First time drifter - E36 318i

[DiarmaidE36]

My names Diarmaid, i'm 16 years old and from Ireland. I've always had a big interest in motorsport, especially drifting and a few weeks back i bought my first rear wheel drive, an E36 318i saloon.
Being 16 funds are very tight and i'll be doing most things on a budget, so here it goes....

This popped up for sale at a local garage a while back and after some negotiation we towed it home for 270 euros.
Plan is to learn to drift and try stick with "If it aint broken dont fix it"
As it stood when i got it

It's an english import which had obviously seen plenty salt roads, so theres plenty of rust.
Anyway, took it down some dirt roads to test it out and try get it sideways

Ended up spinning out, mounting a wall and twisting the passenger wishbone.... oh well

Got bored of waiting for the new wishbone to arrive so started messing about with the car

Homemade vented bonnet

And on the car

Because im sixteen i only have my tractor license so id to tow it home with the old Massey Ferguson

Got it home, into the shed and started stripping it out

A short while later

also removed the sunroof

Started to tackle the sound deadening too using this kango drill

Had most of it out in 45 minutes or so

Then one day we decided to give it a lick of paint...

cut the boot floor out also (have cleaned it up since)

Replaced the wishbone and cut off the backbox for a better noise

Cut a piece out of the standard bumper, budget M-spec

Since i got coilovers for my mk3 golf I no longer needed the old shocks and springs

So i put them in the E36 and its sitting nice now until i can buy coilovers for it as well.

Yesterday i finally got around to dropping the diff

Thats pretty much it for now, i know the 318i are very underpowered so i'll just have to drive it hard
Diff is getting welded at the weekend, now im on the lookout for bucket seat, 4 point harness and some extra wheels. Hope to get it out to a driftday next month and will try my best to keep this updated.
Advice/ helpful criticism appreciated, anyone have any tips? Sorry for the bad quality photos too

 

[Bubbleraider]

Why not drift the tractor???

 

[chidley]

hello instagram follower

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Surprised you noticed haha! Hows the 180 coming along?

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Got sick of the empty headlight space so went and did this, opinions? Also painted the wheels white, i think it looks much better :beer:

 

[Angelic0-]

looks like it could be something....

If on a budget... you can always weld the diff and get the 323i/325i/328i/M3 axles and mount them with either the small diff casing or the big one.... smaller casing axles from the 316i 318i and 320i trend to break the joints when the diffs are welded...

if you decide to use the smaller casing (3.45 ratio, or 4.10/4.44 if you get one from a automatic) remember to take the output flanges from the bigger differential.... the bigger casing diff will have either a 3.15 or 3.73 ratio.... but i've only seen 3.73 in one case... and it was a JAP import in the US....

It looks like something you would take to the rallycross, but if it's just for a dedicated drift car it looks just fine....

with the proper suspension, they are good handling cars... just set it up right...

4cylinder E36 handle way better than 6cylinder ones.... at least the M50 6cyl ones... you can feel the difference in the M52 ones, but they still lack the motor sitting behind the wheels.... kind of how the 6cyl E39 handle better than the 8cyl E39s as they have rack/pinion steering...

looking forward to see you learn and post videos... it won't be all that radical with that 4banger... kind of like the MIATA / MX5....

but if you stick to it you can always build a M50 on the stand

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Firstly thanks for the advice i basically want to learn to drift in this and make my mistakes in a cheap old car before buying something like an s-chassis as time goes on. Will the medium case diffs fit straight in once i change the driveshafts? I think the mounting bolts are in different places if im remember correctly

 

[LiamE36]

You do not want to stick a medium case diff in whilst it's a 1.8.
The diff you have on it now is a small case and will do the job fine wether you have a 4cyl or a 6cyl.

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Thats what i read too, ive left the standard diff in for welding and should have it back soon anyway

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Bought a CAI yesterday, not sure if i should build it into the headlight or just let it stick out

 

[LiamE36]

Why have you mounted that air filter with the air box still in..?

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Its not on yet just mocking it up

 

[DiarmaidE36]

So ive tried searching everywhere but to no avail, im considering redrilling the rear hubs to 4x100 or can i fit e30 rear hubs? Just curious because i have heaps of 4x100 wheels knocking about and its impossible find any sort of bmw wheels for under 150 or 200 euro here :thumbdown: so has anyone done this? And the only adapters i can find are to fit 5x120 wheels onto a 4x100 car

 

[LiamE36]

I'm sure driftworks make pcd converters now.

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Will check it out now :thumbup:

 

[Angelic0-]

Sorry bro' i have ADHD and guess i got off track when i wrote my last post... but what i intended to say with my last post was that i suggest using the smaller case diff (because of the ratio) with the larger output shafts and output flanges.... they will fitt the small casing... and will not break with the diff welded...

Guess you could always go drifting with a 4.44:1 ratio from an automatic 316i/318i

 

[Blackett]

My top tip is to drift on 14's (if they fit?) or 15's, the 1.8's struggle at Santa Pod on 16's or 17's. But seen a guy in a totally stripped 1.8 rock the whole big track on tiny wheels (like a boss) when fanboy's on 18's are struggling in their 2.8's

 

[DiarmaidE36]

Sorry bro' i have ADHD and guess i got off track when i wrote my last post... but what i intended to say with my last post was that i suggest using the smaller case diff (because of the ratio) with the larger output shafts and output flanges.... they will fitt the small casing... and will not break with the diff welded...

Guess you could always go drifting with a 4.44:1 ratio from an automatic 316i/318i

Its cool I appreciate the advice! tbh ill just use the standard ones till they break and upgrade then to a 4.44

 

[DiarmaidE36]

My top tip is to drift on 14's (if they fit?) or 15's, the 1.8's struggle at Santa Pod on 16's or 17's. But seen a guy in a totally stripped 1.8 rock the whole big track on tiny wheels (like a boss) when fanboy's on 18's are struggling in their 2.8's

Thats why im looking at getting adapters cos i can fit my golfs old 13's on over the shitty drum brakes this has on the rear should go well on them and ive loads lying about too

 

[DiarmaidE36]

So i got my diff welded at the weekend and threw it in tonight, got the car back on all fours now and will take it for a test tomorrow