Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted July 3, 2018 So after a ride in a mates championship winning drift car and a little taste of driving on the track with the M3 I decided to give drifting a shot, I sold something special from another project which hurt a great deal but I now have a budget which should cover buying, building and repairing a car and 6-7 events. The goal is cheap and cheerful drifting, but as im not what I would call a good driver this is thinly disguised as "driver training" to my wife ;-) Phase 1 - Buy a base... There was only one car to start with in my mind, na E36 coupe. I have always been a fan of them and they are cheap! Once the decision was made I had a 328 silver coupe in my quiver, amazed by how cheap it was the search continued for another as a spare, within a week I had a 318 with a blown motor. Spend - $300 total. Next up, Cant be bothered waiting... 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted July 3, 2018 I've never seen an e36 coupe with chrome upper window trim, interesting. Cool project, what's wrong with the 328 if you got it for almost nothing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted July 3, 2018 31 minutes ago, M3AN said: I've never seen an e36 coupe with chrome upper window trim, interesting. Cool project, what's wrong with the 328 if you got it for almost nothing? The 328 had no radiator, my guess is expansion tank blew or the radiator blew. Trans lines had been cut and all the oil was gone. Motor seems to run ok, compression test shows all over 200psi, but im swapping the motor out, more on that later. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted June 25, 2020 (edited) Well two years flew by, and so did a lot of tyre rubber. Quick update... Brought a 320i sedan and turned it into a quick and dirty drift car while i worked on the 328, finished the 328 coupe and had 4 track days in it. Lots of fun and loads of learning which i have really enjoyed. Next up.. more power Edited June 25, 2020 by Funkyflynz 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted June 25, 2020 Approved. Paying attention. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted September 24, 2020 While the intention was to keep drifting cheapish and cheerful it was hard to not to want something with more cylinders, but as we do i love BMW’s and the E36 chassis’ are so cheap and plentiful. Only one solution really, engine swap. This had been on my loose plan for a while, and research showed a lot of work and effort involved in a BMW v8 swap, for not much gain. So when a LS1 swapped coupe came up with a 1/2 cage and T56 i jumped. It was a gamble but the price ($12k) was what it would cost me to build one. Turns out it was rough and poorly done, but the running gear was ok and it saved me 6months of work (add that into the equation and its a win whatever way you look at it lol). So it was chopping, welding, etc to make this thing semi workable for drifting day. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted September 24, 2020 Liquid rewards well deserved it seems. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3570 Report post Posted September 24, 2020 are those tyres facing the wrong way? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted September 24, 2020 1 hour ago, qube said: are those tyres facing the wrong way? Sure are. It was mock up mate. Good eyes though Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted September 26, 2020 On 9/24/2020 at 10:08 PM, Funkyflynz said: Sure are. It was mock up mate. Good eyes though Surely not for when you're going backwards ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted September 26, 2020 7 minutes ago, polley said: Surely not for when you're going backwards ? Lol, theres plenty of backwards, maybe should have just left em like that Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted September 26, 2020 With the LS1 car build i pretty much used what i had on the shelf rather than rob the 2.8 car for its good stuff. This was a big mistake, the softer rear springs and shocks cause excessive rubbing on the guards, this caused all kinds of issues when on and off the gas and transitioning. Something had to be done... to be continued 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted September 27, 2020 With the car rubbing bad in the rear decided to lift it via spring adjusters, then put a smaller profile tyre on and went back out, the difference was night and day, i was able to keep the wheel speed up but raising it had changed the rear toe and it was getting zero side bite, combine this setup with trying to learn drifting at speed and..well... IMG_1162.MOV 1 1 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted September 28, 2020 Ouch, but at least you got some good photos! Thanks for posting, sorry it ended up that way, hope you're not too bruised (body, ego and enthusiasm)! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted October 7, 2020 On 9/28/2020 at 2:53 PM, M3AN said: Ouch, but at least you got some good photos! Thanks for posting, sorry it ended up that way, hope you're not too bruised (body, ego and enthusiasm)! Haha, yes i enjoy looking back at those and thinking about all the things i did wrong. Great learning experience. Got back out there for another run after that. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted October 7, 2020 After the tyre incident i learnt my lesson and pulled what good kit i had off my 328 and dumped it into the LS, fixed it up and booked another day, determined to learn track 2 at taupo ( link all the drift sections). Was pretty nervous heading back out again, esp coming in hot to the dip where i had the crash, but persistence pays off and by the end of the day i was linking the full drift section. Its a weird uneasy feeling going 90+ kph sideways. IMG_4091.MOV 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted November 18, 2020 12months in the LS e36 and its been a lot of fun, ive been fighting the car with various small issues, i guess to be expected when modifying a car this much with little experience. After some digging around i found that the cheapest Tyre option was to run 235/18’s. It was a mission to get them to work with decent geometry and the ride height i like (style still matters ?) and with the amount of angle the car now has. Over fenders were key. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Funkyflynz 151 Report post Posted January 16, 2023 After a 2 year hiatus due to family things it was a mad 3 month scramble to get the drift e36 back together with the new gen4 6.0, ecu, wiring, gbox, clutch, exhaust etc etc. Had a few teething issues with the new cam/valve springs and cooling system but managed to get it up and running the day we need to head off for two days of drifting 😰 so loaded up and hoped for the best... and we got it, two days full noise and not a single issue, couldn't believe it lol. Now its time to dial in more rear grip (running a 265/35/18) and find a good solution to upgrade the rearend - diff/axles 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arktis 58 Report post Posted April 20 Sick! I'm just about to start a similar journey, and currently on the lookout for an E36 328i coupe. One limitation I have is that I don't have anywhere to put a car trailer (it'd get stolen instantly if I left it on the street). How practical is it to have a car that I can drive to events in? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
