[PapiEsq]

Hey there!

Picked up a '22 540i as a DD a few months ago, and have absolutely fallen in love with it. Now looking for my next BMW "fix"....

I can't imagine taking this thing to a track - and want to DD it for a long time - but would love to find an older BMW that I can work on and track for shits'n'giggles.

Would be looking at spending less than $15k on the car, and would like to get it relatively track ready for less than $5k, at least initially. Figure some of that would just be maintenance stuff (fluid changes, plugs/coils, filters, etc.), and perhaps some light suspension and brake work.

In this scenario, what would you get?

[Chihuahua]

E36 or E46, any variant that fits the budget and has a manual gearbox. That's my vote, good luck with whatever you choose for your track toy.

[Elderado82]

Congrats on the 540i! For a track toy under $15k, I’d be looking at an E36 M3 or maybe an E46 330i/ZHP — there’s actually one on Bring a Trailer right now.

With about $5k to play with, you can cover the basics — fluids, cooling system, suspension refresh, brakes, and a decent set of tires — and end up with a car that’s reliable and an absolute blast on track.

If you don’t mind stretching the budget a little, the E46 M3 is hard to beat. Just make sure you take care of the rod bearings and subframe early on, and then you can really enjoy it without the “ticking time bomb” worries.

[E36 wire harness]

I think E90 is the sweet spot, you can find a decent one of those for not a lot of money. E46 and E36 are getting harder to find, many are clapped out, or overpriced if they're in good shape. Almost any e36 is going to end up needing a ton of stuff, and all the plastics are so old, they self-recycle if you even look at them wrong.

[pbonsalb]

I agree with E36 being old. E46 are worth considering, like a 330i are also getting old but may ve easier and cheaper to find in OK condition. The 128i with N52 3.0L naturally aspirated inline 6 from around 2011 would be good. The slightly bigger E90/92 with the same engine would also be good.

[Terraphantm]

128i would probably great. I love the e46, bit with it now considered a “classic” model, parts are likely to become tougher to come by.

[GeorgeH]

330/5MT (or 6MT) E46, tons of aftermarket support, relatively cheap to buy, can get decently light, tanks with proper maintenance. They can slot into W2W classes or SPEC E46 if you want to go to the road course track too.

I don't think the logistics work for you, but this is one of my cars for sale. $7k gets this car which with a set of track brake pads is a very capable intro car with lots of options to grow into later.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CkrE4JrcC/


Its hard to argue with the cosmetic appeal of an E36 when it has aero, but M3s are expensive and 328/5MT are becoming more expensive than E46s and not as capable apples to apples.

Street car parts are getting harder to find for E36/E46 but track car stuff there is no issue.

I think the E8x/E9x platform is solid too but not as much support as the E46 yet.

[Mavus]

e9x feels like a piece of granit compared to e46 and can fit nice wide rubber. I would stay away from e8x due to high weird wheel et and much bigger pain to fit wider rubber

e90 pre lci can fit 285 easily in the back and 255 in the front as an example

[StradaRedlands]

A Miata.

[cronut]

E36 is what you want. M or non-M. Parts for track are still plentiful and there are lots of aftermarket vendors. Some people say nice examples are overpriced, but of course the price will be high now that good ones are rare. Look at e30 M3s...not particularly fast nor practical but they still command premium prices because now they are classics.

E36 was not as "significant" in 3 series history, but they are excellent vehicles. The racer community is familiar with this platform so you'll get lots of support and expertise. For a track vehicle you don't want a "nice" example anyways as you may end up against the wall or in the gravel, but that is racing. Drive to the limit.

Turner, Bimmerworld, Vorshlag all raced and manufactured parts for these vehicles. Do some research and pick a class then select a vehicle. A buddy still races e30s, but I think he will move onto E36s since E30 numbers are dwindling. Maybe you can pick up a used race car. That might be the cheapest way to go.

[Phillies8008]

An E86 Z4 coupe would be kinda cool.

[BlkGS]

Do you want to be competitive or just in the way?

Put bluntly, your budget won't get you a decent BMW that will be anything but in the way on a track. They will either be too unreliable, or too low on power. A 128i is a good suggestion, but they're slow. And E36 is slow and lacks chassis rigidity and is unreliable. An E46 330i will be similarly slow, have a bit better chassis, and maybe a little more reliable?

I dunno, I'd get something dirt cheap so if you wreck it on track you can walk away from it. Otherwise, just get a Corvette and race that. They're fast, reliable, great chassis, and cheap.

[Phillies8008]

I'd track anything I wanted to track if I were doing it for fun rather than racing someone.