Brilliant Red 1991 325i coupe

[jeenyus]

the e36 is in apparently super nice condition! congrats!

[mike.bmw]

Clean M3 and clean e30! I think I saw photos of your e30 in 1 or 2 articles about The Vintage from this past May.

[Albie325]

That M3 looks sweet!
Love the cloth interior!

Agreed, holy moly that's clean as shit. THe e46 M3 was my dream car and got me into BMW's, I think my fiancee would kill me if I brought home another car though. If it was this clean I'd definitely entertain the thought

[Poorhouse]

That M3 looks sweet!
Love the cloth interior!

[connorb850]

A little off topic but still BMW related...

My dream car in high school was an E36 M3, but I certainly couldn't afford one at the time in the early 2000s. At the start of college I bought the next best thing, an E36 328i, which I still have 13 years later. This was my first BMW and it really shaped the path I took into the future as a car enthusiast. After gradually doing some upgrades over the years, the 328i was (and is) an excellent car and mostly satisfied the M3 craving...until a friend of mine bought the car shown below in early 2018. I hadn't seen one this nice in years, and it was one of my favorite color combos. Long story short, we eventually worked a deal and the car is now mine.

[connorb850]

I did a few things in preparation for The Vintage in May, including installing the Recaro seats (referenced in earlier post) using Massive Lee's adapters, a Garagistic front strut brace, and new A/C switch and headlight switch pull.










The seats really transform the driving experience, and I'd say one of the best upgrades made to the car yet. The only downside is they are considerably heavier than stock seats.





Took the scenic route to Asheville, NC for The Vintage with some friends. I sold my E28 shortly before the event, and the new owner tagged along with us too..










Shortly after returning home, I tagged along with another BMW group for a mountain run

[connorb850]

It has been awhile....


I ended up going with Autobahn/Huper Optik 40% Black Ceramic window film. This particular shop has tinted several vehicles for me and I'm always pleased with the work.




Added some sound deadening (RAAMmat BXT II) under the rear seat and parcel shelf before I put things back together.






Also polished the third brake lens before reinstalling







Went to watch an event at Road Atlanta this spring. They had a car show at the same time, so I brought the e30. They let us do a couple laps around the track, which was pretty neat











Random photo with friend's E34 M5

[ATL_E30]

Bump show us the m3.... I mean updates!

[TFJR]

Wow, the car looks amazing! Suspension setup looks great. I bet it must drive really nicely.

Nice progress.

[econti]

That's really bootleg... patch it

[connorb850]

Now switching to cosmetics...time to do something about the horrible water spots on the side glass.



Several years ago I learned that glass can be polished with a high speed drill and a slurry of water and cerium oxide powder.



Here is the end result after some elbow grease...



Speaking of glass, I'm scheduled to have the windows lightly tinted in a couple weeks. I've got a few options for film in my chosen 40% VLT range...

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To make things easier on the tint installers and for cleaning purposes, I removed the passenger seat, rear seat, parcel shelf, seat belts, & third brake light assembly.

Someone has cut 2 large holes in the sheet metal behind the rear seat and under the parcel shelf . There are also some unused RCA cables under the seat, so I guess there were some additional amps or maybe a subwoofer installed at some point.

I'm debating on whether to close those holes somehow, or just replace the parcel shelf with an unmodified one.

[connorb850]

First update in 2019...

At some point in January, the car threw a code for coolant temperature sensor, so I replaced them both.




A few months ago during Black Friday sales, I ordered the full Ground Control suspension package with single adjustable Koni shocks.



The install took place last week. Along with the coilover kit, the car received the following new parts:

-Lemforder front control arms
-Lemforder tie rod assemblies
-OE M3 offset control arm bushings in Febi brackets
-OE front hub bearings
-FAG rear wheel bearings
-GKN axles
-Corteco differential output flange seals and OE carrier o-rings

Will let the pictures do the talking...

















The diff housing was rusty enough that I decided to clean it up and coat with POR-15. The finish turned out more glossy than I wanted, but hey, it will hide any future leaks ;)





I set the height slightly lower than my previous setup. The only decent final ride height picture I have at this point:



So far, I'm very happy with the ride and handling characteristics of the new suspension.

Based on lots of research, I went with 440 front/660 rear (lb/in) spring rates. I was worried this might be too aggressive for the street, but its not overly harsh. In fact, it rides better than the super soft Eibach springs with Bilstein previous combo. The car is much more composed feeling, and handles exponentially better.

Front camber is set to about -2.2 degrees, with about 1/32" toe in. I may tweak things after more seat time and depending on how the tires are wearing.

Eventually I might change the front sway bar setup. I'll probably get some adjustable end links to reduce the preload on the sway bar, and also utilize the M3 mounting location that GC has welded to my strut housings.

[connorb850]

oh nice cause i thought they're all discontinued and impossible to find

This is the shift knob I bought:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-M-Tech-Shift-Knob-E24-E28-E30-M3-M5-M6-Genuine-Leather-Oem-Emblem-5-Speed/273183510873?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I tried to get one of these directly from BMW a couple years back for my E28, but had also been told this style was discontinued. I'm not sure how the seller was able to find a supply of these, but it did come in a BMW box and appears new. It feels weighted to me.

[rikaro]

Not weighted and it should come in an Oem box .... it is Oem but has a superseded part number


Drive Tastefully!

oh nice cause i thought they're all discontinued and impossible to find

[getouth]

Not weighted and it should come in an Oem box .... it is Oem but has a superseded part number


Drive Tastefully!