Re: Vorshlag BMW E46: Track Car Project
Project Update for Feb 12, 2013: It has been three months since my last update and we have been steadily improving this car and making it more street friendly along the way.
Other than a lot of little tweaks and parts replacements to the interior and such, most of what we've done has been centered around the exhaust system. Since the November update, the weather turned a bit frosty here in Texas. In the cold weather the reflashed (to the latest stock tune by BMW) DME kept throwing a Check Engine Light, with the stainless steel headers and custom exhaust we had built for it. So we chased O2 sensors and replaced all of them, did this, did that - to no avail. After 2-3 days of driving it would throw a CEL, every time.
Vorshlag is not a "tuner shop", we are a suspension shop with some work on our V8 swaps and various BMW service work thrown in for good measure. And nobody else in Dallas can seem to tune a factory BMW DME worth a damn anymore, either (the old shop that used to tune this car, when it was a DSP/TT car, has since gone out of business). I couldn't get anyone to pull the trigger on this beautiful car with a CEL on the dash, so...
We got a set of stock exhaust manifolds + cats + entire rear exhaust from a 2005 BMW 330Ci and pulled the lightweight "race" exhaust and headers, then put in these OEM parts. It took a few hours, but when it was done the car was much quieter when driving, still plenty fast, and ... no more CEL. I have been daily driving the car for the past two weeks in both warm and COLD weather without any issues. Got a fresh state inspection sticker last week, too. So now the car is really ready to sell...
New Classified Ad: http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-e46-01-330.php
Brandon took this "motion rig" picture last week, which came out pretty slick. We have the race headers/exhaust that can go with the car for a small fee, as can the extra set of 18x10" D-Force wheels and Hoosier R6 tires, or you can just take the car as-is and have fun driving it. The 285/30/18 Yokohama AD08 street tires that come on the 330Ci are fresh 180 UTQG "extreme performance tires" that do a very good job on the track or at an autocross, and are still excellent on the street in the rain or dry.
The car looks amazing, rides well on the AST 4200 coilovers, can be street, track or autocross driven - and do so pretty damned quickly - and has so many new parts that it should provide many years of reliable service. Everything under the hood is new - the motor, all of the sensors, the exhaust, the entire cooling system - all fresh. All of the suspension is new (bushings, control arms, shocks, etc), as is the clutch/pressure plate/light flywheel, and rear OS Giken LSD and differential. The interior is very sharp, the sound is now well muffled, the unique roof/fenders/giant wheels make this car look more like an M3 than a 330, and the Lapis Blue paint is absolutely flawless.
Somebody is going to get a very cool car, once I get the word out. Just had one person call about it while I was writing this, and he's coming by for a look tomorrow, and the new classified ad hasn't even been published yet. That's a good sign.
Cheers,
Project Update for Feb 12, 2013: It has been three months since my last update and we have been steadily improving this car and making it more street friendly along the way.
Other than a lot of little tweaks and parts replacements to the interior and such, most of what we've done has been centered around the exhaust system. Since the November update, the weather turned a bit frosty here in Texas. In the cold weather the reflashed (to the latest stock tune by BMW) DME kept throwing a Check Engine Light, with the stainless steel headers and custom exhaust we had built for it. So we chased O2 sensors and replaced all of them, did this, did that - to no avail. After 2-3 days of driving it would throw a CEL, every time.
Vorshlag is not a "tuner shop", we are a suspension shop with some work on our V8 swaps and various BMW service work thrown in for good measure. And nobody else in Dallas can seem to tune a factory BMW DME worth a damn anymore, either (the old shop that used to tune this car, when it was a DSP/TT car, has since gone out of business). I couldn't get anyone to pull the trigger on this beautiful car with a CEL on the dash, so...
We got a set of stock exhaust manifolds + cats + entire rear exhaust from a 2005 BMW 330Ci and pulled the lightweight "race" exhaust and headers, then put in these OEM parts. It took a few hours, but when it was done the car was much quieter when driving, still plenty fast, and ... no more CEL. I have been daily driving the car for the past two weeks in both warm and COLD weather without any issues. Got a fresh state inspection sticker last week, too. So now the car is really ready to sell...
New Classified Ad: http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-e46-01-330.php
Brandon took this "motion rig" picture last week, which came out pretty slick. We have the race headers/exhaust that can go with the car for a small fee, as can the extra set of 18x10" D-Force wheels and Hoosier R6 tires, or you can just take the car as-is and have fun driving it. The 285/30/18 Yokohama AD08 street tires that come on the 330Ci are fresh 180 UTQG "extreme performance tires" that do a very good job on the track or at an autocross, and are still excellent on the street in the rain or dry.
The car looks amazing, rides well on the AST 4200 coilovers, can be street, track or autocross driven - and do so pretty damned quickly - and has so many new parts that it should provide many years of reliable service. Everything under the hood is new - the motor, all of the sensors, the exhaust, the entire cooling system - all fresh. All of the suspension is new (bushings, control arms, shocks, etc), as is the clutch/pressure plate/light flywheel, and rear OS Giken LSD and differential. The interior is very sharp, the sound is now well muffled, the unique roof/fenders/giant wheels make this car look more like an M3 than a 330, and the Lapis Blue paint is absolutely flawless.
Somebody is going to get a very cool car, once I get the word out. Just had one person call about it while I was writing this, and he's coming by for a look tomorrow, and the new classified ad hasn't even been published yet. That's a good sign.
Cheers,
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