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Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

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  • Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

    Dave B is a local racer who has pitched in many times to help on our E36 LS1. He bought a low buck 1992 BMW 325i 4 door about a year ago and has jumped in with both feet turning it into a club level road race machine! He and son Sean were busy over the winter and have turned this boring gold Bimmer into a lightweight terror in a matter of months! This car is a perfect example of what you can do with some good planning, a bit of elbow grease, and modest budget.

    Dave posted a quick blurb this week about his BMW's first outing (at a BMWCCA autocross): http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6879 The alignment was "eyeballed", the front swaybar wasn't hooked up, and it had no cooling fan whatsoever, but they still did VERY, came in 2nd in the F class and raised some eyebrows.

    The car is being built for BMWCCA Production (or Prepared?) class road racing and will also run with NASA (GTS) and do some autocrosses as well. The car is very gutted - trunk, doors, hood are cut down to just shells and most glass is now Lexan - and should tip the scales well under 2500 pounds. He's running Vorshlag/AST 4200 suspension and has some R888 tires, for now. Lightweight aluminum UltraShield seats with his custom built floor brackets and Sparco sliders look tip top. Dave and son Sean have fabbed everything themselves on this project.

    We hosted some pics and videos of the car here: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/gallery/...59760913_HJ69F



    The paint is still the factory metallic gold (hence the nick name of "Goldmember") with some tasteful flat black accents. A low cost M3 replica front end improves not only the looks but allows for the use of a Motion Motorsports aluminum underpanel. Dave and Sean made the front end quickly removeable with 4 Dzues fasteners - in 20 seconds, off comes the front nose for easy loading onto a trailer.



    Brakes are currently nothing more than new OEM pieces. Suspension is AST 4200 with Vorshlag camber plates, of course. AST 4200s are the best shocks you can run in BMWCCA Prepared, as remote reservoir shocks are banned - this is the class we developed these shocks for.



    Here you can see some of Dave's fab work - custom seat brackets. Pretty slick little setup that uses a Sparco dual locking slider, allowing drivers of all heights to drive.



    The eBay headers he used - at first I was hating on these, but after seeing this $180 set in person and weighing them, they aren't complete junk... but yes, these are Asian import knock-offs. They do fit within this budget build very well, though. Dave built the after-header exhaust from there back. A simple side exit 2.5" setup with minimal fuss. He also added hotter cams to the motor and the setup sounds downright mean.


    link to video


    Check out the video above to hear the motor... sounds pretty good! It looks like it has quite a bit of torque and just leaps forward when you breathe on the gas. Rotates well, too.
    Last edited by Fair!; 11-05-2009, 10:52 AM.
    Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
    2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
    EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

  • #2
    Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

    I finally got to see Dave's car (Goldmember!) in action. He brought it to the SCCA autocross at TMS on Sept 27, 2009.



    This is a fairly high speed autocross that is held once a year on the infield road course at Texas Motor Speedway by the folks at the Texas Region SCCA. A few slalom cones and high speed offsets try to slow down the otherwise fast infield road course, and its always a blast to race here each year. Amy and I managed to snap some shots of Goldmember in action:







    While there I managed to snap a few pics of the latest work he and son Sean have done to the car:


    Custom air duct for intake in the LF headlight opening


    Aluminum radiator and Spal electric fan + new hoses throughout


    New repro M3 front bumper cover ($150!) with quick release mounting and Motion Motorsports aluminum undertray


    Stripped interior, gutted dash, gutted doors (rears just pin on and weigh nothing!). New sheetmetal covers for dash holes

    They have done all the work in Dave's garage, and the car is progressing nicely! New brake rotors and pads, the AST 4200s, fresh bushings in all the right places (Delrin, etc). I've even stolen a few of their ideas for use on future race car builds, like the quick release front end (makes loading onto a trailer even with steep ramps a breeze). This is another testament to what hard work and minimal spending can produce - a wicked sounding Bimmer race car with extremely low weight.

    Now if the car just had some real wheels and tires under it...
    Last edited by Faerus; 11-06-2009, 05:42 PM.
    Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
    2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
    EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

      Here's some shots showing the APR wing Dave and Sean added to the E36. The trunk was already "skinned" to remove most of its 42 pound mass, so I suggested that they make some sort of standoff that reinforced the underside of the trunk. This way aerodynamic loads onto the wing wouldn't buckle wide expanse of sheet metal on the trunk lid like wet paper, when road course speeds were achieved.


      The wing looks like its just slapped onto the top of the trunk lid (which I've done in the past with fully intact E36 trunks)


      Open the trunk and you see the structure they've added. The loads from the wing go thru this and right into the rear frame


      Here you can see the gutted trunk structure, and the steel added to mount the wing to, which sits directly onto the frame standoffs below

      Pretty clever. Looks simple, but trust me, that took some work to get everything to line up properly. I suspect Dave spent a lot of time in the trunk taking measurements and mocking up the steel before it was finish welded and painted.

      Good work.
      Last edited by Fair!; 11-05-2009, 12:18 PM.
      Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
      2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
      EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

        Wow.. I would love to do this one day.

        Car looks like it would be a TON of fun to drive
        99 AW M3

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        • #5
          Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

          Wheel and Tire Upgrade: Well after a season of autocrosing and developing the basics on "Goldmember" here, Dave has put some miles on the used 17" R compounds he picked up earlier in the year. These were mounted onto OEM M3 wheels, and the big 255's on the front 7.5" wheels were a bit squeezed. OK, a lot squeezed. He asked what size tires he should get next, and of course I replied with my standard "285s!!!!"

          That means 18x10" wheels, and that meant he needed a set of D-Force LTW5s. Dave didn't want to go thru the cost and hassle of adding flares just yet, so I promised him I'd help him "make them fit" without flares. Oh foolish, foolish me...

          Dave bought a set of 18x10" D-Force wheels in Anthracite from us a month or so back, recently found some new 285mm BFG R1s for a great deal, and mounted them up to his new wheels. This week he was finally ready to test fit them. Last night I made a trip to Dave's garage and brought my tools with me: hammers, dollies, a fender roller and a box full of various thickness spacers. We started at the left front, which I figured might be the easiest end of the car to work with. Wrong assumption.


          The stock 17" M3 wheels looked so tiny on the car!

          The fenders had already needed a little clearancing to fit the 255s, even with the skinny 7.5" and 8.5" wheels, and the "baseball bat" method was used. They got a little overzealous on the LF fender and used a piece of pipe... and the end of it rolled up and curled the paint off part of that fender. Since they had already bruised the paint, and it was a race car destined for a respray in the future, we didn't take as many precautions when we starting after fitting the 18x10s. Bring me the hammers!


          First mockup with hammer+dolly flattened fender lips, then some more rolling

          After a bit of hammer and dolley work we test fit a wheel. We knew quickly were in for a long night. Being a non-M chassis, the max camber achievable via camber plates alone is about -3°, which is what we saw. The tires were sticking out a good bit. We played with the ride height and got the lower spring perch above the tire, raising the car about 3/4" up from its "in the weeds" height to the 12.75" front height I like to run on E36s anyway, which allowed us to move the wheel inboard another 10mm. Then we tweaked the adjustable AST swaybar bracket so it swung out of the way (later we'll swap these to a newer design Vorshlag came up with that allows for maximum tire clearance). This allowed only a 20mm spacer be used up front (which is not abnormal), and in reality an 18mm spacer would have worked (but we don't make that size anymore). The tire was still poking outside the fenders a tick too much...



          So it was time for more rolling, and more negative camber up front, which it would need anyway to deal with the new found grip. The "right" way to get the target -4 to -5° camber is to use the M3 front spindles, which were added to our non-M E36 race car (the Alpha car), as this allows the same camber plates to see up to -5° on a non-M E36 chassis. Well we didn't have any M3 spindles just laying around (this will be a future upgrade, also allowing for an upgrade to 12.5" dia M3 front rotors) so Dave set to work making a pair of strut shims, that would allow the strut to "kick" away from the spindle and increase camber. This is a crude solution to get camber, but it works - with some drawbacks.



          While he worked at the drill press on making the shims, I got to work out back and started really swinging the little sledge hammer. Once the lip was rolled far enough flat I then used the fender roller to push the fender farther and farther outboard. Then more hammer and dolly work. An hour and a half later, we were ready for some more test fits out back. Dave added more rear camber via the adjustable lower control arms on the car, which helped immensely (it needed more rear camber, too). The inner fender panel needed some persuasion, too, and it was marked and checked with white spray paint and "test pushing" the car back and forth. With only a 5mm spacer and -2.5° rear camber, the rear was fitting pretty damn well. It may take some more tweaks during their next event, but the rear looks done.



          After Dave had the shims made, we got back to the front of the car, reinstalled the suspension, and did some more test fits. It was promising... it damn sure had a lot of camber now! -5° according to my measurements.



          The shims added about 2 degrees more camber adjustment, but also took away some much needed tire-to-strut clearance. This happens with "shimming a strut" on an E36, and is why I normally do not recommend this practice. Yes, its a cheap way to get camber, but you always loose tire clearance - and with 285s there's none to spare. So we had to add another 5mm of spacer, which pushes the tire out 5mm more. It sort of works, but in the future the spindle swap should allow for this camber setting and more tire clearance. This should get them through the next few events, if they are careful.



          In the end it was a productive several hours of work, with 2 wheels mounted and one side being completed, and the settings and methods easy to duplicate for the other side. I think Dave's going to run the last BMWCCA autocross at Mineral Wells as the first test on this new setup, as it will allow him ample time between runs to make tweaks, if needed.


          Quite the transformation from a few hours earlier!
          Last edited by Fair!; 11-05-2009, 12:26 PM.
          Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
          2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
          EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

            Goldmember Weighed!

            Took the borrowed set of scales (thanks Costas!) to Dave's today, on the way to pick up the Q45 motor for the E30 V8 swap, and got a baseline weight on his E36 4 door. An early E36 4 door typically weighs 2900+ lbs in stock form. Everyone guessed at the weight of the now lightened car beforehand, as its never been weighed, and we all overbid...



            That 2313 pound weight was with one of the heavy M3 wheels still bolted to the car, which would put it at 2308 once all four 18x10s were in place. That's right - the stock, skinny 17" M3 wheels with 255mm tires are 4 pounds heavier than the D-Force 18x10" and 285mm R1. Gotta love the lightweight D-Force wheels.

            The cross weights are all whacked because the ride heights are radically different side to side, as this car is in the middle of having the 285s fitted and we raised the left side during that work. Front to rear was actually better than expected, though. The rear doors, even gutted and with fixed Lexan windows, are still nearly 30 pounds each - so there's more weight to be lost. The steel hood is still in place, too.



            So a goal of 2200 pounds is not out of the question. Not bad for an FPrepared car built on a shoestring budget!
            Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
            2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
            EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

              Some pictures from the AST Test day at ECR last week:






              I'll post in-car video eventually (I'm lazy and way behind on video). Motor felt good, car made great grip, but it needs some work.

              The test day proved one big thing to me - Goldmember needs FLARES. The ride height was high enough that it topped out the shocks on most big corners, lifting the inside wheel(s) regularly. If the ride height were significantly lower (in the proper range) it would have the proper suspension travel and never top out the strut. It was just... not right. And even jacked up in the air, the tires still rubbed like mad. On hard corners it would actually start to billow smoke, so I only took a short stint in the car (I didn't want to cut a tire while -I- was driving).

              More flare work soon... this time, REAL flares will be added. Ugh.
              Last edited by Fair!; 02-16-2010, 08:37 PM.
              Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
              2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
              EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

                Goldmember needed more tire clearance for the 285s and 18x10" wheels. We hammered, bent, cursed and shoved the stock fenders as far as they'd go, and it still wasn't enough. The ride height necessary to clear the 285s was ridiculously tall (4x4 tall), and the shocks and shortened AST 4200 struts were running out of travel and picking inside tires off the pavement on heavy turns.

                So after rounding up four new Certifit fenders, and after I picked up a (cheap) new plasma cutter), Dave and I tackled the E46 steel fender grafting Flare Job on this car a few weeks back. After two years since the last flare job (Alpha car), I forgot how much of a wh0re of a job this was.

                As you can see below, the 18x10s were shoved as far inboard as they could go. The first step was cutting the front fender arches and mocking up the flares. Then I cut, removed, welded and re-spliced 1" band from the front lower grill surround. This was because we widened the front wheel arch opening by that much on the front side (cutting the plastic bumper covers with the air saw to match this arch is like butter).



                Some of this will look familiar:







                The front was pretty easy, but the back was a total biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch.







                Dave and I spent the better part of 4 days doing all of the plasma cutting, sanding, welding, grinding, more welding, more grinding, and coughing up pounds of paint, powdered metal, and sanding media. The rear was difficult because it takes a lot more testing, cutting of 3 layers of unibody steel, then joining these 3 layers for a watertight seal (and there's still work to be done). Messy, nasty, evil job.

                Here's the final look, with a bit of black primer on the bare steel, the bumper covers back on, and the ride height adjusted:



                Once Dave finishes the E36 M3 S50 motor swap wiring/tuning issues, we'll get it on the scales and re-corner balance everything, then alignment and get it back on track for more testing.

                We took a lot of video and will (eventually) edit together a "how to" on this fender flare mod. Hopefully we can convince others from our mistakes - always pay a professional to do this for you.
                Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

                  Just talked to Dave... Goldmember runs again!

                  The motor swap (S50B30 from a '95 M3) was going without a hitch, and Dave did all the swap work by himself in his garage over a weekend. The wiring harness and ECU came with the motor and everything installed without any hack work, it just wouldn't start. Dave tried a different MAF, all sorts of tests, but no luck. Turns out the ECU that came with the motor was bad, and now it fires up and sings.

                  Can't wait to see the car on track with the new flares and M3 power.
                  Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                  2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                  EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

                    So I got the car home on Friday and although the car was running it had a few vacum leaks that once I fixed them the car now runs great. I had to take off the side exhaust because the car sits so low it only had about 2 inches under the the pipes. I now have a rear exit exhaust that's seems a little quieter. I have the ride height set about correct as far as static clearance to the bump stops but still need to corner weigh it. Can't wait to drive it with the now power. So the goal is NASA on March 13-14 at MSR-Cresson.
                    Attached Files

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                    • #11
                      Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

                      It's looking at us with its one good eye.
                      -Sean Martin
                      2009 Pontiac G8 GT

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                      • #12
                        Re: Dave B's '92 325i Race Car (aka: Goldmember)

                        Long time no update... Dave has run this car at several track events already this year including the NASA MSR event on the weekend of March 12-13 and then the BMW Club Race/DE weekend at MSR on the weekend of April 10-11th. Dave has also installed a '95 M3 motor (3.0L S50) as well as a new chip, MAF, and more. So the car is now light and has power and has big 285mm R1s.


                        Left: Dave at the NASA MSR event. Right: Running at the BMW MSR event

                        As you can see the paint scheme has been improved, mostly to cover the flares we added a few months back. Dave managed to get his Time Trial license at the NASA event and ran TTS for that weekend, as well as a logbook for the car.



                        Since the BMW event he has added a Kirk Racing 4-point roll bar, built a splitter for the front bumper cover, got some number/class decals on the car, and is running in TTS again this weekend at NASA @ TWS.

                        Go Dave Go!
                        Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                        2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                        EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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