BMW Z3 race car

[Sakari Matt]

After completing 4 seasons racing a Mk1 MR2 I had to take a 2 year break to support my now ex's business idea (that failed!). For 2015 I will be returning to the circuit and as I already have 2 BMW's decided to add a third, narrowed down my options between the E46 330ci or a Z3 (to fit into series class limits). Decided to go for the 2.8ltr Z3 as, on paper, it had the same acceleration as the 330 but would be in the class below it giving me future room to upgrade and go up a class. Its also something a bit different and its similar in size to the Mk1 MR2 which was great to race.

The car is currently sat in my workshop and I am taking delivery of lots of shiny new parts, other than a good service and replacing a few ancillaries I'm not going to touch the engine at this point as its close to the series BHP limit anyway. My main focus is going to be on improving the handling hence I have invested in coilovers, full poly bushing, new control arms etc, H&R anti roll bars and a strut brace. I have a week off work in a couple of weeks to get the first stage complete which should see the car mechanically sorted with the interior out and new seat in; I'll then take it to a trackday beginning of March to test everything out before getting it back in the workshop for further stripping out ready for the roll cage to go in and then the other safety related features required for racing.

First race is planned for 15th June at Mallory Park, it will be the 3rd race of the season but I wanted to take my time to get the build right.


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SPONSORSHIP - if anyone's interested in any kind of sponsorship I'm always happy to listen to proposals! I am currently sponsored by G-Continuity who provide me use of a car trailer and a custom carbon fibre company who have just started up who will hopefully be creating me doorcards, a carbon roof to replace soft top, dashboard, bonnet and some other body panels.

Additionally if any technical/mechanical people want to give me a hand on race days that kind of support is always welcome

[Mr Silver]

I know of a truly superb driver who would do it for two sandwiches and a packet of crisps (OK, forget the crisps).



Regards

[Sakari Matt]

Got the driver side covered cheers, its the rest I'm not sure about!

[Brian H]

Subscribed, please keep us up to date with you progress. What Coilovers did you end up buying?

Additionally if any technical/mechanical people want to give me a hand on race days that kind of support is always welcome

This sounds like fun but I am on the wrong side of the country

[Joycey]

Me too I would be right round. Theres not a job on these z3's I havent done yet. Shame your so far away!

Lee

[Sakari Matt]

I'll post up a list of race dates later as we go all over the country, bound to be a circuit near you at some point during the year the furthest south we go is Castle Combe in September as i'm missing the Brands Hatch round.

Coilovers - went for the BC racing RM set as they have inverted dampers and a pillowball top mount for lots of adjustment. I don't have a huge budget so wanted something decent that didn't cost a fortune, seemed like the best option.

[Brian H]

Coilovers - went for the BC racing RM set as they have inverted dampers and a pillowball top mount for lots of adjustment. I don't have a huge budget so wanted something decent that didn't cost a fortune, seemed like the best option.

Interesting, I have a set of the BC Racing RA waiting to go on the car, After speaking to the guys at BC Racing it was felt that if I were to use the car on the road (and I will) the RMs would be too severe. I also bought an additional 8kg spring set to go on the rear.

[Sakari Matt]

The RM series is more severe than the RA which is what I'm after, I suspect the kit you have is probably more suitable to those wanting to track days and not so much the daily drive

[Sakari Matt]

Here are a couple of pictures of all the parts about to go on the car next week. Spent more on the parts than I did on the car!

[Brian H]

You have a busy few days ahead, which pads did you opt for?

[Sakari Matt]

Oh yes, I have 9 days straight to get as much done as I can! Went for EBC yellow stuff pads as I can get a very good deal with EBC. Yellow stuff seemed the most appropriate as my races are 15min long and the red stuff tend to take a bit to warm up, whereas the yellow stuff are good from cold. I'll see how these go as I get used to the car and will change as necessary.

[Brian H]

Oh yes, I have 9 days straight to get as much done as I can! Went for EBC yellow stuff pads as I can get a very good deal with EBC. Yellow stuff seemed the most appropriate as my races are 15min long and the red stuff tend to take a bit to warm up, whereas the yellow stuff are good from cold. I'll see how these go as I get used to the car and will change as necessary.

Interesting, I have tried the green, red and yellow stuff pads and cannot get them to last, I am now on the blue and they are brilliant. I tend to brake late and hard and found the yellows would not last through a single trackday. I will admit though since changing to blue pads I have also added some front brake cooling ducts which I suspect help an awful lot.

You may have fun fitting the seat, from what I have seen very few if any bucket seat fit in a Zed without some form of trimming of the seat and or car.

[Dino D]

Can I ask where you get a good deal on the yellow EBC?

I run yellows and mine and love them but don't track it.
They've lasted 30k road miles but if I can get a good price I'll keep them until needed, they are quite a bit more than 'regular' pads.

[Sakari Matt]

Based on Brian's comments above I may well be selling on my brand new set and fitting the Blue pads! There's a Marshal in the company who offers very good deals to other Marshals so got the deal through him.

[Sakari Matt]

Brian - how did you sort out your brake cooling? I haven't got around to having a good look around that area yet. I won't be needing fog lights so could use that area to direct airflow.

[Dino D]

Based on Brian's comments above I may well be selling on my brand new set and fitting the Blue pads! There's a Marshal in the company who offers very good deals to other Marshals so got the deal through him.

I just bought a set of rears today but am interested in the fronts for a reasonable price, can put them aside until needed...

[Brian H]

Brian - how did you sort out your brake cooling? I haven't got around to having a good look around that area yet. I won't be needing fog lights so could use that area to direct airflow.

I used a set of old fog lights, took off the glass and then attached two hoses out of the back of each fog light. The hoses feed cold air right in to the back of the brake discs. I've got a few jobs to do on the car tomorrow so I'll take some pics if you like.

[c_w]

I've found EBC Yellows to the better pad vs the Blue. I've done loads of trackdays in my coupe with the Yellows, no problems at all with fade and no judder. With the Bluestuff I found them great on the road, really strong and nice feel but on track I started suffering judder quite badly.

I've currently got Orangestuff a 2nd version of the grade in my car; they need warming up but not tracked them.

[Sakari Matt]

I'll do the same trick with the fog lights, cheers. I'll run the yellows to start with seeing as I've got them then up grade when ever needed.

Taking the front suspension off today, what a ball ache! So much rust and cross threaded bolts!

[Stormy_be]

Would love to hear about your experience with that suspension.
Thinking for some time about which suspension to put undo my z3 (which is a trackday-only car).

Do i see it correctly on your picture that the rear springs have some kind of ring.
Does that mean they are also adjustable in hight?

Also heard about somebody who fabricated an adapter to be able to fit e36 rear suspension....but haven't seen it in real live or on pictures yet.

Regards, Koen

[wassell]

Would love some details on the seat mounting when you get around to that

[Koolflyer]

Matter of interest. what make of control arms did you buy...OEM, Meyle ??

[Dino D]

Coilovers - went for the BC racing RM set as they have inverted dampers and a pillowball top mount for lots of adjustment. I don't have a huge budget so wanted something decent that didn't cost a fortune, seemed like the best option.

Interesting, I have a set of the BC Racing RA waiting to go on the car, After speaking to the guys at BC Racing it was felt that if I were to use the car on the road (and I will) the RMs would be too severe. I also bought an additional 8kg spring set to go on the rear.

Sorry for the thread hijack but I've just ordered a set of BC BR'a to replace my FK Silverlines.

The chap at Corby Motorsport recommends the RM's be taken apart and cleaned and oiled etc annually so really for track day cars or people with facilities.

So I went for this set:
http://www.corbymotorsport.com/z3-c-1_2 ... p-952.html

@Brian I notice you've gone for 8kg at the back rather than 6kg all around. What's the reason?

[Brian H]

……..@Brian I notice you've gone for 8kg at the back rather than 6kg all around. What's the reason?

PM Sent, dont want to clutter up Matts thread

[Stormy_be]

I can also see (a bit hidden on the pictures) a short shift gear lever, correct?
I would like to make a sort of ferrari style H-gear-mesh.
Reason: to be able to block off 1st gear when on track.
My zed is rhd....in belgium...so not really used to rhd shifting.
On my first trackday while redlining in second went to 1st instead of 3rd....very lucky i still had the clutch delay valve or i would have broken the gearbox, clutch and/or engine.

The normal gearlever is to thick to make the H slots in a mesh.
The short shifter look to be less thick, correct?
Would it be possible to have the short shifter with a old school ferrari gear mesh?

Thanks, Koen

[Sakari Matt]

Time for a long overdue update! I usually cruise the forums on my lunch break but work have changed the IT policy and I can't get on forums

Anyway finally got the car ready for its track outing right at the last minute. I only had time to remove the drivers seat, to do this I managed to get to 2 bolts under the seat, once removed and with a bit of force it tipped forward and I was able to remove the wires and extract the seat. This still left the seat mounting blocking the rear bolts so out came the angle grinder, it was a massacre! In the end the best way is to cut along the runners, expose the worm gear then cut out the block. Fitting the bucket seat wasn't easy either, I had to fabricate some temporary seat mounts then remove the door card. I will get the seat fitted properly when it goes off for its roll cage.

Suspension is adjustable in more ways than I know what to do with! First run the tyres were rubbing on the arches slightly so raised the height at the front and lowered it a bit more at the rear. The car was so stiff that it was hopping around the corners so I softened the rear off a few clicks.

Overall a good day out and I proved the engine had some power, tyres were old road tyres so I lost grip from them way before I troubled the suspension set up. The brakes felt a bit soft but this may be down to me getting used to the car and removing the ABS pump may help, it still seemed to stop well and improved after some brake bleeding.

I got some OEM control arms from GSF car parts, the higher quality ones they did. Thought while i was doing everything else might as well change them.

Yep there's a short shifter in that lot, cheap thing off eBay. Haven't fitted it yet as I didn't get the clutch and flywheel fitted, another job for my roll cage man!

Plan is to spend the day in the garage tomorrow removing anything I don't need so i'll try and get some pics up of progress.

One development is that it looks like the roll cage won't fit under the soft top so I will be going for a hard roof sooner that i thought. This will be a carbon/kevlar composite with no window, instead i'll use a reversing camera and 7 inch screen. Eventually i'll get a custom carbon dash to mount the screen in as well as 2 4.3 inch to replace the wing mirrors (these get knocked off easily when close racing).