MINIzguy wrote: Some better pictures. No hot girls here!
AW MAN!
MINIzguy wrote: Some better pictures. No hot girls here!
AW MAN!
I saw a still in primer 318ti with box flares the other day, looked awesome. One of the coolest cars I've seen in ages. Sorry no pics, it was going the other way and I was late for work, maybe I'll run into him sometime and grab some photos.
It's been a hot minute since I've gotten to work on the car. I am back for a short Easter break and got straight to work on the car. Planning an autocross on Easter Sunday, 4/20.
In two days, I've completed:
3-button alarm programming
radio head unit wiring
PCV and hose replacement
engine mounts
transmission mounts
alignment
front bumper bar installation
Here are some pictures of the aftermath. Of course, I also documented an update video on my progress.
Wow. A long time with no updates. I've since got Star Specs on the car with new lightweight wheels. Put wheel studs for the new offset wheels and also did a rear brake job since it needed it. An unexpected purchase of a new head unit rounded it up. I think the car is better than my skill level so I've still got more practice to do on it.
Post pics! Also, what's the horrible grinding/screeching sounds? Is it a bad mic?
Wind? I didn't here anything abnormal. These are the first pictures ever taken of my car at an autox. Still a good amount of body roll. I gotta work on my rear bushings, then I'll start on sway bars.
Time for some Roundup or a weedeater at that autox course! Looks like fun though!
Dirty injectors much?
Just sent them out to be cleaned. I want to get the car buttoned together by next Sunday so I can autox again. It may be a time crunch though since it will take 1 week for the injectors to get back. I'm also replacing vacuum hoses and a coolant block under the intake manifold.
It is back together. I shorted out the starter some how from what the shop told me. Got it back together with help from a BMWCCA member supplying me with a used starter.
Here's a comparison between the FAT Hotchkis front sway bar and the stock 26mm sway bar. An update on its effectiveness will come this Sunday.
Philly SCCA autocross. 7/11 in STX and 51/106 in PAX. Good day for me and I'm happy with the car for once.
South Jersey SCCA autocross. 31/74 pax and 3/4 in STX. You can hear it bounce of the rev limiter down a few straights, but I'm not brave nor skilled enough to do multiple shifts on this course.
Nice! That Jersey one was an awesomely huge auto-x course! Looked like fun...nice run!
Thanks! The south Jersey events are awesome to drive since they courses are so big. It is a pain to work though. My station had me looking forwards and backwards for cone calls/off courses when I was working the radio. A little hectic at times.
Newest autox event. Finding the real limit of my Star Specs now that I'm getting noise from them.
Here are some recent photos.
How's the balance with the new front sway bar? Are you adding a thicker rear one too? Is that a new Post It Note spoiler? :)
The front sway bar made the car a lot more neutral. It used to oversteer in transitions where now the car feels planted. I went from 26mm solid to 33.4mm hollow. The best modification I've made besides replacing the blown dampers. I don't plan on adding a thicker rear sway bar yet.
The Star Specs & wheels came off and the all-seasons w/ stock wheels went on today. I realized the rear subframe bushings have major cracks in them. My trailing arm bushings must not be in great shape either. I'll replace those and maybe find a LSD to fit back there too as a project for next summer.
Autocrossed this thing at school. 50 degree weather + rain + 500 treadwear all-seasons = FUN. Very tail happy and exaggerated the need for a LSD.
Now I'm having thoughts of selling it to get into an E36 sedan.
Nice talking to you on sunday, (Alex - The guy in the dual-driver Red STX prep FR-S) This thing was a LOT faster than I expected it to be!
Autolex wrote: Nice talking to you on sunday, (Alex - The guy in the dual-driver Red STX prep FR-S) This thing was a LOT faster than I expected it to be!
Thanks! It is a momentum car and turns very well for how little the suspension has been modified. However, after seeing the inline 6 BMWs drive, I really want one of those instead. I feel that I am fighting a losing battle with the 318 since I'm down so much on power and gearing.
never underestimate the ability of a light car on wide rubber to embarass much more well prepped cars... 
I was amazed to learn from your thread that the 318ti is classed in STX with its weight to HP ratio. I honestly think that if you write a well thought out letter to the SEB, you could get it reclassed into STC, especially since they have proposed moving it to H Street for this coming year. The SC300 is already classed in STC and has a better weight to HP than the 318ti. I suspect you'd be a bit more competitive there.
I made a dumdum purchase early on and bought ~15lb 16x7 wheels. No wide rubber going on that! Just going to be 205/55/16 and maybe 225/50/16 if I have a hard sidewall.
That's an interesting thought to get my car moved to a different class. I did read the excerpt from the rulebook that states, "Sedans and coupes NOC, 4 seat minimum, up to 3.1L normally aspirated." My car definitely fits within those bounds, but so does any E36 non-M. Not sure how to word it either, besides that power to weight ratio. Also, looking locally, STC competition is much smaller than STX, so I would have less people to compare myself to.
Anyway, selling this car for a 325/328 is just a dream unless somebody makes a huge offer on the car. I've put a lot more into the car than what it's worth.
First mechanical issue I've had with this car. Of course, the BMW cooling system is at fault.
I've been getting a strong coolant smell from the car lately. The radiator overflow tank also gets pressurized when hot and pushes all coolant out of the overflow tank (no fluid registers sometimes). The worst thing is that it starts to run hot after 10 minutes of idling. However, as soon as I start driving, the gauge will settle right back to the middle. I don't have a mechanical fan since M44's don't come with one. Also, if I rev it when idling, the temperature doesn't shoot down.
What seems to be wrong?
Did you change the coolant in the last 5 years? Make sure the hoses are ok. I suspect that you need to add an electric cooling fan and shroud because the fan is what keeps temps down at idle. I'm fairly sure that you don't have air bubbles in the coolant.
Coolant has been changed within the last 6 months. There is no visible leak from the hoses from the radiator to the water pump. Not sure what is going on underneath the intake manifold as I can't see the hoses there. The heat gets hot, so I don't think there is an air bubble either. I have an electric fan on the car, like all M44's. I believe it is the original cooling systems but I've replaced the plastic coolant pipe on the engine block.
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