig
I have been reading your tread more than once with great pleasure and dispair. I'm glad though that you were able to fix the car. So thanks for a great read!

I have a question. What brand is the bolt in cage you have in there?

Thanks
Klaus