E46 M3 - Kumho Championship Race Car Build

[jibber_monkey]

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.

[jibber_monkey]

And then it sat for a few months as the workshop filled up with customer cars, so we had to put the project on the back burner for a while.



As you can see from the pictures our new unit is still not quite yet finished but we've decided to crack on with this build instead of finishing the ceiling.

Sensible choice I hope you agree :-)

Updates to follow

[Stumpy]

Nice.
Love a good build diary...

[mattCSLnut]

THANX for sharing a MONSTER M3 in the making keep it coming

[jibber_monkey]

So a bit of an update with trial fittings of various light weight panels today:

GTR bonnet





Fibreglass Doors







Single skin CSL style boot



Carbon roof



And light weight e36 type dash (makes for easier mounting of switch panel)



Not pictured but also going on are fibreglass front wings and CSL style front bumper with twin air scoops which we'll use for brake ducting.

All the panels need quite a bit of work to get them properly aligned but we at least know where the issues are.

Anyone know of anyone that does half decent (but cheap!) fibreglass rear bumpers? The standard rear bumper is outrageously heavy given that it's plastic.

Job for tomorrow, get some pictures up of the suspension...

[Brandtner]

Awesome build. Keep it coming.

[jibber_monkey]

Found a few more cage pics just after it was painted, seemed rude not to post them...

[///martin]

proper and perfect work with details

[jibber_monkey]

Martin, apart from an e36, I don't quite know what your car is but I like it! Any links you'd care to share?! :-)

[///martin]

Originally Posted by jibber_monkey

Martin, apart from an e36, I don't quite know what your car is but I like it! Any links you'd care to share?! :-)

I update the threat when have something new to share but the car is not ready.I hope soon will share new updates