BMW hillclimb car

[tuscan_thunder]

Hi all,

Multiple question time:

I'm aiming to save an abused 325 (e36) from life on a council estate.

I'm on the look out for a high mileage, and most importantly CHEAP 325 to do some hills and sprints in and some drifting. the hillclimb class structure in Scotland (up to 1800cc then over 1800cc) means I'm as well to go for the 2.5 a 4 dr is no problem. I've seen a couple at about £600 but they were quite far away and i'm not quite ready to commit to buy quite yet.

What should I look for on what will be a fairly thrashed car apart from the obvious? Are heads and blocks strong? Does suspension or crossmembers/wishbones etc break?

The main mods will be to gut the car, stiffen the structure with braces (cheaper than a cage at this stage), brake pads and sticky tyres. This will be followed by a cage, stiffer springs and dampers and a look at induction and exhaust and maybe a remap.

Any other cheap mods I can do?

Does the 316 gearbox have shorter ratios than the 325? Will it fit in a 325?

Thanks in advance

[fixedwheelnut]

Front ball joints and rear trailing arm bushes spring to mind as weakest links and common failures, I haven't a clue about the gear ratio's I'll see if they are listed at work.
Good luck with it my Grandfather used to rally and hill climb in a BMW Dixie [basically an Austin A10 with a BMW engine]

[xm5er]

I'd leave the geabox alone and change the diff if I was you. The 318is diff ratio seems best (3.44, www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/bmw_e36.html), plus IIRC it is an LSD.

[xm5er]

Though looking at this www.theeurodepot.com/usede3633.html
You can get a 4.44 LSD to fit.

[tuscan_thunder]

the 4.44 diff says it's for an auto but it should mate up to the manual ok shouldn't it? If I can get an LSD which will alter the gearing, that'd be the way to go I think.

[xm5er]

Good luck! Keep us abreast of developments, should be interesting.