My 91 325i track car

[kts]

Oil pan is back on. As you can see I went a little overboard with the RTV. Whoops.

Took about 6 different times trimming the crap out of the baffle so I could get the pan to line up with the bolt holes properly and not hit the oil pick up. Then I spent a loooooong time cleaning up random stray bits of metal shavings from trimming the baffle.

I took some tin snips to the steering guibo and the bottom part of it is now off the car. The stop half, is still stuck on a very rusted steering column. I tried using a puller but it quickly got to the point where I couldn't hold onto the steering column to keep it from moving and turn the ratchet I had on the puller. All it seemed to do was deform the end of the steering column. I might try it again with an impact to see if that gets me any further. I'm also going to order some Kroil and see if that can break this rust bond that Liquid Wrench failed to do.



The bottom half I took over to the workbench to cut and hammer out the rivets that have what's left of the guibo on that end but the damn rivets will not move.

I really wish I hadn't decided to do this upgrade now. Ugh. I suck at working on cars.

[kts]

Strike 1 getting the oil pan back on the car.

I spent a good hour cleaning off every last bit of RTV on the engine block and oil pan before putting on my fresh new layer of RTV. Turns out the "good' OEM gasket I got is cork which I've heard sucks so I'm going the all RTV route. I get under there and after some work I get the oil pan + baffle around the oil pick up and it's on. But its not. There is a small gap. Lots of hammering with a dead blow hammer and I get close but all the holes won't line up properly. A lot of tweaking and I see/feel that part of the baffle is hitting the oil pick up. Perhaps I should have test fitted everything before I got RTV everywhere.

It's too late to fire up the Dremel since it'll wake my fiance and the dog up (the Dremel is like nails on a chalkboard for them) so I'll do that tomorrow. I cleaned off all the fresh RTV and nicked my finger pretty good on the block. The rubber glove I had on didn't tear but my skin did, I finished up and noticed that finger of the rubber glove filled with blood. Awesome.

I think I just need to trim a little bit off of the baffle and everything should line up. Hopefully I can trim, test fit, RTV coat, and put the oil pan in before work so it can dry all day while I'm at work.

[kts]

Removed rust and welded on reinforcements to the front subframe

Mmmm rust!


Here goes nothing...


Tacking stuff in place


Playing with settings I finally was able to start making some beads but my welding still sucks. These pieces are in there now though.


I plasma cut the openings up a bit more so if I go to an M5x/S5x swap I can use the other holes for the motor mounts. Then I primed the subframe and painted it with Rust-Oleum's Hammered finish which is kinda cool. And I'm sure will hide lots of oil drips. ;)


Finally got the steering rack off with the use of a pickle fork


But the @#$@#$@# steering knuckle refuses to move. I've also pulled on it so much I can see cracks in the guibo now so it has to go. I Dremeled down the rivets in place but I have not be able to punch the rivets out yet. I'm going to start beating/cutting the CENSORED out of it all soon and get it off and the new poly guibo in. I dislocated my shoulder over a year ago and it's healed but after a while when laying down and my arms in the air working on the car above my shoulder hurts like hell so I had to leave this for a bit.

Swapped the motor mount arms out for their aluminum European cousins. I need to weigh the driver's side US arm but it looks like it'll be a pound of weight savings. Which is pretty silly to do this to save a pound, but the euro ones do look pretty.




Painted the steering fluid reservoir bright F'ing green because I like bright F'ing green.


Dropped the oil pan. PO used a ton of RTV/liquid gasket and it seemed to work well. I'm tempted to try the same vs the OEM gasket (non-cork) that I bought.


Baffle pre holes being drilled and it bolted in. The nuts that mount this are crush nuts that deform around the bolt so they won't be moving. I put Locktite on them away.


I'm in a bit of a race to get this thing finished since I would really like to do an event on the 21st but I fly to St Louis for work on Sunday the 14th and I get back late Thursday the 18th and have a bunch of stuff to do so yet another track day I'm missing because of my laziness/being distracted with other things getting this thing ready.

[kts]

A bit of an overdue update.

Between Christmas and my birthday ~2 weeks after I got a ton of new toys for my car.

AKG weld-in reinforcements, rear camber + toe kit, and poly steering guibo


I/O Port camera mount


Snap On F80. I love this ratchet.


I also picked up an oil pan baffle from Ireland Engineering. While an IJ teflon crank scraper would be the best solution I didn't have the funds for it at the time or the patience to install it properly so I'm going the easy route with a baffle that should help keep oil pressure up in hard corners.


I also upgraded to a proper hose and hose reel in my garage. I WISH I HAD DONE THIS YEARS AGO! So much better than the cheap crappy PVC hose that came with my compressor. That thing was such a pain. Rubber hose on a reel is the way to go. Seriously.


I also moved an older Mac Mini out into the garage to used as a garage PC. I should have done this ages ago, it's nice being able to look up diagrams, search for Howtos online, and play mp3s/soundcloud/etc on it while it's plugged into my stereo out there.


I'm on Spring Break from work the next few days so time to get some stuff down around the house. Monday was around the house and garage projects, today and tomorrow are work on the car time.

Engine supported from up top since the subframe is coming out.


These also showed up at my house the other week. I think I'm becoming a Snap On whore now. These feel a hell of a lot nicer than my old wrenches and the open end actually works (Flank Drive Plus).


Also this OTC Ball Joint Separator rocks. I also discovered that when a ball joint pops put of whatever hole it's in it sounds like a gun shot. Works great (with no gun shot noise) on the tie rods too.


Front subframe removed


The steering rack is still stuck on the steering column. Both bolts on the knuckle are removed and it is not budging. I went pretty RAGEtastic on it and almost got the sawzall out but decided to take a break and run a few errands. I'm going to do hit it up with some Liquid Wrench and give it some time to see if it helps.

I've also found a few bits of rust that I want to grind down and then hit those areas with rust converter and paint while I'm in there. I also need to weld in some reinforcement where my skid plate bolted up to the radiator support. I've already fab'ed up the metal, I need to practice a bit more with my welding before I do this and then really screw something up.

Master plan:

- clean up subframe + prep for welding in reinforcements
- weld in reinforcements
- swap in euro motor mount arms for stock ones
- drop oil pan
- drill and bolt in oil pan baffle
- replace leaky gaskets around oil filter housing
- swap rear lollipop bushings for upgraded ones
- E36 steering rack swap
- pray it all works when I put it back together

[kts]

Sounds like you're on the money with the RSC36 vs System U. I'm sure the RSC36 is a hell of a nice exhaust but for the cost I could pay for most of the cost of the Turner headers I went with. I can live with the noise in the car since I don't think it's annoying and I like the throatiness/rasp on the highway when I punch it a bit.

I'm still very much in the honeymoon phase with the E36 since I just got it back on the road and I'm really enjoying it. I'll report back in a month or two once I have it on the road more to see how I really feel.

[leegf]

Overall I don't think it passed the signficant other test since my fiance on a short trip last night was like "does the car always sound like this?" She's not very tolerant of car noise though. :(

Sounds like you and I are in the same boat :)

I like loud (so Stromung probably won't cut it for me), but only when I'm on it, not while cruising. I was hoping to avoid having to pay the premium for the RSC36 but I might have to! I understand the System U is louder 'all the time' (if not most of the time) whereas the RSC36 is more controllable based on throttle application.

[kts]

Thanks. And it's not too loud around town or cruising on the highway?

How's the drone (that is, if there is any)?

I didn't think it was too loud, but I'm pretty tolerant. If definitely has some throat and authority to it, unlike the Stromung on my E30 which you really have to listen for to hear.

Drone isn't bad. Noise on the highway, cruising and not on the throttle much is pretty quiet. When on the accelerator though you will hear it.

Going from stock to the System U, and TMS headers, and removing a lot of falling down sound deadening around the trans tunnel I definitely hear the exhaust a lot more than I used to. So I changed a bunch of things, most of it is probably the System U, but the headers and lack of sound deadening definitely make an impact.

Overall I don't think it passed the signficant other test since my fiance on a short trip last night was like "does the car always sound like this?" She's not very tolerant of car noise though. :(

If you want something with just a hint of louder I think you should check out the E36 Stromung. I almost went that route since a friend had it and liked it (and it's very quiet on the highway) but I wanted to be a bit more annoying. :)

[leegf]

From what I've heard from clips on YouTube/etc the RSC36 sounds great. But I love the sound of my System U and it was half the price.

I think UUC has changed their pricing recently but I still think the System U is a lot less and it does sound great!

Thanks. And it's not too loud around town or cruising on the highway?

How's the drone (that is, if there is any)?

[kts]

System U or RSC36? Anybody?

From what I've heard from clips on YouTube/etc the RSC36 sounds great. But I love the sound of my System U and it was half the price.

I think UUC has changed their pricing recently but I still think the System U is a lot less and it does sound great!

[leegf]

System U or RSC36? Anybody?

[kts]

i had that cat back system on my old 328is. holy shit its the best exhaust ever. it sounds amazing

Yea so far I'm a very big fan of how it sounds. Definitely a lot more aggressive than the Stromung on my E30.

(for those who may not know, it's a UUC System U catback. and it does sound awesome.)

[Dj Buttchug]

i had that cat back system on my old 328is. holy shit its the best exhaust ever. it sounds amazing

[kts]

So I haven't forgotten about this thing. I've just been... a little busy.

Since I last posted I have been driving the E30 off and on. The Mark D chip feels so much better than the eBay chip the car had before. But otherwise the car has sat a lot. All the track events I wanted to do this spring/summer things came up.

Since the last post I have been to the following places:

- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- San Diego
- LA
- San Francisco
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- France
- Switzerland
- Italy
- Canada

Some shots from the trips:

Singapore


Hong Kong


An amazing abandoned castle I saw in Italy


I also have spent time not-traveling fixing an E36 that was supposed to be my track car but instead will be my new daily driver. It needed a new crankshaft position sensor so I went a little overboard.



One of the $600 worth of new sensors


New tranny mounts


100k miles so time for a cooling system overhaul


I foolishly stripped the nut that holds the CPS down. So I ended up having to weld a cheap socket onto it to remove it.


Then the sensor was stuck and came out like this.






The O2 sensor in the midpipe didn't want to come off. I broke 3 tools trying to remove it. So I'll just drop it, impact it off and go on my way. Well no I broke more bolts trying to remove the midpipe. So I went full retard and bought $OMG Turner shorty headers, an Active Autowerkes track pipe, and more. I later ended up selling the track pipe and decided to reweld the cut/plasma'd midpipe I had back together. Makes total sense!



Installed the UUC Evo 3 and DSSR. Overall I still like the Understeer Z3 setup in my E30 better than this UUC in the E36.


Had fun replacing the E36 motor mounts


Had fun installing 21 new exhaust manifold studs. Thank god the E90 had nice studs with E-torx in the head for easier install.


With a lot of luck I got the TMS headers installed too.


With my shitty welding skills I got my midpipe back on and together too.


And for good measure I put a new exhaust on the car




Which in the end resulted me with a running car. YAY!


I need some more camber in the front since on big bumps the front wheels rub the fender. That will be fixed shortly along with rolling the front fenders. I also need keyless entry stat!

Since I've been driving the E36 I have been loving it. I'm also starting to think about the day when I will remove the M50 from it and put it in the E30. An S5x or M52 would make more power but I know this M50. It only has 100k miles on it, compression is excellent, and I have replaced every sensor and gasket on it pretty much.

But that's down the road a ways. I need to get at least a year or two out of the E36 before I can remove it's heart.

So now that the E36 is back on the road I can polish up my STi and sell it, and more importantly I can get back to the E30.

Short term projects for the E30 now.

- Nov 3-4 NASA event on Summit Main. YAY TRACK WEEKENDS!
- Z3M diff cover install. I still need to remove the pre-installed bushing in it and swap out for my AKG bushing.
- paint strip the spare front bumper and valance I have and paint. Then swap out the rusty/broken ones I have. This will be starting this weekend.
- paint strip the basketweaves I have and paint them awful colors. And then get new tires for them. I think Star Specs.
- E36 steering rack swap. I will hopefully get to this next week. The E36 rack I have is ready to go. I will see how it feels, down the road I might swap out of a rebuilt Z3 rack.
- Euro motor mount install
- Welding in all the support reinforcements the previous owner installed, but didn't weld. (So they are acting like big washers currently. I'll properly weld them in.
- E36 window switches. Because a track car needs to look good!


Oh yea and in addition to everything else in the past few months I got engaged. Woooooo!

[kts]

Came home to find this waiting for me last night



Yay!

And found this at the junkyard yesterday in a 740iL.




This one supports rolling codes so it should work with my garage door opener.

Now to find time to install both of these.

[kts]

I've been busy enjoying the car and all of the awesome weather we've had recently.

Work and life keep getting in the way of track days. I missed the first track day I wanted to do this past weekend. I was set to do one on 4/28 and 4/29 but I'll be out of the country. So it looks like I might not get my first track event in until May. :(

What I've been up to recently:

- Ordered a Mark D chip for the car thanks to the just announced summer sale. Can't wait to get the chip and install it.

- Found some new toys at the junkyard, $5 total for both. Nice!





Unfortunately I think the homelink garage door opener may be an older one that doesn't support rolling codes. I'll wire it up and give it a go.

The only question now is do I install these in the E30 or the E36? Since the E36 will soon be a daily driver I think that's where they will end up.

- I'm working on a DIY oil pan baffle. I have some free aluminum stock that I think will work nicely. I have most of a paper template made, I just need to finish it up and then start working on the aluminum. I plan to drill and tap some holes on the oil pan mini-baffle that is already there to mount the baffle since I'm not welding aluminum. Some Loctite on the bolts should help keep it in place as well.