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irish44j
irish44j PowerDork
9/24/15 4:46 p.m.

lol, I think the road that goes TO our rallycross venue is rougher than the FIRM's actual rallycross course. Hell, that looks smoother than some of the paved roads I commute on

Ross413
Ross413 New Reader
9/24/15 6:02 p.m.

Great thread man!! Good read, with good pics!! Keep it up please.

Thanks Ross

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
9/24/15 6:32 p.m.
irish44j wrote: lol, I think the road that goes TO our rallycross venue is rougher than the FIRM's actual rallycross course. Hell, that looks smoother than some of the paved roads I commute on

Agreed! They have a very soft section also that gets very rutted and a large dirt jump too. I always have to slow for those spots in the miata. I was really looking forward to hitting those in the truck. But pretty much all smooth stuff at the last event :( there was a bumpy muddy spot that I was blasting through early in the day but it dried up pretty quickly.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
9/25/15 4:26 p.m.

We passed tech!!

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/1/15 3:32 p.m.

The 14 hours of Sebring was one of the coolest events I've ever participated in! We spent about 3-1/2 hours total in the pits struggling with an electrical charging issue (we were towed in 3 times), but we got more racing time than we had even hoped for, being our first race ever, for all of us! We were swapping and charging batteries about every hour or two. At dusk we swapped in a new alternator, thinking for sure that was the problem, but it didn't fix us :( We crossed the finish line at 11pm in 67th place out of 100 cars! It was a huge success and tons of fun! There are certainly a few things to correct, but we're looking at possibly doing the 24 hour event at Homestead on New Years!

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/3/15 1:54 p.m.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
11/3/15 3:39 p.m.

Things that happened lately: $2k Challenge! Always a good time! I got 10th out of 58 in the autocross, which is the only event I can really hope to compete in with a mostly stock miata. I'm not sure of my drag (17.2 s), concours, or overall placement - haven't seen those posted anywhere.

With my track efforts becoming refocused on the miata chump car, the BMW has been sitting unloved for a while. I'm considering selling her and recently removed all of the vinyl and had the paint reconditioned. Shes never looked so clean and smooth!

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
12/7/15 10:55 a.m.

My e30 ^^^ is for sale! Please contact me if interested.

Brought the Danger Ranger out to Port St Lucie for a very wet rallycross last weekend! Traction was very hard to come by with standing water and slippery mud everywhere, even with the BFG All Terrain tires, but it was still fun. I took home 1st place in MR (only guy in my class). I brought my girlfriend out too and she had a fun time riding along and hanging out.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
12/22/15 2:45 p.m.

Since I have owned the Ranger, the driver's seat has had some worn springs that tilt you toward the door. So, this weekend, I picked up a used generic racing seat that smelled like cat piss before a thorough scrub. I also attended and won another Woodsman Cup! Well, I won the "twin cylinder" class, but did not take the overall. the groms dominated the overall race.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
12/22/15 5:01 p.m.

Stickers for more powa!!

Petrolburner
Petrolburner HalfDork
12/23/15 4:40 p.m.

Nice stickers! Are those custom or generic eBay type stickers?

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
12/24/15 6:38 a.m.
Petrolburner wrote: Nice stickers! Are those custom or generic eBay type stickers?

They were $35ish on eBay. They feel very thick and durable.

ValuePack
ValuePack SuperDork
12/24/15 9:34 a.m.

I'm off to look at(buy) a rusty '87 Rebel 250 with 98k for $300 Saturday, thanks to you... bastige.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
12/24/15 12:02 p.m.

In reply to ValuePack:

Wow! 98k is insane miles for a rebel, but if it runs well, go for it!

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/6/16 1:36 p.m.

The next BMW has been acquired! The grueling tale of this transaction will be told in the next few days when I have some more time. (Seller was an indecisive and inconsiderate D-Bag!)

2002maniac
2002maniac Dork
1/7/16 11:22 a.m.

Excellent! Did the E30 sell?

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
1/8/16 7:04 a.m.
2002maniac wrote: Excellent! Did the E30 sell?

The e30 is still for sale! I have a couple of parties interested, one in Cleveland and one in Seattle (I'm in Florida), but nobody has put the money in my hand yet.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/8/16 9:41 a.m.

She's safely at home and has her new gold style 5s bolted on!

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
1/8/16 10:29 a.m.

LONG STORY OF THE E36 PURCHASE:

So I decided in early November that it was time to let my long-time e30 track car go because my track efforts have become more focused on the miata chump car. The e30 just isn't super fun to hop in for a weekend drive anymore with the bucket seats and stiff suspension. So the hunt began for a black e36 m3 - preferably with a light colored interior , clean body, reasonable mileage and some maintenance history. I want to keep the car pretty stock with only basic modifications - intake, cat-back exhaust, chip, and suspension.

I found an absolutely perfect match in the bimmerforums classified section, but the ad was about a month old. The car was in Atlanta (8 hours from me). I got in touch with the seller right away and started discussing details. As soon as I started asking specific questions about a meet-up time and location, the texts and return calls went cold. I had already pulled out a loan to cover the cost until my e30 sells because I wanted this e36 so bad - it was a perfect match! Finally, I got him on the line and he apologized that he had "changed his mind" and no longer wanted to part with the car.

Well E36 M3. so my hunt continued to nationwide craigslists as well as various forum classifieds, autotrader, and cars.com. There were a few good ones here and there. I started to consider a red or white car instead of my preferred black. Some had rust. Some had salvage titles. None were perfect. I bought a set of gold style 5's locally knowing that whatever car I got needed these wheels! They sat in my garage lonely for weeks.

Finally, out of frustration, I sent the Atlanta M3 owner a photo of my style 5s and said, "These things really want to be bolted up to your car. Any chance you've changed your mind about selling?" He responded with "whats your offer?" So we discussed the sale some more and I bumped my previous offer up by $500. However, he was "very busy" and couldn't set a meeting time. His text responses went cold again for a couple of weeks. I kept hunting on Craigslist.

I found a nice looking black car in Miami listed at $5,800 (pretty cheap)with low miles. It had a salvage title that the seller claimed was from a reported theft recovery (I later found out it was a flood damaged car). I went to check it out. The car looked ok and drove really well. I offered $5k and was about to put a deposit on the car and decided to call the Atlanta guy one more time before I dropped the deposit. His car was a cleaner example with maintenance history, intake, exhaust, chip, etc - everything I wanted.

He picked up the berkeleying phone! wow! He now claimed he was willing to make a deal if he could keep the "broadway static" limited edition suspension he had on the car. I said "Sure". My plan was to take that stance boy crap off and get some good Bilstein equipment anyway. So I told the Miami seller, "thanks for your time" and headed back home.

Now the priority became helping the Atlanta seller find some replacement suspension so he could remove and keep his Broadway Static stuff. I was coming up empty handed but about a week before our anticipated meet-up date, he found a Tein setup locally from one of his friends. Excellent! This is going to happen!!

I was headed up to Atlanta for a work trip earlier this week. I hitched the trailer to my truck on Monday and started heading north. The plan was to meet up Wednesday morning at the seller's work for a transaction. On mid day Tuesday, I texted him a couple of times to confirm the meeting time and that everything was good. No response. I even saw the little "..." to indicate that he was typing, but no response.

Not this E36 M3 again!!

I waited until 7pm when he was sure to be off work and gave him a call. He picked up and confirmed an 8am meet up at his work the following morning but just acted as if not responding to my texts was perfectly normal. berkeleying prick.

I go to bed at the hotel around 10:30 and get woken up with a phone call at 12:30. The seller says he just got the Tein suspension bolted up and the front wheels are rubbing the strut. He won't be able to drive the car to work in the morning. E36 M3!! So I say "Whats your home address? I'll come get it there." He very reluctantly gives me the address. The new plan is to be at his house at 7, so he can make it to work by 8.

I'm up at 5:30am to hit the local Walmart Superstore for some temporary wheel spacers - fender washers. I get to his house at 6:50 and the place is dark and silent. There are 3 cars in the driveway but no M3. I call him twice before he answers. "I'll open the garage in a minute," he says. We spend 20 minutes getting the wheels spaced in his cramped-ass garage. The car looks great and fires up immediately and purrs nicely. The receipt file looks good, underhood and underneath looks clean and rust-free. The driver seat electric recline and the passenger window mechanism both need some help but everything else looks great. At this point, theres no way I'm leaving without this car - even without a proper test drive.

We make the exchange and I load it on the trailer. It was the most tedious and ridiculous car sale I've ever been involved with. But I'm super happy at this point. I got the car home and bolted on the waiting style 5s, knowing their offset would clear the strut easily. It looks beautiful! But the fresh brake pads are just barely pressing the brake caliper against the back face of the wheel. Still no test drive!! Today after work, I'm going to grab some wheels spacers from Autozone and give this thing a rip!!

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/14/16 11:55 a.m.

The new e36 came with a bum window regulator (big surprise!) heres my temporary solution until a new (used) piece comes in the mail.

Out with the old and in with the new!

I removed a momo in favor of a freshly recovered mtech II wheel. Much more classy and refined IMO ;). The goals for the e36 are kind of oem+. I want it to be autox and track capable while remaining fun and comfortable on the street. Now to disassemble the electric Vader seats, replace some gears and get them fully functional again.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
1/14/16 12:02 p.m.

Also, finally drove the e36 around a bit. It's awesome except for the gangsta lean driver seat position. I need to fix that! It feels extremely healthy and the exhaust note with the UUC cat-back is arousing! It sounds exotic. I can't wait to get some of the fixes and bilstein suspension squared away!!

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/31/16 10:41 a.m.

Dad doing some iracing at Road Atlanta in preparation for this weekend's chump race.

Also pulled out the old Tein Coilovers setup off the M3 in favor of some fresh Bilstein sports and H&R race springs with some KMac camber plates. I'm very happy with the look and feel. The slightly taller ride height let me put some 235/40 Falkens on with just barely a rub in the rear on the rolled fenders.

I took a deposit on the e30 too. It should be on its way to a new home in Canada within the next two weeks.

Slippery
Slippery GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/31/16 11:29 a.m.

I love the e36 with the style 5 wheels. What are the specs or what BMW did they come off? I assume a e39 5 series?

Is that a '98 M3? I see rear headrests and I think there is no door airbags.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
2/1/16 8:46 a.m.

The style 5s are indeed from an e39. there are a few varieties available, but these ones are the most common. They are 17x8 et20 at all 4 corners. 16"s and 18"s are also out there, some in 9" width. But they are much harder to find.

The car is a '99.

Lof8
Lof8 GRM+ Memberand Dork
2/7/16 1:31 p.m.

We survived Road Atlanta! What an awesome track! The esses and turn 12 are just ridiculous, fun, adrenaline pumping, and nut checking excitement. We have reconfirmed that our tired little engine needs some refreshing to be competitive. We're certainly one of the slowest cars in the straights :( but that didn't hinder our fun too much.

We had another alternator go bad and cost us some time in the pits. Our new light bar was 1000x better than the stock headlights. I had a pretty good spin in turn one and took pretty good hit from a 300zx who wasn't able to avoid the contact. It broke a tie rod and bounced the engine right out of one of the mounts. After a parts store run and an hour or so of work, we were back out there. Luckily, the car felt no different than before the contact. We finished the race 79 out of 112 unofficially. Awesome experience and an item crossed off the bucket list!!

We'll be doing something about our lack of hp soon.

http://photoberkit.com/copper/albums/userpics/10013/AD28ABB3-5207-4931-8C40-813FC5C06098_zpsghflwsaw.jpg

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