Maxwell Lisovsky's E36: Breaking Records, Not Banks
This 1996 328i didn’t start as anything special, and its current appearance might not turn too many heads, but that’s alright with its owner. Maxwell Lis is content knowing that this tarnished E36 has all the important areas addressed, and even the optically-obsessed can respect a rough car which can lap Thunderhill West in the 1:19s.
“I like to drive a little like Gary Yeung, so rear wheel-drive just suits me,” he declared.
After an introduction to speed through canyon blitzes in his VW Golf, he segued into trackdays in this bargain E36. As the frame was already bent, Maxwell picked it up for peanuts, and the already-impressive performance made him wonder how much could be accomplished for relatively little. With a set of O’Reilly pads, BC coilovers, and whatever tires he could swing, he ran his first dozen track days without any real headache.
Main Aims
His fixation with budget bits only meant he had no excuse to skip any area that could contribute to performance.
After witnessing Tony Rodriguez flip his first Toyota MR-S at Phil Hill, he realized that safety would have to come first. Adding the reinforcement needed to fortify the E36’s thin sheetmetal helped him push the car confidently, but more was needed to ensure it could handle regular curb hopping.
Fitting E46 arms on this car helped in this respect. Though considered a modification for a drift car, these arms are lighter, stronger, and longer than the E36’s. The wider track and additional camber altered the balance, slightly, and Maxwell saw what he needed to get the most out of a low-horsepower car of moderate weight.
For a little more control without breaking the bank, he went for a set of ISC one-ways with 12K/14K Swift springs. These, in conjunction with the quicker Z3 rack and a gutted interior, made it a lithe, serious, responsive little car that rotated in the slow stuff as well as most production cars.
With a little practice, Maxwell was loading the car hard enough to warrant a second round of reinforcements. The spring perch mounts, swaybar brackets, trailing arm brackets, and both subframes received the necessary beefing up. While he was at it, he installed a half-cage from Little Buddy’s Speed Shop that ties into the structural portion of the fenders for added rigidity.
CAPTION: Stock 330i brakes save him a few shekels, but they only last four hard laps.
That wasn’t the end of his quest for stoutness. The rear end, axles, and trailing arms from an M3 came next, though these weren’t added to fortify the car alone. They also had to help administer the additional power he planned for.
A Moment of Weakness
Up until this point, the build had adhered to a strict budget. He considered several motors to replace the M50, but the only one which pulled at his heartstrings, the S54, was just outside his price range. When one popped up for $2,000, he deliberated for a moment, but the emotion that motor stirred up in him drove him to take a leap. There was a little tick, but that didn’t worry him too much — it was worth taking a risk for.
Turned out the planned valve adjustment wouldn’t cut it — the motor was toast. Rod bearings shot, pistons ruined, cylinder walls chewed, shrapnel in the oil feed, as well as a crank pummeled by a thrust bearing. That was not a nice day for Maxwell, who started to consider how long he’d be able to live off of Top Ramen in order to swing the repair costs.
Before he allowed himself to marinate in the malaise, he bought ACL bearings, Wiseco rods, and JE pistons, then slapped them all in the old block after given the cylinder walls an aggressive hone. He lost a few thousand that way and the rebuild process would start his season later than hoped. However, he learned to build a motor, which, with some luck, would not cause him any more strain.
Had it not been for that one move, this build might’ve cost far less, but it’s still far underneath what most have to spend for a 1:19 lap at Thunderhill West. Even better, he got most of the misery out of the way in one fell swoop, and so the last fifteen events in this car haven’t had him sweating a major repair bill. True, the car’s too rough to drive to the track now, but even with his old tow rig, he still saves more than some of his truck-free track friends. It just goes to show: you can go fast without breaking the bank.
Suspension
ISC 1-way coilovers
Swift Springs 12k/14K
Whiteline sway bars 28mm/24mm
Condor delrin subframe and differential bushings
Front E46 control arms
Condor offset bushings for FCA
Garagistic adjustable endlinks
Condor delrin trailing arm bushings
M3 rear trailing arms
Engine
S54
JE Pistons
Wiseco Rods
King/ ACL Bearings
Cometic MLS Headgasket
ARP Head studs
ARP Main Studs
Rally Road oil distribution block
FX Stage 3 clutch
K&N air filter
Bimmerworld intake boot
VAC-treated exhaust cam hub
Dr. Vanos upgraded hub bolts
Drivetrain
ZF five-speed transmission
CAE shifter
Garagistic DSSR
M3 axles
OS Giken 1.5-Way differential
Aero/Cooling
9 Lives Racing Big Wang Kit 67”
Custom front splitter and air dam
Condor/Trackspec hood vents
CSF Radiator
Color Fittings Series 9 twenty-row oil cooler kit
Brakes/Wheels
E46 330i front and rear calipers/rotors
GLOC R18 front and rear pads
Garagistic stainless steel brake lines
Castrol SRF brake fluid
Apex ARC8 17x10” ET25 wheels
Chassis
Condor Speed Shop rear subframe reinforcements
Condor Speed Shop trailing arm reinforcements
Condor Speed Shop sway bar bracket reinforcement
Condor Speed Shop front subframe reinforcements
Partsshopmaxx front strut tower weld-in plates
Garagistic front x-brace
Steering/ Interior
Z3 rack
Omp steering wheel
Color Fittings custom AN power steering system
OMP HTR400 seat
Little Buddy’s Speed Shop rollbar