Tag Archives: specE46

Spec E46 Build Part III: Chassis Reinforcement

Posted on by
Reply

Update: Since running my own race shop for sometime now, I’ve put together a bit more information and experience on E46 chassis reinforcements.  I’ve written a short post on the subject, which you can find here:

https://www.moreheadspeedworks.com/bmw-e46-chassis-reinforcement-guide/

The E46 chassis, just like the E36 or E368 has certain known weak points, specifically the area where the rear subframe attaches to the unibody.  E46s, especially those driven on the track or abused on the streets, will begin to tear the metal in the four points where the steel subframe bolts to the chassis.

Fortunately since these cars have been around for 15+ years, many aftermarket companies have developed reinforcement kits to address these issues.  They are pretty simple, just steel plate welded around the attachment points.

The install is a bit more involved, especially if you are doing this to your daily driver.  But on a race car, most of the parts that need to be removed are going to be removed regardless of installing these reinforcements.

There are tons of DIY’s out there in the forums, so I’ll save you the boring details.

Rear subframe rear reinforcement Rear subframe front reinforcement

I also added reinforcements to the rear anti-sway bar mounts located on the actual subframe.  With a heavier sway bar and hard driving the OE mounts can bend or even break.

The rear subframe is certainly the most critical weak point, there are still several other areas that need a little attention on a race car.  I added simple reinforcement plates around the upper rear shock mounting points, just spot welded in place.  The upper shock mount itself will add a great deal of reinforcement compared to the stock style mounts.

Rear Upper Shock Mount Reinforcement

The front subframe also has a known weak point at where the engine mounts attach.  Like the rear subframe, there are several aftermarket solutions.  I tried the Bimmerworld kit, but found it fit poorly and was as substantial as other kits.  I then went with the AKG, which was more robust but still required some grinding to fit properly.  On a recent rebuild with another subframe I tried the Turner Motorsports kit and found it fit directly out of the box with no grinding.

Front Subframe Engine Mount Reinforcements

The front strut towers can also become damaged, aka mushroom, from higher spring rates and track time.  BMW themselves produce a reinforcement plate for these towers, just as they do for the E36/7/8 chassis.  You could just place these plates on top of your camber plates and leave them otherwise unsecured, but I decided to weld them in place.

Welding in strut tower reinforcement plates Front strut tower reinforcement installed

Just like the rear anti-sway bar mounts, the front mounts too can become damaged with track driving and heavier rate bars.  There aren’t any readily available aftermarket solutions (that I know of) so I fabricated a simple plate out of some scrap 1/8th steel.

Front sway bar mount reinforcement Front sway bar reinforcement welded on

Spec E46 Build Part I: Deconstruction

Posted on by
1

Yes another long overdue post.  The SE46 has already turned wheels in anger, but I’m taking it back to the beginning in an attempt to catalog all the work that went into this build.  Perhaps it’ll be helpful to someone else considering this path to racing, or maybe it’ll just be good reference to help refresh my memory on what exactly I did.  After all, it all seems pretty easy once it’s all said in done.  I could use a little reminder of the true pain building a race car from scratch can be.

Let’s get caught up to speed.  Back in February 2015 I picked up a well used, not so loved, 2001 Alpine White 330Ci coupe on my way back from the Rolex 24hr of Daytona.  From there I dived straight into the work.  First step is to strip the car down to the bare chassis and running gear.  There’s no need for almost anything in the interior per the Spec E46 rules, so it all came out.  This included the sunroof cassette, seats, sound deadening, carpet, side glass, window regulators, switches,… well you get the idea.

This is mostly very easy work, though a bit labor intensive.  You can do it much quicker if you have no intent to sale the removed items, but I was hoping to at least recoup some of my money from the initial purchase of an otherwise street-ready car.

Labeling WiresTo help myself down the line, I always take the time to label wires as I unplug them from their switch, motor, or sensor.  I used some waterproof labels found at the local office supply, as they hold up much better than the standard paper ones.  I used red labels for any items I knew could be permanently removed, ie seat adjustments, air bags, interior lights, etc.

Before you get too into ripping apart the car it’s very important to decide how you are going to go about wiring the minimum required items.  You could, for example, totally remove all the chassis side wiring and go completely custom for the brake lights, fuel pump(s), windshield wipers, etc.  This is probably the lightest route, perhaps even quicker.  I, however, wanted to retain the stock light controls, wiper stalk (for easy intermittent timing) and other functions.

Removing Interior Items

Everything that was salvageable was set aside, everything else was tossed in the can.  I did make it a point to save every piece of hardware (nut, bolt, washer, plastic pop rivet) as they were removed.  These can come in very handy later for other spots on the car.

Removing HVAC system HVAC Removed

One of the more challenging removals is the heating and air conditioning unit (HVAC.)  Sure a sledgehammer would break it down into easier to remove pieces, but I’d rather get it out complete.  Don’t forget to first have the refrigerant sucked out by a certified technician before breaking the lines.  The entire dash and dash support bar must be removed to pull the unit out from the cabin side.

Once all the interior bits and pieces are removed, the carpet can come out.  What’s revealed is your next challenge: sound deadening removal.  This stuff is a thick, heavy, tar-like substance that is either sprayed on in spots or found in a sheet adhered to the metal of the cab.  There’s no need for it in a race car, it’s just dead weight.

SpecE46_IMAG1996

Before getting to crazy with removal of this stuff, make sure you have all your wiring well clear of your work space.  I actually completely unplugged the harness from the back of the car forward and then laid it outside the cab.

Tar RemovalNow there are several techniques to removing this tar sheet, such as dry ice, liquid nitrogen, heat guns, grinders with wire wheels and of course manual labor with scrappers and chisels.  I’ve found (having done this on multiple cars) that no single solution works on all vehicles.  For instance, my ’95 M3’s sound deadening just pealed up by hand.

This car took a combination of heat guns, scrape blades, and wire wheels to get the majority of the matting removed.  With large chunks gone you will be left with a nasty brownish residue on the painted interior.  This is where the chemicals come in.  I found that the Pro Strength Goof Off (in the yellow 1 gallon can) with a stack of shop towels worked best.  This stuff is pretty nasty and puts off some very strong fumes, so we pushed the car outside and wore respirators for this part.

In addition to removing the sound deadening, there are multiple metal brackets inside the cabin that are no longer needed.  Brackets for the rear seats, air bag electronics, head rests, seat belts, and so forth.  Now it isn’t absolutely necessary to remove these and most don’t, but I wanted as clean of an interior as possible, not to mention the weight savings.

So using a red paint marker, I put a red “X” on all the unneeded brackets and fittings.  From there I used a combination of spot weld drill bit, grinder, and sanding disc to permanently remove these unwanted pieces.  I also removed the majority of the seam sealer from the inside of the car, as it’s spread on pretty thick from the factory.  The bare metal was then sprayed with gray primer to just keep the rust at bay.

Interior Clean Up Brackets Removed

I also made it a point to save as many of the rubber/plastic plugs for the various holes in the floor and firewall, so that they could be reused later.

Spec E46 Race Project Begins

Posted on by
3

I’ve been pretty lax as of late when it comes to providing updated posts to Eat, Sleep, Tinker.com.   Those of you who follow my Facebook Page or my Instagram or my Twitter feeds will know why; I’m building a damn race car!  If you read my last post, you’d also know that I had settled on the Spec E46 class of racing.  So why no updates here?  Because when you are building a racecar by yourself (with a bit of assistance from your father) your energy to sit down at the computer and chronicle your work is at an all time low.  So I’ve been taking the easy route and just using the Instagram app on my phone to post updates, which are then automatically distributed to the various other social media outlets.  I did, however, add a nifty Instagram feed to the home page here at EST, you’re welcome.

Rather than an individual post to outline the work done (and there’s a lot), I’ll just continue to utilize the Instagram app to give real time updates.  For those Instagram or smart phone inept readers, I’ll provide a post here that’ll grab the pertinent photos and descriptions for your bookmarking pleasure (and in case you just want to look at it on a big screen.)  Stay tuned for that in the near near future.

Back to the project.  You may also recall that I recently went on a bit of a road trip to attend the 2015 Rolex 24 hr at Daytona.  The weeks, well months really, leading up to this I had been scouring the web for a possible donor for my SE46 build.  There are plenty of spec legal cars for sale, but I was being picky.  First and foremost I wanted a 330Ci (coupe), rather than the four door sedan 330i.  At 6’2″, I really appreciate the longer doors and wider opening into a coupe, especially when all kitted up and contending with cage bars and halo seats.  I also wanted a manual car to start with.  Sure I could get an automatic and swap it out, but that’s just added expense and work that I was hoping to avoid.  I also wanted the earlier car, just on aesthetics alone, but the much later cars also came with the less desirable 6-speed manual.  Finally I wanted an Alpine White car.  I’d also accept silver or grey if I had to, but white was the goal.  White is better for not cooking the driver in hot southern summers, while also being easier to repaint not being a metallic.

So with my options narrowed (I should also mention I wanted a car that lived outside the rust belt its entire life) I was left with only a very few potential candidates.  But as luck would have it, I happened across a possibility on the Savannah, GA Craigslist.  The car was a 2001 Alpine White 330Ci which had lived its entire life between Florida and South Carolina.  It was a high mileage car, but the chassis appeared to be completely straight and complete.  I began exchanging emails with the seller, and we agreed on a price based on the description and photos provided.  Since we would be headed through Savannah on our way to Daytona, the timing worked out beautifully.  We would check the car out on the way down, then if everything was in order, pay for it and drive it back on our return.

I knew the car wouldn’t be perfect, having accumulated over 220,000 miles in its 14 years, but lets just say it wasn’t up to the sellers description.  It had a bad driveline clunk on lift, wayward handling, was down on power, and a few other issues that made the previously agreed price unacceptable.  But knowing that nearly all of the car would be stripped and trashed for the race car build, I wasn’t too concerned with the problems, it just gave me some leverage to get the price down.  I pointed out the issues and gave the seller my estimate of actual repair costs, came up with a new figure for him to stew over while we went on to Daytona.  A few days later I received a counteroffer, which I in turn countered.  We eventually settled somewhere in the middle, but much less than the initial asking price.

Off we drove in our two Alpine White BMWs.  The 330Ci wasn’t the most confidence inspiring drive at night on the interstate.  The wayward front end turned out to be a bad lower control arm ball joint (and probably out of tolerance alignment), and I was constantly reminded that the differential was about to rip itself from the subframe on every throttle lift (turned out to be torn bushings).  I also managed to bend a rim on a pothole, which would normally upset me, but these wheels deserve to die a horrible death anyways.  Fortunately we made it home safe, with one more BMW in the fleet.

Picking up 330Ci Donor

Here’s some more photos of the car before its tear down:
(ps The entire interior and sunroof are for sale)

[foogallery id=”7421″]

 

New Racecar Project: SpecE46

Posted on by
1

For a while now I have been toying with the idea of building a true race car, rather than just a track day car.  I made steps towards this goal over a year ago when I picked up a ’94 325i chassis which had already been caged by BimmerWorld.  Over the past year I had accumulated quite a few parts for this car.

GTS-2 E36

The car was intended to be a GTS-2/3 or BMW Club Racing C-Mod car.  I would have been happy to run it in I-Prepared or another lower class, but the cage design passed through the firewall and was welded to the A & B pillars.  It also had a Tilton three cylinder hanging pedal setup.  These mods alone bumped it up to Mod class with CCA Club Racing.  After a lot of debating, I decided I wanted to go another route.  The Mod class and GTS series would mean nearly open rules, which mean things like big brakes, large sticky R-comps, and full aerodynamic aides in addition to having a great suspension.  You can probably imagine how the costs can and will escalate going this route.

SpecE30So with a bit of reservations I put my chassis, parts, and engine up for sale.  I also decided to part ways with my first true project car, the 2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder.  That was quite a bit tougher to bear, but I couldn’t see myself getting full use out of the car.  Starting over I decided I needed to go a more cost-controlled route, something where the playing field is closer and is more about close racing.  Generally this is the realm of spec racing.  There are a few series out there, the largest and most established are Spec Miata and SpecE30.  Both are some of the least expensive racing, using older and smaller cars that are fairly easy to come by and pretty inexpensive to run.  SpecE36There is also SpecE36, Spec3, and SpecZ, none of which have really taken off compared to the E30 and Miata classes.

I was more interested in staying in the BMW family, as I was becoming more and more familiar with them through the work on my E36M3 and M Coupe (and taking apart a ’95 M3.)  So I was focusing on the SE30 class, which runs with NASA using the 325i chassis E30 from the mid 80s to early 90s.  There were a few complete cars available in the $12-15k range, but none in my area and not many that were exactly what I was looking for.  Besides, I like the build and work as much as running the car.  Since these cars are getting up in age, finding suitable chassis donors and powertrains is becoming more and more difficult.

I must also admit that I am much more familiar with cars from the late ’90s and early ’00s, having wrenched on cars mostly from that era.  I also wanted a few of the newer innovations that only later cars have, such as CAN bus communication to allow for more in-depth logging capabilities.  This led me to the rather new Spec E46 racing class, which was imagined in 2013, then developed over the 2014 racing season.

SpecE46Spec E46, or SE46 for short, uses the 2001-06 BMW 330Ci coupe or 330i sedan as its basis.  These were fairly basic cars, but still plenty capable with some upgrades.  The idea behind any spec series is to somewhat contain the costs while matching the car capabilities as closely as possible, providing more of a driver’s series.  There are no aerodynamic aides allowed, no internal engine modifications, no huge rubber or big brakes.  That said, the founders of the series consulted with folks like James Clay of BimmerWorld to put together a very fast package.  Things like MCS shocks, LSD differentials, and a 2,850lbs minimum weight make for a quick car.

I began following the development of the class about a year ago, watching their forum and Facebook page to see how things panned out.  Any racing is a big investment, and it can be a gamble to test a new class.  No one wants to race in a class with only a handful of cars.  But things were actually taking off quite rapidly.  Lots of new builds were beginning every week, and the racing that was going on looked to be highly competitive.

SE46 had the backing of BimmerWorld along with several other industry names, and was quickly adopted by NASA as a national class.  Not long after it was also picked up by BMW CCA Club Racing and the SCCA.  Having multiple organizations to run with made the prospect that much more sweeter.

I decided to bite the bullet, sold my GTS E36 project, and started looking for a 330Ci donor.

More Info on the Class from the official SpecE6 website:

SpecE46 is open to model year 2001 to 2005 USDM BMW 330i sedans and 2001 to 2006 330ci coupes. No ZHP, 330xi, or convertibles are permitted.
 
  • Driveline
    • Manual transmission, five or six speed (both have the same 2-5 gear ratios).
    • Stiffer motor and transmission mounts using stock location permitted.
    • Stock 2.93 open diff may be replaced with a 3.46 LSD.
    • Shifter and linkage may be modified or replaced.
  • Engine
    • Stock M54 motor, flywheel and clutch may be upgraded.
    • E36 exhaust manifolds and spec exhaust system supplied by BimmerWorld/Magnaflow.
    • Cooling system improvements in known weak areas are permitted.
    • A custom ECU tune is provided by Epic Motorsports in order to ensure compliance and maximize power/reliability.
  • Suspension
    • MCS single adjustable non-remote reservoir shocks with 750/850 springs.
    • Front camber plates and rear shock mounts w/ spherical bearings.
    • Polyurethane/Delrin control arm bushings.
    • Sway bars must be steel, non-bladed, using stock mounting location.
  • Rolling hardware
    • Stock brake calipers and brackets.  OEM style rotors are required.  Pads, bushings, and flex lines are open.
    • Wheels are 17″ with a maximum width of 9″ and must fit inside stock fenders.  16.2 pounds minimum wheel weight.
    • Tires are Toyo RR (Dry) and RA1 (Wet) in size 235/40/17.
  • Body and interior
    • Non-essential hardware and systems may generally be removed (HVAC, airbags, etc).
    • Sunroof must be removed and covered.
    • Chassis reinforcements in known weak areas are permitted.
    • Interior, doors, and trunk may be gutted.  Dash must be retained.
    • No aerodynamic aids (wings, splitters, etc) are permitted.
    • Minimum vehicle weight 2850# with driver.