New Member - 1989 325ix and Evo

[AWDBOB]

Project Standard Transmission Swap was a success!

A bit more time consuming than I anticipated, but went pretty smooth minus the clutch master cylinder pushing fluid past the seal after it was installed.

A note: I purchased the Condor weighted shift knob and it feels terrible due to how high it sits. Installed an older wood BMW knob I had lying around and it feels 10x better.

The car is a whole different machine with a 5sp!

Have a plethora of parts coming for next weekend.

Picked up:

Performance:

IE Rear 19mm Sway (with billet mounts and adj endlinks)
M3 Front Adj Endlinks
Trailing Arm Bushings
Rear Diff Bushing
Offset CABs
Rear Strut Reinforcement Plates
Bimmerheads 274 Regrind
Ported IM

Maintenance:

Performance Wires, OE plugs, cap, and rotor
Gates Racing Timing Belt, OE components and gaskets
New Style Head Studs
Fan Clutch

Dropped my IM and VC off at the powdercoaters over the weekend as well! Feels good to finally be making some progress on it.

[AWDBOB]

Ouch not good news!

Were they new? Something is wrong - I've never had one, much less all 4 rip in that short of a time frame.

They were my lightly used spares. Not a single rip. Boots were all in great condition and weren't dry or anything. I have two sets that I'm rebuilding so I have more, it's just frustrating to have them rip so quickly.

Do you run a rear sway, nando?

[nando]

Were they new? Something is wrong - I've never had one, much less all 4 rip in that short of a time frame.

[Nisse Järnet]

Ouch not good news!

[AWDBOB]

To further update on the coilover situation:

All four front CV boots are ripped after a month. Ordering civic coils to use the threaded piece. Lower your iX they said, it'll be fun they said.

[AWDBOB]

Beginning to question my sanity.

[AWDBOB]

what spring rates did you get with your coil over kit?

I went with 450F/650R.

The car is my DD, and I'm 110% satisfied with these springs on a daily. A great blend of aggressive and comfort.

Also, there haven't been any more axle popping incidents since I got four turns out of the front adjusters.

[iXguido]

what spring rates did you get with your coil over kit?

[nando]

Not true, just talking from experience...lowered started clicking, put it back to normal height it disappeared. All depends how low you go I guess mine was low enough because I wanted to hide that fender clearance.

yeah, I might just have a little bit of experience here. :p

[AWDBOB]

Hmm, I never experienced any clicking, but perhaps I wasn't low enough?

To my understanding, the clicking is per nandos explanation; worn out.

I couldn't have physically gone any lower due to frame clearance, so unless someone notched their frame and experienced clicking, it didn't happen to me.

[BingM3]

only if they're worn.

Not true, just talking from experience...lowered started clicking, put it back to normal height it disappeared. All depends how low you go I guess mine was low enough because I wanted to hide that fender clearance.

[nando]

only if they're worn.

[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

[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.

[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 :/