Project Car M3 e46 Ringtool: Our Top 10 of 2019

1.  We have to start at the beginning. In April 2019 we bought our BMW M3 e46. The car was already prepped for racing, but hardly used. With just 50.000 km on the car.

The car was imported from England and converted to a race car, to serve as a back up car for the owner's BMW M3 e46 CSL.

We managed to get the complete history, and all the invoices of the parts installed.

Our journey had started!

2. After we bought the car, we had just a short time to prepare the car for the first season on the Nordschleife. In just three weeks we:

1. Reinforced the Subframe 
2. New Wheels and tires
3. New bushings
4. New carbon fiber bonnet 
5. New seat mounts
6. OEM exhaust 
7. Helmet box 
8. etc.

After that Nasy Performance arranged the TUV in Germany and we were ready to for our first laps on the Nordschleife. 

3. After our first testing laps on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, we were so happy and decided to do a quick cool down around the Nordschleife. It was a quiet weekday and just around the corner the "polizei" was doing a police control.

We were pulled out and needed to show all documents. We were confident as we had three A4 papers full of TUV documents with all our modifications.

However we just put the car on a 18 inch square APEX wheel set-up. This was not in the TUV papers and therefore we got ticketed and banned from driving any further.

Fortunately Nasy-Performance solved it, once again, providing us with a fully legal TUV racing car. 

4. Probably the best picture of the entire season made by Tiago Alex Costa.

We absolutely love this image. It captures the Nordschleife for the fullest. The speed, the altitude change, the cars behind you and the gorgeous green forest in the background.

This was just our second weekend out and these are the pictures we love to see. 

5. OEPS. 

Our first big moment on the Nordschleife. Coming down to Breidscheid, we suddenly lost the rear.

Fortunately we could catch it and just pretend it was a very sweet drift. 

We think it was fluid, that made the car step out like it did since we didn't do anything different coming into the corner. 

Big learning moment: Always look out for oil and fluids.  

6. Another great shot, as bought from www.racetracker.de

For people who don't know, racetracker shows all the photo's made by the photographers around the Nordschleife.

Lots of amateur photographers, take their camera to the Ring to photograph all Tourists and capture your moment on the Famous Nordschleife.

We love scrolling through the photo's the next day or something already the same evening. It makes is even better and part of the Nordschleife.

Keep it all, I say to all the photographers around the Nordschleife. 

7. Not the most exciting photograph, not even going flat out, without our helmets.

Why did I pick it, well look behind us. It shows a great Ferrari 430 Scuderia we just passed.

While we certainly were overtaken lots, by faster or more experienced drivers, we also overtook lots of great exotic cars like the Ferrari's, Lamborghinis and the likes.

While it is by no means a race to overtake someone, it still is cool to see that your "old" BMW M3 e46 can chase down these expensive exotics.

On the Nordschleife, it is all about the driver making the difference. 

8. The Eifel region is gorgeous and has a lot more to offer than just the Nordschleife.

The roads around it, are already breathtaking and the nature, the people, the food are all reasons to go.

Every year we stay for an entire week at the Nordschleife, it is our Motorsport focused holiday. 

We took this opportunity to make some pretty shots of our BMW M3 e46 "ringtool".

Racing and the Environment all come together at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. 

9. A dream coming together.

Our fully build, fast but show, BMW M3 F80 and our purpose build M3 e46. 

We love making fast cars but the BMW M3 F80, now producing 562HP was a bit to fast and loud for the Nordschleife. A real weapon which is not only show, it did a sub-8 easily.

However it is better to learn and race the BMW M3 e46. It is lighter, more manageable and the power is better suited for the Nordschleife.

Getting them both side by side at the Nordschleife, was a dream.

10. Our final weekend of the Year.

The car is on season plates, meaning it can drive from April till October. So our last weekend of 2019 was in October. 

During the autumn a lot of rain was falling, so we decided to do some very easy laps on the Nordschleife.

The Nordschleife in the rain is very tricky but also very empty. 

We know drifting is not allowed on the Nordschleife, but we "accidentally" had a few.

We are looking forward to a great 2020.