So in my quest to build a SM car....REMOVE EVERYTHING

[1990m3]

Fair, does that piece in your pic above allow a rack to be installed in a late model e30? I understand a z3 or e36 rack will require cutting of the firewall to work in an airbag e30, got any tips to making this work? I have an e30 m3 rack, manual now and just considering future options in case the manual steering doesn't work out

[Fair!]

Non-power steering rack is over 4 turns lock to lock. Would be ok for track, but IMHO isn't fast enought for auto-x. You can try to fill the rack with oil, plug the holes and see how that feels.

I like my power steering and ABS.

+1 to this! The power steering rack is slow enough as it is on the E30... couldn't imagine running with the manual rack for autocross! Ditto the ABS (our 91 E30 has it, and it works). Nothing like having the confidence of ABS as you dive into a corner sideways and stab the middle pedal. No flatspots, no worries.

I'm a bit partial to the E36 Z3 rack, the fastest of the E36 racks (what we run in our XP classed E36 LS1), and the E36 racks can be made to work in an E30 with a bit of effort. We even make the proper BMW splined steering u-joints and a complete steering shaft (needs to be shortened a bit to fit the E30) to make the E36 steering rack swap easier. We've got a few in E30s now and they all love the new steering shaft assembly. SMOD legal? I have no idea... haven't looked at the SMOD rules in months.



We bought the last two Z3 steering racks we installed at freagin AutoZone! :D

Cheers,

[alex]

anyone actually autox on a regular basis without a PS pump? I know std. E30s have really light steering, but that seems to me like it would suck on a tight/technical course.

agreed on the seats - sport seats are more like 50lbs each!

Non-power steering rack is over 4 turns lock to lock. Would be ok for track, but IMHO isn't fast enought for auto-x. You can try to fill the rack with oil, plug the holes and see how that feels.

I like my power steering and ABS.

[Mike B.]

Is there a source for NEW carpet that won't give me a heart attack?

I can get you the perlon felt in charcoal gray or black. You will have to cut your own carpet, but it is light and under $100.

[einstein57]

I mean the stuff that's stuck to the body under the carpets/seats - not the stuff in the carpets themselves.

and uh, no. my carpet is mint. ;)

I was saying d74798473 should swap the carpet since he is being weight concious. I added extra deadener around my trans tunnel and following the exhaust.

[einstein57]

Is there a source for NEW carpet that won't give me a heart attack?

Home depot lol. Just get one from a wrecker.

[DSP74]

Is there a source for NEW carpet that won't give me a heart attack?

[nando]

Are you nucking futz. The padded carpets are heavy as ish. Swap yours out for the 84 318i carpet.

I mean the stuff that's stuck to the body under the carpets/seats - not the stuff in the carpets themselves.

and uh, no. my carpet is mint. ;)

[einstein57]

from what I understand, the sound deadening isn't all that heavy anyway.

Are you nucking futz. The padded carpets are heavy as ish. Swap yours out for the 84 318i carpet.

[rsafier]

Indeed many different ways to skin a cat :) Plus autocross cars are definately tailored to the primary driver. Some light tight cars, others like loose. I know the why my car is setup requires a completely different style then if I step into a normal prepped E30.

In any case the end result of your development will be a fun ride, and probably pretty compeditive at hopefully a lower cost of entry then even the base price of a new STI or Evo before they get to modding. Its more productive then a herion addiction, but similiarly hard to kick once you got a taste for it and might not be any cheaper :)

Oh and to the question above: Yes, Porsche 18x10s, the street wheels are 15x7. Using crazy 2pcs adapter plates that convert and offset enough to run the 5x130? lug pattern. My front offset is like -20 and rear is -10 something like that (the spacers are 65mm deep). You get a lot of extra track width. The wheel bearings haven't complained yet!

[browntown]

Dear God. Are those porsche wheels?

[rsafier]

Guess it all boils down to cost vs. performance. 15s on light steels with 275s is best bang for the buck. Moving to custom rims is going to up cost a lot, weight a few pounds at best and show very little if any for performance. Only reason against a stagger is that then you tend to have a car that will be more understeer biased (of course you can adjust it out some), also no rotation, which is important to get the most out of some very expensive rubber.

Even tho I went down the SM E30 road myself, I honestly believe it should only be done for fun. There is little point if you want to be a national front runner, its already near impossible and every year older the car is it will be moreso. Its a great way to really kill the value of your car (with the hacking required for the large tires) and still not be able to get 1st place (if that is what your after).
I was really happy to keep less then 3 seconds of the Showcase Evo at Peru, with a better driver in the seat that gap might have dropped another 1.5 or so but that is it. Plus the gap was that small because of the way the start was at Peru, we had a good 5 seconds of curve before we hit the lights. That placement really killed the awesome launch advantage of any of the AWD cars (Video of the launch area: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLEGcYox31s )

[rsafier]

Well other then I don't care for the 275/15 Hoosiers as far as wear it is a better option. Tho I don't know if it is legally possible to then hit minimums in the E30. I really do believe that is more targeted to the AWD and ricer group. I think my car was 2600#s, it could be 2500#s with proper light wheels. Which was the min. for a 2.5L RWD FI car last year.
Also you would have issues fitting a 315/35/17 under the car, tho rear only might be okay, but NO WAY it works in the front. That is why I am running a 285/35/18. Its the shortest tire combo (other then the new 275/35/15s). Even so in the front you have to make some possibly iffy clearances on the inner fender and only get about 1 lock of turning before you hit something. As you can see in this picture its a lot of meat


After seeing a E36 launch I will say its 100x better on launch, far less chance of hop. That is one place where my 60lbs tire/wheel combo helps me, fairly hard to hop it on the 3.25lsd even if you spin like crazy off the line.

I think a E30 SM car can be compeditive locally, but nationally we are not talking a top 5, and as more Evos and STIs are sorted out its even less likely to get top 10. Just too hard to keep up with them, but still fun.

E36 LSx swap in XP seems to me like a winning ticket. There you can do far more weight reduction. SM you really are suppose to have all the interior minus rear seats.

Oh yeah and on a road course other then your arms getting more tired its not bad at all. Tho I will say I never drove with PS on the 285s, think it would be way way harder. I only did it on 205 Falkin RT615s which are far less grippy.

[jlevie]

At AutoX speeds I'd tend to think that retaining the power steering may be a benefit. You'd be working rather hard in the slower sections. For road racing you'll never miss the PS system as you'll never be going slow enough to have to deal with large steering efforts.

[rsafier]

anyone actually autox on a regular basis without a PS pump? I know std. E30s have really light steering, but that seems to me like it would suck on a tight/technical course.

I did for a half a season when I got my first turbo car and the guy was lazy so just had removed the PS to make room for tubing. Its possible but not great option. Once your going fast enough you just can't keep up for really quick transitions. It does feel better as it is quite overboosted otherwise.



As for all the weight reduction I can honestly say I went down that route some and its NOT worth it. One the carpet lightening and such is already iffy on the rules. Two it doesn't matter because with the power levels you will need you will be very close already if you add a turbo and some real rubber. At the Peru NT last year my car was 100#s over class minimum. Now I had a 18x10 wheel combo that was about 120#s over what a lightweight wheel package would weight! That was full of fuel as well.

At the end of the season I even ended up adding a 5 gallon tank of water in the back for extra intercooling and weight. The extra weight helped balance out the car and give me a little more traction.

Oh and yes the 2.7 ratio rack is a GREAT improvement over the stock 4.0 turn unit.