What's up y'all? New guy from AL with a ZHP drift build!

[M4J0R T0M]

Hello everyone. I recently purchased a ZHP to build into my first dedicated drift car. Before you guys get all upset about me turning the "not so special" ZHP into a drift missile take a look at the pics and you'll see that I'm really doing this car a favor, lol. It's not what you would typically think of when you hear the words "clean" or "excellent condition". This thing has been rode hard and put up wet so to speak. With that being said I wasn't even looking for a ZHP in the first place. I was going to grab any old run of the mill e36 or e46 and start from there. My buddy turned me on this deal and it was too good to pass up. I basically paid the same for this car as I would have a base e36 or 46. I feel like I got a pretty decent deal all things considered. I realize that this forum may not be the best place to find a bunch of drift Bimmer's but I wanted to join anyways hoping to get as much ZHP specific knowledge as possible. I will be creating a build thread and documenting my mods and the different things I'm doing along the way. You'll see from the pics that the car is pretty trashed cosmetically but the good news is that it's very solid mechanically. It's very recently had all the major e46 issues addressed along with and new clutch and lots of other stuff. The only mechanical issue is a noisey lifter. I hoping to fix that with some engine flush. So without further ado, check out the pics of my $1600.00, 2004, 240k mile ZHP beater!

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1894/43424376905_864b4b7780_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/29aghnx)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/29aghnx) by Tom Francis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142291466@N08/), on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1846/29393792857_f3b89dc2ed_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/LMqSy2)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/LMqSy2) by Tom Francis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142291466@N08/), on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1872/29393793837_5eb409b7aa_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/LMqSQV)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/LMqSQV) by Tom Francis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142291466@N08/), on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1890/44281846562_d47f87a3f8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2at33e9)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/2at33e9) by Tom Francis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142291466@N08/), on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1898/42521764060_2fb254ba8d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/27Mva27)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/27Mva27) by Tom Francis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142291466@N08/), on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1876/42521764230_0d695de25c_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/27Mva53)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/27Mva53) by Tom Francis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142291466@N08/), on Flickr

[ZHPizza]

Hah nice pickup! Should be a fun build and definitely different than what we're used to around here.

I know that you usually weld the diff for drifting, but is there a benefit to a higher ratio for what you'll be doing? You can swap the 3.07 out for a 3.38 or 3.64 pretty easily.

[M4J0R T0M]

It was surprisng to learn that the ZHP's don't come with an LSD. So yeah, I'll be welding the and I'm actaully planning on grabbing a 3.64 from the local pull a part. To answer your question, the higher gear ratio will help spin the tires up quicker which is definitely helpful in a lower powered car.

[DeathTrap]

GA car, nice.
Those headlights are super clean too.

[fredo]

Congrats. That was a good find.

[johnrando]

Very cool, have fun!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[PetesZ]

If that is the car Bham Craigslist that it looks like. Check the oil pump nut.

[M4J0R T0M]

If that is the car Bham Craigslist that it looks like. Check the oil pump nut.

This car hasn’t been listed anywhere when I bought. It was given to a local BMW tech to compensate him for some work he had done. Thanks for mentioning the oil pump nut though, that’s something I hadn’t thought about.