Build Dilemma

[skimmer]

Thats why I may just put the stock springs back in & go back to street class with the old tires. Who knows, As I type this It has snowed about 3 inches in the past couple of hours and It looks like I am going to have a lot of time to figure it out before we can do anything!



This is what I'm doing except with the best street tire I can get my hands on.
Maybe you could sell off some of your Stx mods for 15" wheels and good tires.only reason I say 15" wheel is because good tires can be had cheaper.

[BimmerBum]

Thanks for sharing.

My car is/will be set up similarly the differences being..

Brakes - E46 330 front brakes, E34 525 calipers, Hawk HP Plus Pads

Suspension - same as yours but all the bushings are done with AKG urethane, some creativeness in the front end to get to -3.5 camber and 7 degrees of caster and front strut bar

Engine - Dinan chip, K&N and Tri Flow cat back.

Transmission - Z3 shift lever.

Wheels - 17x8.5 square with 245/40s all around.

Last year the STX field at Dixie was over 20 cars. That too much fun to resist trying it out!

Originally Posted by joe1602

Wheels are stock, Tires are Ventus RS-3's with 4 seasons on them (My son and I share the car so it does double duty every event) We had the tires 2 seasons & I am looking into new wheels & tires for the new season. H&R Race springs but I dislike them as they feel way too soft for what we are doing. Koni Yellow fully adjustable all the way round. Eibach 28 mm front sway bar & poly bushings for it(powerflex) X-Brace, AKG Motorsport drop links for the sway bar. Turner Camber Shims, all of them are installed & am running about 3.5 degrees negative camber and have a toe out of about 1 degree on each wheel. Stock rear sway bar, Fogged the airbox. Control arms, bushings etc are all stock from '99, I need to change them as well. 3.45 LSD that I got from Al Taylor, had about 800 miles on it!(Looked like it was brand new!) In 2014, my son finished 2nd in the Glen region in Pax running it in the G Street Class, Should have stayed in it for 2015 But had to move to STX because of the above mentioned mods. If I can get my hands on some stock sport springs I may put it back to H Street for next year. (2 of the 4 springs that came off the car were broken, he did that in 2014 with 2 broken springs!) I thinks the new tires helped a lot in '14, they didn't seem to have quite the grip in '15. Unfortunately my budget is very limited and not even sure I can swing new tires and wheels for this season. Thats why I may just put the stock springs back in & go back to street class with the old tires. Who knows, As I type this It has snowed about 3 inches in the past couple of hours and It looks like I am going to have a lot of time to figure it out before we can do anything!

[joe1602]

BimmerBum, What are the wheels you are running? That is exactly the size I want to run. My son insists its too much tire for the car, I told him I didn't really think there was such a thing as too much tire! I also have completely stock brakes, they are not good and need to be changed. Funding of course, is always the issue!

[BimmerBum]

17x8.5 ET40 TR Motorsports from Tirerack. They are very light and not that expensive.

The same size wheel can be found on the rear of all 96-99 M3s, 2001-2003 E46 330 sports, and all non-M 6 cylinder Z3's. You can piece together a cheap set of 4 rears by buying 2 full sets and selling off the fronts.

I think 17s are the perfect size for the E36 chassis. If the car had more power I would run 17x9's with 255 square.

I would not follow my lead on the brakes. 330 brakes are a lot heavier than 318ti brakes. Just freshen up your system and run a set of Hawk HP Plus pads, you will be amazed by the stopping power.

Originally Posted by joe1602

BimmerBum, What are the wheels you are running? That is exactly the size I want to run. My son insists its too much tire for the car, I told him I didn't really think there was such a thing as too much tire! I also have completely stock brakes, they are not good and need to be changed. Funding of course, is always the issue!

[joe1602]

That was the plan for the brakes. Freshen up the calipers & get some new rotors & the hawk pads. I have been looking at tire rack and will specifically look for those wheels. I like the sound of them being lighter than the stock wheels. Of course, that is if we stick to STX and don't go back to Street.

[joe1602]

So I have been looking into a Dinan chip for the car but have not had any luck finding anything. Called Dinan themselves and at first they said they could program a chip for the car but then realized it was an m44 and they said they had no way to program it into an OBD II system. BimmerBum, is your motor an m42? And is there any other way to reprogram the ecu in the m44? Thanks!

[Earl]

An m44 requires you to send in your ECU/DME to be flashed. Barry (bmwconnect) does the best flashes =)

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35350

[joe1602]

Thanks Earl, I think I will give them a try!