Absorbantnut's '87 325is

[AbsorbantNut]

Then the day after I packed up all my stuff and headed up to Gainesville to go to college.



Things started to look a lot different from South Florida on the way up:p






Then my first day of class I found a little surprise when I walked back to my car


At least they got the color right

Then I went out to a spot I used to drive my go-kart when my dad would be deliver envelopes and decided it would be cool to take some pictures

[AbsorbantNut]

I'm looking to buy a pair of 2.5" coilover springs, let me know what you've got! Also feel free to make recommendations on spring rates, right now it has 650 in the rear and mystery rates up front!!

[AbsorbantNut]

So i drove back to So FLo for labor day weekend! Ended up hanging out with some friends, got some car parts, and wrenched on the e30:o

With the help of a few friends the rear fenders were rolled in order to make some room for the 20mm spacers [courtesy of Kingston;)] Also threw on some euro plate


Then a day after I got back in Gainesville, there is this horrible dragging sound coming from the rear of the car. It was the emergency brake! So I limped the poor thing back to the apartament and diagnosed it. I took off the driver side rotor and found this


A stripped out dust shield, but where's all the hardware!?!



Oh, there it is

[AbsorbantNut]

Decided it was time to get to work today! Changed out the front sway bar drop links at the apartament today, and boy did they need it. Boots were trashed and there joints are basically so worn that another few months and they would've separated. Theres over half an inch of play in each:)

So, out with the old....


And in with the new!! Some oem lemforder repalcements were ordered, from blunttech of course!




A comparison shot of the two


Destroyed


And, as a bonus note...I'm fairly sure that I've found the source of my oil leak:D

[AbsorbantNut]

Decided to mix things up

[AbsorbantNut]

Okay, so not too much has been done to the car over the past week besides the installation of a 2timer. Pics to follow;)

A two timer allows two maps to be read off of one chip, so essentially I guess you could say it's like a WAR CHIP, but cheaper:D

So it begins with this


And here's what came in the mail


So then starts the dissection Prying the pins up to take off the outer casing!


Overview of the stock ECU


And the chip on the right is "the chip"


So you must take that out...


Close up of the two timer


Two timer in sans chip




Comparison of different chip brands


After looking around for where to ground the wire to switch the tunes on the chip I found the perfect spot


Oh yea!


After that, put in your chip, mine was a custom tune from WOT TECH aka forced firebird on here, thanks John!



Wire fed through the ECU casing


Bolted back in place with the wire grounded running to a switch in the dash that leads to a ground on the car.






Then I just picked up this too, along with some blown out Bilsteins I'll get relaved to match my spring rates;) Man, this car is almost done!!


And here's my baby!

[irish44j]

Then the day after I packed up all my stuff and headed up to Gainesville to go to college.

So very hipster of you to put the skateboard on the roof, even though there is clearly enough room for it inside the car ;-)

[TimKninja]

Uhhhh wheres the paint

[AbsorbantNut]

So very hipster of you to put the skateboard on the roof, even though there is clearly enough room for it inside the car ;-)

How foolish of me

And in other news I hope to be seeing some of you local r3v members going to the upcoming NASA event at Sebring this October!

[AbsorbantNut]

Picked up one of these for a few bucks



The Bilstein Sports have arrived in the mail, so now I need to change my front spring rates and get them revalved!

[silence]

Picked up one of these for a few bucks

where'd you get that little piece?

[AbsorbantNut]

Connections :)

[Vivek]

where'd you get that little piece?

A forum member is making them. Check the FS section, they're delrin now but I got one of the original nylon ones that he made.



On a side note, how much NVH did that diff mount add? I'm getting Silence's raised subframe bushings, but i'm considering going with a softer diff mount if it's gonna be a constant rattle or vibration.

[AbsorbantNut]

A forum member is making them. Check the FS section, they're delrin now but I got one of the original nylon ones that he made.



On a side note, how much NVH did that diff mount add? I'm getting Silence's raised subframe bushings, but i'm considering going with a softer diff mount if it's gonna be a constant rattle or vibration.

Carlos, any input on Nylon vs Derlin?

The diff, I cannot say, I don't really feel all the crazy noises or vibrations everyone talks about when going with stiffer bushings. However, I will attest that it is a great product, sold by a great person, and I would highly recommend them to anybody looking for an upgraded bushing over stock rubber. And if you have rattles or vibrations, maybe you need to tighten up some things;)

[AbsorbantNut]

With Sebring coming up this weekend I figured now was a good a time as ever to change out the old tie rods! I splurged and bought new inners & outers too;)

So even though working in the parking lot isn't as nice as working in the shop, I was still able to finish in about 30 minutes:D

So it was out with the old


And a close up of the old tierods; the boots were pretty trashed at this point.


And in with the new!


Overall, the car feels much tighter; there isn't as much looseness in the steering wheel as there was before. Plus, I swapped out the old Mtech I wheel for the Kamei. Much, much, much better:D

My only concern though is that the momo wheel that I got does not fit onto the 6 bolt hub. I guess I'll have to figure out a solution for that, but it isn't of much priority at this point! With four days until the event, other things have taken precedence :p