Feature Car
Dado's Yellow 1995 BMW M3
By Jacob Isaac-Lowry
Aug 26, 2004, 12:22

This week's Car of the Week spotlight is on Dado's 1995 yellow BMW M3. For those of you who have watched any of the Teckademics DVD's or who have seen any of their clips floating on the net, you will instantly recognize this standout M3 and its driver. This M3 has been fully converted from a street car to a track machine, sporting a tubbed interior, Tec-3 engine managment system, complete roll cage, and all the little tricks that make a race car lighter and faster than its showroom siblings. If you live in the DC area you may catch a glimpse of this overhauled beamer as it passes you at 160+ on the freeway!

The M3's Current Mods

Engine Active Autowerkes Stage 3 Turbo Kit AA Custom 3.2 M Motor Built Stage 3 1400 CFM Intercooler Stage 3 Hybrid Turbo: 60-1 compressor end mated to a clipped TD06 exhaust end Electromotive TEC3 engine management. Supplied by SIAS Tuning Pauter rods JE Pistons 8.3:1 motor AA Turbo Spec Cams Knife edged crank Hi performance valve springs Dual electric 10” fans Heat Wrapped exhaust manifold and piping HKS Racing Bypass Valve HKS Super Sequential blow off valve Greddy Boost Controller Greddy Turbo Timer AA Water/Alcohol Injection System Zionsville Aluminum radiator SPA Technique Oil cooler with braided lines supplied by CDOC Euro E36 oil filter housing with outlets for oil cooler Custom 3 inch side exhaust by Jav AA Custom 3.5" Low Level Air Intake Fuel starvation kit stage 2 (secondary fuel pump) Main fuel pump welbro 255 Active Autowerke aluminum lightweight flywheel Active Autowerke 4 Puck Racing Clutch Evo M3 6 speed Transmission supplied by GMG Racing 2.93 Differential with 60% lockup by www.diffsonline.com AA Shift Knob AA Short shift kit Rogue Engineering Finned differential cover Suspension KW Coilovers Variant 3’s Independently adjustable rebound and compression damping Inox-line stainless steel technology Individual height adjustment Infinitely adjustable rebound damping 14- level adjustable compression damping BMW X-Brace Active Autowerke Rear Toe Bushings Turner Motorsport rear camber arms RD Sport strut brace Ground Control Sway bars supplied by MPact Motorsports Ground Control Camber plates supplied by M3 Motorwerks Ground control rear shock mounts supplied by M3 Motorwerks Interior Stack ST8110SR Boost Street Dash it has Tachometer Boost Pressure in PSI Speedometer Odometer & Tripmeter Oil & Fuel Pressure readout Water & Oil Temperature readout Volt Meter Fuel Level Infrared Lap Timing Predictive Lap Timing EFI Systems UEGO1000 Wideband O2 Sensor Sparco Suede steering model 323 supplied by CDOC Sparco quick release hub supplied by CDOC Sparco horn kit supplied by CDOC AA E-brake handle DAS Sport full welded in cage by CDOC Nerf padding supplied by CDOC Fully gutted Teamtech 5 point harness with camlock supplied by CDOC Cobra Evolution Technology GT Seats full carbon fiber drivers seat supplied by CDOC Cobra sportline for passenger supplied by CDOC Electronic fire supression system with 3 nozzles supplied by CDOC Kill switch in cabin and outside supplied by CDOC Window net supplied by CDOC Exterior Vented carbon fiber hood by www.mashaw.com Sparco hood pins Rieger Carbon Fiber front splitter supplied by MMS Tuning BMW LTW M3/GT Rear Wing Removeable Height Extensions in carbon fiber by www.mashaw.com Full paint Ferrari Code #102 Full front end 3M paint protection film installed by http://www.pftfilms.com Miscellaneous BMW Clear Lenses ZKW European Ellipsoids with Lava Lighting Angel Eyes supplied by Ko Performance 6,000 K Low beam xenons supplied by Ko 8,500 K foglight xenons from xvision supplied by Import expression Kinesis K58 18X8.5 front Kinesis K58 18X9 rear Falken 451 235/45/18 front Falken 451 255/35/18 rear RRT Stud kit Road Race Tech Brake cooling plates and ducting Stoptech 14 inch front with Cobalt racing pads Stoptech 13 inch rear with Cobalt racing pads

Although it is readily apparent from the extensive modifications to this car that it can turn some serious lap times, Dado went a step farther in further reducing weight and race prepping his vehicle than most. It honestly is a track only car that is driven on the street. Very impressive. Dado was kind enough to give us a heads up on what has been going with his M3 recently:

Nasa VIR February 21-22 wrap up.
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"First of all we had a great time and got to meet some really nice people out there. My instructor Dan McKeever was great and a huge help since this was my first time driving this car at a track, first DE, and first time at VIR. I got bumped up to HPDE3 and was doing some laps just under 2:20

well the car did extremely well even though I was being conservative. Shifting at 6,000 (7,000 is the limit). Was running street tires falken 451's (235 front - 255 rear). Boosting just 10psi (it's tuned for 17) which should be just around 430hp to the motor. As for suspension mods this weekend I was just running the coilovers and nothing else just to get a feel of the car.

I would also like to thank G&W for helping me and hooking me up with a lift and bleeding my brakes (brakes died the first day). There is nothing scarier coming down the front straight at 160mph and not have any brakes. Mikael (works at G&W) was a huge help and also changed my diff fluid since it seemed to be leaking after the first day. On the second day my diff blew on turn 1 without even completing a lap. I had to leave my car at G&W and I am going to pick it up on Monday which is about a 5 hour drive for me (yeah stupid me drove the car 5 hours to the track) I will learn from my mistake and trailer the car down next time. By the way, on the way back home I rode with a friend and we broke down 30 minutes from home. Even though we had so many issues I would just like to point out that I am hooked and will be coming a lot more often to these events. Nice meeting everyone this weekend.

Thanks David from Pro Imports for the help and also Carlos for coming down. Sorry about your car too.

Thank you Chris Cobetto, Laura Cobetto, and everyone else that was involved in organizing this event. The organization of the event and classroom times were great, very satisfied. VIR again next weekend so hopefully I will have the car running again."