1990 M3 Diamantschwarz

[hankolerd]

Thanks! Unfortunately this took a turn for the worse.

I hadn't mentioned in this thread, but when I pulled the old strut insert from the passenger housing the insert sleeve had broken away from the insert and was jammed into the strut housing. Prova spent a couple of hours heating and trying to get the sleeve out of the strut housing, but eventually decided I was better off finding a new housing, otherwise they were going to spend as much shop time getting the old sleeve out as a new strut housing costs.

The Bilstein strut insert


The yellow Bilstein insert sleeve still stuck in the housing:



Thankfully I found a used spec-e30 re-enforced strut housing on eBay for $800 (They are $1400 new from Tischer, which was the cheapest I found), so I ordered it up, and went ahead and had Prova re-enforce and re-paint my driver side strut housing as well to match.

The used (and dusty) passenger housing from Prussian Motors on eBay:


The driver side housing all re-enforced and cleaned up:


I went ahead and ordered up new wheel bearings/hubs since I was waiting on the new housing anyway, and Prova installed those once the housing came in.

Then the driver side housing gave some issues with the new strut insert, as it had been filled with water and had corrosion. Prova got it cleaned up and eventually got the strut housings all put back together and ready to go.

I had them press on the new FCAB's onto the new aluminum control arms as well.

They were very generous to only charge for 4 hours shop time, though I know for a fact they were closer to 8-10 hours on these. Between shop time, and new bearings/hubs, hub nuts etc. I am out another $850.

Last week I replaced the passenger side tie-rod, and in preparation of putting the car back together this weekend I tried to replace the driver side tie-rod last night. Unfortunately, the driver side tie-rod is FUBAR. I believe the PO installed the lock washer backwards and drove the tab on the lock washer into the threads of the tie-rod. I am using an 18" pipe wrench and a floor jack and got it backed off ~1/6 turn, enough for the lock washer to spin freely. But the tie-rod is jammed tight as ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEz9VlPZEA0


I also found my steering rack is leaking on the driver side, as the boot had a few drips of fluid in it.

I am hoping to re-assemble everything and have it towed to Prova in hopes they can replace the tie-rod and rebuild the steering rack without damaging it. Otherwise a new rack is ~$800.

[spiDmang]

Daniel,

Have you considered an upgraded steering rack? I'm sure you want to keep everything original, but just a thought..

[hankolerd]

I have, but from my understanding since this car is a '90 car with factory airbag that the firewall has to be modified as well as the steering knuckle for any Z3/e36/e46 rack to fit.

At this point I am $4000 in on this suspension project, and my budget was $1000 (), so I am hoping to resolve the steering rack with whatever is most budget friendly

[hankolerd]

Picked the car up from Prova Motorsports today, it had a pretty exhaustive list of maintenance performed over the last two weeks.

- The front sub-frame was cracked under the passenger side motor mount. So they welded it back with a re-inforcement plate and installed new motor mounts.
- Both transmission mounts were torn, so they installed new transmission mounts and installed the UUC Evo 3 SSK. The transmission output shaft seal was leaking, so they installed a new one.
- The driveshaft flex disc (guibo) was forming cracks, so it was replaced.
- The brake lines were cracking/bubbling, so they installed new G-STOP (Goodridge) stainless brake lines.
- The coolant hose to the thermostat had a slow leak, so they replaced it.
- Valve cover gasket was leaking (even though it was just replaced 3 years ago) so they replaced it.
- They replaced all the engine belts as they were showing their age.
- The broken steering rack was pulled and replaced with a rebuilt OEM unit, along with new power steering lines and new steering fluid reservoir
- Oil pan was removed and to my surprise a Turner Baffle kit was already installed - so they just replaced the rubber flapper and re-installed the oil pan with new seals. They shimmed the oil pump to bring back proper chain tension.
- They removed the rear sub-frame - the rear subframe (and mounts) were nearly brand new, but the rear trailing arm bushings were K-Mac polyurethane units that had failed, so they replaced the worn rear trailing arm bushings with OEM rubber units.
- They opened, inspected, and re-sealed the differential.
- Replaced the clutch master cylinder line as it was leaking.
- Replaced the rear parking shoes, as the passenger side was completely disintegrated.
- New engine and alternator grounds installed
- Every fluid flushed and replaced
-- Engine: Redline 15w50
-- Differential: Redline 75w90
-- Transmission: Redline MTL
-- Power Steering: Redline
-- Brake: ATE TYP200 Dot 4 Racing
-- Coolant: OE BMW
- Alignment:
-- Camber:
-1.37° FL -1.45° FR
-3.14° RL -3.63° RR
-- Toe:
0.04" FL 0.03" FR
0.10" RL 0.03" RR

Chris recommends I pick up some 1" taller springs for the rear of the car to be able to bring the rear camber back to ~2°-2.5° negative camber.

Otherwise I took the long way home, and am thrilled with how the car drives. As you would expect after so much of the suspension and steering components replaced, the car feels absolutely stellar. My only complaint was over very abrupt edges (such as expansion cracks on I-5/I-90) that there is still a harshness to the rear end - I am going to discuss this with Chris in the future to see if he thinks the taller springs would mitigate this - or if I need to move back to a rubber rear shock mount - but this is being pretty nit-picky - the car is a night and day difference to where it was.

The UUC Evo 3 SSK is really nice - I am sure the new transmission mounts and all new shifter bushings help a good deal here. Reverse and 1st are really close together - I kept re-engaging reverse by accident trying to shift from reverse to first - but if you let the shifter re-center before attempting for 1st it is not a problem. The throws are very short and precise. I forgot to ask if they set it to its longest or shortest setting, but I would guess it is at the shortest setting.

The Koni Sport struts and Ground Control Touring camber plates work really well - a perfect set-up for a street driven car.

The brakes feel a bit better as well - less spongy. I assume this is thanks to the G-STOP/Goodridge SS brake lines. Not sure what they did to the brakes, but I am not getting any more squealing at low speeds like I had before, very happy about that.

If it wasn't already obvious, I am extremely happy with the car. I couldn't keep from smiling the whole drive home.

Re-enforced motor mount






Items on my radar for next year:
1) Tires: Either 205/45 Michelin PSS's, or 235/40 Toyo R1R's to mount on the 17x8 BBS RC's.
2) Exhaust: Either going to go for a VSR Center Section and Stromüng muffler and sell my Super Sprint Race system, or I might just re-install the Super Sprint system.
3) Steering Wheel: Trying to decide between a 370mm MTech 1/2, a 350mm Momo Mod 31, 69, or 78, or a 350mm Renown Clubsport.

[Eric Giles]

I know the repair bills are racking up, but take it from a former owner of two E30 M3's....you are doing this the right way, and it is definitely worth every penny. You'll have everything sorted before you know it!

[hankolerd]

So I mentioned in another thread that I was having running issues. Originally I suspected it was a faulty Crankshaft Position Sensor, as this sensor provides the engine speed to the tachometer, and when the car died on the highway the tachometer immediately dropped to zero rpm. I replaced the two CPS's around Christmas, but unfortunately it didn't make a damn difference.

After that, I suspected a faulty relay or faulty ECU, but didn't really know how to diagnose further. I wondered about the fuel pump or spark issues, but neither would explain the tachometer dropping to zero rpm while in gear. It got to the point where it would only run for a minute or two tops, and in many cases would just crank and crank without firing. I had it towed back to Prova last week and they did some diagnosis and also suspected a relay. To be safe they replaced the Main relay, Fuel Pump relay, and Ignition Switch relay. So far so good. I picked it up today and it didn't have any issue on the 30 minute journey home.
:D

While they had it in the shop, I opted to order up 1" taller Eibach springs for the rear of the car, 6" vs. 5" (same #450 spring rate), as the rear still felt very harsh over expansion joints and pot holes even with the new Koni sport struts and the adjustable ground control perch set to the highest setting. I am happy to report that they made a huge improvement to the ride quality. The increased ride height seems to allow the back-end to load-up and set better for a turn. I can't wait to take it for some weekend drives now!

New ride height:





Lastly, in celebration of paying off my wagon, I bought a refurbished 370mm Mtech 1 wheel with ///M stitching from brycemartin on here. I will get this installed some time next week :)



When I started this thread a year ago I mentioned I was at ~150k miles. I think I only put about ~500 miles on it last year, because I just passed 149,500 today. Here is to putting several hundred (or maybe thousand) more on it this year :mrgreen:

[QuiqueUy]

really nice ! i loved the sound of the supersprint race muffler haha

[hankolerd]

Just kidding! The relays were not the problem. The next chance I had to go for a drive the car would not start again

I finally traced the real issue to a 50A fuse that is wired in the trunk on a ~10ga wire that runs direct from the battery to the main relay, ~1' from the positive battery terminal. I tested the resistance of the fuse and it showed 21,600 Ohms. The new fuse is 1.5 Ohms. The part # is 12411706111.

Big thanks to Prova Motorsports for ordering the new fuse at no cost to me. I let them know that I had traced down the problem on Friday, and they had me the new fuse by EOD Monday.

I am happy to report that after splicing in the new fuse on Monday I have driven the car 4 times and it has started and ran fine since.



I also swapped in the 370mm wheel

Old 385mm:

New 370mm:

[spiDmang]

Damn, im so jealous of your ride, Daniel. Very nice progress on the ///M. Just make sure you keep me in mind when you decide to sell her for that M2 ;D

EDIT: Oh and i've experienced the same issue with that in-line fuse in the trunk. Such a pain in the ass trying to trace the issue!

[hankolerd]

Very nice progress on the ///M. Just make sure you keep me in mind when you decide to sell her for that M2 ;D

Thanks!

After my experience with the M2 I decided I wanted to make this car drive as much like it as possible. Seems a bit backward when so many people praise the e30 as being the benchmark. The M2 just never seemed to run out of front end grip, and when the back end broke free it was so natural and so controllable. I am starting to wish I would have opted for a tighter steering rack, but I should be able to get by for a few years with this one.

I recently found out BMW is producing a special version of the M2, with manual non-heated seats, no H/K stereo, single-zone climate, etc. Funny thing is, this is the spec of car we drove at BMW Performance Center West in Palm Springs. I doubt the ones we drove had the M performance goodies that the new version will have.

[M3pare]

Awesome progress! This thread will be a great help once I get mine back from the body shop to start ordering maintenance parts. Send me a PM if you decide on selling the Supersprint exhaust and old 15" center caps. :)

[AWDBOB]

How's this car coming along?!

[GunnarE30]

Beautiful car! Can't wait to see what else is in store for it!

[JZM3]

looking good man, did you end up selling that supersprint center section?

[cspec]

Damn, next time I come to Seattle I would love to check this out!