$2015 E46 330 Build thread

Hey everyone!

my friends and I (9 of us) are planning on participating in the $2015 challenge. Introductions first, we are all from India and came here for grad school between 2008 and 2012. We are all engineers working in the automotive industry in the metro Detroit area (everything from engine development to ergonomics) and although we all are enthusiasts, and (pretty good we think) Engineers, we have very little experience in Motorsports or fabrication.

Personally I have been wanting to do a challenge build for oh... 5 years or so, I bought an E30 318 and lost it rust (around 2012), planned others several times over the years but never got anywhere. This year looks like it might finally happen.

The interesting part : We scored a 2001 E46 330i with something like 200K miles on it locally for $1200, it has a slushbox that doesn't shift quite right currently, but the engine runs OK (cylinder 4 turned up slightly lower compression ~120 I think)

So far, we have stripped out the interior and are hoping to sell a good chunk of it to recuperate some build funds (please let us know if you guys want anything from it, are we allowed to link the craigslist / E46 fanatics ad here?) We also scored some used suspension bits for $250 from e-bay and are currently researching forced induction options / used race tires / megasquirt etc...

The build will happen mostly over the spring / summer due to the temperatures here, I just wanted to get a build thread started so we can see what everyone thinks and document our progress as we go along and get some ideas from experienced builders. We have a million questions, but I'll save mine for when the discussion gets to those points.

I am going to try and get the rest of the team to try and contribute/discuss on here. Pictures coming soon (I am posting from a work computer on break).

Damn, that's a hell of a find. Good luck with the build and can't wait to see pics.

Also focus on the rear subframe bushings and mounting area's.

JtspellS wrote: Damn, that's a hell of a find. Good luck with the build and can't wait to see pics. Also focus on the rear subframe bushings and mounting area's.

Thanks! Yeah, it looks pretty solid so far, hope we don't find any huge gremlins hiding in it. Will definitely look at the rear subframe.

I would research Corvette "wagon wheels". They are the right bolt pattern and really cheap on craigslist. The fronts are 17" and the rears 18" so you have to buy 2 sets to get 4 of the same diameter but then you can pick and choose the set you use based on the race tires you find and sell the others.

The generic challenge prescription fits that car very well:

-Strip as much weight as possible.
-get the widest/most sticky tire you can fit under it.
-Find shocks that can handle high spring rates (one of the harder areas to find cheap for me)
-Find or make stiff springs in roughly the same rates the high caliber autocross classes use.
-Actually adjust the camber/toe, etc...
-Lots of Naaaaws for the drags.
-Make it pretty.
-Take lots of pics and tell a good tale.

That is a VERY capable chassis. It could do very well in the challenge. Oh yeah, welcome and have fun.

Good times. Should be fun.

MrJoshua wrote: I would research Corvette "wagon wheels". They are the right bolt pattern and really cheap on craigslist. The fronts are 17" and the rears 18" so you have to buy 2 sets to get 4 of the same diameter but then you can pick and choose the set you use based on the race tires you find and sell the others.

with corvettes being 5x114.5 and bmw's generally being 5x120 explain how this is possible?

I don't think corvettes have ever been 5x114.3

Very cool! Happy to hear you guys are building an e46. Please do post the link to the FS ad. I have an e46 and could use some parts.

Hello all.. here are some pics of the car..

and the link to Craigslist ad...

MrJoshua wrote: I would research Corvette "wagon wheels". They are the right bolt pattern and really cheap on craigslist. The fronts are 17" and the rears 18" so you have to buy 2 sets to get 4 of the same diameter but then you can pick and choose the set you use based on the race tires you find and sell the others.

\ Thanks for the great reply. It does look like the corvette wheels will fit! 5x120 for BMW vs 5x121 for the corvette from 86 onward. Any tips on finding used race tires / slicks for cheap?

Thanks again everybody! the support is amazing here.

In reply to Mad_Ratel:

http://www.corvetteguys.com/corvette-wheel-tech.html#bolt%20pattern

Not sure if this was changed at some point.

Wow, learn something new all the time, was 95% sure all vettes/chevrolets that were not trucks were 5x4.5...

pres589 wrote: In reply to Mad_Ratel: http://www.corvetteguys.com/corvette-wheel-tech.html#bolt%20pattern Not sure if this was changed at some point.

Hello Guys . I am one of the crew members of this team . Really good support here . I hope this continues . I had a few questions about the budget ( Dont know if this is the right thread , please let me know if it is'nt). We are trying put a value on two parts that we want to buy from one of our friends.

1. Used Megasquirt2
2. Used Intercooler (CX Racing) with Pipes

These parts might be around 5 years old with approximately 50000 miles on them.

Please let us know if you guys can help us out with the pricing or if we need to post it some place else.

Also we wanted to know if there is any rule as such for post turbo downpipes ? Can we eliminate them ?( Not that our plan is to have a "Loud A*s" car, but for budget and time constraints )

Bump

mharsha wrote: 1. Used Megasquirt2 2. Used Intercooler (CX Racing) with Pipes

Usually you go with fair market value - I've bought and sold 2 MS2s over the last few years. I paid $225 for one and $175 for the other, used them for one project or another and sold them for around $225 each. The intercooler and piping can be bought new for $160 so call it $100.

In reply to thepope540:

Thanka a lot for the info . I was wondering about the budget details . What would be the official way of putting them in our budget file .

Mad_Ratel wrote: Wow, learn something new all the time, was 95% sure all vettes/chevrolets that were not trucks were 5x4.5...

pres589 wrote: In reply to Mad_Ratel: http://www.corvetteguys.com/corvette-wheel-tech.html#bolt%20pattern Not sure if this was changed at some point.

Close! :) 5x4.5 would be a lot of Fords and Dodges and Jeeps and most small bolt pattern 5 lug trailer wheels. Some B body GM's used a 5x5 (truck size) as did Ford with some of their land yachts.

Big update!! we managed to do some buying/selling over the past couple of weeks. We found a gentleman putting his modified E-46 330 back to stock and scored some really nice BMW Z8 wheels (and tires) from him for $300 and sold our stock wheels and tires with a lot of tread in them for $400. The Z8 wheels are 18x9 rear and 18x8 front, We also managed to sell the full set of leather seats (front and back) for a cool $300. Here's what the car looks like right now.

We are going to roll the fenders to make some room for these, and get some sticky tires. we don't have the best knowledge of slicks, so any input on tire recommendations would be appreciated.

Next part of the plan is to decide on POWWWWEEEER. so far Nitrous seems like it would be feasible within our budget, but the thought of having a turbo is a little hard to pass up. I have some experience with working on Megasquirt, but being able to only source an MS2 at a reasonable price, we would have to lock the vanos at max overlap "(probably fab a locking plate type deal) and give up some low end for ultimate HP.

We were thinking either an e-bay turbo (Does anyone have any experience with these?) or a used cummins/powerstroke turbo, so far the ones we have looked at are more expensive than would fit in budget. Again, if anyone knows a good source, we're all ears.

It's almost getting warm enough to start working on it in earnest.... Can't wait!

Nice! Looking forward to seeing this at the challenge!

More updates! Significant progress since last time:

1. We are officially the first team to register! yay!

2. The interior is gutted, and in the process of getting cleaned up

3. We bought a cheap e-bay turbo manifold($120 I think, teammates will correct me if wrong), trying to mount it inverted to have enough room for a turbo big enough to make a difference in the drag race: (gonna take a little grinding and massaging, but it looks like its symmetric and will fit)

1. Bought a turbo form an old DT466, but we might have a bit too much turbo for the cramped engine bay, working on getting a "smaller" turbo for a reasonable price:

More updates coming soon

Does that turbo's map really match the engine you've got? There are far smarter turbo people on this board than I am but that sounds like an odd pairing.

Cool project thread and nice find on the wheels.

You guys should look for turbos from V6 engines like a B5 S4 turbo or an E90 3-series. They should be big enough to flow the air you need for good power. I would be worried that 4-cyl turbos would be too small and diesel turbos would be too big, and not work as well with a wide powerband that your M54 engine has.

It's a really large turbo, yes; I don't think increasing low end power using boost is going to do anything for us on the AutoX, our thinking was the turbo should be big enough to be making high-ish ultimate horsepower (~450 is what we're shooting for) while leaving the N/A engine to pull us through the autoX. I know that's a ridiculous amount of boost to be pushing through the engine, but it's only got to hold for a few runs on the strip... otherwise there's always the spectacular failure award

Edit: spelling

dkarthik wrote: It's a really large turbo, yes; I don't think increasing low end poer using boost is going to do anything for us on the AutoX, our thinking was the turbo should be big enough to be making high-ish ultimate horsepower (~450 is what we're shooting for) while leaving the N/A engine to pull us through the autoX. I know that's a ridiculous amount of boost to be pushing through the engine, but it's only got to hold for a few runs on the strip... otherwise there's always the spectacular failure award

This party just got started. I like the unorthodox thinking going on here.

You could always use a compound setup so you could still get to use that big turbo