Pimpm3 dunebuggy BMW thingy

As some of you know I bought the BMW kart from Robbie after the challenge.  It is awesome so I could not pass it up.

Robbie Challenge Car

Of course Robbie got it from racebrick who originally built it to use with his kids for track days.

Original build thread

Since I already own a 2022 BRZ for track days and autocross I am going to take this build in a different direction.

My plan for the BMW kart is to build it into a four seat dune buggy. 

I plan to modify the cage to seat four safely, install factory springs for a slight lift, put a set of 28 inch all terrain tires on it, add a set of wrangler bumpers, possibly a winch, and add a truck box behind the rear seat for storage.

Since I bought it without seats my 1st step was to buy a set of factory seats from the junk yard.

Obviously they bolted right in.  I grabbed the entire rear seat as well.

The back uppers's wont fit with the current cage.  I grabbed a core support, fan and hood while in the junk yard as well.

I grabbed all the seat belts as well.  Next step will be adding brackets to the cage to mount them and then modifying the rear of the cage to accommodate the rear seats.

This should be fun!

This car is a Swiss army knife!

Installed the hood and core support today.

I also put an old harness in so I can use the car untill I update the cage.  It's even the right color.

This car is on it's third life.

I case it might have made it to me, that had been my plan, sorta, as well! 
So will definitely be following along. 

E36 M3 just got real.  I picked up 5 jeep wheels and tires for $150.00.

I snagged a set of stock 330ix springs and a dash and center console as well.  The stock springs should give me about 2 inches of lift up front and at least 3 inches in the rear.

In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :

You should have hollared.  I'm sure I have Vette wheels that would have worked.

Vette wheels with all terrain tires?

In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :

Oh with tires?  Nope I sold that set a year ago.

I think the jeep wheels suit the look better, anyway! 

The Bruiser. 

Named so for its tough black and blue combination. 

John Welsh said:

The Bruiser. 

Named so for its tough black and blue combination. 

And almost the same color as on the Tamiya Bruiser (r/c truck), unfortunately there is no place to put "Hog Heaven" door art.

Awesome!

Oapfu said:

John Welsh said:

The Bruiser. 

Named so for its tough black and blue combination. 

And almost the same color as on the Tamiya Bruiser (r/c truck), unfortunately there is no place to put "Hog Heaven" door art.

Looks like a lotta space on that hood, to me.

I wanted one of the bruisers so bad when I was about 10.  They were super complicated and expensive.

I had to settle for a Mud Blaster which was basically a Blackfoot with a Subaru Brat body.

I trimmed out some excess body work and tried to mount the jeep tires.  They fit in the front as long as I don't try to turn.  The rears were not even close.

Since I had the wheels off to try to fit the jeep wheels, I threw the stock 325xi rear springs in the back.  It netted me several inches of lift, but still not enough for the jeep tires.

Who would have thought 31 x10.5's don't fit an e46 based dune buggy...

I am going to need to find something in a 27 ish inch diameter for it to work.

In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :

Need some taller springs?

In reply to Stampie :

Exactly. I think he needs to do a slight lift.

Big lifts make geometry wonky. Can you add spacers to the subframe(s)?

Around 27" diameter your best bet would be some aggressive ATs or maybe SxS MTs. The best diameters for offroad tires are 15" and 17", for these relatively small tire sizes you'll want to try fitting 15s (maybe with 215/70R15s?). It's always better to cut fenders than to lift bodies, but it looks like there's no room for that in the front so you may need to settle for subframe + top hat spacers plus whatever fender trimming can be done in the rear.

Dashboard is in.  Much more finished feel to the car.

Bought a few things on eBay to move the project along.

Headlights installed!

pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) said:

I am going to need to find something in a 27 ish inch diameter for it to work.

I have the General Grabber ATx in 27x8.5-14 on my e30truck and they're awesome. I don't know if they still do the 27's in a 15" though.

Would these work?  How streetable are you looking for?