my latest e30 - cirrus '88 vert build

[fuzzysux]

it's been a while since i've been back into an e30 - i got kind of burnt out a few years ago when i had 4 verts... got into some z4's and now i am happy to say that i'm back :)

so, i stumbled on this deal on craigslist from longisland and it seemed like a "too good to be true" deal but it was such a steal i HAD to go check it out. brought the girlfriend and a dealer plate as well as a pocket full of cash JUST in case it worked.

long story short, it was well worth the $$ so i drove it home. i am putting this together to show EVERYTHING that i change when i get one of these old cars so that it will handle and perform to MY standards... yours may be different! i will outline all of the parts that i used.

it is important to mention that i didn't need to put this on the road again right away - and instead of this car needing work every weekend, i opted to replace everything...


so everyone wants pics - here is William the day i picked him up.

dents in drivers side door and drivers side rear quarter. no rust under the car or in front fenders as typical. overall very happy with it.

[fuzzysux]

my girlfriend was apparently more into my lest e30 than i knew.. she has had e46's and absolutely loves BMW's so when she got real excited about this car, i had to go with it! she was turning the wrenches on this car alot while i was doing customer vert tops.

since the suspension is basically the same structure as her e46, it became a great way for her to get to know her own car better.

she is removing the control arm, control arm bushing, tie rod (inner and outter), strut assembly, brakes rotors, bearing/hub

FYI, we lowered the 2 17mm bolts on the K-frame (engine cross member) and let it sit on the jack to easier get to the nut holding the control arm to the k-frame

[fuzzysux]

as they say - a picture is worth 1,000 words

replacing:

control arms with e30 arms (e36 work too, only difference is e36 have easier replace-able ball joints). brand - Optimal

control arm bushings - originals were shot - using e36m3 centered control arm bushings - brand genuine BMW

new inner and outer tie rods - brand optimal

kyb strut cartridge

springs - H&R sport vert

new spring pads - 3mm all around - genuine bmw

new upper strut bearing - brand lemforder (OES)

not pictured, but i also used e90 spring hats for a small drop over the springs, brand genuine bmw

small tie rod link (seen by the rotor) brand optimal

rotor - brand Optimal

bearing/hub - Optimal

brake pads - Jurid

[fuzzysux]

then we moved to the back of the car - We just did each side of the car at a time.

this pic is of the new parts installed - below i will show details of which parts were replaced as above.

[fuzzysux]

rear parts changed

H&R sport vert springs
spring pads - genuine bmw 3mm
sway bar link - Optimal brand
rear shocks - kyb
upper shock mount - lemforder
rotors, rear - forget which brand
pads rear - ate
wear sensor

i decided that we would not replace the rear bearings at this time. in my 2 hr. scary ride home, there was no indication of rear bearings needing to be replaced so i left this alone. when this come up i'll do this. that job kind of sucks and when it comes to it, i'll just take the trailing arm off, replace the bushings and press the bearing out using the new one on my hydraulic press

[fuzzysux]

driveshaft

the car idled very well - it was an interesting ride home for a couple of reasons:

the car sat for like 8 months BY the ocean so the rotors were rusted over resulting in less than stellar braking (had to enlist the help of the e-brake to make a couple of exits...)

secondly while taking off under higher torque, there was a banging in the body of the car! i assumed that the center support bearing was shot since it did not happen at any other time. this was very un-nerving but i drove it home very cautiously...

part of the repair and replace now included new center support bearing and from previous experience doing this job, i also put a new flex disc in at the time. it really sucks getting at the drive shaft.

this time around, i took off the back half of the exhaust (no help from the gf here..) and removed the armor plating hiding the driveshaft. i then took out the trans supports and loosened up the rear bolts on the k-frame. i let the assembly down with a jack until i had enough room to get in there to un-bolt the driveshaft from the trans - this is where my helper came back in. put the car in neutral and she turned the wheels for me until i could get to all of the bolts necessary.

believe me, this is WAY easier than removing the exhaust - which will usually result in many broken bolts or stripped nuts..

so here's the driveshaft with the new parts on it

[fuzzysux]

i can get more descriptive on each of these jobs or i was thinking about finding the links and making a full DIY under-carriage e30 thread. depends on feedback i guess. i know i've searched and used alot of DIY's so i knew what i was getting into.

if there's some feedback - or if you would like to respond with some links to DIY's for each of these jobs, i'd be happy to edit my original posts to include them.

[fuzzysux]

Current status:
almost done with all 4 corners. putting exhaust back on the car tonight or this weekend - decided to get new rubber hangers which came yesterday.

driveshaft is back in adn everything is tightened.

i need to press my cab's and install so i can get the car off the jack stands!

next is timing belt replacement.

[fuzzysux]

update

got the exhaust hung last night and aligned - also pressed in my last c.a.b. and finished installation on the drivers front side of the car.

[davesmystery]

I just purchased the same shock/spring combo for my vert. Interested in seeing how yours looks after the install and how it rides since I won't be able to install mine for a while.

Looks like it's coming along nicely so far, and you're lucky to have the S/O help out. Mine just wants to drive it all the time!

[fuzzysux]

intake bellow - replaced

[fuzzysux]

working on the timing belt now - it's just such a messy job...

[fuzzysux]

and here's a little taste of my working conditions

[fuzzysux]

valve adjustment - i just jump the starter on the obd1 port to do this, i think it was port 11 to port 14. i used a small paperclip. this makes life easy - bump the starter until the cam is in the right position and adjust the valve - then repeat. this way, it usually only takes me around a half hour to do this job

[fuzzysux]

i ended up having to replace the rear bearings anyway... not a horrible job this time around. a large slide hammer does the trick - no need for the very expensive puller tool. it took me abt. 2.5-3 hours to do the drivers side (you get to contend with the exhaust on this side). and honestly at least an hour of that was rigging up something that was the correct size to hit the flange out of the inner race of the bearing.