Getting your Z3 on track - what should I look to do?

[M@r]{]

Planning on using the car for Drift and Track use What sorts of things would you recommend I do to the car before hand? Any weak areas to these? Ideally I'm hoping to learn from others experiences so I can have a stress free season

 

[r37]

the 3.0 came with a LSD which is a good start and as per your other thread you have coilies which will be needed. You'd definately need to get the boot welds seen to, even if they arnt popped at the minute they will while drifting. I'd also look at cooling. The radiator is set very far back within the car and airflow from the side isnt good. Unfortunately the fan cant be spliced into easily and used manually so maybe going for an aftermarket radiator to keep things cool. The engines are pretty bulletproof but a major service and maybe some nice induction + exhaust bits would be beneficial.


After that i'd brace the whole car. Front + rear butt struts and maybe even the chassis brace,poly bushes and thicker roll bars and depending on if you want to stay convertable or not maybe a custom made rear top mount strut. After that pretty much comes down to stripping every part you dont need. The stock seats are very heavy and theres alot of sound deadening in the car. Depending on how tall you are you might want a smaller wheel, im 5'10'' and of fairly stocky (extra cuddly) build and the wheel rubs on my legs and the pedals might need looking at. Harder to heel and toe on a pedal hinged at the ground so a thicker pad on the accelerator pedal to bring it in line with the other pedals would help.


Probobly loads of even smaller things ive forgotten but got all the big bits in. Should make a decent drift car, the few times the back has stepped out on my non LSD 2.8 it handled nicely and held some fairly reasonable slides (non driver induced slides i might add, the roads round here are caked in mud most of the time)

 

[GazHyde]

There are a couple of useful articles in our Wiki area written by Mike Fishwick. Well worth a read.

http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/modifications/bmw-z3-subtley-stiffening-a-z3-by-mike-fishwick/

http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/mo...ic-suspension-modifications-by-mike-fishwick/

 

[M@r]{]

Cheers guys

With regards to the boot floor, any idea where to get that done inn the UK? As a preventative? Or is it better just to wait until it does go? I imagine that's going to be expensive so if I can wait it would help me no end, spread the cost of getting this car on track rather than everything up front

 

[Aceman]

Maybe not as expensive as you think. basically all the spot welds in the boot including ones hidden under soundproofing need drilling out and rewelding then under the car once you have removed the exhausts and other stuff in the way the boot floor needs seam welding. You can also get hold of a reinforced diif support which needs welding in place but if you do all the prep work yourself like grinding off the paint and soundproofing in the boot plus the underseal under the car any decent welder should be able to do the job for around £250 tops. Then all you need to do is is re-underseal and paint the inside of the boot.

Better to get it done now before it goes particulary if you are planning drifting because when it goes it will start to rip the floor then it is a whole different ball game and will need the boot floor panels replacing so that's when it gets expensive.

 

[M@r]{]

To a Complete mechanical numpty like me I'd need to have the whole lot done. How much do you think then?

 

[Aceman]

Probably £400-500 hard to give an exact figure as it is all labour and rates vary enormously depending who you use.

 

[M@r]{]

Any recommendations on where to take it?

Thanks for the advice by the way

 

[Aceman]

I know a place near me but it's a hell of a long way for you to travel, somebody else might know somewhere nearer.

 

[r37]

it might be worth trying a local engeneering firm, they tend to have better welders than mechanics and im sure they'll fab up various braces in the blink of an eye. But any mecanic / BMW indy should be able to do a decent job on the boot floor.

 

[NeRo]

I've not really been into Drifting in the past, but there is a bit of interest starting in Scotland with Jumanji Nights at the Spedeworth Thunderdrome, Lochgelly - I loved watching the BMWs (see some of my photos here ~ Lochgelly photos)

Chizfab seems to be the recognized experts locally - worth a look at their website Chizfab

 

[M@r]{]

There are a couple of useful articles in our Wiki area written by Mike Fishwick. Well worth a read.

http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/modifications/bmw-z3-subtley-stiffening-a-z3-by-mike-fishwick/

http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/mo...ic-suspension-modifications-by-mike-fishwick/

those links made excellent reading, however the first one mentions some "rear cross member bush inserts" and how you get them from Ebay in the states from a particular seller. However the seller doesn't seem to exist and I cannot find these parts Is there a way I can get hold of this Mike Fishwick to ask him for advice?

 

[peteslag]

Any recommendations on where to take it?

Thanks for the advice by the way

I've used these guys for various jobs, they are extremely good. Shouldn't be too far to travel from the East Mids.

http://www.autotechperformance.co.uk/

 

[M@r]{]

Any recommendations on where to take it?

Thanks for the advice by the way

I've used these guys for various jobs, they are extremely good. Shouldn't be too far to travel from the East Mids.

http://www.autotechperformance.co.uk/

Cheers Pete. I've used them once, I was working over in Telford and had them look at a problem I had with the Z4. I was really impressed. Just wish they were a bit nearer as I'd use them for all three cars, for everything. The distance with these guys isn't the problem so much, (200 mile round trip) it's if I have to leave the car there. As for this job, ie a one off, good thinking. I've emailed them to get their opinions on it.

 

[M@r]{]

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