Chris's Journey to find.. "The One"

[sasquatchola]

V nice car's you got over time ! 996 are probs my favorite porsche for sure !

I quite enjoyed the read too ! v nice updates and upgrades , the front bbk is from massive? 280mm? or it came with the car?

I love those Rs damn , you going to keep em?

thank you!

the front BBK is the massive 280mm kit. I purchased it fairly recently.

i sold the RS already and have TE37's arriving sometime this year

[benwalsh91]

this looks great, i also love the 996, especially the .1

what went wrong with the rear subframe alignment? this is going to be a job for me very soon and this has now got me concerned, could you shed some more information on it?

[moatilliatta]

You’re going to tether the suspension for droop?

Looks like some fun rides you’ve gone through.

[sasquatchola]

this looks great, i also love the 996, especially the .1

what went wrong with the rear subframe alignment? this is going to be a job for me very soon and this has now got me concerned, could you shed some more information on it?

thank you!

for the rear subframe, i couldnt get toe anywhere near the proper spec.
the toe adjustment plates had to be cut and moved further toward the front of the car.
the camber adjustment plates had to be cut and welded closer to the subframe itself(this was more of a personal preference since i wanted a specific camber spec)

the lower you go, the more "toe out" you naturally get. on the e30 platform.. or any semi-trailing arm design, the toe curve is pretty wild. its best to have an alignment beforehand then get adjustment plates welded in. i was trying to save money, didnt do that, and didnt realize how wild the toe curve is on the e30.

on the rear of pretty much any car, you generally want a bit of toe in. bmw's in general love a healthy amount of toe in.

You’re going to tether the suspension for droop?

Looks like some fun rides you’ve gone through.

im basically using the strap to limit the amount of downward travel on the shocks. I could always send the shocks out to MCS and have them do this internally, but that means more downtime and a lot more money. with this method, i get to pick and choose when i need and what i like before doing something a bit more labor intensive, expensive and semi-permanent (getting the shocks rebuilt with limiters)

[moatilliatta]

Check out the ground control RSM that moves the Mount point up higher. Are they E36/46 rear shocks?

Maybe this would help?

https://groundcontrolstore.com/products/tall-bmw-e30-e36-e46-rear-shock-mounts-pair

[sasquatchola]

Check out the ground control RSM that moves the Mount point up higher. Are they E36/46 rear shocks?

Maybe this would help?

https://groundcontrolstore.com/products/tall-bmw-e30-e36-e46-rear-shock-mounts-pair

ive seen this before. id like to stick to using a spherical rear mount over a solid bushings for the shocks. these would also make it a bit more difficult to adjust dampening. not too big of a deal-breaker, but something to consider.

the shocks are whatever MCS provides for their 2way shocks. not sure if they reuse them for other bmw applications, but i wouldnt doubt if they did.

[sasquatchola]

baby update!

been driving this thing every weekend! im slowly falling in love with it, despite temptations to sell it and buy an evo 8/9 LOL

i just got in a cupholder and fixed the windshield washer fluid reservoir!

the cupholder is made in California by some guy on Etsy. It's literally a wooden box wrapped in material with plastic cupholder inserts.
it's pressure fit into the center console and grip tape helps hold it in place very well.

i can finally stop shoving water bottles in between the seat and center console lol






and for my windshield washer fluid reservoir... i decided i was tired of seeing that light pop up saying im low on fluid.

mounted it up, repaired the hose with some vacuum line connector(it was cut right at the hood), filled water... and it all leaked out.

there was a minor crack near the bottom "slit" that helps hold the thing in place. i used some plasticweld to seal it up, then spray flex-seal over it for added measure. it's not pretty and it's a semi-permanent solution.. plus beats paying $50+ for a decent condition used one. ill end up buying a brand new one once i have some extra funds laying around for something that's a small detail.

the washer now works.. kinda? i mean it shoots water and a good 70% of the water ends up on the windshield so that's a good thing i guess? i cant expect much from a 30 year old car lol. More importantly... that pesky light is now gone and if needed, i can get my windshield clean




lastly... mini update on the TE37's

new ETA is September... sadly im not even surprised lol

more to come soon! I may end up doing a trackday soon to get a good shakedown and work out more kinks

[DEV0 E30]

Excellent thread, awesome journey of cars too.

There's always one that gets away, for me it was my '99 M Coupe, shoulda never sold it, but that's life.

Great progress on the E30, I really like the documentation. Oh, and the door seal, I had multiple E30s that had that exact issue, I like your fix and will try to remind myself about it in the future.

Can't wait to see it on TE37's!

[sasquatchola]

Excellent thread, awesome journey of cars too.

There's always one that gets away, for me it was my '99 M Coupe, shoulda never sold it, but that's life.

Great progress on the E30, I really like the documentation. Oh, and the door seal, I had multiple E30s that had that exact issue, I like your fix and will try to remind myself about it in the future.

Can't wait to see it on TE37's!

Thank you! Im excited for the TE37's as well!

---

mini update:

OEM Bosch Smiley's arrived with OEM Euro grills




also finally got a chance to go for a shakedown. went up Angeles Crest Highway this past sunday. I gotta say.. the car drives A LOT better than i expected it to.

[CubbyChowder]

Thing looks dialed man! Love the way it sits. I'm sure it's a blast to drive too. Will look even better with the new smileys and euro grilles!

[sasquatchola]

Thing looks dialed man! Love the way it sits. I'm sure it's a blast to drive too. Will look even better with the new smileys and euro grilles!

thank you! it's definitely a blast! im itching ti continue driving it more and more.

plan to install the smileys and grills tomorrow.. hopefully it goes smoothly haha

[sasquatchola]

better late than never right?


finally got around to installing the bosch euro headlights and euro grills!

i was waiting on some new headlight adjuster bushings and whatnot to ensure everything is solid and safe.
also got some LED bulbs since i didnt want to deal with mounting HID ballasts and all

still need to aim them, but ill get some pictures of the light output probably this weekend.

[benwalsh91]

what is required to make the euro smileys work in a US model car?

[sasquatchola]

what is required to make the euro smileys work in a US model car?

You’ll need connectors that match the euro smiley housings. If you do plan to purchase a set of euro smiley’s ensure that the connectors are included.

it’s some simple wiring afterwards for lowbeams and highbeam.
if you’d like for the parking light to work, there’s another connector that is required and is also pretty much just spliced into the wiring harness

i didn’t want to splice into my harness, so I purchased An h4 male connector and wired it up to the euro smiley connector to make an adapter that’s removable

Other than wiring, you also have to rotate the projectors so the beam pattern matches a LHD car instead of a RHD car. This was simple as well. Just loosen the 3 Phillips head screws holding the projector on and rotate(it should only spin one way).
You can also do this while the headlights are installed in the car if you use a stubby screwdriver

[benwalsh91]

You’ll need connectors that match the euro smiley housings. If you do plan to purchase a set of euro smiley’s ensure that the connectors are included.

it’s some simple wiring afterwards for lowbeams and highbeam.
if you’d like for the parking light to work, there’s another connector that is required and is also pretty much just spliced into the wiring harness

i didn’t want to splice into my harness, so I purchased An h4 male connector and wired it up to the euro smiley connector to make an adapter that’s removable

Other than wiring, you also have to rotate the projectors so the beam pattern matches a LHD car instead of a RHD car. This was simple as well. Just loosen the 3 Phillips head screws holding the projector on and rotate(it should only spin one way).
You can also do this while the headlights are installed in the car if you use a stubby screwdriver

Sorry, a little bit of back story.

i live in England but i shipped my US 325e back home to England with me. in order for it to pass our MOT i need RHD lights fitted and the "city lights" to work. so i have a full set of bosch smileys as they are easily available here but just need to wire them all in and i don't want to hack a load of stuff up.

thanks for the information, going to give it a go when i am next in the garage!