E46 M3 CSL Race and Track Day Preparation

By Thorney Motorsport

As founders of the CSL Cup series we are particularly experienced on the building of E46 M3 race cars. We run our won 4 car race team in the series and as such have an intricate knowledge on the preparation and running of these cars. CSL Cup can be built for as low as £25k (including donor car) or up to £60k for our top spec cars. For information on the CSL Cup race series see their website – www.cslcup.co.uk

The crucial part of the development is the cage, whilst bolt in cages provide additional safety to a shell; a full multi point weld in cage is essential for multi series racing or racing on slicks where the extra stress of the tyre grip manifests itself in chassis flex in a bolt in caged car. We design our own cages based on many years of direct race experience, our E36, E46 and E92 cages all share a variety of common design features proven in racing and (sadly) in impacts. Our E46 cage survived a 60mph sideways hit into concrete wall with near zero intrusion into the passenger compartment despite the impact literally folding the shell over itself.

Cockpit & Frames Remain Intact

Dashbar holding strong

Footwell still intact due to roll cage

Cockpit & Frames Remain Intact

Getting the weight down on the E46 is relatively straight forward, a lot of course depends on the series in which the car will compete but carbon fibre or composite bodywork and lexan / perspex windows will alone make a dramatic difference.

With suspension a lot is determined by your budget and again series regulations. Bilstein have a well developed range for the E46 and are the preferred choice of a lot of German teams and are an excellent choice at all price points. However both Nitron and Moton have excellent race proven options that we have used to great effect, 2, 3 and 4 way adjustable options are available.

Brakes are a simple choice – Alcon or AP Racing, both have effective race kits readily available which we mate with Pagid RS29 pads, still unbeaten in our view.

Moton Competition Motorsport Kit

Alcon CSL Cup Kit

Moton Competition Motorsport Kit

6-Point Bolt In Roll Cage

As with all race car builds the devil is in the detail, we can provide any level of race car engineering you desire for any level of racing from Kumho through Britcar up to and including British and FIA GT. The race car building process is very much a partnership between us and the owner to achieve the perfect build for the right price.

Of course we also offer a complete racing package from simple race weekend support to complete car storage, preparation and season team preparation, the choice is yours.

Contact John directly on 01908 238 798 to discuss any requirements.