Sergey’s E46 M3: Stay Frugal and Avoid Rabbit Holes
“You haven’t bought property up in Willows yet?” his friends joked.
After a brief intro to tracking with his Subaru WRX, Sergey Smirnov had to consider operating costs - namely the price of off-track incidents that weren’t too cheap in the Subie. The 1.6-liter Miata he replaced it with was much better in all respects, plus being mildly modified with Ohlins R&T coilovers, a Wilwood BBK, several cooling mods made life easier.
His friend Terrence Ishida had built both of his cars, and the Miata was inspired by his own build of simplicity, reliability, and pure driver focus. There’s not much needed beyond that, except for experience, by which Sergey obtained by making the most of the cost-effective track time he was getting.
Goals like a 2:10 at Thunderhill East and a 1:30 at Thunderhill West kept him busy for some time, but as he had prioritized his skillset, he didn’t mind the effort. The gains he found from minor tweaks, no matter how small, suggested he was on his way and kept him motivated.
The elapsed time spent in the Miata was short, yet fruitful. He’d found a car that made it possible to visit the track every other weekend, but this intense period of study ended rather unceremoniously.
“After 2.5 years of dogging that car every other weekend, and regularly putting in a stretch of roughly six track days between oil changes, the motor finally went. A moneyshift – I went to first when I wanted third – was enough to kill it.
By that point, he’d managed a 1:27 at Thunderhill West, so it’s fair to say he’d gotten his money out of it. For that reason, the timing couldn’t have been better. He’d learned the ropes and honed his abilities to a respectable degree, and now he wanted to find something that would save him from having to point the other fast guys in the red group past nearly every session.
“I’d been thinking about a replacement for a while. I wanted something that’d do a sub-2 at Buttonwillow CW13, something that wouldn’t require constant upkeep, and something that would not cost too much all-in.
The GT86 and GR86 both had their strengths and their weaknesses. Both were light, simple, tossable, and well supported – the 86 Challenge caught my eye, too. I spoke with Brian Armstrong, who’d gone into depth studying the oil pressure issues with the FA24 engine.
I spoke with Brian Armstrong about his investigations and oil pan baffle prototyping to combat the GR86’s oil pressure issues, and that helped me feel at ease with the known flaw of the platform, but not quite enough to justify the price,” he added. The GT86 had its appeal, but going fast at fast tracks would take a lot more power mods and money, as evidenced by the 86 Challenge’s leaderboard.
Sergey was also considering going the Bavarian route. Having taken a couple BMW Performance Driving School experiences before doing his first HPDE, and already owning an F80 M3, adding another BMW was an appealing option. Many of his track friends have already had an E36, some of which with the S54 motor, which prompted him to do his homework there. “The costs all-in on an E36 or E46 were similar to what would have been the build sheet for a new GR86, and the M cars are capable of impressive lap times with minimal modifications. Their issues have also been well-documented for years, and we are still discovering new problems with the FA24.”
Whatever he got, the more sensible choice was to find a car which had already been modded – and modded correctly. Fortunately, Maxwell Lisovsky had one ready to sell.
“Max had mentioned how reliable the E46 M3 was. There were a lot of reasons these cars tended to be at the sharp end of the pack and frequently used in endurance races,” he said, and the two set up a Highway 9 test to see if Sergey was fond of the car’s feel.
“Three corners in, I said, ‘Oh my God! I need this!”
There were several reasons why. Compliant, modern enough, powerful, and Max had already been through it. The list of modifications wasn’t long, but the right parts had been addressed, and the car was ready to run lap after lap, like the Miata, but with power and panache.
By the end of the test drive, Sergey tried to get Max to hold off on selling the car to any other prospective customers, but Max cut him short and they shook hands. A week later, it was sitting in his garage.
The Koni-based Ground Control 1-way coilovers worked well enough with 525 lbs/in front, and 650lbs/in rear springs, Ground Control camber plates, Ground Control sway bars and a square set of 275/35/18 Kumho V730s, it was eager enough to rotate.
The essentials for track work were in place: a CSF oil cooler, a TC Design half-cage, Racetech RT4009 seats with Schroth Flex harnesses, and Hawk DTC-70 pads were all he needed to pick up where he left off with the Miata, albeit with an emphasis on setting much faster lap times.
The minimum speeds might’ve been similar, but managing the power, weight, ABS, as well as vehicle dynamics at higher speeds kept him busy with his original quest of developing his car control. Coming to understand all these traits were what took him from setting a 2:00 lap at 13CW his first time in the car to a 1:57 more recently. A grippier tire was responsible for some of that, but he’d retained the same pads and suspension. It was his ability to anticipate the car’s movements that made most of the difference.
“Aside from wanting to be a little more competitive in a faster class, I took the same approach as I did with the Miata: maximize what I’ve got. That’s why I haven’t changed much. It’s been a matter of changing the oil (more frequently than with the Miata) and sending it.”
He’s only made one change so far. The CAE shifter – needed to address the issue of the OEM shifter falling off – has improved engagement and shortened shift times.
The results are impressive. He’s approaching Dan Avon’s lap times now, and it won’t be long before he’s matched them, if not beaten them. On the horizon, he’s budgeting for a set of AP Racing CP9668 brakes and a set of MCS coilovers – but only once he’s ready. “I’ve pretty much reached the limit of the OEM brake system. Once I master the car with the BBK and drop a couple seconds on my PBs, then I’ll spend the money on MCSs,” he added.
Maximize what you have – it’s how Sergey Smirnov’s advanced as far as he has in such a short span. Rather than standing in his own way with the old mistake of chasing modifications, he got a proven platform, made the essential tweaks, and spent the majority of his time and money on tires, brake pads, fuel, and admission.
Taking a well-paved path has opened many doors for Sergey, too. “Learning the dynamics of the E46 has gotten me into racing Lucky Dog in an E36 M3 and pulling a very competitive race pace during my stints, as well as connecting with many other BMW track rats to learn from. I’m glad I went with this well-developed platform as I can stand on the shoulders of those who’ve made the M3 what it is and accelerate my advancement as a driver thanks to their efforts.”
