My son and I wanted to do the local sprint and hillclimb championship next year but I wasnt to keen on using my existing M5 as I dont like competing with a car that is not "disposable". Then just before Christmas on Pistonheads I spotted a black 3.6 [same as my existing one] on M parallels in the south of England where I just happened to be going on business in a couple of days.
Turned out, although not in advert, car had just been MOTd was taxed until March and the 18" wheels were new although not original BMW, and went very well. The main problem was the drivers seat had worn thin and had been repaired but held you in place better than the leather on my existing car. The deal was done and I had to fly in the following week to collect the car and drive it back to Northern Ireland.
Before collecting the car we tried to decide were we running the car standard, semi-lightweight i.e. lose the sunroof[40 kgs], change the front seats for lightweight kevlar[27kgs per seat] but still keep the car usable every day if needed, or go the full hog and strip it out completely. The road going class we run in stipulates standard materials must be kept on the car so no perspex windows or fibreglass panels but you could take electric window motors, aircon compressors, back seats, carpets, sound proofing etc. out the car but looking at previous thread 1500kgs seems to be all you can get one down to.
The next problem we had was when the car came back it was put in the garage to give it a clean up over the holidays. When we started to polish it we discovered it had either had a very expensive respray or been very well looked after as the black came up superbly. Having seen the recent results with the Porter Cable thread and with my son going to America next Monday he may have some extra luggage to bring home! The only problem with the bodywork is the edges of both front wings need slight attention but I see G.S.F. do front wings for £27.50 each and I wonder if it would be as cheap to put a pair of these on. Has anybody used them or are you better with original BMW ones?
So now you see my problem, do we use the new cheap car, use my original one which, with Schrick cams, Eisenman exhaust and Unichip is a bit quicker but definately sounds better or keep both? Comments appreciated.
I would advise against stripping the car out completely.
Its a bad car to start with for hillclimbs anyways.
For reason's sake, keep it "luxurious" the way it was intended.
I understand you want to participate in this event, but honestly, an E30 would have been a lot more suitable. Keep both M5's and enjoy them with your son.
About aftermarket wings, if you want to save money on this , get some used ones. They are readily available in black so respray won't be too difficult and OEM fitment is a lot better than any aftermarket supplier, not only in fitment but also in material use.
Wout
Last edited by Sebring NL; 4th January 2007 at 01:16.
If you are looking to buy a random orbotal polisher, buy it in the UK. There is little difference in price even with $1.94 to british pound and you will have a guarantee plus plug!! If you buy in USA there may well be loads of issues if it goes wrong. Buy an E36, strip it down or save money and buy an old Caterham to hillclimb with and sell the 3.6!
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"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn-out,shouting, 'Holy sh*t! What a ride!'"
I think you have answered your own question in your thread.
If you are worried about the state of the front wings (you want to put new ones on) then it's probably not the car to use seriously for Sprints and Hillclimbs.
As you quite rightly say, and I'm of the same opinion, I wouldn't want to Sprint or even Trackday a car unless it was "disposable", i.e. you wouldn't be too gutted if it was written off.
Having said that my first trackday I did 6 or 7 years ago now was in a £28k Evo 6 but I made sure I was insured for that. It did cost and extra £200+ for the day but at least it gave me the peace of mind so I could drive like I stole it
Since then I bought a car specifically for Trackdays/Sprints only, it was a hell of a lot cheaper so no problems or worries if you get it a bit sideways or in the odd spin.
The last Sprint I did at least 2 of the 20 competitors had an off which caused damage. Damage does however depend on the course though, Sprints on airfields should be OK, Hillclimbs probably won't be!
As for stripping the M5 out, well if you strip it down to 1500kg that will give you a power to weight ratio of around 210bhp/ton. Not too bad but that is the same as an E36 M3 (with nothing stripped off) or a Caterham with an old K series 1.8! Both fairly cheap motors and easier to find performance parts for.
It all depends if you want to get the M5 out there competing (it would certainly be good to see) or want something to have fun in and not worry too much if it gets dinged. If you want to be competitive then you are going to want modify it (within the rules) and the M5 doesn't lend itself to doing that easily or cheaply (e.g. coilovers?).
I suggest you do up the M5, sell it on and get something ready sorted for the track. It's far cheaper to find a ready prepared car than doing it yourself.
Last edited by ///Mster; 4th January 2007 at 01:54.
Deffinitely agree with the post suggesting using an e30 for hill climb. I got an e30 to mess around with and to drive while the M5 undergoes restoration, and I am having a blast with it. I have it almost completely gutted, did an automatic to manual transmission swap, and am getting ready to put a 3.73 LSD in there. My first track day in it will be in 2 weeks and I can't wait. Hope to get some springs on it before then.
Yes I did think of an E36 but the cheapest of those was at least double the price of the E34 plus with all the tuning parts that are available for them gives you the temptation to keep on spending and Ive done that plenty of times over the years! That, plus the fact that M3s are very "common" [not meaning to be insulting] and not as impressive as an M5 [which seems to be a very big car when you are exiting a slippy bend on full opposite lock!]. The other major factor is insurance cost, I have the two M5s and an MG Maestro Turbo on a future classic policy for £275 for 3000 miles with an option to increase the mileage if needed.
Agree with others.
M5 is so not the car to do hill climbs & sprints imho.
Its a great handling car but its not nimble...it needs space to perform.
Repairs can be expensive on these old girls.
Small light dedicated car would be my choice & as with cost, you can throw something like an old E30 325i into the wall & just say ah well..neeext..!
Funnily enough I bought an E30 325i to do up into a dedicated track car/Kumho Challenge race car a few years back. I bought virtually everything for it ready to go on, roll cage, seats, suspension, exhaust, manifold, shrick cams, chip, large bore throttle body, decent brakes, LSD etc. etc...cost me about £3.5k including the car.
About a month later, in the middle of stripping it out, I saw this on ebay:
...and I got it for about the same price as the E30 had cost me up to then!
It must have cost £15k+ to prepare by the previous owner (FIA rollcage, ATL fuel cell, Tarox 6 pots, rebuilt engine chipped to 250bhp, rare works magnesium alloys, the paint work alone cost the owner £2k)
I have beaten a few Mits Evo's with it on Sprints too
Bit extreme but just an example of what you can find and the saving you can make if you look and are a bit lucky.
Cant agree its not the car to hillclimb as I used my last one to do an event up the drive of Cultra Manor House and finished up 12th overall out of 60 odd competitors. I would agree its not the "ideal" car but there was a certain irony sitting on the start line on my cream leather seat listening to the stereo while everyone else was taking it very seriously! Also managed to beat son using the Maestro turbo which has 200 to 230 bhp depending what fuel and boost is used but only weighs 950kgs.
We also have the option of an 1800 K series engined MG Midget which is just about to have throttle bodies fitted which will put it up to 195 bhp and about 750kgs {very similar to a Caterham]. Its acceleration to 80 makes the M5 seem very sluggish but above that it gives the impression of vulnerability if you run out of talent and it gets away from you!
The more I think about it the logical thing to do is just use my existing M5 and sell the new one although a nice shiney M5 in the garage for good days does appeal so if anyone has a good drivers seat half leather with motorsport grey centre or a piece of fabric or door trim to allow it to be repaired I would be grateful to hear from you.
Funnily enough I bought an E30 325i to do up into a dedicated track car/Kumho Challenge race car a few years back. I bought virtually everything for it ready to go on, roll cage, seats, suspension, exhaust, manifold, shrick cams, chip, large bore throttle body, decent brakes, LSD etc. etc...cost me about £3.5k including the car.
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