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jibber_monkey · 20-07-2014, 09:03 PM

So this is a somewhat belated build thread. Which is apt, because the build is also somewhat belated! When we are finished this will be the Track Tek / Braille Battery e46 M3 entry in the Kumho Championship.

This is my personal car but as Track Tek we have 15 years’ experience in building, supporting and racing various Japanese race cars, drift cars and turbo engines in various stages of tune before moving across to BMWs in the past couple of years. I’ve spent the past 6 years campaigning a heavily modified Nissan 200SX in the Nippon Challenge. Affectionately known as “The Hag” she has now been put out to pasture to make way for the e46.

So here’s where it started back in October last year:

A completely standard 50,000 mile 2 owner e46 M3 with full BMW history, no accident damage, perfect boot floor and generally mint throughout. Seems like a bit of shame really…. Oh well on with the build :-)

We will only be using top end, race proven products on the car. This does not make for a cheap build but it pays back dividends over the course of a season. With race weekends costing the best part of £2k, we’ve learned this lesson the painfully expensive hard way. So here’s some of the kit:

Motec M600
Motec PDM30
Motec CanBus Swtichpanel
Custom Race Loom
AIM MXL Pista Dash Logger
AIM Smartycam
More sensors than you shake a stick at
Custom Cages FIA Cage + Track Tek Diff Mounts
Alcon brakes
Turner Motorsports Solid Bushes
Mocal Diff Cooler and Pump
GSR Airbox
Drexler type Diff
We are also working with a number of suppliers to bring some seriously trick suspension parts to the e46 for the first time. Watch this space…

So firstly we stripped all underseal off the car. We did this the hard, manual way rather than dipping the shell. This allowed us to get up close and personal with the chassis so we could identify any cracks, issues or opportunities to make things lighter and/or stiffer. The Kumho rules are pretty strict when it comes to altering the chassis, so there’s a load of weight reduction that we’ve identified but sadly won’t be able to do on this occasion.

It was then on to the seemingly endless task of seam welding every chassis join and junction, of which there are many on the e46!

Next up was the FIA Custom Cages cage. Just one or two bits and pieces to be getting on with here:

As we all know the e46 is somewhat structurally challenged around its hind quarters, which is why the FIA cage ties in to the rear floor. However, we identified an opportunity to create an even more robust solution and machined up our own diff mounts and welded the cage directly to them. Just take a look at the standard mounts vs the Track Tek mounts. Beefy.

Track Tek diff mount on the left, standard diff mount cut out of the floor on the right

So with the cage finished it was off to paint.

20-07-2014, 09:03 PM	#1
jibber_monkey S2 - Picking it up Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 72 Casino cash: $3872	E46 M3 - Kumho Championship Race Car Build So this is a somewhat belated build thread. Which is apt, because the build is also somewhat belated! When we are finished this will be the Track Tek / Braille Battery e46 M3 entry in the Kumho Championship. This is my personal car but as Track Tek we have 15 years’ experience in building, supporting and racing various Japanese race cars, drift cars and turbo engines in various stages of tune before moving across to BMWs in the past couple of years. I’ve spent the past 6 years campaigning a heavily modified Nissan 200SX in the Nippon Challenge. Affectionately known as “The Hag” she has now been put out to pasture to make way for the e46. So here’s where it started back in October last year: A completely standard 50,000 mile 2 owner e46 M3 with full BMW history, no accident damage, perfect boot floor and generally mint throughout. Seems like a bit of shame really…. Oh well on with the build :-) We will only be using top end, race proven products on the car. This does not make for a cheap build but it pays back dividends over the course of a season. With race weekends costing the best part of £2k, we’ve learned this lesson the painfully expensive hard way. So here’s some of the kit: Motec M600 Motec PDM30 Motec CanBus Swtichpanel Custom Race Loom AIM MXL Pista Dash Logger AIM Smartycam More sensors than you shake a stick at Custom Cages FIA Cage + Track Tek Diff Mounts Alcon brakes Turner Motorsports Solid Bushes Mocal Diff Cooler and Pump GSR Airbox Drexler type Diff We are also working with a number of suppliers to bring some seriously trick suspension parts to the e46 for the first time. Watch this space… So firstly we stripped all underseal off the car. We did this the hard, manual way rather than dipping the shell. This allowed us to get up close and personal with the chassis so we could identify any cracks, issues or opportunities to make things lighter and/or stiffer. The Kumho rules are pretty strict when it comes to altering the chassis, so there’s a load of weight reduction that we’ve identified but sadly won’t be able to do on this occasion. It was then on to the seemingly endless task of seam welding every chassis join and junction, of which there are many on the e46! Next up was the FIA Custom Cages cage. Just one or two bits and pieces to be getting on with here: As we all know the e46 is somewhat structurally challenged around its hind quarters, which is why the FIA cage ties in to the rear floor. However, we identified an opportunity to create an even more robust solution and machined up our own diff mounts and welded the cage directly to them. Just take a look at the standard mounts vs the Track Tek mounts. Beefy. Track Tek diff mount on the left, standard diff mount cut out of the floor on the right So with the cage finished it was off to paint. Last edited by jibber_monkey; 25-07-2014 at 05:11 PM.