BRR BMW E36 M3 - Make Over - brrperformance.com

BRR BMW E36 M3 Make Over

So much has been done with the amazing BMW E36 M3. So much can be done. You can alter, upgrade just about anything and everything, to make it whatever you desire, and it will be great in all those versions. This car holds a lot of emotional attachment for us at BRracing. Robb’s first street car was a BMW E36. Our first BMW race car was a BMW E36. We have owned several, and loved them all. So, when this 1999 BMW E36 M3 with only 70k miles on it came to us, the big question was – what to do? We didn’t want to turn it into a track car, so the approach was simple, how do we make each element the best there is, or give it a truly BMW unique feel? Given the age of the car, many of the normal parts just needed to be replaced, so, we selected what we believe were the best options for that as well. Here is what we have done –

ENGINE

With the aim to improve the function, reliability, but not going for all out performance, these are the areas we targeted (valve cover (original is plastic, we would replace w aluminum version (from Europe), water pump, thermostat, all coolant hoses (instead of replacing w rubber again, replaced w silicon), radiator (replaced w aluminum version), aluminum radiator hold down clips, coolant expansion tank (known for being weak, replaced with aluminum version), spark plugs (replaced w better NGK versions), fan, fan clutch, intake (DINAN), drive belt, pulleys (w aluminum) tensioner, PCV hoses. Will amplify on all these choices below.

SUSPENSION

All the pieces of the suspension would get touched / replaced / upgraded. Again, the objective was not to make this a track car, but a car that could be daily driven, driven aggressively, and driven in the mountains / canyons with joy. The front suspension is very basic – but all the pieces would get touched (strut – replaced w Bilstein PSS9 / B16 coilover, upper strut mount (replaced w Vorshlag camber plates), lower control arm bushings (LCABs – replaced w Powerflex), sway bar (replaced w Turner stiffer sway bar along w bushings), lower control arm replaced w lightweight alum M3 version). Will amplify on the choices below.

BRAKES

This was one area that we wanted to go more along the lines of….what if BMW had created a “CSL” version of this car? Doing a bunch of research, found that BMW had indeed had a internal project along these lines, and had identified a set of Brembo brakes as part of that project. Doing more research, and talking to Brembo, was able to find that kit definition. That kit doesn’t exist….but we didn’t let that stop us. Found more info on the BMW E36 M3 lightweight race car (Euro verion). Got all the specs. Talked w Brembo again, found a set of calipers (front and rear) from a BMW E36 M3 lightweight racecar (Euro), and got the calipers. You always have to be aware of brake caliper fitment in wheels when upgrading to a true “BBK” (big brake kit). Rotors didn’t exist to mate. Didn’t let that stop us either. Talked w GiroDisc, did all the measurements, had a custom set of “rotor hats” made to mate to their rotor rings, and presto, we had BMW E36 M3 lightweight racecar brake setup, front and rear. Had the calipers powder coated “blue” to match the overall color theme of the car (white and blue, to match BRracing colors). Since this was now a standard Brembo caliper, there were plenty of pads to choose from. Add in stainless steel brake lines (in blue of course), and we had a complete, unique brake solution.

EXHAUST

Not much that needed to be done here, but we definitely wanted something more aggressive. Long time ago, when we were doing lots of E36 M3 upgrades for our customers, we thought one of the best sounding exhaust was the Stromung system. So, we wanted something like that, but a little more aggressive. Talked w Stromung, and had them make us a custom solution – w a mufller set that was more aggressive than their stock version, but not as loud as a full “straight pipe” solution. Replaced all the exhaust hangers with new, now you can hear the wonderful sound of this engine.

BODY

We loved the features of the original BMW E36 M3 lightweight, so wanted to do all of those upgrades, but go a little farther in the objective of a “CSL” version. So, add the front lightweight, fully adjustable front splitter. Add the rear, high rise, rear spoiler. Found that BMW made some special parts for a BMW E36 M3 project, which they called a “Clubsport”. Got those fun elements, added them to the car. Seats – replaced the front BMW buckets with new Recaro “sportster CS” (very comfortable, great fitting, easy to get into and out of).

DRIVETRAIN

When we got the car, we could sense a vague, soft clutch. Pulled the transmission, and sure enough, clutch disc heavily worn. So, out w the clutch, pressure plate, dual mass flywheel, and in with new (there are several choices here, go with stock dual mass flywheel, stock clutch, stock pressure plate, or “lightweight” flywheel and heavy duty clutch, or a full race, multi-disc clutch and lightweight flywheel. Normally, for street cars and the average driver, we are not fans of putting a lightweight flywheel and heavy duty clutch unless there is specific reason to do so. IF race car, then great, if massive HP increase (like going over 700HP), then great, but neither of those apply here, so no “need” to replace with anything other than stock (we have driven clutch based cars for decades, and never worn out a stock clutch solution, it all has to do w the amount of slipping that occurs).