Vorshlag BMW E46: Track Car Project

[Fair!]

I got a little tired of autocrossing in Street Touring (2005-2009), and we just sold the E36 LS1 powered "XPrepared" autox/track car. So at the 2009 SCCA Solo Nationals I looked at hundreds of cars and dozens of classes to try to figure out what I want to build next. I had decided on a D Street Prepared build but was unsure of the right BMW chassis to use. I looked initially for an E36 325is and 328is, then moved to the more powerful E46 330Coupe chassis. Go to the Finding the candidate for the Ultimate DSP BMW E36 or E46... thread to see the entire process of how I got to this car.



On November 7th, 2009, I bought two E46 cars. One was a 1999 323i 5-spd without a sunroof, Hellrot Red, which will likely become Amy's commuter car. CraigsList find that we got for a song (thanks for the lead, Adam!) and it was hard to pass up. Other than some nice D-Force wheels and an iPod interface cable/box, it will likely remain mostly stock and serve as a 4 door people mover. It drives great and looks absolutely flawless, inside and out.



Later that same day we bought this 2001 BMW 330Ci 2 door, 5-spd car. I waited a few weeks for the seller to get the title reissued, and was so glad when he called and said "its ready!" Its an unusual Topaz Blue color, which I fell in love with, and it has the black leather interior I like (seems like 95% of these E46's are tan or gray inside). The paint is in great shape and it runs very well, but it has one or two items I'll want to fix soon ("cam sensor" CIL, noise from the steering rack). Another CraigsList Houston gem that was apparently a Candian car at some point, since it has all "metric" dash and gauges, plus some optional (I guess?) OEM Xenon projector headlights and later model LED tail lights. Looks great inside and out, and we also got it for a good price.



Ideally I'd start with a ZHP equipped E46, but those didn't come in the Coupe until 2004. That means - more initial cost, and this 2001 was really clean and priced very attractively. Like: so low, I don't mind cutting it up a little to make it competitive.

To do the DSP 330Ci build I want (which allows update/backdate combinations that the factory never made) I had to either do a no-sunroof roof swap on a later ZHP 330 Coupe or build a ZHP motor for a 2001-03 330Ci without a sunroof, but in my case I gave up looking for a no sunroof 330Ci after 6 weeks so I'm going to have to do both. Yay.

After driving this sunroof equipped E46 for a couple of days I do really hate having the sunroof. My head is always touching the damn headliner, as the sunroof internals cut away inches of headroom. Driving our non sunroof E46 4 door is a completely different seating/driving experience! That sunroof stuff adds 30+ pounds up high, also.

So here's the initial weight data from about an hour ago on the sunroof equipped '01 330 Coupe. Not super light, but remember, this is still bone stock. My E36 M3 wasn't much if any lighter than this stock and we managed to get about 200 pounds out of it for STU use (it got down to 2950 lbs race weight, with 2 race seats, 18x10s, and the full a/c installed).


'01 330Ci 5-spd, sunroof equipped, tons of options, no spare tire installed, fuel level as shown. The STU E36 M3 is in the background.

Gotta get this pig on a diet! I've already got the following parts ammassed or on order...

• 18x10 D-Force LTW5 wheels, Yokohama 265/35/18 R compounds (tires were from a former project)
• AST 4200 coilovers (monotube doubles), Hyperco springs, AST RSMs - on the way
• Vorshlag camber plates/RSM reinforcements/RTAB limiters/motor mounts/trans mounts/wheel studs/spacers/etc
• Mason Engineering "Race" aluminum strut and shock tower braces - on the way
• Cam lock 5-point harnesses

More details soon. As parts arrive we'll document their installaiton. Trying to make a track day Nov 30th at ECR... hope the shocks get here in time. Of course I'm going to track this car also - I'll check the NASA TT classing and run it wherever it ends up.