Z4MC Rebuild after Track Incident, Work in Progress

[007MCoupe]

Originally Posted by Beedub

absolutly... very good attitude imo..... i had a very scary moment recently at my local sprint track...... 70mph corner, lost control, but luckily kept it completely on the tarmac, no so much as a wheel on the grass, but that could have EASILY been a written off car..... i think that particular incident made me decide to cool things alittle....... Strangely i was back on track after 30 mins doing EXACTLY the same speeds again......

its a decision i make when i take the car on track!!

My first time on a track...ever...I was going around a long, fast sweeping left coming up to a slow, short right so of course I lifted coming out of the left to prepare to brake. the whole time the instructor is (literally) screaming, "GAS GAS GAS! KEEP ON IT!" well, anyone who knows anything about these physics...i lifted and the back end slid out. luckily there were no walls, so i just spun into the grass. but yeah. Had my oh-shit moment. doesn't count (hopefully it does!) as my "you've either wrecked it or not" moment but still. OH SHIT.




Ship...What are you going to get to dedicate? i know you said you're going to put in months of research once the Moupe is back on the road, but it's not like you haven't thought about it. lol

*just curious*

I'm the stereotypical 'want an E30' guy. for now at least.

[Caddyshk]

e46M3?

[Shipkiller]

I started to think a little about this over the last couple of days.
Inexpensive (relative)
Easy to maintain, good supply of repair parts
Good upgrades

E46M3 would be too expensive. Plus the S54 brings a whole new set of issues in maintenance and repair for a dedicated track car.

I have casually looked at the E36 market. Specifically the 1995 MY. ODB-I, minimal electronics. ??Do I want to stay with BMW for a track car?? Bring Money Withyou

C5 Corvette. The car just does not move me...
Miata. Possible engine transplant..

Too early... must really think on this.

[MFGJR]

Originally Posted by Shipkiller

I started to think a little about this over the last couple of days.
Inexpensive (relative)
Easy to maintain, good supply of repair parts
Good upgrades

E46M3 would be too expensive. Plus the S54 brings a whole new set of issues in maintenance and repair for a dedicated track car.

I have casually looked at the E36 market. Specifically the 1995 MY. ODB-I, minimal electronics. ??Do I want to stay with BMW for a track car?? Bring Money Withyou

C5 Corvette. The car just does not move me...
Miata. Possible engine transplant..

Too early... must really think on this.

Ship probably doesn't want this thread to turn into us telling him what to buy... So I'll refrain from suggesting a Spec E30, which is inexpensive, bulletproof. solid and slides right into racing down the road. Oops! Sorry!

[Caddyshk]

E30M3 is a good choice

[Finnegan]

I won't offer my opinion on which track car to get. I'm going to wait for Ship's analysis. I'm sure it will be interesting and well thought through.

Ship, thank you for posting this thread and for all of the information. It's invaluable for knowing what the options are if there's a track-related incident or just some garden-variety idiot on the road.

The doors. Ouch.

Wife = Awesome!

[Shipkiller]

If I had the cash right now, this is perfect. Already built.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...745912846.html

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Shipkiller

If I had the cash right now, this is perfect. Already built.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...745912846.html

I like it! Looks a lot like the car one of my instructors drives in the Race group. Same kind of setup, his had 60K miles IIRC and he wanted 9K for it.

Rotors for these cars cost about 14 bucks. I didn't believe him, but I looked it up. Apparently a new or rebuilt engine isn't much either.

As for me, I'm also going to give carting a try in the spring. My neighbor (all of 15) has 3 carts: an oval track cart, a road course shifter cart, and another shifter work in progress. He invited me to come out some time with him and his dad since he knows I take the Z4M to the track. "It's a hell of a lot cheaper than tracking your car--you outta come up and join us sometime and see what it's like" he said, then laughed a bit with somewhat of an evil grin. "You think if I go I'll end up being addicted to it right?" "Nah, why would I think that" he said and grinned again. Great kid, very level headed, ought to be fun.

According to him, a nice one of these can be had for ~750 - ~1,000 and operating costs are very low. Like 40 bucks or less for a tire, an engine is a few hundred, you get the idea. The idea of pulling 2-3 Gs (yes, they corner that well) and hitting 80 (or more with a 125cc cart) with you a$$ 1/2 inch from the ground sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. Since the track is 15 minutes away from me, what the hell. Cost for a full day are 25 bucks to get in and gas (and safety equipment rental, but I have that covered). The interesting thing is that he has several hundred hours of driving time. Apparently the 25 bucks covers driving all day long and there aren't intermittent 20-25 minute sessions. So you can get a lot of practice in. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[Shipkiller]

I have driven my buddies non-spec Miata. If you take away sheer acceleration fun that the MC has, the Miata is as much fun to drive around the track as the MC. No shit.
No ABS, no DSC... and there are literally thousands of after-market go fast parts for the damn thing. The knowledge base is huge. A large number of guys have been racing and tracking these cars for almost 20 years.

My buddy who has the Miata also has a C5 and C6 Corvette, but would rather drive the Miata on the track.

Carting is lots of fun and VERY instructive.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Shipkiller

I have driven my buddies non-spec Miata. If you take away sheer acceleration fun that the MC has, the Miata is as much fun to drive around the track as the MC. No shit.
No ABS, no DSC... and there are literally thousands of after-market go fast parts for the damn thing. The knowledge base is huge. A large number of guys have been racing and tracking these cars for almost 20 years.

My buddy who has the Miata also has a C5 and C6 Corvette, but would rather drive the Miata on the track.

Carting is lots of fun and VERY instructive.

Gotta see if I can rent a spec one at some point for a track day.

[Shipkiller]

Update 1 in the original post.

[Mirko]

Originally Posted by Caddyshk

E30M3 is a good choice

It's a fantastic choice! But.... and it's a big one. They are hard to find and horribly expensive. I would love to get one myself but the price is too high.

[Shipkiller]

I have almost convinced myself to go the E36M3 route.

[Caddyshk]

Originally Posted by Shipkiller

I have almost convinced myself to go the E36M3 route.

Good Choice too

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by Shipkiller

I have almost convinced myself to go the E36M3 route.

sweet

[fitchesbass]

Sorry to hear about your incident! Looks like you are recovering well though!

Re: dedicated track car

I loved my E36 M3 (1996 estoril blue). It was super reliable, great handling with some mild modifications (GC coilovers, etc) and very much a driver's car. Last for a track car, they are super easy to DIY on.

I would personally only go 96+. The closer to 99 the better. 95 vs. 96+ is an OBDI vs. OBDII issue. That said, the 3.2L S52 was mildly better than than the 3.0L S50, imo.

Here is my old car as motivation for you ... still sad that I sold it - I put so much blood, sweat and tears into that darn car.




good luck

[crfine88]

Thank you for sharing the process with us, glad to see that you were not hurt. I have serious respect for you; going from "my M is wrecked", to "I am going to systematically put her back together" in the same day is serious super hero stuff. Great to hear she is not twisted up.

I really like your approach; Having the parts painted and you doing the installation will ensure the car returns to OE. Inevitably no matter how good a shop is, mistakes are made that leave hints to the existence of a repair. A shop is on a time crunch; whereas, you will take the time to get right. Nice work, I am subscribed.

Have you found out if you are going to have to remove the small window to install the rear fender? I am also curious to know what our door weight.

Sound like you have a good woman behind you too

Looking forward to following your work
-Chris

[Shipkiller]

Took all the parts to the painters today....

Chris, if I had a scale, I could weight the door when I get it back from the painters, or the old one once all the internals have been transferred. I may have to look into getting one or borrowing one.

The door shell is the heaviest piece. The fenders are very light for sheet metal. Even the bumper cover is lighter than the door.

[Finnegan]

Progress! It has to feel good getting things done.

I read the update--I'm learning a lot! Thank you for the updates and sharing your experiences with this project.

I'm guessing the biggest areas for weight savings potential are the rear hatch (especially the glass) and the doors. But having a nice solid door, with some good steel reinforcement between me and whatever might come my way is not what I would call a bad thing.

[IronZ4M]

For the fun I'll be using my Zee 4, If I'm going for track I have the choice with my E36

DSC_0535 by Saihati Shabiboo, on Flickr

[Shipkiller]

Update 2:

Yesterday, I went over to the painters to see just what was up and get a status?

One of the guys took me back to the paint booth and when I looked in the window, all of the parts have been painted and the are getting ready to for the coats of clear....

SOOONNNN.....

[inTgr8r]