Jeroen’s E30 325i track car
Latest update: April 9, 06
Have to be honest here… the E21 is a beautiful car and it has these
distinguished classic looks. But for a track car the E30 is cheaper to buy, cheaper
to run and there are more performance parts around. I’d love to have a S14
powered 320iS for that purpose but since these cars are becoming both expensive
and rare I settled for a 325i. Not too bad!
Let’s start off with a few pictures, first one was taken when I just
bought the car, the 2nd one after its first shakedown… a drifting
course on the national road authority test track on March 27, 05.
Well, as you can see it was not a real track car yet. First I wanted to
sort out the engine and suspension and do some testing on western European
tracks. Try to figure out the best ratio for a LSD. When the car went quite
well for some time (and some track and drift days!) I decided to fit a roll cage,
a race seat as well as a good steering wheel to go with it.
On this page:
·
Track
action summary
·
Track
driving report
·
Work
history
Track action – past & planned (details below)
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March 27, 05 |
ProDrive drifting course, Lelystad |
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April 24, 05 |
Clubspecial testing at Zandvoort track |
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May 6, 05 |
Trackday at Zolder racetrack, |
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July 23-24, 05 |
Spa Francorchamps track weekend, |
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August 6, 05 |
Private track event, Lelystad |
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August 28, 05 |
ProDrive driftday, Lelystad |
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September 25, 05 |
Clubspecial testing at Zandvoort track |
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… |
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Track driving reports
Zandvoort Clubspecial April 24, 05
Brakes... not bad but so-so cuz I had to stick to used
OEM pads for the front, my Mintex pads were not in yet...
Roadholding & suspension... pretty good considering I
am using a stock open diff. Diff ratio needs to be changed to adjust best to
the Zandvoort & Zolder tracks. No understeer, sometimes a slight but
controllable oversteer.
Engine… performed great, not the more or less standard
overheating for M20 engines on the track and that without any additional
measures other than the QH high flow water pump! Fuel mixture seems a but
stoich around 4200 rpm, have to look into that.
All 'n all a great day and the car just went and went...
here’s a few pics taken by Nils and by www.autofotos.nl
Zolder (B) trackday May 6, 05
Day started off
with rain and a very slippery and wet track. Tried to lap but my
After about 90
minutes the track was quite dry and stayed dry. The outside temperature was
ideal at 15 degrees so no overheating problems for tires or engine. The Zolder
track is known to be hard at the brakes and it was. Was still running on OEM
pads since there was no time to replace the pads and brake them in. This week I
will fit my new Mintex pads. Engine was good and fast… seems we’re almost
there!
A few pics thanks
to Arjan and Gerrit…
Spa-Francorchamps track weekend, July 23-24, 05
A week in advance I thought I had it all in perfect condition…. brakes
rebuilt and pads ok, new tyres & new Koni springs. 2 days before the track
weekend one of the new rear springs broke so I had to put in old M Technic rear
springs, not enough time to get something else grrrrr. The car performed
perfectly, ran fine, no temp problems, brakes were perfect and so were the
tyres. Just these rear springs… way too soft of course. So you first had to
turn the car in a bit to get the rear in position before the actual cornering
began, otherwise I would just skid off. Besides that… perfect weekend and a
great atmosphere.
Private track event, Lelystad, August 6, 05
A lot of rain and a lot of fun. Got Porsche GT Cup driver Erik Post to
drive my car as hard as possible for a few laps so I could take some nice
action shots of my own car.
Another drift day, Lelystad, August 28, 05
Big fun! Really getting the hang of it now. Car was perfect again but by
the end of the day it was not just the steering wheel at full lock, but the fan
clutch as well. Had to quit about 15 minutes before the end of the day.
Last track day of this season, Clubspecials Zandvoort,
September 25, 05
Decided that with this day it was enough for this season. The car
performing great again. It’s just that I am improving rapidly (ok at least I
think so) resulting in some understeer when steering into corners. Still
controllable so no real problem, but anyway. Next time I might need bigger sway
bars or maybe I should try on some slick tyres.
I might have been a bit to hard on the brakes even though they felt good
again after track driving. Will inspect them later.
Starting off the new season and testing all mods:
driftday Lelystad, March 26, 06
This day went really well! All mods were fine, except for a slight
overheating as the clutch driven fan was replaced by a small electrical version.
Won’t expect any temp problems on the track though, all set for the first real
track day of 2006!
Zolder (B) trackday April 7, 06
With the track just ready from large mods over the winter including
fresh tarmac, it was good to find out the track wasn’t as slippery as expected.
The weather was great and I was able to do a lot of laps. Started off on slicks
right away and that went fine and the car felt really well and was able to keep
up with several of the competition cars… if only I was a better driver it would
have been even better hahaha. No problems whatsoever… until I had a pair of
really warped front rotors by the end of the day. That being the only ‘setback’
for this day means we are ready for more fun the next track day, planned for
May 26.
Work history
I bought the car mid April 2005. It was already equipped with: ABS, short shift
kit, Green induction intake air filter, Sebring rear silencer, sports seats,
lowered suspension with Monroe Sensatrac shocks, Sportfahrwerk springs, solid
E30 M3 eccentric control arm bushings
Apr
Removing interior bits and pieces like the heavy floor mat, the rear
seat and the rear seat belts
Replaced water pump by QH hi flow pump
Bought a set of 7Jx15” MIM alloys (E21 ET13 offset for extra track
width)
Fitted cold air duct for intake
Replaced leaking power steering fluid tank (manual rack later?)
Valve clearance adjustment
Fitted steel braided brake lines at the front
Replaced RF control arm because of excessive free play
Replaced RR wheel bearing
Oil & oil filter change, currently trying out Brega 20W50
Front strut brace fitted
May
Replaced radiator by high capacity A/C example
Replaced timing belt & tensioner roll
Replaced rear springs by yellow Apex springs ‘cuz one spring was broken
May 19, 05
Replaced brake pads (Mintex M1144 all around)
July
Removed more interior bits like roof lining
Rebuilt the brakes
Fitted a 3.91 25% LSD
Fitted new tyres (Bridgestone Potenza S03 Pole Position)
Fitted Bilstein rear shocks
Aug 30,
Replaced fan clutch
Winter 2005-
Fitted a Mattes full roll cage from aluminum, one Sparco Kevlar race
seats with 4 point seat belt and a Sparco racing steering wheel (deep dish
type)
The original viscous fan was removed (they break down all the time
anyway) and replaced by a small electrical fan from a Renault Clio switched by
the original front fog light switch and relay. I placed the fan in front of the
radiator and had some small mesh steel placed in front of that to protect the
radiator after several stories of tyre rubber and pebbles ruining other cars’
radiators.
I wasn’t too happy with the Mintex M1144 front pads so I replaced them
with Ferodo DS2500 which do a much better job.
Had some Michelin used
Brakes bleeded as well.