Hopefully you’re already familiar with the sport of drifting and, although a relatively new form of motorsport, it’s one which requires tons of skill to perfect and enormous dedication to interrupt through into the professional ranks. And naturally, you want a thoroughly developed, highly modified machine being competitive.
Our good friend Michael Essa is actually a Formula Drift driver who’s sitting pretty in second place in the championship when we write. His shop, GSR Autosport, built his E46 M3 in-house and was nice enough to bring it to our studio, enabling us to show you the battle-scarred beast, warts and allWith an autocross and road-racing background, it’s unusual for a guy like Essa to gravitate towards drifting. Partially because scoring is based on style instead of time, which appears to confuse the purists, the sport has a certain stigma. There’s plenty of sports in the Olympics that happen to be judged! Michael countered. Even freestylemotocross and skateboarding, BMX; these are all judged sports based on style and each one has huge followings, so why should drifting be seen any differently?
You don’t have to be a fan of racing to experience drifting. No matter who you are, it’s downright jaw-dropping to see they running door-to-door, completely sideways, with smoke pouring in the fenders as their bumpers scrape the track walls. This is the reason there are big sponsors as well as the events are completely out of stockthe auto competitive
Although I wasn’t into drifting, I took my Datsun 510 Rotary turbo towards the first D1 Drift event at Irwindale Speedway and saw the guys drifting like maniacs. It was pretty cool and i also knew I could do it, he recalled.
After some searching around, he found local organization 626 Drift and competed with them in some events at Willow Springs Raceway. I threw an LS1 motor in my Mazda RX7, but after a few events they stopped letting me compete because I kept winning, he laughed.
Fortunately, there was another place for Essa and his RX7. A place where the skilled drifters could compete in billowing smoky glory: Formula Drift.
I was invited to a Red Bull drift event in Arizona and scored second place in the qualifier, which got my license, Essa said. Next I went straight to Formula D inside my RX7.
2005 BMW M3 bracket 18
2005 BMW M3 motec CDL3 dash 15
2005 BMW M3 fuel pump 14
Formula D
This series pits the best drivers against one another in a test of agility, style, speed and proximity. Essa was a novice to the field but up against some seriously talented drivers. For 2010 he teamed track of Nick Richards to form GSR Autosport with plans to continue in Formula D, although in his 1st year, 2009, his best finish was sixth place in Vegas.
That year they built an E92 BMW 335i, which was memorable for its E60 M5 V10 motor, yet it wasn’t powerful enough to be competitive. So, the car was transformed for road-racing duty and GSR moved on to a BMW Z4 that would be a greater drifting platform. And while it evolved rapidly over two seasons, the short wheelbase proved too twitchy to operate at the limit.
At the end of the 2012 season I realized I needed to make a big push, Essa said. I knew I was able to do better with the Z4 but decided that if we switched to the E46 chassis and took the drivetrain from the Z4, the longer wheelbase would be more competitive. So, we took a chance and it also worked out great! he laughed.
Now in his fourth year of Formula Drift competition, Essa finally took his first steps on the podium and is in the close battle to actually win the championship. I’ve learned a lot throughout the years, he admitted. And while his skill level has undeniably increased, the E46 was exactly what he required to take his career to a higher levelSo, what would it take to transform a regular BMW into the tire-slaying battleship the thing is here? Was converted to M3 spec, even though well, the GSR M3 started life as being a humble 2005 325i. It’s since been dubbed Die Ultimative Driftmaschine , which is German for The Ultimate Drift Machine.
There are many regulations to conform to when creating a Formula D car, hence the chassis hasn’t been modified drastically. In general, like any street or race build, the GSR M3 is a mix of parts that might be fitted to the E46 M3.
It utilizes the factory S54 3.2-liter block but GSR built the internals to withstand the boost pressure considering that the main power adder can be a Garrett GTX35/28R twin-scroll turbo mounted on a DOC Race tubular exhaust manifold. This supplies a 750hp wallop to the rear wheels! Alternatively, about 500hp a lot more than stock!
Ever since the factory transmission wasn’t up to the quick shifts, high loads and constant beating, GSR machined the bellhousing to allow for Tex Racing four-speed dog gears and a Clutch Masters 850-series twin-disc clutch. The strength is then transmitted to a quick-change OS Giken SuperLock limited-slip diff, which required some modifications for the rear subframe to fit.
2005 BMW M3 DTMFiberwerkz GTR widebody kit 07
2005 BMW M3 wilwood four piston caliper 05
2005 BMW M3 DTMFiberwerkz GTR rear bumper 08
A typical misconception is that drift cars are unbearably bouncy and stiff, running on worn all-season tires without having inch of suspension travel. Sure, if you wish to slide around in a parking lot, but at the professional level, the cars aren’t very different from a road-racing spec, you might set up an automobile this way. The real difference is the volume of steering angle, and that comes from the specialized Wisefab high-angle kit. It’s an insane piece of equipment that enables almost 70? of steering angle at full lock!
There’s no camber adjustment on the car, just double adjustable Bilstein MDS Motorsport coilovers (as found on E46 M3 and Z4 GT racecars worldwide) and the Wisefab arms.
As with any racer, more rubber on the highway is an advantage, so GSR used the GTR widebody kit from DTMFiberwerkz. Inspired by the E46 M3 GTR V8 racecars, the kit gives the E46 an extra 8 of width up front, allowing the team to boost the car’s track width for greater stability. The styling also demands the M3 get some goodand so the brakes can be relatively small, making them light by competition standards. The reduction of unsprung weight and rotating mass is an easy way to improve the car’s handling dynamics and acceleration, being a by-product.
Wilwood four-piston calipers take care of the front, with two-pistons out back. And the trick to initiating a drift or scrubbing speed is definitely the hydraulic handbrake. It gets its own two-piston Wilwood Dynalite calipers on the rear, offering instant lock-up.
It’s no secret, Michael Essa has been one of the most improved and exciting drivers to watch this year. His attack angle and speed, plus the sound in the boosted S54 and its angel-eye headlights peeking through the smoke mean he just might take the championship. I try not to think about it, he told us. I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been see and doing what occurs. The closer we arrive at the last race, the closer I am to winning the championship being a privateer.
If you happen to didn’t know, that’s a large deal when you’re a tiny team competing against fully sponsored rivals.
Under his calm exterior, Michael is actually excited, and why not? He’s put himself in a amazing position to be crowned as one of the best drivers in the united states, and he’s doing it with the wheel of any BMW M3 in a sport that’s been dominated by domestic and Japanese cars. It’s a triumph of epic proportions and we’ll be there, win or lose, to cheer him at the finish.