Track car: e36 or e46

[bryce]

Thanks again Barry.

I hadn't really thought about a budget but I guess it's a cheap and cheerful one as I've other things I want to spend on too.

Ive done a track day, been passenger and a driving experience (lol) so I've a fair idea that I'll enjoy it.

The car doesn't necessarily need to be road legal as I have vans/ trailers for transport but I guess it'd be easier just to drive there. I'm not looking to set any records, just to have a bloody good time and not worry about the car physically too much - though I don't want to be under the bonnet every five mins.

[bryce]

Roughly what would it cost (excluding car) to set up an e36 fit for amateur td's?

[Barry C]

Originally Posted by bryce

Roughly what would it cost (excluding car) to set up an e36 fit for amateur td's?

the bare minimum with a new car i think would be to do a full service including all filters and fliuds etc

full service, say 600.

then i would highly recommend proper racing brake pads like carbone lorraine RC5+, braided brake lines and Castrol SRF fluid. probably 400 quid.

at this point it really depends what you want to spend.

tyres? 800
bucket seats?800
harnesses?250
suspension? 1000

the biggest improvemnt you could do is free though strip out all the excess weight. the M3 interiors fetch a few hundred quid so this can offset the cost of the bucket seats etc

honestly you could buy an e36 M3 for 3 grand and just drive it and spend close to nothing on it until something brakes or you could spend insane amounts of cash.

as I said I think the cheapest and best option is to spend a decent chunk of cash on something that cost someone else a fortune to build

to put in perspective I got under 8k for my e36 M3 when I sold it and it cost multiples of this to build

[bryce]

you could buy an e36 M3 for 3 grand and just drive it and spend close to nothing on it until something brakes

This is more or less what Im thinking along with upgraded susp, tyres and brakes.

Was your car a 3.0 or 3.2? Is there only in particular that is better suited for track considering they'd both get the aforementioned mods.

Again, thank you for your input

[shimmy]

There was a great 3.0 M3 at Donny in February, very well set up.

[Barry C]

Originally Posted by bryce

This is more or less what Im thinking along with upgraded susp, tyres and brakes.

Was your car a 3.0 or 3.2? Is there only in particular that is better suited for track considering they'd both get the aforementioned mods.

Again, thank you for your input

Definitely go for the 3.2 evo. It has a much better sump design for track use, has more power.

Mine was a 3.0 but I ended up fitting an evo sump and brake discs etc

[bryce]

Thanks.

I went to look at one today (evo). Seemed in pretty good condition exterior wise, however the inside was bogging. An ex smoker and mechanics car showing every sight and smell of such. Yuk. However, being a mechanics car it seems to have an extensive service history - BMW and Indy and on a very short run it seemed to run sweet. Sounded sweet though didnt fair excite me?..

Its done 129k miles, more or less rust free and can be had for £3k.

Just what to do...

[bryce]

£960.72 to insure a £3,000 motor - yer havin a laugh!