MasterC17 - 2002 M3 SMG Street Legal Track Car Project

Today I got the headers out, radiator, oil cooler, charcoal canister, and other misc parts up front. I test fitted the headers and they fit very well with a little bit of help, now just need to get them ceramic coated. The Zionsville radiator is a work of art I must say and so is the BW oil cooler. Almost to the point of re-assembly, almost. Still need to get out that rear subframe.

Have not updated this for a while, here goes.

Intake manifold removed along with the heater hoses and aux water pump. Now welding -10AN fittings onto the coolant pipe and routing back to the water pump to prevent hot spots at the back of the motor.




AN fittings are welded on parts. Rear subframe is out of the car. All ready to weld subframe reinforcement into the car. Oh wait no, there's a fuel tank in the way. Ah well, so the dissasembly process continues.

P.S. Not a single subframe crack @ 105k miles, I think this really is overkill for street cars.






Fuel tank is out and old wiring harness is about halfway out. Question - has anyone gone about deleting/simplifying the stock EVAP system; it seems terribly overcomplicated for such a simple function.



Got the wiring harness out today. Brought it home and spent the night pulling it apart. Should be finished up tomorrow night (maybe).

Originally Posted by dleb

Amazing build, thanks for sharing. I cant wait to see it at NHMS in the spring. Is this purely a track day toy or are you planning on turning it into a full blown race car?

Any idea what you were running for times last year? Curious as to the result of the winter project. My guess is this will be one of the fastest cars running at BMW club DE's

Thanks! Currently a track day car, but will eventually turn into a GTS3/4 car when funds and time permit. Last year I think my fastest lap was a 1:24, but I wasn't pushing the car at the time just trying to feel it out. I ran a 1:27 in our Lemons E34, so sub 1:20 should be easy. You should see me there in April -- assuming everything goes to plan haha.

Today I finished thinning the wiring harness and pulled the front and rear windshields. Also bought spot weld bits to get the roof out.





Got the rear subframe reinforcement all ready to be welded. Scuffing the undercarriage was considerably more annoying than I anticipated. Also replace the transmission mounts with solid aluminum ones.



Some more progress....







Tackled the rear subframe bushings and diff bushings last night. What a PITA!! One of the worse experiences I've had working on cars. Those things just don't want to come out.




And what do you do when harbor freight runs out of stock for engine braces? Build one of course!



New solid subframe bushings, solid diff bushings, and new OEM inner control arm bushings installed. Just a few finishing touches and the car is off to have the cage finished.



Solid motor mounts in, fuel tank back in with new vent line, rear subframe back in, studs in, wheels on, we're on our way!

EDIT: Wish I had a picture of the fuel tank before I put it back in. Instead of capping the two smaller vent lines I just ran a line from one to the other. Then on the big vent I ran the giant vent line pictured up and looped it next to the fill for the fuel tank. Should work well although I must not put too much fuel in!