..::PSI::.. Builds An E36 Chumpcar!

[AlphaAlpineM6]

so what are the advantages of running a sedan v coupe ?

[M3ZCP6MT]

I've always wondered the weight of a bare bone car like your chumpcar. 2500 lbs ?

[Sean@PSI]

Thank you everyone so much for the kind words, our #1 requirement to take this on was to have the most FUN possible and we definitely had a blast building this car and racing it.

Originally Posted by dreamspeed

How much did it cost to put this car together with the labor? Ballpark figure

I would say WITH labor it would be close to 10K, currently running and driving E36 non-Ms are about $ 500.00 to pick up.

Originally Posted by nicke92

Clean race car; did brakes have to stay (new) OEM as well?

Yes, they are OEM E35 325i. The brakes along with the cooling system and suspension were COMPLETELY brand new factory BMW.

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

nice build. its a goofy series. we were going to build a car as well but seems strange to take a 500 dollar car and put 20k worth of work into it and oem parts you dont really want.

The series is really competitive with a lot of very fast OEM stock cars. Many people would be amazed how fast the E36s are bone stock out on Sebring. The fact that the cars are STOCK is the fun of the Chump Series.

Originally Posted by silentassasin

$500 pile of junk transformed. That's cool. But is it worth the money you put into it?

It was 100% worth the time and money spent to do it. The way it performed goes to show how much time and effort the factory puts into to each BMW built, even back in the day, on a non-M E36 sedan.

To build a car like this it takes a core love for BMW and racing, this car couldn't have been done without that love of BMW and the commitment the team had to make this a reality. A lot of VERY late nights and headaches went into completing this build and making this happen.

Originally Posted by KEYON

That looks like fun! Reminds me of that Topgear episode where they went racing instead of golfing.

I want to do something like that one day.

Congrats on the first race

Thank you so much, all the kind words are very appreciated.

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

WOW !!

I have a spare E36 sitting in my garage... can i donate it to you guys for you to transform it ?

How can i be in the driver seat too?
What should be my next step to follow your footsteps?!

Please help!

I want to race my E36 too

We love donations. To complete another build like this, it would take about 10k out the door for a very competitve E36.

Originally Posted by M3ZCP6MT

I've always wondered the weight of a bare bone car like your chumpcar. 2500 lbs ?

It weighs about 2,400 lbs currently.

Originally Posted by AlphaAlpineM6

so what are the advantages of running a sedan v coupe ?

We found the sedans to be easier to lighten up over the coupes and we wanted to compete with a sedan just as BMW did with their E36 race cars.

[Shaung]

Your car looks great and the build quality looks top notch but builds like that seem to go against the whole nature of the Chump car series.

Just my opinion.

[1MOREMOD]

I would also say that build was way more than 10 with labor. Just the cage is 3 or more. My e46 was a ton more than that and not as extensive.

[dreamspeed]

Very nice, good luck with the series.

[admranger]

Really nice build!

I'd put in a real fire system though, aqueous foam is not that expensive. After seeing the miata flambé at the 25hrs of Thunderhill a few years ago, that extinguisher looks really useless.

[SoCali E36]

This is simply amazing. Makes me happy to see you guys give this baby a new walk on life. I've had a 1996 328i sedan and now own a 1997 M3 sedan and they are amazing cars to drive even in stock form. I can imagine how well this baby must feel on the track.

[ianbiz]

Awesome results guys!

[Sean@PSI]

Originally Posted by admranger

Really nice build!

I'd put in a real fire system though, aqueous foam is not that expensive. After seeing the miata flambé at the 25hrs of Thunderhill a few years ago, that extinguisher looks really useless.

Yes, that is next on the list for the car.

[Hops128i]

very professional looking build! The photography is excellent too!

I have thoughts of a e36 track car some day, thank you for helping me day dream.

Does the factory OEM parts constraint make the buid easier/cheaper?

[Sean@PSI]

Originally Posted by Shaung

Your car looks great and the build quality looks top notch but builds like that seem to go against the whole nature of the Chump car series.

Just my opinion.

I can understand that. We honestly did not intend for the car to be as nice until we went to Daytona and saw some of the cars out there, chumpcar is actually quite a step up from a series like Lemons.

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

I would also say that build was way more than 10 with labor. Just the cage is 3 or more. My e46 was a ton more than that and not as extensive.

It's hard to estimate exact costs with labor since we did everything ourselves. The cage is fairly basic and we built it in house, so it was well under $500 in parts.

Originally Posted by dreamspeed

Very nice, good luck with the series.

Originally Posted by ianbiz

Awesome results guys!

Thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by Hops128i

very professional looking build! The photography is excellent too!

I have thoughts of a e36 track car some day, thank you for helping me day dream.

Does the factory OEM parts constraint make the buid easier/cheaper?

I hated the fact that everything had to be OEM. Aftermarket bushings are much easier to replace, and I hate the idea that I have to use a factory windowed bushing when I could use a poly/delrin piece that will last much longer and perform much better. Rules are rules though, and it definitely keeps the series competitive!

[Sean@PSI]

Our little E36 has seen a lot of track action since this post was made, and we've gotten a few more photos of it over the past several months, so we thought we would share them with you!