Why owning an old BMW is the best choise you’ll make.

If you’re a true blooded driver with hard ambition to succeed behind the wheel, have many projects smashing about in your skull and proper knowledge to achieve them, you probably have no money to put that shit together. I think everybody that is on a budget and loves driving, mad skids, and tweeking their vehicle has or is still in that gray area. The thing is, depending on where you live in the world, there is always a chance of you achieving that goal and building that ultimate tire slayer you’ve been dreaming about. I repeat, I’m putting stacks up here for Eastern Europe, that’s where I live, therefore information is abundant so I kind of pass off on the bullshit that I’m about to pour down in this article.

Why am I talking about old beemers?

BMW has always been militant about rear wheel drive cars, and I respect that. Jeremy Clarkson said that “BMW thinks front wheel drive is the work of the devil” (it ain’t that exciting now, is it? And c’mon, it’s JC we’re talking about here!) BMW makes a crackin’ chassis for sports cars, and all of their most well known cars have kind of made that clear. I’m not going to talk about M division cars, that would be too easy, (“I want fast agile, tire munching, 4 door saloon to cruise and drift around in a week end – Buy any M3”) nah! That’s the lazy man’s way! Let’s remember that you’re a keen drifter with no cash, you probably still eat at your mum and stack up the freezer with chicken nuggets and deep fries. BMW’s will probably seem a bit out of reach and expensive to run and repair, wrong! Parts can be found everywhere, be it local wreckers, chop shops, ebay, tuning parts shops across the European continent and individual sellers on Facebook. You already have a huge scouting database at hand.
Keyword: diversity. Oh yes! Remember you still live with your mum and roll your cigarettes.
We’ve already established you have plenty of places to buy spare parts and upgrades, but that doesen’t solve anything, does it? It does, because you can cherrypick where you want to get them from. Having such a huge database you can choose from whom to buy them from, that means price diversity. Now jumping right at the most important aspect: POWER, a used engine in good condition can get you from 120 euros to 1500 euros, depending on what party you want banging under your bonnet. Suspension kits start from 300 euros to almost 2000, I repeat depends on what you need swinging. The list is endless. We’ve already established that parts are diverse and cost from almost nothing to 3 month rents, therefore why would you buy them in the first place? Well we need to move on to one of the most important features, which is...

LEGO

What the f…? I might have shed a bit of darkness on the matter with this, but bear with me. BMW’s have an excellent modularity in what concerns interchangeability, that means that for the older platforms you can swap engines and drivetrains between them like a teenager swaps voices in puberty. What BMW did cool is that it installed huge engines in their smallest sedans (e36 got up to 3400 cmc.), but the fun doesn’t stop there, people swap them with v8’s from the 7 series, 5 series, X5, others turbo them , supercharge them, LS swap them, 2jz swap them, endless list of mad mods here. Of course going this far is sometimes a bit out of hand, as it creates a direct proportion with labor price increase. If you want to keep your engine, no problem M50b20 (six piston 2000 cmc. petrol) can be bored out and swapped with larger internals, other cams, different inlet headers, because some of their more affordable six piston bangers came with similar internals and construction geometry. For example the m50 and m52 engine generation is a praised family of engines by both mechanics and tuners. Why? Because they’re resistant, have good torque and power output, easy to work on, modify and they can run a redline all day without a sweat.

Ok, enough tech stuff, which one to buy?

The e30, e36 and e46 generation 3 series is the one to go for if you need a good car to drift around and ride to work every morning. E30s are awesome, they just go like clappers, they’re light and have that amazing look, but I would necessarily have one as a daily. In my opinion an E30 just goes really well as a week end tire slayer, you just don’t care how you abuse it, it will just keep on killing it. In the end of the day you will feel tired and your skin will exhale petrol, your girlfriend will call you a walking workshop, and you will know you drive a pretty old car. Now it all depends on how you ride your car, you will always sacrifice comfort for performance, and I think the e30 just stands as a really good badass platform, but a bit too sharp as a weapon. I would personally go with an e36 as it has a pretty basic platform, good stability and the market is more diverse. It’s the car that stands between really old school and 2000’s awakenings (with too much computer gizmos going on). A pretty good one will set you back almost 3000 euros – and I’m talking pretty neat condition. Like I’ve stated before, these cars don’t usually rust that much, but a car’s condition is the reflection of it’s drivers care to it, so make sure the owner can prove they serviced the car regularly and didn’t let it fall to pieces every time he heard a knocking noise. E46’s can start from as low as half of a good condition E36, but that means the car has either the steering wheel on the wrong side, has shady papers, is not registered, or it’s just a piece of shit barely holding its bolts on. Also an E46 in good condition can get you up too 5000 euros, depending on trim and specs, it has a more beefy look, more round edges and luxury specs go further than previous generations. It’s a good good car but like the E30 it’s all a matter of taste in design and comfort features.

How to check what’s going on with the car

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When you finaly make up your mind about what you wat to shred you must take into consideration some basic stuff:
-Always check condition of the papers (extremely important, including insurance and its regular mechanical inspection availability)
-Always check if engine runs well (knocking noise, rattling, hissing noises, oil color, cooling liquid level)
-Leaks, check for visible oil spillage, servo, brake fluid and cooling liquid smudges around. Anti-freeze is sweet, just saying.
-Check conditions of belts, accessory belt is included here, because you’re buying a six piston engine, that has a timing chain. If they’re in bad condition put the owner to change them or politely ask to lower the price.
-Check for noises during driving the vehicle.
-At least a visual check of the brakes and tires.
-RUST! No large amounts of rust on your car, that’s a nono! Check behind carpets, key resistance areas on the vehicle, underneath included.
-Check electrics, if the windows don’t roll down properly, electric mirrors or sunroof, that ain’t such a biggie as replacement parts are cheap, but it’s crucial that all the lights work and alternator charges well.
I’m such a nice guy, I even offered you a DIY on how to buy a car without taking it to a service, you can slide underneath it in a parking lot with a piece of cardboard and check this stuff.

Sliding around and being proud of your rear wheel drive tire muncher.

Ok, now you’ve found your car! Congrats! You managed to scout the internet like a fucking boss and buy that sweet drift missile you’ve always wanted. All remains now is to do some basic maintenance (change oils and filters etc.) and take it out on the road. You might be thinking, hmmm…so what’s the big deal? I can just buy any other car, is this even relevant? Yes it is! Very! I just narrowed down your choises for a good, dependable, cheap to fix, versatile drift car that can be easily driven anywhere while not being hopelessly impractical. I’m not talking about M cars or silvias, supras and GT-Rs, I am talking about a 2 to four thousand euro car that you can shred in the week ends and drive as a daily. Mechanics are simple, engines can be swapped in less than a day, diffs, gearboxes, driveshafts, bbody elements, brakes, wheels, you name it! Because they are not aftermarket parts, they are made by BMW and they work with each other. Internet is full of parts and ethusiasts, if you live in Europe and can’t afford the Japanese contenders, the beemer is the one to go for. I left out the larger models because they’re larger and more complex, therefore less likely to be drifted as easily, but it all depends on your skill from there.
Remember!
This is an article for petrolheads, and is written by a petrolhead that always has been on a budget. I just covered some basic concepts regarding drifting on a budget, mechanics and vehicle versatily. If you have more questions please fire ahead, I can cover more technical basis, but this stuff is just to get you a bit started in that “right” direction.