Project: Lela! (she loves it on all fours :) )

[Nisse Järnet]

Looks great!

[fresh_TD]

Just picked up a Schmiedmann strut brace, thanks for the heads up! Incredible project by the way. I'm painting my ix in a couple of weeks, and the mechanical/maintenance is done for now. Cheers two some old girls getting pimped!

you have any fitment issues with the strut brace?

Sent from my GS4 Active

[Bolestuff]

you have any fitment issues with the strut brace?

Sent from my GS4 Active

I just ordered it from Europe, I will post up once it is installed.

[imwhyteyo]

I just ordered it from Europe, I will post up once it is installed.

any progress on this bud?

[nando]

I just ordered it from Europe, I will post up once it is installed.

Bavauto sells the same bar

[imwhyteyo]

got to work on the other side of the engine bay. heres some pictures of the progress.. haven't painted yet but im repairing some things as i go.




taking care of some rusty spots.. not bad.. just surface stuff i had to fix before they got bad.




going to repair some damages, this was all bent and banged up from a long time ago..






using this stuff to take care of that rust spotting permanently.. works the best in my opinion




priming and smoothing grind marks.



that's all for now.. going to finish smoothing and put a coat on as soon as possible, perhaps tomorrow with my day off.. will again post when i can of the progress.

[imwhyteyo]

Engine bay painted. Reassembly underway!













Deleted the cruise control, wasn't Working anyway.. ground Dow all unnecessary brackets.. doing an

[Nisse Järnet]

Oh thats beutiful!!

[D-rock]

Awesome Build!

Subscribed!!

[88e30is]

Nice work!

[imwhyteyo]

SO! my standalone came in today!... big things are soon to come..!

Heres my rant on the progress so far, its been tough getting pictures of my every move, so if you want the details, listen up!

i got the drive train back into the car.. and will be having it running very soon to start tuning. I also opted against the spec sport clutch i originally installed and went and purchased a SPEC stage 3 , 6 puck clutch rated for more power. I did this based off the assumption that the awd drive train needed something a bit heavier duty to have it supporting it, especially if i wanted to romp her for alittle fun every now and then. With the flexibly in the power and torque rating of the clutch and lightweight flywheel I won't be afraid to squeeze out a little extra power or drive a bit more aggresive.

I bought all my fluids for the driveline, and heres how it will go:
I'll be putting red line MTL in the transmission, royal purple ATF in the transfer case, and royal purple 75w90 in the front and rear diffs. I'll be using Mobile1 fully synthetic 15w50 for engine oil. I'll be using factory BMW Blue coolant, and ATE SUPER BLUE for the brakes after i install the brake lines. Ive already installed an upgraded braided clutch line. (Quite the colorful combination of liquids!) Seeing as how I'll be keeping power steering, I'll be using a typical penzoil power steering fluid. Nothing special here. just a relocation and shortening of the power steering hoses.

I don't have pictures of me removing the transmission again to install the new 6 puck clutch, but it's definitely In there. I was very eager to get it in and back together so I could FINALLY fit the drivetrain back Into the car!... which I did!! Yaaay!.. one thing I have to make note of was the fact that those upgraded poly/delrin shifter bushings made things very difficult to maneuver when it came to lifting the transmission side shifter assembly up through the chassis hole and into place.. They're so stiff that it was very difficult to get any flexibility for things to line up with such tight tolerances. With it all snug I there, I must say how amazed I am at how ttight and clean the shifter feels. I couldn't be happier. click clack! i just want a weighted shift knob now.

The megasquirt is a plug and play unit by whodwho which is an excellent peice of work. After installing, I will be eliminating the afm. I'm also looking to upgrade the blowoff valve to something more appropriate than the plastic bosch piece i already have.. I'm looking to tune for a simple 13 - 14 psi on stock head gasket and internals being that i dont want to ruin anything... I want an efficient and reliable tune, not something aimed for dramatic power Increases.

I Also completed a wire tuck of the chassis harness along the drivers frame rail, putting a few holes in the wall and covered the edges with a more professional look with grommets. the hood release cable also has been hidden this way, and it definitely cleaned up the drivers side engine bay quite a bit.

For the suspension, I installed a much bigger rear sway bar with polyurethane bushings and some heavy duty endlinks.
For the front sway bar I modified it to perform better by shortening the ends and re drilling holes so the bar has less ability to flex, installed polyurethane bushings and also purchased new heavy duty endlinks.
The suspension itself was going to be coilover setup, but instead is a brand new set of h+r springs, with bilstein sports in the rear, and bilstein HD, up front with news spring pads.
The front strut bearings were replaced, and rear strut mounts were upgraded to Ireland engineering polyurethane/aluminum options.
A schiemdmann red front strut bar is going to be installed, and a rear strut bar is going to be made custom and also painted red, only after my false floor and stereo installation.
The engine suspension is a pair of VERY hard polyurethane engine mounts, with heat shields and the vibration isolators still attatched (i know the cabin will likely vibrate :) ), the rear trannsmission/transfer crossmember mount design was junk, but the bushing was pressed out and a new one was pressed in. there are gaps from the factory in the rubber meant to flex alittle so the cabin doesnt rattle with noise. l filled the voids and strengthened it with a high density polyurethane filler and is much more solid.
I have yet to install my brand new AKG rear subframe and trailing arm bushings, but that will be done as soon as possible. i look forward to the responsiveness of this button downed AWD machine!

I've also cleanly and hidden installed 3 sets of HELLA TRIPLE air horns(9 total) to let people know when I've arrived, or to GTF out of my way ;)

The lights on the exterior have all been converted to LED. The headlights were purchased new, as "glass euro smileys" and have amber led daytime running lights. The low beams are converted to 4300k oem white HIDs, the high beams are 12000k pink HIDs, and the fogs are 3000k yellow hids. All the lenses appearance are clear, with a smoked film over them to match my charcoal "diamondschwarz metallic" paint.

European fender markers have also been installed with bright white leds that will remain on as daytime running lights, constantly when switched on, until the blinkers are turned on, they begin to flash. This took certain wiring procedure i didnt get to document. The reverse lights, and license plate lights have also been converted to white led.

The shaving in the engine bay didn't get too extreme, I removed many brackets and studs that will no longer be used and will be simplifying and relocating the power steering fluid setup. The brake booster hose has also been rotated and modified as well relocated. The fuse box harness has been hidden and the fuse box cover is painted black for a cleaner look. All hid wiring has been concealed to the best of my ability. The cruise control has been removed as it was too much wiring and cables to consider altering. I never use it anyways, but always will have the option to reinstall. The alternator and engine ground wires will be upgraded to a more "flashy" updated look, with red cable, and golden plated connectors.

I also purchased some new wheels for her, so she will roll in style!... They are O.Z. Racing 3 peice Fitipaldi, in 16x8 and 16x9. Im not sure these will fit at the moment, but i bought them knowing i have complete intent on doing future bodywork. The car will be painted, and this will involve shaving the antenna, keyholes, and hood sprayers.

I changed out the nasty old fuel filter as well, mounting it alot more securely than it was before.


The Next Big projects I have on deck are:
e36 heated and powered seat installtion (Halfway installed, need to finish)
e36 REAR heated seat (thats right, rear heated ;) ) and armrest/headrest installation(need to finish , just waiting on hog rings)
ADDED e36 interior lighting installations for the rear, with red rocket labs auto dimmer and delay mod. Interior LED Red lighting.
installing permanent in-console navigation.
Push start ignition
one touch window button installations with en illuminated switches.
euro fog switch for amplifier power on.
Wiring map light and euro clock
competition stereo installation with false floor trunk installations
getting my wheels drilled and filled to fit 4x100
Finishing my 3" Remus exhaust setup.
Painting and drilling my trunk to fit the e28 mtech 2 wing
And so much more.

[imwhyteyo]

[The Dark Side of Will]

The front strut bearings were replaced, and rear strut mounts were upgraded

Looks clean and you're obviously going for a magazine article... However, please stop assaulting us with this horrible writing style that seems to be the norm in bottom barrel import rags.

Carry on.

[imwhyteyo]

Understood! .. I felt I had some catching up to do.. I haven't done much elaborating on my work and didn't by any means have the intention of rambling. I certainly am shooting for another article. You're right there!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[The Dark Side of Will]

Many import rags go on for paragraph after paragraph of "so and so was installed, thus and such was done" when they really should just publish a parts list and save the narrative for things that are interesting to talk about, like HOW THE CAR DRIVES, specific difficulties in the wire tuck, obstacles to overcome in sorting the chassis, street/track performance, whether or not the car's been skidpadded, etc.
I'd rather read about the owner's experiences and plans than take 1000 words to read a 50 item parts list... but in most import mags the article just the 1000 word parts list with nothing that's actually interesting to read.

Please don't be that guy. ;)