Proud new E21 Owner

[clownshoemotorsports]

I've always liked the E21--maybe because it was the first BMW I ever rode in, or maybe because it is a model often neglected by enthusiasts. I own a BMW specialty and performance shop, and while I've worked on many 2002s and E30s, I have never had the opportunity to even work on an E21 before. I assume the lack of popularity in the States is because of the dismal performance and ugly bumpers of the US version of the 320i (which is the only version we received).

Like any car enthusiast, I often browse eBay Motors looking for the deal of a life time. A week ago I found it: Listed was a 1979 BMW 323i Race Car. The ad said it wasn't running, but had been on the race track last fall. I figured that was OK--I build BMW motors every day. Then I noticed the car was right here in Dallas, TX. I was getting excited. Now for the truly amazing part--the price: $500 USD!!! I called the seller every 30 minutes until I finally reached him. He told me the car was stored in a garage at Motorsports Ranch-Cresson (a road course track an hour away) and that someone was coming to look at the car tomorrow. He said I could look at it after the other potential buyer. I promptly informed him that I wouldn't need to see it, that I was ready to buy it. An hour later I had the title, log books, and service history and the seller had the cash.

Now as we were exchanging money and paperwork, he kept telling me not to expect much. That the car was extremely rough, noncompetitive in it's racing class, and not running. I expected the worst, but figured for 500 bucks I'd take the risk. He had an extra set of light weight wheels that I also bought for an additional $100. Two days later I picked up the car, brought it to the shop, and started going through it.

Here where it get's good...the details on the car:

• 1979 BMW 323i
• Rebuilt 2.5L M20 using E30 electronics with less than 1 hour of run time. (The head gasket failed during break-in November 2011)
• Rebuilt E30 Getrag 260 Transmission
• Rebuilt Driveshaft
• Full Cage legal for all US club racing (I don't like the front half of the cage, but I can easily replace it)
• Reinforced rear shock towers
• Custom radiator w/ built in oil cooler (the core is over 40mm thick!)
• Custom Gauge panel on a aluminum dash: Tach, Oil Pressure, Oil Temp, Water Temp, Voltage, and Wideband O2
• Window and center nets
• OMP Race Seat with 6 point harness
• Aluminum Passenger Seat with 5 point harness
• Fire Suppression System (covers the driver and engine bay)
• Custom Aluminum front air damn/splitter
• AP Racing Aluminum rear airfoil
• 25.8mm Front Sway Bar with Poly Bushings
• 19.6mm Adjustable Rear Sway Bar with Poly Bushings and Adjustable End Links
• Fiberglass Hood
• Lexan Windows
• 4.10 LSD
• 3.91 LSD
• Coilover Suspension Front and Rear (Height adjustable, no rebound or compression adjustments)
• Stock Brakes with good rotors and over 50% of race pads remaining
• Stainless Steel Brake Lines
• 8 - Kosei K1 Race Wheels (15x7 13lbs)
• Riveted on Fender Flares
• Removable Racing Steering Wheel
• Transponder (for timing and scoring)
• Painless Racing Wiring Harness
• Adjustable Camber Plates
• Front Strut Bar Brace

I'm sure there's more I've forgotten, but that's not bad for 500 bucks!

And now here's a few photos of the car. It needs a little bodywork, but it will make a fine race car!














My plans for the car:

I have a low hours 2.5L M20 race motor from one of my E30 race cars on a stand in my shop. I'm going to install that motor just to get the car running so I can begin using it for Track Days and Testing.

Next, I'm faced with making the car competitive in a racing series.

Motor
There are two series I'll compete in. The first will class the car by displacement and the second by weight/hp. The maximum displacement I can run in the class I prefer is 2980cc. That means I can either destroke a S50B30 or build a 2.98L M50. I'm going to go with the M50 because it is difficult and costly to get a S50B30 here in the states. To fit in the right Weight/Power class I'll need to de-tune the M50 or add ballast.

Wheels & Tires
To be competitive I need a little more rubber under the car than the 15x7 wheels will support. I will likely sell the 15x7 K1's and go with the Kosei K4 in 15x8 with 245/50R15 Hoosier R6 tires.

Suspension
There are lots of bushings that will need to be stiffened up. I will replace all factory rubber with poly bushings. The current coilover aren't very good, so I'll be replacing those with a set from GAZ Shocks. I need to get a set of 323i front struts to GAZ. Is there anyone in the UK that has an extra set they would sell to me and ship them to GAZ? I'd prefer not to send the already modified set that are on the car.

Brakes
With over 300hp, I will need a lot of stopping power. Any suggestions on upgrades for the 323i?

Other
The car will need a little work to the cage, chassis stiffening, body work, and paint. I may need modify the subframe to use an E30 differential. I may also need to use modified E30 half shafts.


Since I can do most of the work in house, I think my total cost for the entire project including the purchase of the car will be $7500 USD. That's cheap for a car that will be capable of embarrassing modern Porsche 911's on the track!


Thanks in advance for your suggestions and feedback!
BJ Meyer
Clown Shoe Motorsports

[Jeroen]

Now THAT's a proper introduction! Welcome here and what a wonderful track car! A lot already done and more on the way huh, hope ur able to update this thread on a regular basis!

As for the brakes, with some custom brackets there's enough you can make fit, even Brembo, Porsche or AP. But the limitation is probably the wheel size. What wheel size are you planning, or allowed, to use in the future?

[Jeroen]

BTW moving the thread to the owner's gallery...

[clownshoemotorsports]

Although I'll be spending quite a bit on the motor, I want this to be a budget build. I want to be racing this E21 as soon as possible. I am currently building my 2002 M Coupe into a race car as well. The M Coupe is not a budget build and will take a lot of time and money to complete. I sold my Porsche 944 race car to help finance the M Coupe build which took me out of racing. When I found this E21, I thought I could put it together so I can continue racing while I finish building the M Coupe.

What wheel size are you planning, or allowed, to use in the future?

So to answer your question, I am not limited on wheels. I would prefer to keep the 4x100 bolt pattern, but would be willing to convert to 5x120 if it can be done cheaply. 15" Wheels are lightweight and cheap, so 15x8 are a goo option. I'd rather use 15x8.5", but I'm having a hard time finding any in that size. 17" wheels would allow for a lot more tire options, so I'm not opposed to 17x8" or 8.5" at all. The problem seems to be finding 4x100 17" wheels wider than 7". Have any suggestions?


And just for fun here's a action shot of my 2002 M Coupe project. This was the car in street legal/track day form:



Thanks,
-bj

[Mihajlo]

check this out
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-x8-10-XXR-00 ... 500wt_1180

or this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15X8-ROTA-GRID- ... 016wt_1398

[clownshoemotorsports]

check this out

Those aren't bad, but a little heavy. I've been looking at the Kosei K4R like these from Tire Rack: http://tinyurl.com/6rdeury

They say $600 a set, but I can source them for $500 per set. The offset is +20mm. What offset should I be looking for considering that I have fender flares? I guess that I could go take some measurements, but that seems like too much work for a Sunday afternoon...

-bj

[clownshoemotorsports]

My fender flares for the car are proving to be less than ideal. They are for a 2002, and don't seem to fit well. Additionally I want to cram more tire under the car, so I've been looking for flares or body work.

I found this gem last night:


It is a Mike Dietel body kit. Dietel imported BMWs into the US in the late 70's and early 80's. He was know for making his own performance versions of the cars he imported as well. This body kit is the same as he used on his E21 345i Turbo creation. You can read more about his 345i and see pictures of the kit on the car here: http://www.supercars.net/cars/4643.html

-bj

[Danny043]

Welcome here and nice E21 and extra stuff you bought
That's a lot of extra stuff you got with the car, like 2 LSD's! They are rare and wanted items here in Europe.
As for wider wheels, how about having 7J wheels widened ?

[clownshoemotorsports]

Welcome here and nice E21 and extra stuff you bought
That's a lot of extra stuff you got with the car, like 2 LSD's! They are rare and wanted items here in Europe.
As for wider wheels, how about having 7J wheels widened ?

The LSD's are even rarer here. There weren't a lot of BMWs sold in the States that used that style small case diff.

As for the wheels, it looks like I'm going to need something with a 0 or negative offset to fit the new body kit correctly. This will also add some additional track width, which isn't a bad thing.

I'm still in the planning phase of my custom 2.98L M50, but I think I'm going to install a 2.5L M20 race motor that I have so I can start driving the car. I'd like to have the car running for a track day that I'm instructing at in a few weeks.

Oh, my 323i spindles were delivered to GAZ this week. Hopefully I'll have some new coilovers soon!

-bj

[clownshoemotorsports]

Finally have an update!

I haven't received the new GAZ coilovers, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having some fun with the car. Last week I dropped out the motor, rebuilt the top end, and slapped it back together. Saturday and Sunday I ran it at Texas World Speedway!

When I tore down the motor, it was very obvious why it failed. The previous owners engine build forgot to tighten the eccentric adjuster on a rocker arm. The eccentric and bolt feel out and landed in the floor of the head. The cam then rotated around and shoved the metal bits through the floor into the head's lower coolant passage. That certainly explains all the milkshake-looking oil!

I pulled a M20 head from a junk yard E30. I had the head cleaned, a valve job done, and decked. I cleaned up the block that came out of the car and reinstalled everything. One nice surprise I had what that the 2.5L M20 that came in the car had high compression pistons!!!

So the M20 I built has the following features:

• 885 Head
• HD Rockers
• Lightweight Alloy Retainers
• Racing Valve Springs
• 10:1 Pistons
• Micro Polished Crank
• Remote Oil Filter Housing
• Oil Cooler/Heat Exchanager
• 19# Ford Motorsport (Bocsh) Injectors
• Miller Performance WAR Chip Engine Management System
• Customized Miller Performance 3" Intake with MAF Conversion
• Long Tube Headers
• 272 Degree Cam
• Modified Low Temperature Thermostat
• Custom Aluminum Radiator
• Accel Performance Ignition Coil

Here's some picks of the motor coming out:








And here is a pic of my E21 on track this weekend chasing down my old Porsche 944 race car:



The suspension is rubbish, but the motor is strong. It was a blast to drive! I even chased down some fellow instructors in Porsche 911 GT3s & BMW M3s! I can't wait to get the new coilovers and install the poly bushings.

-bj

[e21-Mark]

Brilliant. Good to see another e21 on track.

[clownshoemotorsports]

The GAZ Coilovers are on the car. They wildly exceeded my expectations!

I had a problem where the car was running very rich, but discovered it was because a non-stock fuel pressure regulator was installed. Now it is insanely fast! People keep asking me if it has an S54! They ask because it is so fast and because it sounds like a vintage F1 motor.

I've also installed poly bushings throughout the whole car from Eurometic here in the States. Between the bushings and coilovers the car is becoming simply brilliant!


Now, the car is back in the shop and I am installing new gauges, Wilwood front brakes, and a few other goodies. One of my little projects is deleting one half of the gas tank. I never put more than 5 gallons in at a time and I figured I don't need the extra weight.

More to come...

-bj

[Jeroen]

All good news, thanks for the update!

[clownshoemotorsports]

The new toys are installed and I put the car on the scales last night. The car currently weighs 2080 pounds with 7 gallons of fuel. I was hoping for closer to 2000 even, but there is still more weight to be found.

-bj

[Jason_323i]

Trackday Z3M coupe and race e21 ideal combo