Suspension upgrades. Yay!!!

[fwappy]

Well, I finally decided on the suspension that'll match my photoshopped signature and perform like a dream e30: Koni yellows and Vogtland Sport springs. Mmmm, mmmm good....



I've also got new control arms, all front and rear suspension bushings, new brake rotors, pads, and stainless brake lines. Also, I've got a 5-speed swap ready to go once I finish the suspension! Recently I've swapped out the tan interior for black vinyl with gray/black houndstooth. Man I love that look!

There's a few hold-ups in the tool area though. The rear wheel bearings are giving me a hard time, although a trip to Home Depot for the proper diameter pipe will do the trick. One thing that's really pissing me off is the front control arms. I cannot, for the sake of all F$#%ing ridiculousness, get the pivoting bolt to come out of the cross-member. I've actually bent a pickle-fork into complete deformity and bruised the hell out of my arm just trying to get that sucker to pop out. Any ideas?

Well, I hope to be cruisin' soon!! I guess I'll be putting some miles on the e36 for a couple more weeks.

[Willis]

Dude, just use the expanding tool that the BMW techs use. Find an independant shop and get them to let you use the special toolthat they use. You use a 1/2" drive impact that drives a screw that separates the control arm from the cross member. Works like a charm, i had to use it for my car which had never had that link broken free before.

[Fanzotti]

NICE KONI'S!!! Please PM me your parts list. I'm about to do the exact same thing to pretty much the exact same car, except mines an 89. Just want to see if you thought of anything that I'm forgetting. Where did you find the best deals on your parts? Can't wait to see your results. I think I'm going all oem rubber bushings, is that what your doing?

[fwappy]

NICE KONI'S!!! Please PM me your parts list. I'm about to do the exact same thing to pretty much the exact same car, except mines an 89. Just want to see if you thought of anything that I'm forgetting. Where did you find the best deals on your parts? Can't wait to see your results. I think I'm going all oem rubber bushings, is that what your doing?

Yeah, mostly OEM on the bushings since I don't intend to hit the track. I figure by the time I wear these out the car will be either a) not be mine anymore, or b) be ready for a complete rebuild.

As far as the parts list goes, are you doing the tranny swap, too? Or just the suspension?

[Low Level E30]

Which Vogtland springs did you get?

They sell TWO spring kits --- "Sport" and "Club Spec" --- what's the part number on yours?

[whelton70]

Did you get the ground control rear adjustable konis ? If not you will wish you did !! You want have to take the rears out to adjust them. They adjust in the car like the fronts do. My set will be here next week to go with the H & R races for my build !!

[sticksdaman]

you should be looking at a drop similar to that im on vogtland sport springs too and im just shy of tucking in the back and the fronts have like 1/4 inch between tire and fender on 195 60 14s check the members gallery for a few shots of my car

[Jand3rson]

One thing that's really pissing me off is the front control arms. I cannot, for the sake of all F$#%ing ridiculousness, get the pivoting bolt to come out of the cross-member. I've actually bent a pickle-fork into complete deformity and bruised the hell out of my arm just trying to get that sucker to pop out. Any ideas?

Are you talking about the bolt on the inner ball joint that holds the arm to the front subrframe?

This is what you do. You need two long handled wrenches, one of them a 22mm on the nut, and another long wrench, locked onto the end of the 22mm as kind of a breaker bar (insert the open end of the 22mm into the box end of the second wrench, making it so they interlock), and just pull on that sucker. It will work, I just did it 2 weeks ago, and was actually shown that method by a tech at Pacific Motorsports in Portland.

I just did pretty much everything on the front end you are doing, including new tie rods and tie rod ends, M3 offset cabs, and some other stuff. My car feels like it's brand new when driving. Just make sure you get an alignment before you any kind of driving that isn't down the street and back.

[Fanzotti]

As far as the parts list goes, are you doing the tranny swap, too? Or just the suspension?

I'm doing suspension, Motor and tranny mounts and possibly the 95 M3 rack.

I just PM'ed you my parts list to see if it would help you.

[fwappy]

Which Vogtland springs did you get?

They sell TWO spring kits --- "Sport" and "Club Spec" --- what's the part number on yours?

Front: 9161006
Rear: 951014 (Club Spec, I believe)

I ordered everything as a kit from Vogtland here in SoCal. Their packaging job was frickin' horrid, btw.

Did you get the ground control rear adjustable konis ? If not you will wish you did !! You want have to take the rears out to adjust them. They adjust in the car like the fronts do. My set will be here next week to go with the H & R races for my build !!

No, they are not adjustable while in the car. That's perfectly ok with me though. I'd actually rather disconnect the bottom shock bolt and twist, than remove the trunk carpet, IMHO.

The instructions for adjustment are pretty vague. The picture shows it being compressed then rotating the bottom half either 180, 360, or a max of 720 degrees. But how do you know where the adjustment starts and stops? It never stops in either direction!!

[Low Level E30]

Awesome setup - looking forward to seeing what these look like on the car!!

When do you plan to put it all on?

[fwappy]

Awesome setup - looking forward to seeing what these look like on the car!!

When do you plan to put it all on?

I was working on it yesterday, but like i said above, I cannot get the control arm to pop off the cross member. I don't know what I'm gonna do.

[Low Level E30]

SOAK it in PB Blaster or some such lubricant / water displacer. Give it some love-taps w/ a wooden sledge, also.

[redhatpat]

Are you talking about the bolt on the inner ball joint that holds the arm to the front subrframe?

This is what you do. You need two long handled wrenches, one of them a 22mm on the nut, and another long wrench, locked onto the end of the 22mm as kind of a breaker bar (insert the open end of the 22mm into the box end of the second wrench, making it so they interlock), and just pull on that sucker. It will work, I just did it 2 weeks ago, and was actually shown that method by a tech at Pacific Motorsports in Portland.

I think he's saying he has the nut off, but cant get the ball joint out of the subframe.

Bent a pickle fork? Holy crap. I used a pickle fork for that and it came out with no problem. Just make sure you have the right sized pickle fork or the amrs will just bend outwards.

[BUDNUNTA]

Put a pry bar on the control arm and wedge it against the subframe right next to the ball joint.
I repainted my subframe so I wasnt worried about gouging it a bit. But it didnt dent it it worked perfect(used the same method on my freinds e36 today).




Hunter