Tina the '88 325ix

[6A LDY]

some obvious advice for changing fluids:

make sure the car is level, otherwise you wont get the optimal level in the diffs. My front was higher than the rear and I had to re-adjust a bit

[6A LDY]

I've been pretty busy at school and haven't made time to come home to work on Tina in a while so I decided to finally clean and paint the brakes and hopefully install and bleed them this weekend


Dirty old brakes


Mostly stripped on the wire wheel


I'm not sure why I went with green, but hopefully it looks cool on the car



After re-installing the gauge cluster and adjusting the e-brake


Back seat


She's a dirty girl



She's flying!


Hopefully more to come this weekend!

[6A LDY]

So upon bleeding the brakes I discovered a leak in the hard line in the rear, in the line that leads from the T-splitter to the soft line and to the caliper. I know this is a real bitch to replace, so I decided that I will most likely drop the rear subframe and go at it.


Things I'm going to replace while its out:
SS Brake lines
New HR Sport springs
New Billy HD Shocks
Subframe and Trailing arm bushings

and POR 15 Paint errythang

[AWDBOB]

So upon bleeding the brakes I discovered a leak in the hard line in the rear, in the line that leads from the T-splitter to the soft line and to the caliper. I know this is a real bitch to replace, so I decided that I will most likely drop the rear subframe and go at it.


Things I'm going to replace while its out:
SS Brake lines
New HR Sport springs
New Billy HD Shocks
Subframe and Trailing arm bushings

and POR 15 Paint errythang

Weld in adjusters when you're in there! I just made the line, but still dropped the subframe. Took about an hour or two total.

[6A LDY]

Weld in adjusters when you're in there! I just made the line, but still dropped the subframe. Took about an hour or two total.

Adjusters for what? the rear camber?

I wish it would take 2 hours but I think Im going to try to take care of everything possible in the rear end so that way its all done and I wont have to worry about it for a while. I think this is going to be a solid week or two for me

[6A LDY]

So when I found the leak in the hard line I decided to replace that line and some of the others, and might as well put in some braided SS lines too.



I just graduated from college with a degree in engineering so I figured I'd get myself a graduation present or three. It all escalated pretty quickly and now I have a lot of work to do.

I decided to go with the Koni single adjustables for the front and rear, and the iX/Cabby specific H&R springs





Complete Condor bushings for the rear



Was able to find a set of silver plastic bumper covers to swap on, still missing the shocks and the front bumper bar, but hopefully I can grab one for cheap from a crappy bumper. These things are probably 6 or 7/10 but will clean up fairly nicely



Also got a set of new hardware and brackets for the plastic bumpers from ECS, includes everything but the shocks pretty much


I'm finishing up working part time within the next week so hopefully I can get this all in and together and see if I can finally get this car on the road.

[6A LDY]

I got the subframe out after a few days of struggling with it and being lazy trying not to remove the drive shaft, but eventually I removed the entire exhaust and drive shaft and it was much easier.

I tried to clean up the subrame a bit and installed the new bushings and bent the new brake lines and fit them then put the stainless steel lines on. I used some copper anti-seize /lubricant to hopefully keep it from squeaking too much. New springs are ready to go as well as my new Koni's Everything is bolted back together and ready to go back into the car. I'm really excited to get it back in and see how it sits.







I also spent a fair amount of time trying to remove the old brake lines and clean it up a bit. I managed to get it all out and fit the new t-splitter and bed the new brake lines as well.



Also put in the new boots I got for the shifter + e-brake. I think they look pretty good, shout out to Matt-B for the boots.

[stonea]

Wow, never knew you had a build thread. It seems both of our cars have had VERY similar problems, lol.

[6A LDY]

yeah, I'm still debating whether I want to put in a SSK while everything is out, but I really just want to drive the damn thing

[stonea]

yeah, I'm still debating whether I want to put in a SSK while everything is out, but I really just want to drive the damn thing

Do it, I just recently did a z3 1.9 shifter with teflon bushings from ECS (the whole thing was $90 I think) and its by far the best freaking mod I've done to the car. That and the UUC clutch stop.

[6A LDY]

well now I'm looking into this:

http://www.condorspeedshop.com/collections/e30-parts/products/e30-short-shift-kit-combo

Gahtdamn

[AWDBOB]

well now I'm looking into this:

http://www.condorspeedshop.com/collections/e30-parts/products/e30-short-shift-kit-combo

Gahtdamn

I wouldn't waste your money with that unless you're getting a double shear selector rod. I had the tall condor knob and it didn't feel natural at all sitting in an E30, and even with the hardened bushings, the assy still felt loose due to the height of the knob.

I say get this:

https://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E30-clutch-driveline/E30IEselector.html

and a Z3 1.9 and you'll be good to go. (you have to shorten that dss a few mm to get it to work in the iX, just a heads up)

[CorvallisBMW]

Cool, sub'd

[6A LDY]

I wouldn't waste your money with that unless you're getting a double shear selector rod. I had the tall condor knob and it didn't feel natural at all sitting in an E30, and even with the hardened bushings, the assy still felt loose due to the height of the knob.

I say get this:

https://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E30-clutch-driveline/E30IEselector.html

and a Z3 1.9 and you'll be good to go. (you have to shorten that dss a few mm to get it to work in the iX, just a heads up)

Thanks for the heads up, I thought it looked a little tall to be feel good, but I like the idea of a weighted shifter. I think Turner has a kit that has everything minus the shifter and including the selector joint. If I do end up getting an SSK I'll most likely go all out because I'd really like it to be as tight as possible for that click-clack action

[AWDBOB]

Thanks for the heads up, I thought it looked a little tall to be feel good, but I like the idea of a weighted shifter. I think Turner has a kit that has everything minus the shifter and including the selector joint. If I do end up getting an SSK I'll most likely go all out because I'd really like it to be as tight as possible for that click-clack action

As far as weighted knobs go, I've always ran these with great success: http://www.amazon.com/BMW-25-11-896-031/dp/B005MW1XA2

No one to my knowledge makes the double shear for an iX as it has to be shorter, but the DSSR will take ALL of your slack out and make it feel like a tight, modern vehicle. Even with fresh hard bushings it still has play. Talk to SkiFree on here about shortening an IE DSSR for you, he offered those services to me when I was redoing my linkage.

IMO having done it to five different iXs, I wouldn't set up a short shift kit without doing a DSSR.