E36 M3

European Car Magazine

Simon Harris has a tremendous amount of experience with vintage racing, accruing a lot of seat time in such vintage Ferraris as the early Testa Rossas and GTO's. He wanted a street car which had the feel of a purebred race car yet had all of the amenities of a modern gentleman's GT, and which would be equally at home on the street or at BMW CCA club races. In pursuit of this goal, Simon purchased a BMW M3 and took it to Osh Minelian and his crew at Race Marque Systems (RMS).

The car is fitted with Race Marque's standard Stage 2 aftercooled supercharger kit (409 bph). RMS also markets a Stage 1 kit without the aftercooler and less boost for a still impressive 366 bph. Other than adjustment of the fuel curve/ignition mapping and the fitting of larger 24 lb/hr Bosch injectors, then engine is essentially unmodified.

From the standpoint of subjective feel, Osh stated, "The way it produces power is very linear. It's not peaky at all, and it doesn't come on in a huge burst. It's more like having a much bigger motor. It's a pretty fast little car.

The BMW CCA rules are fairly relaxed in the stock and modified classes, so things such as fuel cells, electrical cutoffs and competition belts are not required (though you won't be chased away if you do have them). Since you're really not allowed to "go crazy" at a BMW CCA event, street safety equipment in good condition is acceptable in most cases. Drivers must wear helmets, but firesuits are required only in the highest classes.

The single hoop roll bar in Simon's car is an Autopower unit which was reworked by RMS and powder-coated in a black wrinkle finish; all of the bolt in mounting hardware was upgraded. Rear braces on the hoops extend to the rear wheel arches for added front-to-rear stiffness. The seatbelts and airbag steering wheel remain stick, and there's a handheld extinguisher mounted under the seat.

To keep the driver in touch with what's happening in the  engine room, a boost gauge was fitted, as have oil pressure and oil temperature dials. The rear seat was removed and a parcel shelf was installed in its place. Rather than leaving the hole behind the rear seat open, netting similar to that used in competition window nets is attached to a frame that flips down. Aircraft fasteners and hinges hold this frames in place. Releasing the fasteners and folding the frame down allows larger items such as skis or golf clubs to be carried. (This is what we call a sport utility vehicle.)

The suspension is a blend of components that have been selected by Race Marque and sold as an integrated kit. "The springs and swaybars are made for us. The shocks are Koni rebound-adjustable units. The car sits 1/2 in. lower than stick," said Osh. Thought much more handling performance gains could be realized with some of the coilover suspensions offered by Race Marque, for the purposes of streetability Simon decided to stick with upgraded springs and shocks of stock configuration.

Wheels and tires are O.Z. Racing and Yokohama 032Rs, size 245/45-17 front and 255/40-17 rear. A special Brembo/RMS brake system with 330mm rotors and and floating calipers is installed in the front. A quaife torque-sensing differential was adapted to the M3 from a unit originally intended for the 325. A special EDM (electrical discharge machining) process was used to enlarge the bolt holes from 12mm to 14mm.

A lightweight 12-lb Race Marque aluminum flywheel and sport clutch ackage were installed. The clutch is a Sachs item that RMS modified to make properly in the M3.

The ride is firm but not to the point off harshness. Osh related, "Its very streetable. On the track, it definitely has its limits, but those limits exceed those of a stock M3."