1991 BMW 325i Coupe - Build Thread - The end is in sight!

[JT325is]

godamn it im jealous. im going to follow your whole build thread and do everything you've done to your car to mines.. :) haha

[MaksV]

godamn it im jealous. im going to follow your whole build thread and do everything you've done to your car to mines.. :) haha

haha. thanks.

the old idiom about doing it right means you only have to do it once is especially true about building BMW.s.

[MaksV]

So tomorrow I am going to embark on the last part of my winterbreak checklist - the suspension. I am going to start with rebuilding the rear subframe and everything attached to it. got a bit of an early start on the LSD today so I could just bolt it in tomorrrow.

Here is the info for now, but you can expect a pretty big update tomorrow night.

3.73LSD - got it from a local guy for $50 - he seemed legit and he said it locked up before he geared up. upon inspection it turned out to be clean





had a guy at a local machine shop press the old bushing out for me and put this poly unit in from AKG Motorsports




and some new juice for the diff and tranny

[Restoman]

Looking good. What does "he seemed legit and he said it locked up before he geared up" mean?

[MaksV]

Looking good. What does "he seemed legit and he said it locked up before he geared up" mean?

sorry translation:

The guy drove a clean alpine white 325is with a 24V swap and 16x8 BBS and 225w star specs. After speaking to him and seeing his car - my impression was that he is a legitimate e30 fanatic and was to be trusted. He claimed it locked up great before he pulled it and put in a different differential.




Well I just got out of the shower and feel almost human again. Today was long.

I decided it was time to tackle the supension - so I figured I would start from the rear as it was more complicated.

Accomplished today:
-drop subframe
-replace brake pads
-replace subframe bushings and RTABS
-weld in camber/toe kit

To be Accomplished tomorrow:
-SSK
-put subframe back in the car
-bolt everything up
-LOL at stock ride height up front and full drop in rear.


Pictures:

lets get started


jacking e30's is weird


came of with no troubles


came out with a lot more trouble


and here we go


and apart


had a buddy weld them on but grinding out the holes was a pain - took quite a while too



i figured a couple of coats of black paint on fresh welds couldnt hurt


the RTAB tool from AKG is totally worth the money for those of us without a press


one new one old


LSD - the first building block of the new subframe


stoptech pads - thanks anthony


new rear sway bar end links and bushings - we doing everything


people always claim that the fluid from their diff is clean - I got proof - as far as I know no one has ever changed it


ready for tomorrow to go back into the car

[moe30]

Nice build, love how you are doing everything the correct way and taking your time.

[MaksV]

Nice build, love how you are doing everything the correct way and taking your time.

thanks - its either that or be prepared to do it multiple times

Damn today was exhausting.

I got the shifter in but someone needs to show me howto bend it as its rubbing like crazy - but I love the short notchyness - if i could only get it bent right.....

We also got the subframe back in. big thanks to dad and Alex for lending a hand.

However before we could try to get anything back in we had to get the bits of the old subframe bushings out.
This was a pain from Hell. I ended up using a combination of drill with long bit and chisel/3lb sledge combo - It came out but it took me a few hours to get it out.

z4 3.0L vs stock


this was a huge pain to put in


it RUBS!!!


Rouge RSM w/ Koni shocks - took me a bit to figure these out as well. you have to pull the rubber bushing out of the shock to be able to adjust them. I decided one turn from full was the appropriate amount for 750lbs springs


and here I realized these were not going to come out easy


after some hammering and drilling


and done - put some lithum grease in there just in case I ever have to do with again


what came out.


and many hours later


Koni Adjustables, GC coils, BimmerBrake brakes, stoptech pads, Bimmerworld wheel studs - an e30 rear done right





coils currently at highest setting - will get some btter pics tomorrow - the car is about level being stock in front and full up in back.


Well. I am going to take a day off tomorrow and sleep and then friday we getting to the front - which should hopefully be easier if dirtier.

[MaksV]

Well my winter break sprint has been concluded - I have completed everything I had planned to do over the break.

so before we get to the days activities I want to say a few words.

1. Thank you to everyone who has made this project change from dream to reality
- My dad for his expertise and garage space, not to mention a lot of his tools
- My friends Alex and Anthony for their support and information
-Steve from Blunt Tech for all your continued help and parts

2. Things I have learned:
-there is no substitute for the power of the 3lb sledge - just cause its a BMW doesnt mean you cant hit it.
- Call the manufacturer - they are real people too and will often be able to assist you.
-everything takes from 1.5 to 2 times long on an old car as planned - how you northern guys even work on these things amazes me.
- invest in a good solid flannel workshirt - you may look like a lumberjack but you will be comfortable.


I also wanted to say I am pretty damn proud of myself for what I have accomplished here - This is the deepest I have ever gotten into a car and am excited to realize everything that I have learned and now understand.
Sure for some of you guys this is the 9-5 type stuff that is second nature, but for me a lot of this was a first and the car runs so I am happy.

So is this the end of the project? Not even close!

and with that I want to lead into the list of what was accomplished today and pictures:

- Front Springs
-Shocks
-Control Arms
-Powerflex FCAB
-Sway Bar Bushings
-Sway bar endlinks
-Tie rods
-Brake rotors and pads
-Fixed the shifter
-put my interior back together


getting started


old stuff comming out


and gone


parts pile


got the springs off - had to throw the assemblies in the truck and go to the nearby Firestone to barrow their air tools - those nuts were not coming out


the old struts were DOA - and they dumped all their fluid into the tubes over time - that smelled bad


this shit threw me - I didnt know the e30s had this kind of nut holding the strut cartige in place - I used a punch and hammer to get them off - not fun


test fit one - decided to cut the perches in the end


final assembly


powerflex vs stock


begining reassembly


box o' suspension parts


the old endlinks started spinning through - what a bitch - with no way of getting the end link off the half angle grinder came out again



ended up having to cut them out on both sides - what a pain

new sway bar bushings vs old


sway bar done


new control arms in


tie rods and boot


new brakes


e30 suspension tech done right



With the rear all the way up and the front about half she is low - there is like 2 " between the oil pan and the ground - I dont like it -the front will come up in teh next few days as I get a chance






dirty but satisfied



So final feelings:

The suspension is amazing - even with teh car way out of alignment I was very impressed with the handleing characteristics of the suspension.

Stuff to be done this weekend -
-start to dial in the suspension and lift it a bit in the front
-plug in the speed sensor :facepalm::tsk:


NOTE: on the shifter - the solution to useing the z4 3.0l shifter is to bend the selector rod up over the guibo - I did this using a hammer and a jack under the car - bend it a little and let it sit for a while - the shifts are super short and amazing and very notchy, and there is pretty much no rubbing now.



Now that school starts the updates are not going to be as plentiful but they will trickle in. Things to look forward to in teh next 3 months:

-Motor Mounts
- Trans Mounts
-Blue ATE brake fluid
-Fuel Filter
-US ellipsoidals conversion with HID kit
-Electric Fan Conversion
-MAF
-Oil Cooler Hoses
-Interior work
--seats
--paint carpet
--new speaker wires
-Lose some weight
--sound deadening and such
-Ostrich 2.0 and tuning
-custom exhaust

and more. :thumbsup:

[MaksV]

got another new bit - excellent deal from a local. A slightly dirty but like new Corbaue A4 black seat and 4 point harness. It also came with rails but I am probably going to end up making custom convertors a la the e36 m3 conversion plates.



I am also growing a beard to see what I look like with one. Just a thought.

[MaksV]

So some more updates.

Problems:

-rear end clunk
-how to adjust the outside bolts on the trailing arms?
-crazy oil leak from the intake.....


So the rear end issues are still up for debate, but I got a chance to take care of oil leak.

Pics:

First things first - I needed to take care of the oil issue, replace some gaskets, and do a valve adjustment.

all this came out of the filter




took it all apart and thoroughly cleaned it with brake cleaner and carb cleaner




old throttle body gasket


all clean


valve adjustement


all back together.






so closing thoughts:


-Anyone know how to get it to stop clanking?
-Also why does one of my rear springs not seat properly?
-how do i get to the outside bolts with an AKG kit installed?

ALso for those who are interested the cause of the massive amount of oil coming out of my filter was because the pipe that runs from the oil pan to the intake for vapors was not tight, causing a vacuum leak and the such.

I found I need to replace an oil sender hose on the oil cooler, and the upper radiator hose.

[Gnarles]

- When do you hear the noise in the rear end?

- I had to shave down the side of the subframe bushing next to the TA bolt on my car to provide room to get a wrench in there. I also grinded down an 18mm wrench to adjust the eccentrics.

[MaksV]

- When do you hear the noise in the rear end?

- I had to shave down the side of the subframe bushing next to the TA bolt on my car to provide room to get a wrench in there. I also grinded down an 18mm wrench to adjust the eccentrics.

I hear it whenever I drive, also its slightly delayed after bumps. really getting annoying. I will have to look at it more closely. I do not mind shaving down a wrench and then taking to for my alignment guy to use. just need to spend more time looking at it I guess.


BTW are you going out to the AutoX on the 30th?

[MaksV]

also I need the fallowing bracket for my seat

D158T

if anyone has one available please let me konw, dont feel like paying an extra 100 bucks. save me some money :)

[MaksV]

On a further update:

-the car is running great after getting everything back together and I have not seen any new oil coming out of the intake but I will take a closer look ever the weekend, but so far no CEL.
-clunking is still there
-Steve has sent me a new oil cooler hose, as well as a new upper radiator hose, so hopefully after this weekend I should no longer be leaking from random places.

[MaksV]

Now my updates for the week:

Game plan:
-install new radiator hose (DONE)
-install new oil cooler line (DONE but got the wrong one - ordered the right one)
-fix rear end clunk (SORT OF DONE)
-tow hook (DONE)
-drop rear(DONE)

stuff


new hose in and system bled


the leak


now onto the oil issue - there are two hoses running to the oil cooler - one is short and the other is longer - Steve hooked me upwith the wrong one, bt after a quick call he got me the other one coming on Monday for a good deal - thats good customer service.

he offered to take this one back but I decided to just replace both of them to be safe. The nut that attachs to the oil cooler is huge 1 1/16 standard (autozone didnt have metric thatbig) the nut that attaches to the block is a 24mm I believe but I used an adjustable wrench.


here is the old one


there was some really nasty oil in the original one and the oil cooler - get that shit out of there


don really have pics of it installed sorry.

now to the tow hook:


now tothe rear end clank:

I got the AKG kit for extra camber and toe an I gotta say their customer service is pretty crappy. Thats all I will say for now.

the issue is I cant get a wrench in there.

here is what I tried to no success


here is the car dropped about an inch in the rear - about 1/3 of the way down.



car feels much better and there is way less clunk in the back - the lesson is that the GC coils are not designed to run at the top of their range. Now i need some nice shoes.



So future side projects
- get race seat rack andget it in the car
-replace the other oil cooler hose
-get the door locks working again.
-more stuff I cant remember.

Thanks thats it for now.