Hi all, looking for abit of advice from y'all!

I've been fancying buying a cheap track motor for a little while now. Nothing too expensive or complex, just something fun and not going to cost a bomb if I break it or crash it lol!

Anyhow my Little bro and I decided to go halves on a car and after keeping ears to the ground came across this 'beast':

It's an E46 325i coupe on an X-plate with 80k on the clock. It was off the road (garaged) with no MOT and the owner was desperate to sell as moving abroad. My brother struck a very hard bargain and managed to get the car for just £500. Which is amazing as it's in damn fine condition considering it's age.

It needed a new front strut which my brother replaced (he previously trained as a mechanic so is very competent at spannering). It subsequently sailed through its MOT.

Having now both driven it around it's very nice indeed (loaded with kit etc) but not necessarily what we were after for track thrills. It's basically just abit slow and heavy. Wish we had a 330i!

It's also obvious now it has an MOT it's probably worth a fair chunk more than £500....

So what to do? Should we stick with it, strip out as much weight as poss, fit a nice exhaust and some uprated suspension and brakes then beat it round some trackdays or sell up and see if we can turn a tidy profit to put towards something better and faster/more fun?

I'd turn it round for a quick profit. Might get £800-1k depending on its condition overall..

If they are genuine M sport wheels on it that's a fair chunk of the £500 you paid already!

Edit:- looks like it could be an SE with the rear park assist.

I'd turn it round for a quick profit. Might get £800-1k depending on its condition overall..

If they are genuine M sport wheels on it that's a fair chunk of the £500 you paid already!

Edit:- looks like it could be an SE with the rear park assist.

Yeah that's what we were thinking. See if can get a quickie profit on it. Not sure what would be best to get instead tho? Thinking maybe a Clio 172/182? Or maybe a civic type-R?

Yeah it's an SE. Think the wheels are replicas tho ;-)

Lovely inside. Half leather, climate, fully elec seats etc. it's almost too nice to turn into a track-slag!

The Clio seems like a safe bet. Check Dans out in the project area.

No RWD though for drifting...

I'd go for something lighter.

There are loads of options from a Clio 172 to all kinds of things incuding some RWD.

A heavier car never seems to feel as fast as they tend to insulate you from the experience better.

 

And on track it's not about being the fastest, it's about the experience.

If it were me, I'd be selling it on for as much as possible and using funds towards something else.

Clio Sport, 106 Rally, Saxo 1.6 vtr, mx5. All reported as great first track cars. Lightweight, can be bought for cheap, reasonably powerful, and great to throw about.

I'd be selling the BMW for as much as you can and putting the profit towards something smaller and better suited for track days. Give it a good clean up, including the engine bay, polish, wax etc. should sell for a tidy sum.

JRJG

Clio Sport, good fun little cars

Cheers everyone! Yep I think selling up and going for something lighter is the right option. A Clio is calling me!

If those MV2 wheels are 18" and in good condition you will get your £500 back just selling them, part it out and sell it in bits or get it sold as a whole car whilst fuel prices are low 

Well i was going to say sell it and buy a 172 but it looks like ive been beaten to it by about 6 people already