Looking into a 318ti rallycross car

[ojannen]

Hello forum,

I am currently running an e28 5 series in rallycross. It looks like this




I have had a huge amount of fun with it in the last few years and I am looking to upgrade to something a bit more nimble. My original plan was for a 1602/2002 and a tow vehicle. I totally forgot about the 318ti until I saw one at an autocross last weekend. I am a big fan of the semi-trailing arm rear suspension for rallycross. It is not always as fast as the miatas but it works the my brain works.

I am planning on competing in the stock rwd class. This means stock brakes, stock suspension, stock sized wheels. I can only put an LSD in the car if it was an option from the factory that year. I think that limits me to the 1995 model year. I need a car with no sunroof because I am fairly tall. I have been looking for a week or two now and have only found 1 or two candidates. How rare is a 1995, manual transmission, no sunroof car with working AC?

[anassa]

Originally Posted by ojannen

How rare is a 1995, manual transmission, no sunroof car with working AC?

Uhm that is going to be a hard find. Can you do a sunroof delete? How tall are you? I am 6'2 and I have no problem with headroom with stock seats, with non-reclinable bucket seats I have a good amount of clearance, I haven't ran with a helmet, I have one though maybe I can try to see how the clearance is if my height is similar to yours. Working A/C could be just a simple or annoying fix.

I think 1995 318ti's had the highest production numbers? ? ?? ? ?

If that is true then there is some hope.

[ojannen]

I am 6'6" with a tall torso. I wear pants with a 32" inseam which is normally for someone in the 6'2" to 6'4" range.

In the class I want to compete in, I can't swap seats and I can't do a sunroof delete. A seat swap puts me in a class where you can run full rally suspension. A sunroof delete puts me in a class with unlimited engine changes, unlimited suspension mods, and fully prepped rally cars.

I drove a guy's 318ti with the perfect spec today at an event It was a red 1995 with no sunroof. I can just barely make it work. I do have paint marks on the top of my helmet from where I hit the roof going over bumps. I may be able to cut some foam out of the seat base and sneak it through the class inspection.

The AC comment was mostly to stop a $2000 car from turning into a $4000 car when Florida summer rolls around. From March to December every year.

[ojannen]

Several months later, I am still looking for a car. For various reasons, I am moving out of the stock class so that opens some options up.

I am looking for a car from any year with no sunroof, working ac, and working window motors. Don't really care about interior condition as long as the door panels are present. Let me know if you have something that might fit those criteria.