Joe’s M3: Proving His Potential

Photo credit: CaliPhoto

When building a track car, it’s almost always easier to take the paved path. Picking a platform that has been thoroughly developed, with available parts for every possible problem and associated forums filled with information help get the driver to the track without much wrenching.

Not that ease was the main reason Joe McGuigan decided to add an eighth car to his collection — he did that because his friends urged him to try the car he’d avoided for a while. They were tired of watching him struggle with his trailblazing passion projects. They said he’d be able to save himself time if he just joined the tribe and bought an E46 M3.

When Spencer Kimball decided to sell the E46 he’d built for his father, whose injuries prevented him from enjoying it, half of the greater NorCal track community flooded his inbox. Spencer had already proven he knew how to put a seriously quick M3 together, and this example checked just about every box a track car needs to. Plus, the price was impossible to argue with. It would make some track rat a very happy owner soon enough, but an iconoclast like Joe? Not likely.

He was well aware of the M3’s potential, but he never found it interesting enough to build one himself. He preferred the challenge of developing a less-loved car, and always found the E46 M3’s competence a bit boring. Too easy to drive quickly, too easy to build. Not enough of a challenge for a man trying to prove a point.

However, the long list of primo parts and the low, low price were too tough to ignore. Joe had to accept the “boring” car for the simple fact that he would no longer be able to handicap himself with a sub-par chassis. “I could show people how fast I really am,” he added. Rather than prove a point as a builder, he could prove himself as a driver.

He mulled it over for a few days before pulling the trigger. Picking it up on the way home was the easy part. Driving it back to his crowded driveway, it dawned on him how big a task he’d set for himself: “Now I’ve gotta put my money where my mouth is and build a really fast car,” he said.

Fortunately, the car was already well on its way towards perfection. Spencer had big plans for the build and sank a good amount of money into making it fast, reliable, and fun to drive. The short list includes:

• Shaftworks USA coilovers with 500/750-lb springs

• Custom Drexler-style 1.5-way differential

• 4.10 gears

• SPL arms

• Supersprint V1 header

• CSL intake

• HTE tune

• E90 GTS rear wing

• Bimmerworld diffuser

• Bimmerworld 3” exhaust

• PFC ZR45 BBK

• APEX Wheels 18x10" ET25 Forged VS-5RS

Those and a few minor mods were all Joe needed to set some competitive times. The first track day was a few days after pickup, so he only had time for an alignment and a fluid flush. Nevertheless, its first outing in his hands, a two-day event at Buttonwillow, was a success.

He found it fast and forgiving, with a linear power delivery and direct steering. Those qualities, plus a hint too much understeer, helped Joe get on top of the car in a session. By the end of the first day, he lapped Buttonwillow 13CW in 1:56.3 — on an old set of Toyo RRs, no less. The predictive timer showed an optimal lap a half-second faster which, funnily enough, is one tenth shy of his best-ever time at 13CW in his well-developed IS-F.

He’s already sussed out its shortcomings and drummed up a short list of solutions which he plans to implement soon. Being able to knock out problems quickly with the support of a vast market is one of the reasons going with a well-loved platform makes sense. “I plan to move pretty quickly with this build. Who knows? I might sell it next year,” he laughed.

The brakes are capable, but the pads might need to be changed as the initial bite wasn’t strong enough to give him much confidence. The spring rates are too low; the owner before Spencer had specced them for autocross. It’ll receive MCS two-ways, a TC Designs cage, reinforced swaybar brackets, and full Zebulon/Buildjournal aero in the next couple months.

But the bones are good, as they say, and it’s already fast enough to aim for some of the times set by friends and colleagues in the E46 scene. While he hasn’t given up on his IS-F, he’ll fixate on beating the established BMW benchmarks for the time being.

Andrew from Buildjournal has taken his E46 M3 just about as far as anyone on the West Coast has, and his car can turn a lap around 13CW in the 1:49s. “I’m sure its capable of something in the low 1:50s with weight reduction, a better setup, and full aero,” Joe declared. There’s no reason to doubt it.

The potential is obvious, the build is nearly finished, his connections are eager to help him, and all he’s had to suffer is a little boredom. The E46 might not pull at the heartstrings like some passion projects, but he can’t deny the potential that the project holds — and the fun he’s already had with it — has caused him to change his tune.

Edson's E46: Quarter-Million and Counting

He found his feet in the world of autocross, but a little bit of mockery from his track addict buddies made Edson Burgos ditch cone course carving and dive headfirst into road racing.

Edson remembers the moment fondly. “I got a ride around Sonoma in a friend’s Civic Si. Yeah — that’s when my life started to go downhill.”

The S2000 that had brought him so much pleasure in autocross was a sensational first track toy, but Edson, being a bigger fella, found the Honda to be less than ideal for daily duty. Only one parking space at the time mandated he have dual-purpose machine, so he sold the S2000 and picked up a mint E46 M3 ZCP. The performance out of the box wasn’t bad, but Edson knew he wanted to go all in modifying his street-track car., and this one, as he put it, “was just too pretty to chop up.”

Wisely, he made a bit of money selling that gem and decided that he’d look for an example a little rough ‘round the edges so that when it came time to strip and slice, he could do it with a clean conscience.

One well-worn example popped up on his radar. The odometer had just ticked past the quarter-million mark, but the annoyingly low price of five racks was fair and Edson swooped it up in thirty-six hours.

The previous owner had taken some pretty innovative approaches to quieting the creaks and rattles present in a 250,000-mile M3, including expanding foam. The paint was patinaed harshly, so even at twenty-feet it showed its age. However, the motor sounded healthy, and that was enough motivation to begin replacing every OEM bolt, nut, and bushing on the ol’ girl.

Along with the underbody overhaul, Edson dropped nearly twice the price of the car on every E46 M3 owner’s big gripe: rod bearings, VANOS, and subframe reinforcement. These are a must-fix on most of M3s of this generation, though the later cars aren’t cursed with the same rod bearings as the earlier cars. However, after dealing with these three, the E46 is a workhorse willing and able to take the abuse.

He wanted the weight of the car to take a dive, so he tossed the rear carpet and seats, put an Autopower bolt-in half-cage in their place, and a Sparco Evo XL in the place of the plush factory driver’s seat. There’s no sense in holding onto heft when the sunroof-equipped car is already meant to be a track toy, and since he and his wife had a reliable daily at this point, he could make this car as extreme as necessary. Accepting that approach made it easier to drop another couple thousand on a CSL carbon trunk.

Not that he wanted to go for a full-aero build with big power and composite panels. This build was meant to remain simple and reliable, so only the necessary performance modifications were made—and made in one fell swoop. There aren’t many, but the few he did make are quality. JRZ RS Pros, DO88 radiator and oil cooler, and a Ground Control front swaybar.

Being that the motor is as well-used as it is, Edson thought it wise keep all power modifications to a minimum. To get a reliable 300 wheel from the S54, all it took was Build Journal B-Spec tune and Myers Competition’s header and single-exit exhaust. Say what you will about the last atmospheric M-grade straight-six, but with a few mods for power and reliability, it is a glutton for punishment, even at a quarter-million miles.

With these goodies, the M3 was sorted, dependable, dailiable, and fun. That is, until he tried braking past the three-marker at the Andretti Hairpin. Laguna’s known to be hard on brakes, and Edson learned this the hard way when his stock brakes failed. He managed to keep it out of the wall, but this 120-mph scare drove him to buy some big brakes the second he got home that night.

Up front, he did not skimp. AP 5000Rs stuffed with Winmax W5s are perhaps some the best big-brake combinations for the car. At the rear, he opted for a set of the old school Porsche 996 Brembo “Big Reds” and fitted some of Hawk’s DTC-30 pads for a stable rear under deceleration.

Since Edson had his hands full adapting to the torquier motor, he appreciated the M3’s composed, predictable behavior under braking. “i had to be a lot more careful with the power; it was too easy to overdrive. Everything else was easier. Six years in the S2000 taught me a lot. I wouldn’t be as comfortable in the E46 if it weren’t for my previous car.”

He’s put in some impressive times in the meantime. He can lap Sonoma in the 1:49s and Laguna Seca in the 1:40s. For a 3,300-pound car (with driver and fuel) with stock bushings and no aero, that’s pretty dang quick.

“It took me a year to adjust to the platform, but I’m super comfy now. Without all that time in the S2000, I wouldn’t have adapted as quickly, but I’m here. That car was nervous—not that this one isn’t, but I don’t think I’d be able to catch the faster slides if I didn’t spend so much time spinning out in an S2000.”

Elie's E46 M3: Not Too Much, Not Too Little

For Elie Mansour, the E46 M3 is one of the most driver-friendly machines he’s ever driven—and he’s driven just about every trackday staple.

In 2003, Elie started tracking in the States with a fourth-generation Camaro, but to him, a man who grew up watching smaller vehicles hillclimbing in his native Lebanon, the Camaro seemed somewhat cumbersome.

“Everybody was driving the Subarus and Evos, S2000s, and a handful of E36s then.” His natural affinity for the capable E36 led him to buying one of his own, but its lack of power and regular maintenance left him wanting a little more. “For about six months, I considered swapping an S54 into my car, then my friend let me drive his E46 M3, and it just felt so much sturdier. When I factored in all the associated costs of swapping the new motor into the old car, I realized that I’d be better off buying an E46.”

Photo credit: Brett Smrz

Wisely, he avoided building one from the ground up. The Imola Red ‘02 he procured already had been partially stripped and fitted with an Autopower cage, big Brembo GT 355 brakes with Cobalt bads, and a set of Ground Control coilovers. As a precaution, he removed some of the failure points. Simple and effective, this platform needed nothing more than a set of solid mounts and bushings before Elie logged fifty events his first year with it.

Building Upon a Brilliant Foundation

Despite the running costs and the growing appetite for better parts, this busy first year didn’t tax him too much. The reliability of the car was astounding; changing the pads every dozen days and the oil about half as often. Then there was the ease of operation. “The E46 is one of the most driver-friendly cars I’ve ever owned; it has great headroom, great visibility, ergonomics, and it’s easier to drive than any other car at this performance level.”

Relatively simple operation, a moderate amount of weight, more that adequate power, a reasonably comfortably size, and—assuming one buys a good example—a manageable price. In so many ways, the E46 M3 is the ultimate Goldilocks car: not too much, but not too little.

Perhaps all this versatility came with one setback: weight. Being reasonably large and somewhat plush, the weight became more and more of an obvious hindrance the harder he pushed. Removing the sound deadening and carpet, then replacing the standard Getrag six-speed with a ZF five-speed allowed him to bring the weight down to 2,825 pounds.

It only followed that he would sharpen the chassis with whatever means readily available. After adding Ground Control swaybars, he sought out a set of revalved shocks to suit the lightened chassis. A knowledgeable friend practically gave him a set of used Motons that’d been collecting dust in a shop, but further inspection revealed the fronts were damaged beyond repair. At that stage, his friend admitted that he used JRZ parts to rebuild the other Motons he’d been given.

They shared a laugh, then took the expedient solution: using a set of JRZ RS Pro two-ways to replace the faulty fronts. With a little tweaking, he found the two brands to complement each other. “The two work well together, and the JRZs are so much easier to service than the Motons. It’s an unusual mix, but it was a no-brainer for us.”

With the footwork seriously improved, the slapped on a set of Pirelli DH crubs and began impressing the bystanders. His aggressive, tail-out driving style honed through years of messing around on gravel roads had to be tamed somewhat to go faster, but at least he was never limited by a lack of car control.

With the car handling well, he turned his attention to the powerplant. The S54 is, with the right sort of maintenance, a fairly robust motor that might get a little too much negative press. That said, it needs some uncorking before its sonorous scream can be fully appreciated. Along with an AFe intake, an eBay header, a Bimmerworld exhaust, and a BSpec tune, the motor made a healthy 323 horsepower at the rear wheels.

While the motor is stout, tracking can elevate temperatures to a worrying level. The iron block’s chances of overheating diminished greatly after he added a Bimmerworld motorsports thermostat and oil diverter, a CSF radiator, and a custom built electric fan, he’s been able to keep the iron block cool, even on sweltering summer days. “Don’t forget: a high viscosity oil is a must. During the summer months, I change the oil—usually 10W60—every three or four track days.”

With the motor fortified and the suspension sorted, the car was as dependable as any thoroughly thrashed track tool, really, and Elie prioritized seat time over all. Nearing his hundredth track day, he’d pushed the M3 to about as far as anyone was capable, and the few shortcomings in the car started to make themselves apparent.

Ready for a new challenge and a little more stability at speed, he decided to call on Trackspec Motorsports, who were then sponsoring him, and ask for a contribution in the form of a modest aero package.

The takeaway here was that he hadn’t simply reached for the biggest wing prematurely. He and Trackspeck went through a series of different combinations before settling on the G-Stream wing and their tegrid-constructed splitter, which was chosen for its durability. The result was, well, just watch the footage below to see the car in action:

Even Monkeys Fall From Trees

And then, perhaps as some sort of divine/cosmic payback for 180,000 miles of faultless operation, the motor coughed its last breath. He tucked the car away to the back corner of his garage and helped a few friends build their E46s with his two decades of knowledge,

It still sits in the corner, but another S54—again built for reliability—is almost finished. When the motor is implanted in its new home, he’ll address the two remaining flaws he’s noticed. “The OEM LSD acts like an open differential now; trying to get any traction out of Buttonwillow’s Turn 2 is futile.”

Besides that, it needs a few more safety modifications to move into the next realm of competition: NASA ST4. Trackspec Motorsports will likely prototype the cage, and along with a fire system, full window nets, and a restrictor to meet class restrictions, he should be ready for wheel-to-wheel. He’s got the car control and the courage, so the transition shouldn’t be too difficult.

Jeff Tam's E46 M3: Never Compromise Too Much

After five months of owning his 2012 VW GTI, Jeff Tam took it to his first ever track day. After that eye-opening afternoon at Thunderhill East, he knew he had to make room for his newest love in life.

The honeymoon phase was predictably sweet, but once he’d turned enough laps to become a discerning driver, he was frustrated by the front-heavy VW’s torque steer and wheelhop. 

The GTI was a great car for him to find his feet as a track driver, but he knew he wanted a rear-wheel drive car with a higher base potential. There were a few candidates, but they all had their shortcomings.

The JDM Tax kept him out of the seat of an S2000.

The big-power candidate, the C6 Z06, pulled hardest at his heart strings. However, a little research revealed that its LS7 engine was plagued with a valve drop issue.

Around that time, Seigo Ma sent him a listing for a nicely sorted E46 M3. Jeff realized that for the amount of the S2000’s silly surcharge, he could take the middle-path car and sort it out for track use. By that point, he was tired of weighing the options and pulled the trigger.

The previous owner had spent some time prepping it for track work before he decided to get into shifter karts, so Jeff took on a project that was largely sorted. Included with the car were a CSF oil cooler, a CSF radiator, a CAE hard mounted shifter, Vibratechnics race engine and transmission mounts, a Moroso aluminum coolant expansion tank, CPI stepped headers, as well as a mild engine tune. The result: a quick, direct car that could run laps without issue.

While his sim experience had given him the hands to control a little oversteer, he recognized his hands might not be fast enough to catch the bigger drifts this M3 was capable of. So, after a year of ownership, he installed an OS Giken 1.5-way and enrolled in a drifting course. With a bit of instruction, he found the car to be predictable and reassuring, even if it was spinning up the rears.

Part of that comfort came from the M3’s benign nature, the predictability offered by the differential, as well as a few new parts. The first area he focused on was footwork. One of the few shortcomings of the M3 are its undersized brakes; fine for spirited driving but inadequate for track work. An AP Racing BBK shortened braking distances and helped him trail-brake more consistently.

He understood the reason for splurging and doing it right the first time, so he grabbed a set of MCS 2-ways with remote reservoirs. The prevalence of track-tuned E46 M3s made it easy to find a good setup, and a set of Ground Control camber plates and Megan Racing camber arms made getting the right alignment possible. 

Any excessive tail-happiness was quelled by the mild aero package. It didn’t take much; a homemade Alumalite splitter and a Voltex Type 7 wing gave him the reassurance to push hard in the fast sections. The first event after donning the new wings, he lopped a couple seconds off his previous best times.

Along with the athletic stance, a homemade alumalite splitter and Voltex rear wing give this M3 an unmistakably serious appearance.

His proximity to Sonoma, his favorite track, lets him party the night before and still wake up in time for a track day.

The increased speeds he was hitting encouraged him to improve the car’s safety. In went a Kirk Racing half-cage, a Bride bucket seat, and 6-point Schroth Profi harness.

Perhaps the biggest accomplishment with the build is its general level of balance. The power, thanks to the stepped headers and HTE Performance tune, is progressive in its delivery. The differential puts the power down well. The general balance is neutral-to-oversteery, but thanks in part to the linear delivery of the motor, the car is still very manageable when sliding at the rear.

There are still a few items on the to-do list needed before he’s able to match the lap times set by his role model: Dan Avon. Dan’s lightweight car is the more focused machine, but Jeff’s is rapidly becoming as spartan as Dan’s.

After deciding to have the carpet stripped from the b-pillars back, Jeff committed to tread down that path that represents the death of a street car in the truest sense of the term. Nevertheless, the versatility of his E46 M3 should not make Jeff hate his drives to and from the track.

Jeff’s proven one thing with this particular M3. He’s made sure that reliability, fun, emotion, speed, and sanity—all equally important to him—can be had when the tuning approach takes everything into consideration. Usually, the word “compromise” has a negative connotation when applied to a car, but this M3 proves that it doesn’t always have to.

Dan Avon's E46 M3: A Study in Taking Things Slowly

One doesn’t need to have a big V8 or a turbo to go quickly at most of Northern California’s medium-speed tracks. They don’t necessarily need a featherweight, either. The E46 M3 sits somewhere between the two. Weighing in at 3,200 pounds and making a healthy 300-odd horsepower with moderate torque, it straddles the fence between momentum car and muscle car. With the right touch and a few chassis mods to help bring out this middlewight’s best attributes, namely its handling, it remains a hard car to beat. 

Dan Avon took a comprehensive approach to tuning his 2004 M3; engine power, grip, balance, and braking performance were all valued evenly throughout this build’s three or four stages. Most importantly, he’s learned how to gel with the car by fine-tuning its handling so that it complements his driving style. 

Its first iteration as a mildly modified road car was fun, though he felt the plush nature of the M3 was limiting its on-track performance. That didn’t concern him much as he was still driving it to work, to the grocery store, and through the canyons. The motor made ~285whp with a set of Status Group Tuning headers and a Dinan muffler, and with a full interior,  it weighed ~3,400 lbs with driver and a half-tank of gas. Despite those less than stellar figures, the broad powerband of the motor and the playfulness of the car were satisfying enough to overlook its shortcomings.

Except some. The factory suspension was not up to snuff, so he added TC Kline D/A coilovers, rear camber arms, and polyurethane trailing arm bushings. Even with these modifications, it was very much a street car. His growing fascination with developing the car and improving his lap times meant he’d stuff track wheels in the car before driving it to the track, but it was still doing double-duty. 

He started stripping the car slowly and systematically to help give it a feeling of agility. Being a plush car, it wasn’t hard to remove a couple hundred from the total. It then became clear that the Brembo brake kit wasn’t really as inspiring as he thought they’d be, plus the consumable costs were high, so he eventually swapped those for a set of PFC binders. 

With an AFe Stage II intake and a Epic Motorsports tune, he now had 300 horsepower at the rear wheels. Again, he made sure to address every area of performance through the various stages of modification, so even if the improvements seemed insignificant on paper, it felt more alert, competent, and encouraging. The M3 was always meant to be more than just the sum of its parts.

Weight reduction became more and more important to him as he learned to push harder, so after five years of worsening this car’s civility, Dan decided that the M3’s days as a street car were over. He chucked most of the carpet, door panels, and roof liner to get it down to a respectable 3,100 pounds with driver and a half-tank. 

Increasing his cornering speeds and just generally working the car harder revealed some of the limitations of the factory differential. When he installed the renowned OS Giken 1.5-way differential with aluminum bushings, he could generate much more propulsion off the corner, even if the rear was moving around slightly.  At the same time other areas of the rear suspension were addressed with various mono-ball bushings in place of the previous poly bushings.

Not that it was ever tailhappy. His setup was neutral to oversteery; an extremely satisfying and manageable balance that helped yield some great lap times. Still, he wanted to experiment with a little aerodynamic grip—even if that risked the near-ideal balance he’d achieved..

With a Bimmerworld rear wing and a homemade front splitter, the car had even more stick in the braking zones and the few high-speed corners at Thunderhill and Sonoma. The upside was that the lap times immediately fell by a couple seconds.

Unfortunately, that aero grip came at a price. The once playful car was suddenly arrested at the front end; a persistent mild understeer kept him from enjoying the car like he once did.

In an attempt to take some weight off the car, particularly off the front, and restore some of that neutral handling he once enjoyed,  he added Supersprint V1 headers and Section 1 midpipe, a Bimmerworld cat back race exhaust, a Ground Control hollow front sway bar, a rear-mounted Antigravity battery, and Bimmerworld carbon headlight blanks. These measures saved nearly 200 pounds in total, but the push was still plaguing him.  At least the car was significantly quicker.

Frustrated with the balance but happy to see this car evolve into a no-compromise track toy, he continued to stiffen and harshen. Why not?  He’d already decided to start trailering this dedicated track car, so he had no reservations about adding a rear half cage from TC Design, Turner Motorsport solid aluminum engine and transmission mounts, a set of MCS three-ways, and a Racetech 4119 halo-style bucket. 

Life has gotten in the way in the last year, but he’s still fascinated by the car—and hopes to return to regular lapping days in the near future. “I’ve always enjoyed tinkering and seeing what improved the car and what didn’t. I’ve used my AIM system to determine exactly where the tweaks paid off. I guess that’s what motivated me most of the way.” 

He’s still frustrated by the current balance, so he’s pondered two possible paths to follow once he gets back into the swing of things. Either he removes the aero and tries to optimize the mechanical grip of a lightweight car, or he finds the biggest, meanest cattle plow of a splitter he can find to give the front some much-needed aero grip. Either way, he’ll be measuring incremental improvements and sticking to his basic philosophy of addressing every aspect of performance and taking baby steps. Seeing how quickly this middleweight, mid-powered M3 navigates Northern California’s best tracks, it’s certain this steady, methodical tuning approach works.