New Member - 1989 325ix and Evo

[AWDBOB]

E34 axles will only work with the 24v e34 drivetrain

There's not much clearance at all. Maybe an inch? Spring rates are pretty critical, but im pretty sure my bilstiens will bottom out first.

Ah, cool to know on the axles.

I'll try to snap a picture later today. It'd make you guys sick how little clearance is there haha. But I also have stiff springs, so I'm not terribly worried.

Got my IM back from the master porter today!






And got my wheel bolts!



And another shot of the ride height:



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Also, picked up a new project: Isabella

She's gonna be a fully gutted, one seat with some gauges, 302 swapped beast with some ultrawide flares, shitty paint, and fat tires. Hoping for 2200lbs and 300hp n/a.

[Nisse Järnet]

Are you happy with the GC stuff? Yeah like nando said the E34 axles is for 24v swaps and those are pretty hard to find, even over here :/

Haha i think your Evo is getting nervous with another E30 in the garage :D RWD E30 must be one of the easiest/funniest car to build, lots of parts, not overly expensive, easy to modify etc.

Btw i love the ride hight! Im happy if mine is even near that :)

[AWDBOB]

Are you happy with the GC stuff? Yeah like nando said the E34 axles is for 24v swaps and those are pretty hard to find, even over here :/

Haha i think your Evo is getting nervous with another E30 in the garage :D RWD E30 must be one of the easiest/funniest car to build, lots of parts, not overly expensive, easy to modify etc.

Btw i love the ride hight! Im happy if mine is even near that :)

I'm definitely happy with the GC stuff! I'm glad that they've poured some thought/time into the iX platform.

I definitely think the Evo is getting jealous! After toying with the iX and an Evo, the thought of a simple, cheap, RWD tire burner sounds nothing short of perfect. I started out in the Mustang scene, so the 302 is so familiar, thus, 302 in bimmer = best of both worlds!

Aluminum heads, decent intake, and a decent cam and a 5.0L will make 300whp with ease. In such a light car that thing is gonna scream.

[AWDBOB]

All of my parts finally came in, which means, manual swap this weekend!

[Nisse Järnet]

Uh you have work to do :D

[AWDBOB]

Uh you have work to do :D

All the fun work is ahead!

Also, update:

Hard left turn, axle popped out again. I am going to raise it up today, and if it doesn't happen again, I deem the cause: being too low in an iX.

[nando]

it could be that the clip that holds the axle into the diff is broken or missing?

I looked and it does appear that you are about 1/2" or so lower than me. I honestly wouldn't want to go lower as things get really tight, I'd worry about hitting a bump and breaking a CV shaft on the frame..

[AWDBOB]

it could be that the clip that holds the axle into the diff is broken or missing?

I looked and it does appear that you are about 1/2" or so lower than me. I honestly wouldn't want to go lower as things get really tight, I'd worry about hitting a bump and breaking a CV shaft on the frame..

I actually checked the clips A) when I installed the axles a week ago and B) when I reinstalled the axle after it popped out, as I had a similar suspicion.

And yep, I agree. I think things are a bit too tight down this low. I'm going to max out my adjusters (they're almost there), and then grab GC plates and hope I can get a half inch out of it.

[nando]

the GC plates will raise the car up a little bit.

look for the Honda civic coilover kits on ebay. the springs are trash but they come with 4 6" adjusters which you can cut to length and they work just fine. I think the kit is like $50.

[AWDBOB]

the GC plates will raise the car up a little bit.

look for the Honda civic coilover kits on ebay. the springs are trash but they come with 4 6" adjusters which you can cut to length and they work just fine. I think the kit is like $50.

Think I found it:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/400673361921

And yep, I remember you saying about 1/4" or so on the GC plates.

Cut your housings they said, it'll be fun they said.

[nando]

yep, that's the kit! lol

[Mlarsen]

You guys are scaring me.

[AWDBOB]

yep, that's the kit! lol

You guys are scaring me.

Don't fret! Between nando, ixguido, me, and a few others that have done the GCs with cut housings, you should have copious info to do it right the first time!

I got four turns out of the front today, which my measurements tell me was about 1/2". I'm gonna roll around on this for a little while and see if it does jt again.

I also ruined a boot already on my fresh pair of axles :/

[nando]

I would do it like this - chop 2 1/8" off the top, weld your perch 4" below that. weld the swaybar link bracket right below the perch. use a 4" threaded adjuster and a Koni Race insert.

you should be able to attain a decent ride height with them all the way up. don't forget you could always use a 7" spring. and it will still go plenty low enough, mine's not at the bottoms but if it were I'd probably be as low as AWDBOB and he's having issues with the CV shaft popping out.

BTW chopping the housing 2", using a shorter insert, and putting the swaybar link right below the welded perch puts the swaybar basically in the original position. that's why I had mine made that way.

[BingM3]

I would do it like this - chop 2 1/8" off the top, weld your perch 4" below that. weld the swaybar link bracket right below the perch. use a 4" threaded adjuster and a Koni Race insert.

you should be able to attain a decent ride height with them all the way up. don't forget you could always use a 7" spring. and it will still go plenty low enough, mine's not at the bottoms but if it were I'd probably be as low as AWDBOB and he's having issues with the CV shaft popping out.

BTW chopping the housing 2", using a shorter insert, and putting the swaybar link right below the welded perch puts the swaybar basically in the original position. that's why I had mine made that way.

You lower it too much the CV will start making a clicking noise