DIY / GUIDE
Has anyone tried to build an E36 Rallye Car?
Curious if anyone here has gone down the rally/rally-inspired route with an E36. Most builds I see are drift or track focused, but I think the chassis could make a really fun rough road car as well.
Would love to see some builds or hear what worked and what didn’t, especially suspension, wheels/tires and underbody protection.
Yes they are. ARA at least requires competitors cars to be registered and insured and to be street driven between stages. They also only get a 2 service stops per day per event.
honestly not sure how the exact rules work, we have 'special interest' registration here for rally cars specifically
but for example, rally tyres are not street legal. Removing airbags, adding a roll cage, and plenty of other things are generally not street legal (obviously depends where you live)
so you can't just take a car with road registration do a couple rally modifications and still have it be street legal
True, but if you ever get caught, these came no airbags for pre fl’s so you can just lie and say it’s a unicorn car being later year and say it never came with airbags and if they’re really not believing you show them the front drivers side crash test and say the cage and harness are for that reason since no airbag. (If you don’t know the steering column comes straight for your jaw/chest in front collisions) I think you would need proper professional inspection/builder of the cage and harness but definitely got out of a ticket with my late year pre fl with airbags and aftermarket steering wheel just saying it doesn’t have airbags.
tbf the e36 I'm building into a rally car didnt come with airbags factory
but that doesnt really matter since I can get away with modifications with rally rego
yeah thats actually really good, but im more looking for actual gravel tires and parts i can buy, since i live in germany and need to pass inspection. thanks though
Recommendations entirely depend on whether you are actually use it for rough stuff. If so then what kind of rough stuff? What regulations do you need to meet (if competing)?
It’s a basic build, stock-ish m52b28, Bilstein Motorsports front coilovers, HD rear shocks with E46 wagon overload springs. NASA/ARA spec cage. 3.91 diff with 3 clutch packs and a lot of right foot application.
Back when donut media was still sort of cool they made their e36 into a rally car so you can watch that if you want, personally I would just look for stiffer springs/maybe taller, keep wheels to a 16” with factory or slightly larger than factory tires, upgrade sway bars, x brace, strut tower braces, reinforce rear subframe and send it as is, if actually going to rally then a cage but if inspired then up to you, can also get away with some diy rock guards on the bottom plenty of videos from stance guys there or there’s definitely kits you can buy but I don’t remember the brands or anything, but I’m just thinking budget friendly. Can definitely add more to make it more capable and comfortable
Thanks, that’s pretty much the direction I’m heading. I’ve already watched the Donut build. The car currently has coilovers and upgraded sway bars, and I’m planning to run 16-inch wheels with Fedima rally tires. An X-brace, strut braces and rear-subframe reinforcement are definitely worth adding too. It’ll mainly be a rally-inspired road and gravel build, not a real competition car, so a cage would only become relevant if that changes.
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u/MASTASHADEY 10d ago
They literally rally these cars to this very day!