DS2's... now what?

[hoveringuy]

Rear swap complete.

It took 4 hours last night to remove the 4 lug subframe, swap the diff and driveshafts, install 5 lug 318ti subframe.

Relatively straightforward. I had a tire shop knock off the axle nuts with an air gun on the way home *just in case*

The only mistake I made is that I inserted one of the driveshafts into the hub with the ABS sensor still installed. It sheered the tip off the sensor.

Whoops!

I have the original e30 sensors filling the holes on both sides and even though they are not bolted in, they seem to work.

I also had trouble inserting one of the drive shafts. It wouldn't go in at all. Fortunately, I had a small triangular shaped file to clean the splines and that let it go in easily.

Brakes feel soft so 25mm master cylinder goes in today. Also need to align.

They look Hot!

Also of note: 14" basketweave w/ tire = 25lbs. DS2 w/tire (7.5") = 40lbs

[MikeDE]

Let us know how the MC feels....and what did it come out of???

[hoveringuy]

Let us know how the MC feels....and what did it come out of???

e32. Brakes are something that will be a "work in progress" for a while. I suspect some of the softness may come from the larger cylinders in the rear, I will get much more of that when I swap the M3 front brakes in up front.

Will I need to go back to a larger brake booster after this? We'll see...

[hoveringuy]

***Can one of you smart guys answer this for me....

I noticed that before I torqued the axle nut both rear discs had a lot of play and teeter-tottered back and forth if I grabbed them.

After I torqued the axle nut, they were tight.

Where is the opposing load for the axle nut carried? I'm fairly certain the drive shaft spline isn't a tapered fit, so is the load carried by the bearing? Is the load carried by the shoulder where the thread turns into spline?

Is the length of the splines *just right* to give a certain amount of bearing pre-load at specified torque??

I went back and looked at the old subframe I pulled out and it had the same looseness with the driveshafts out, as well.

*** Sing it with me: "I can't get no, t- t- traction..."

I hooked-up fairly well with my 195/60-14 Sumitomos (unless it was wet..)
Now, with 225/40 17s temporarily in the rear I spin much more easily in the dry. I have about -1/2 degree camber.

Is this a consequence of a shorter sidewall?

*** The 25mm master cylinder firmed things up nicely. I think it will be perfect when I add the larger M3 stuff up front.

[Aptyp]

Inner races (2 of them) of the bearing get loaded between hub and axles. Splines just slide through but on the back of splines you can see the surface that's supposed to mate to the bearing. When you tighten axle nut, you pull axle in the remainder of the way to get any looseness out. So good going and I hope you torqued those nuts and put axle-lock plate on, because without those, you'll be replacing bearings again.


No idea what's wrong with your traction. You may be running a tire with high silicone composition and really high tread rating.


25mm MC is a nice touch. Makes brakes feel a whole lot better, and you will not need a bigger booster.

[hoveringuy]

Good explanation.. thanks.

I actually have one more question.

The e30 lug bolt looks like it has a different seat shape than the e36 lug bolt.

They both seam to work fine, but is an e36 lug bolt required for e36 wheels?

[Mossman]

different shape/bevel or just slightly different design? As long as its a cone and not a ball you will be fine, I've used 20 different sets of wheels with e30, e36, aftermarket, whatever I had around lug bolts. No problems.

What tires are you running, nitto nt-555?

[turbo325i]

We need pics of those ds2's NOW!!!

[hoveringuy]

We need pics of those ds2's NOW!!!

This is with the 7 1/2" rim w/ 215/40 17s.




With 8 1/2" rim and 245s...

[rkettner]

i like the 7.5" look. this is the reason we talk about 5 lug swaps!

[MikeDE]

Nice , there are a couple of E32's on the Junkyard I go to. In fact, I just realized no more than 20 mintues ago that I left my MAC socket tray with about $750-800 worth of sockets/torx/e-torx/swivels/adapters/etc. at the fuggin' yard on Saturday. It was almost closing and between snaking through the cars and carrying out my E30 booty, I LEFT THEM SOMEWHERE, FFFFFUUUUUUU....sorry for ranting, but I just finished a 1/4 bottle of Bacardi in the last 10 minutes. Even with that I still won't be able to sleep tonight. I'll be there tomorrow before opening to see if my chit is still there. M50(or m30, haven't decided yet) may be put on hold due to losing my good tools and having to buy new ones. oh BTW, meant to ask if any mods to the lines were required with the e32 MC......thanks. Wish me luck.

[hoveringuy]

That master cylinder took about 20 minutes to install, tops. Very easy.. 100% drop-in replacement.

I sucked most of the juice out of the resevoir before popping it off the master cylinder. Two lines run into the MC and are mercifully on the side where they are extremely easy to get to. 2 13mm nuts hold the MC to the booster.

Assembly is the reverse... (don't forget to bleed all 4 corners)

Hope your tools are still there, I suspect they will be.

[MikeDE]

Thanks, and they were....the swap continues forward, slowly. My 5-lug is coming together first though as it must. The 25mm MC is on my list now too.

[Aptyp]

looking great.

[etxxz]

225/35 front s-drives, 245/40 rear 17.5 x 7.5j all around. Front needs an 8mm spacer to be able to slide at full lock and not rub on the inside frame.
(click me)

love em. i have DSI's for my roadcourse tires 235/40or45?-17 NT01s ; / front rubs inside at about 90% way to lock...