Any Drifters here?

[greddybenny]

Hello,

I'm looking to build a drift car for next season. Just looking to see if anyone here has any experience or knows where I can find some advice on building a 3 series into a drifter. I haven't even decided yet, but my budget for the car itself is about 5000 bucks. My basic plans for the engine are to build a custom turbo kit to achieve 350-400 horsepower. Has anyone done anything similar? I want to know what type of engine work I will need to do. I'm hoping the stock bottom end is strong enough to handle this... I know enough about turbos... as I work for a company that builds turbo kits for japanese vehicles. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Andrew_BR]

Cool! Ive just bought my e36 Coupe 325i to start playing drift. I love drift... startet at age 15 playing with moms Suzuki Vitara in dirt roads! ehehhe.
Now its time to build a real drifter. Im thinking in a bi-turbo so the turbo-lag is minimized. I even was thinking on a tri-turbo with a customized (and crazy) exaust, but I realize that it would be a waste of time for little improvement.

One thing I really miss in my e36 is the LSD. playing in rainy days without an LSD (like the Vitara had) is much harder...

So, lets exchange some ideias about it here! It will be fun.

P.S: Sorry about my strange english. Im from Brasil...

[greddybenny]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the reply! How does your car handle the beating from drifting? Are there any components that need to be replaced often because of driting? The company I work for (GReddy Performance Products, or TRUST) uses Mitsubishi turbo chargers so I am probably going to throw on a TD06 or T67 turbo charger with a custom manifold. I'm going to build the kit myself, since I do not have money to purchase a kit.
For you turbo kit, 2.5 liters is plenty of displacement for a large sized turbo or even two small sized turbos. I wouldn't go with three turbos because it just would not be effecient with only two cylinders trying to spin each turbo. If you want something good for street and track, something like a TD05 or TD06 single turbo should work great. You probably won't have much lag if your manifold and exhaust system are designed right and those turbos are good for over 400 horsepower. If you go anything larger than that, you'll probably need to get a good set of cams to help the exhaust system to work more effeciently for the turbo charger.

[greddybenny]

Do you know if any of the E36 models came with a factory LSD? Or is there an LSD from another chassis that will bolt up?

[doggee]

you idiot!!

[savage217]

The m3 came with a limited slip as did the e30's.

[PhilipWOT]

I have a 1991 Nissan 240SX that is motor-swapped with a CA18DET that I'd be happy to sell you. I promise it will make a better drift car than any BMW. Much cheaper to fix too.

[Andrew_BR]

"would not be effecient with only two cylinders". Thats why Im changing my mind... But I think that I will stick with the Twin turbo anyway!

Oh man... what a cool job you have! eheheh. I am also developing my own turbo kit, because bimmers are just by these days getting acessible to more people (used cars). For eg. my 95 e36 was R$35.500 that is US$16.000. Ridiculous, but is a price of a brand new popular car with a 1.0 litre engine and some accessories.

About the drifting, I didnt did a reeeeal drift yet because I just bought the car and the insurance documentetion isnt done yet. But without the LSD, I think that all you can do is some nice powerslides. When it comes the time to hold the car in the drift, the open differential throws power to the "lighter" wheel and than starts to unbalance the car. So you have to go back going straight or you will be spinning on the asphalt... thats what I sensed. (I spinned 2 times.... never happened with the vitara.).

The LSD had come also in the early E36, but I think it would be untill 94. Not sure about this.

the M3 is a good option, but its only 25% limited slip. You can have some fun in this site. http://www.diffsonline.com/product/index.htm

About PhilipWOT, I think hes got a point... For you guys in US, a 240SX is a great option. Light and cheap.

Here in Brasil its hard to find rear wheel drive cars. The only ones after 90s, are bimmers, Chevettes and Omegas (both Chevrolet here, Opel in Europe).
But we got at least one GOOOOD thing. Alcohol as combustible. Maaan... you dreeeam about a perfect fuel... and we got it! ehehhe

Reards!!!

[DJ Redline]

I love drifting...I can't afford the sport...yet....I eventually want to get a RX7 FD-3S for weekend drifting excursions....

[Andrew_BR]

Rx7.....cooooollll....
my country suuucks haaard wen its about cars...

[325er]

If you're really going to build a drift car, I think turbos would be a mistake. Boost lag would be annoying as all hell.. I'd supercharge it.

And my '94 325is has an LSD, I believe it comes with the "winter package".

[studbike]

theres someone on the net (forget the site exactly) that is working on an LS1 kit (corvette engine) using an e36 sedan. Supercharge that, and you'd be set!