1990 M3 Diamantschwarz

[SSE30]

Holy shit those Style 4s look GREAT. Beautiful car.

[hankolerd]

Fast forward 8 months, got a few goodies on the way.

Koni adjustables, pre-valved by Ground Control for my spring rates:


Ground Control 'Touring' camber plates:


And a bunch of other various items that have arrived in the last couple of months:
- Evo hood and bumper seals/gaskets (because race car)
- Euro tow hook covers (covers the holes by the fog lights)
- Battery to Engine Cable
- BavAuto Ground Strap kit
- Sunroof seals (old seals are old)
- Differential gasket and plug
- Kidney grilles (the bottom tabs on mine broke)
- New hubcaps for the OEM style 5's (I might be willing to sell my current caps)
- Lamin-x for the headlights and fog lights
- Fog light brackets

The current bistlein struts are extremely firm, and I have reason to believe one or more struts is actually damaged. I can hardly take it anywhere in Seattle without feeling like I am going to rattle the car to pieces. My goal this winter is to get the new struts/plates swapped in, and then go through all the maintenance items to get it running and driving oem+. I think I will raise it another 1" or so, to max out what the ground control system allows. Starting next year I plan to attend a couple auto-x/track sessions to start learning where I want to improve on the car. After spending a couple of days on track with the M2 in Palm Springs in March I am honestly not sure if I want to keep the M3 long term, or if I want to swap it for a 1M/M2 in the future. Once I get it driving like it was meant to again I will have the tools to make that decision ;D

[hankolerd]

Yep, strut was not mounted correctly and was damaged, let alone the strut nut was not able to stay tight, which led to them clanking around as everything was loose.



New Koni struts and GC plates arrived:


Ground Control Touring plate vs race plate:



And new aluminum control arms on the way for good measure. Looks like at some point this car had the aluminum arms replaced with steel ones (that or only the Evo cars had aluminum?)

[M-technik-3]

US spec cars had Aluminum arms in 89 and 90 I believe, 88's did not have them unless they were fitted. If I remember correctly.

So you replaced the strut or did new threads?

[hankolerd]

Good to know. Real OEM only lists the aluminum arms for this year, so what you say makes sense.

I am replacing the struts and camber plates. The bilstein struts are the wrong size for these camber plates, which is why they got ruined in the first place. The Koni single adjustable's in the photo above are my new struts. Ground Control pre-valved them before shipping for my spring rates:
Front: Eibach 0600.250.375 - 6”x2.5” @375 lb/in
Rear: Eibach 0500.225.0450 - 5”x2.25” @450lb/in

I am also replacing the control arm bushing with a new offset bushing and the inner and outer tie-rods, as well as the various nuts and bolts throughout.

[jhaurimn]

Weigh the steel control arm when you change them out :D

[hankolerd]

I will try to get my hands on a scale to compare them. I have read the steel arms weigh between ~7-12lbs/ea, depending on brand. According to that Vorshlag photo (and the text that accompanied it when they posted it), the aluminum arms are 4.1lbs/ea. Probably not worth the premium, but then they should last me 10+ years at the rate I drive the car, and I am not sure they will still be available when it comes time to replace them again.

[hankolerd]

Still waiting on parts delivery...


In the meantime, here are all the goodies on their way:

Control Arms w/ bushings and mounting hardware:



Tie Rods w/ Boots (and securing plates not pictured)


Sway bar end-links and bushings:


Brake Caliper bolts and wear sensors


Turner oil baffle kit w/ upper oil pan gasket


Windshield cowl covers:


Air vents and sunshade




Got a couple of other things knocked out recently:
1) Swapped in the new kidney grilles
2) Put lamin-x over the headlights
3) Replaced the sunroof seal
4) Re-installed the roof check control panel and A-Pillars - plan to take it to Greg at S3 Designs at some point to get a new headliner fabricated before re-installing the B (new) and C (old) pillars

After I get the suspension installation finished I am taking it in for an alignment, might get a quote for installing the oil pan baffle kit and the differential gasket - both need extensive cleaning to be able to monitor future leaks/seeps.

[hankolerd]

Oh, and for fun, the old sway bar bushings -
The left is what both bushings look like on the outer end, the right is what they both look like on the inner end

[iwantspeed]

cars is gunna drive like a dream when you are done

[hankolerd]

Weigh the steel control arm when you change them out :D

Here you go:
W/ lollipop and bushing 8lb 5oz


W/out lollipop and bushing - I will get a new weight once the bushing is installed - 4lb 1oz

[hankolerd]

Well, now I am not sure what I am going to do with my 16x8 Style 4's. I can't keep both around.

BBS RC304 17x8 et38 16.3lbs. Have 5+ years of dust on them, but should clean up nicely.
Just picked these up from the original owner, who bought them new 16 years ago for his e36 m3, and claims to have only run them for ~500 miles to/from/on track. The tires would actually be OK to run if they also weren't 16 years old. Only one small patch of rash, and a few surface scratches that should polish out.

[hankolerd]

So far so good. Before:

After:

[spiDmang]

dude solid progress! Keep it up :up:

[e30austin]

Those are bitchin! Love those wheels.