This is a good idea. Like many folks I avoid salvages as a daily driver. I doubt I’d do many mods beyond racing seats and beam-connected belts.
Oh, about twice as good as your average driver can handle.
Well said!
One of the things about track driving that always annoyed/amused/bemused me was the guys (it was always guys, never gals) who, as soon as they got into driving and bought a track car, whether new or used, immediately started modifying it. Cold air intakes, turbo kits, suspension mods, big brake kits, etc. As though they were already at the level of Michael Schumacher, and it was only the car that was holding them back. :dubious:
The only mods I made to my main track car (the 350Z) were for safety: a full roll cage and six-point harnesses. My attitude was that I would need quite a bit of seat time before I would get to the limit of that car in its bone stock configuration. Furthermore, I’m not a better mechanical engineer than the guys at the factory who designed it.
I suppose if, in addition to the hobby of track driving you want to add the hobby of tinkering with your car, it’s your time and money. But the attitude a lot of guys had was that their tinkering would make it go faster, when they hadn’t even bothered to put in the time to know what the base level car’s top speed was when they were behind the wheel. So mostly they were just fooling themselves, IMHO.
Well, I got snaked by another buyer on the car.
However, I’m going to see an '04 on Tuesday. She’s a 330ci red coupe with reasonable mileage and Is more $ -the photos look really nice!
Too bad! Good luck with the next one.
Thanks, I might like this car even more- it’s a red coupe, which I’ve always wanted.
If you end up racing often (once a week?), I second the idea of getting a trailer. I used to have a race car, and about 50% of the time, it wasn’t running at all by the end of the night.
Not the same as a track car I know, but still.
I’m a rank amateur - HPDEs, Autocross and meandering about on open track days. I need a decent car I can mess around with and can walk away from in case of catastrophic failure, which is why I had to discipline myself when I looked at the M-Series this weekend – $28k is not something I’m willing to walk away from :eek: The car was totally Dinan-modded out and way, way beyond my mechanical skills; for starters, the guy put in cold air intake which is illegal in NJ and God knows what else has been done. At least, if I can’t fix my old 530i myself, at least I know what the problem is most of the time.
Plus there’s the addiction problem: sweet track car = buy trailer = decide my X3 doesn’t have the tow power I want = buy an X5 
There are big differences between HPDE and any form of racing which mean that very few HPDE participants trailer their cars. By definition, virtually all HPDE cars are street legal, not race prepped, so they can be, and usually are, driven to the track. Obviously, this means they’re expected to be driven home again. This, and the fact that HPDE drivers aren’t competing on track with other drivers, means they don’t push the cars or themselves as hard as racers. Accidents and breakdowns happen in HPDE, but they’re relatively rare.
Anecdotal experience: in my 135 days on track, I had to be towed home twice. One other time I had a brake problem that fellow drivers helped me fix on the spot, without requiring a tow.
The HPDE drivers most likely to trailer their cars are the millionaire types who own exotics like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc. I was at an HPDE event at VIR where a couple of guys came in full-blown car carriers like scaled-down versions of what the pro teams use. They had their own engineers, too. Must be nice…
At my last HPDE the “grown up” track guys had the course later in the day. One guy had a breathtaking customized Alpina and a trailer that probably cost more than my house.
My third cylinder misbehaved after a few runs and Alpina guy brought his tool bag over and did something magical that fixed it. I asked one of the organizers if fix-it guy knew what he was doing - turns out he is a mechanical engineer with BMW Munich, so it was like having Jesus fix my car.
Jesus don’t need no toolbag!
Where’s that damn “Like” button?!?
Right next to the NO2 switch. 
Good one, Gato!
Late to the party (hi commasense!) but I’ll +1 on a non-M E46 being a good choice for a beginner, and just throw in a few tidbits from personal experience:
- This era of BMW had a bunch of plastic cooling system components that get brittle with age and then crack when worked hard. I don’t have a parts list handy, but you can get kits to replace everything for a few hundred bucks from BMW specialists. I’d consider this almost mandatory for a 15 year old car.
- Go through the braking system thoroughly, be generous with replacement parts.
- In line with the above, depending on the environment there’s a good chance that all of the rubber bushings in the suspension are shot, and which is going to affect handling feel and your ability to put the power down. Replacing them is a miserable job but if you can swing it, it’ll be a great improvement. That’s assuming they need to be replaced, if the car was babied they might be OK.
- These “early” (relative) traction control systems were terrible, you’ll want to leave it on at first to get an idea of what it’s doing, but I’ve found the E36/E46 systems to be very intrusive. I usually prefer to have students leave all the nannies on but with bad systems you can’t ever get a feel for the throttle and I think it breeds bad habits (heavy foot). I believe on the E46 non-M you need to pull a fuse but don’t quote me on that. It does add an element of risk but fortunately you’re only dealing with 190hp or whatever so it’s not like trying to tame a C7 Z06.
- Almost all BMWs are set up to understeer from the factory. At some point it will get annoying, you’ll know it you get to that point. Your first performance mod after brakes and tires should be a more neutral handling alignment. Start there before you spend a bunch of money on aftermarket suspension bits.
Wow, thanks! I drove the car this morning, I hired a mechanic to do an inspection tomorrow. SES light is on. Which could mean nothing/everything. Seller will do $1k less than ask, he’s tired of Craigslist assholes.
A question:
-this 2004 330 feels very different to my 2002 530 and 2015 X3. It feels less “power steery” and road is felt more. It has brand new, fat Pirellis on it and new OEM brakes (so that’s $2k+ I wouldn’t need to shell out for track readiness).
Should this car feel more “road connected” than my other BMWs? I don’t know how to describe it any better. Thx!
I don’t know anything about the X3, but the 330 and your 530 are basically the same car aside from a few inches and a couple hundred pounds. Nearest I can tell they have the same steering ratio and everything. Tires would make the biggest difference there in terms of steering feel, wider/stickier tires result in a heavier steering feel. Fuel saver all seasons feel floaty compared to some good summer tires.
As I’ve mentioned, I have almost no time in BMW sedans (unfortunately), but “more road connected” sounds pretty desirable for a track car!
The car has new Pirelli PZero staggered stance tires (18x8.5 on the front and 18x9.5 on the rear, I think). I suppose this set-up alone would make for a different feel. The car is also has the “Sport” package with M-rims.
If the mechanical inspection checks out, looks like this will be an HPDE-ready track car for me!
Mind if we ask how much?