Andrew From BuildJournal - E46 M3 With ARC-8 Track Wheels

APEX: Tell us some details about yourself & your car.

Andrew: My name is Andrew and I grew up in the suburbs 1 hour east of Los Angeles in a city called Rancho Cucamonga. Yes, that’s the city mentioned in the movie “Friday” with Ice Cube. I spent a lot of my younger days skateboarding and snowboarding, but slowly got into cars after my cousin started getting into it. My weekend/track car is a 2003 E46 M3 6-speed MT in Alpine White with Cinnamon interior. The daily driver is a 2012 F30 328i in Sapphire Black with black interior. During the years of owning the E46 M3, I started BuildJournal, as a “build journal” (that’s what they call it on the forums) to log all the things I do to my car including DIY, technical guides, photoshoots, videos, etc. I’m also really into photography and recently creating videos so I try to create content in my spare time.

APEX: What is your track day wheel setup?

Andrew: My track day setup is also my daily setup. I’ve ran a 18×9.5 et22 squared setup with the ARC-8 wheels in silver for about 2 years, but now I run a 18×9.5 et35 squared setup with the ARC-8s in black with a 12mm spacer in the rear and a 3mm spacer in the front to clear my BBK. Tires are 265/35/18.

APEX: Why did you choose APEX Wheels over the rest?

Andrew: Everyone talks about APEX on the forums. I remember going through the massive APEX gallery thread on the forums a while back when I was wheel shopping and I knew immediately this is what I wanted. It has the offset options for my daily/track needs, clears my BBK setup, and it just looks freaking good.

APEX: How did you get into track racing & for how long?

Andrew: I’ll be honest. I got super into the stance culture, but quickly got tired of it. I wanted to drive my car and push it around the track. It was pretty funny because I raised my stanced car and corner balanced it one random day. It looked super funky, but I had a blast driving it around not caring about dips or driveways. That led me to buy a set of APEX wheels. A few months later, I did my first HPDE event at Auto Club Speedway and I never looked back.

What is your favorite memory or entertaining story from the track?

Andrew: I had to do a last minute tire swap before my autocross day because I suffered a small tire puncture a few days before and it was just not holding air. The problem was, I couldn’t find replacement tires. So I threw on my all-season tires! Although I was fighting the tires the whole day, it was fun playing around with the suspension dampening settings to make the car faster.

APEX: How many events do you participate in each year, care to share any track results?

Andrew: I used to do about 3-4 a year, but the past year or so I’ve been doing a lot of maintenance on the E46 M3 while modding the F30 328i. The first two track events were at ACS (Auto Club Speedway) and I did a PB of 2:04, which I have videos of.

APEX: If you could give one tip to a new racer, what would your tip be?

Andrew: Always look ahead for the next corner and spot the Apex! Apex can either be the clipping point of the corner or the wheels on the E46 M3 next to you. I’d advise you spot the clipping point though. 🙂

APEX: Where can we follow you?

Andrew: Website – http://thebuildjournal.com Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/buildjournal Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/buildjournal Twitter – https://twitter.com/buildjournal

APEX: Do you have any clubs, shops or racing buddies you want to give a shout out to?

Andrew: Shout out to my girlfriend for helping me take photos and even wrenching on the car when I’m in the garage for hours. Also a shout out to my friend Oscar for helping me with Buildjournal. And lastly a big thanks to Casey at Racewerkz Engineering for always staying late at his shop to work on my car. I think I’m partly responsible for his lack of sleep.

Tom M.

Tom is a BMW Fitment Expert at APEX Wheels. Prior to joining the company in 2019, he worked for BMW of North America as Fleet Manager: Portland (OR) for the ReachNow car-sharing program, and as Warranty Administrator/Loaner Fleet Manager at BMW Portland. In addition, Tom has extensive training in BMW TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins) as well as in-depth knowledge of all BMW chassis and their wheel fitment options, with and without aftermarket brake and suspension upgrades. His high-performance driving experience includes autocross events in southern Oregon and track days at PIR in his 2004 E46 330i with 17x9 ET42 APEX ARC-8 wheels. Vehicles he owned prior to indulging his passion for BMWs include a 1989 Jaguar XJ6 and a 2006 S197 Ford Mustang. Fun Fact: Tom is a huge Formula 1 fan. Have questions about wheels for your BMW? Use our contact form and ask for Tom.