Performance BMW — September 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 53

example, the battery has been relocated

which saved 4kg of copper cable, and the

loom has also been stripped back to just

the bare necessities. While the windscreen

is still the original glass item, the rest of

the glass has been removed and replaced

with ACW Motorsport Lexan windows, the

side ones having been fi tted with braces

to prevent them bowing out at speed,

which shaved 35kg off the car’s weight.

Add that onto the 4kg saved from moving

the battery and you’ve almost cut 40kg

from your E36, so it all adds up, no matter

how small some of the individual savings

may seem. Oh, and there’s also a Sparco

intercom system fi tted, because it gets

pretty noisy in the cabin and this car gets

driven everywhere, including to the ’Ring’,

so it saves having to shout.

The chassis is obviously hugely

important for a car like this and Darren

has cut no corners in the pursuit of

track perfection. The suspension itself

comprises Bilstein PSS9 adjustable

dampers running 200mm H&R springs and

60mm helper springs up front with 250mm

H&R springs at the back. GAZ camber and

castor adjustable top mounts have been

fi tted up front while at the rear you’ll fi nd

Rogue Engineering items as well as a set

of Turner Motorsport rear camber arms

mounted using Powerfl ex Black Series

bushes. The amount of chassis work

that’s gone on here is mind-bogglingly

comprehensive and reads like the ultimate

track build shopping list. We’ve got

Powerfl ex bushes on the rear subframe

and trailing arms, an AGK poly diff

bush, E36 Convertible X-brace, a Rogue

Engineering front strut brace and a Mason

Engineering rear brace tied into the rear

subframe. There are Vibra-Technics engine

mounts, UUC Motorwerks red gearbox

mounts, a Turner Motorsport 30mm front

anti-roll bar and 24mm rear item along

with Turner Motorsport adjustable rose-

jointed drop links. A West Suffolk Racing

stud conversion kit has been fi tted which

makes swapping wheels that much easier;

the original 17s have been fi tted with

race wets but for dry duty Darren runs

these 18” Hard Motorsport STW centre

lock wheels with a single nut hub and

12mm spacers up front, wrapped in 235/40

semi-slick DMack tyres, which serve him

well on both road and track. Any circuit

is demanding on brakes but the ’Ring

even more so as corner follows corner

relentlessly, so the E36’s stopping power

has been suitably uprated. You’ll fi nd beefy

AP Racing CP5200 four-pot calipers fi tted

up front, which clamp onto 330mm J-hook

discs, while at the rear sit M3 Evo calipers

with 315mm grooved and vented StopTech

discs, and Carbon Lorraine pads have

been fi tted all-round along with

Goodridge braided hoses. Stopping power

would be nothing without adequate

cooling to actually let you use your brakes,

so Darren has removed the front fog lights

and fi tted Mosley Motorsport adapters,

behind which you’ll fi nd Turner Motorsport

3” ducting hose to direct cool air to

braking components.

So, you’re stripped out, your chassis

has been honed to perfection and now

you need to get the power to make the

most of all that, and this M3’s engine bay

does not disappoint. It is dominated by

the massive VTF Opitz carbon air box,

which looks absolutely awesome; it’s fi tted

with an aFe Pro 5R air fi lter and is fed

with cool air via a Ramair 80mm intake

with a hole in the front bumper to help

force as much air into the engine as it

can ingest, and it can ingest plenty thanks

to an End Tuning remap that has raised

the rev limit to 7500rpm. Elsewhere the

engine has been bolstered with additions

Very cool retro yellow

headlight lenses

Gold-lined

GRP bonnet

PBMW217.e36_track_car.ed2.indd 53 07/08/2017 08:25