Need help with parts list

[Earendil]

First, I'm not looking to spend a lot of money right now. So if you only have fun helping people who want to spend a grand, I'm not your type of advice column :)
This happens to also be why I'm making a new post. Everything else appears too old to trust (2005) or about brand new parts. Please correct me if there is a thread that covers this.

What I have: A 325is parts car with Bilstein sports and H&R sports.
A daily driver 325i that needs new shocks and rear axles (cracks boots for a couple years).

What I want: To slowly make the car trackable. I don't have the cash to do all the suspension work I'd like to do, but with the car handling more like a boat, I don't think I'd want to take it on a track at all.

My interim solution for the next 12-24 months until I can replace it as a daily driver, and make it real track worthy, is to take this used setup off the parts car, including axles, LS diff, and put it on mine. While I'm there I'll try and replace all the rubber bits. I figure this will make my car at least fun/safe to have on a track, and function like an E30 again.

My problem is knowing what all I'll need before I start. This is my only car, and I work alone with carpentry tools and zero experience. However I replaced all the valve springs by myself, so I figure this is one notch below that difficulty level :) But I really need to have all my ducks in a row before I start ripping things apart.

Right now my parts list includes:
Trailing arm bushings
Sub-frame bushings (maybe? I don't have the tools for this I don't think).
4 new drive shaft locking nuts

Note: The entire front end rubber, including motor and tranny mounts, were replaced last year so the front end is solid.

What else? Is there anything on the Bilstein shocks that can be replaced?
Is there anything I shouldn't be reusing? I'm okay with a harsher ride if it means better performance at a similar price point. Is there anything else I should be replacing while I'm at it?

Thanks for any tips, advice, pointers, etc!

Cheers,
Tyler


ps
Additional info:
My car: 240,000+ miles
Bilsteins + H&R: somewhere between 20K-50K miles.

[Earendil]

Found a few more things that may need replacing...

Pelican Parts sells an "Upper Rear Shock Mount". 2 hours of reading threads says Urethane from IE or Bimmerworld, but I think I'll go with stock for now.

Differential shock mount.

Trailing Arm Bushing. I don't believe the Sport shocks and springs warrant an eccentric bushing here.

Front Struct bearing/mount? Do these wear out? Any way to tell if the ones on my car are shot?

Spring pads front, upper and lower. The spring pads off the parts car for the rear look "broken in", but no cracked or looking like the material has changed composition with time.

What do people think of Differential seals?
The LS Diff going in doesn't appear to have any leaks. And again, I'm trying to pull this entire thing off in a weekend, with plans to pull it back apart in 12-24 months. Thoughts?

For the record, the above is my same thought for my wheel bearings. They can't have too many miles left, but if I intend to do this all over again in the near future, why spend $100 on bearings I don't need yet. Anyone disagree?

[jlevie]

As a reasonable minimum I'd suggest that you get:

Upper shock and strut mounts
Trailing arm bushings

Pull the complete trailing arms from the 325is along with the front struts. Check the condition of the bearings and either replace bearings if bad, or use the strut housing(s) or trailing arm(s) from the 325i. The spring pads will probably be okay, but once the parts are off the parts car you'll be able to tell for sure. A new diff bushing would be a good idea and since this is a track car poly would be the best choice (likewise for the RTABS).

It would be a great idea to replace the subframe bushings, But If you are going to do that, the RTABS, and diff swap I'd just drop the complete subframe from the parts car and fit all the new stuff to it.

[Earendil]

Thanks for the reply!

Okay, so for sure I'll go with the upper shock and struct mounts. I'll also go ahead and do the trailing arm bushings as planned. I'll also be replacing whatever is in the LS diff with new Redline 75W90.

I felt good about having finally figured out what RSM stood for, but I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "Strut Housing". Could you describe this?
Also not sure what the RTABS are :(

I already have the rear shocks/springs/axles off the parts car, so I've already washed up the spring pads which is what produced my description above. Waiting on a longer 19mm wrench to get those damn top bolts off the diff.

I hadn't thought about pulling the parts car trailing arms and subframe, attaching it all, and putting it on mine. I wasn't sure how likely the trailing arms were to get bent knowing that the front control arms have that potential. But perhaps I'll look them over carefully, make sure the '87 is 100% compatible with my '89 and do it that way. With rain coming this weekend that certainly is appealing to not be under my car :)

As for the subrame bushings... I know I should do them. But I don't have a torch, which appears to be the internet advice for getting the old subframe bushings out. I don't have fancy mechanics tools, and I'm guessing I'd spend just this side of a week whittling away at it with a pocket knife.

I'd love to put poly in there now. Heck I'd love to put race spring in there now. However, my E30 needs to serve as a daily driver for the next 6-12 months. For the time being I want to make her track safe/fun for when the occasion arrives.

Thanks for the input, and any more you may have!

[jlevie]

The suspension parts from the 87 (front and rear) are interchangeable with the 89.

The strut housing is the part that holds the strut and has the wheel bearing. RTAB means rear trailing arm bushing.

What I'm suggesting is that you pull the complete front struts from the parts car, replace the upper strut bearings (& pads and bearings if needed) and install those as complete assemblies. In a like manner drop the complete subframe from the parts car, replace the subframe, trailing arm, and differential bushings (& bearings if called for) and install the complete assembly. That will reduce the downtime on your car quite a bit.