A/T Lifted M21 iX Build Thread

[MattPro]

Some of you might have seen me post around, but figured it would be fun to do a build thread for once.

This build started when my F10 550 engine locked up 12 hours from home


So I wanted another E30 to pick up as a little project and to hold me over since engines were (and still are) backordered. Ended up finding this iX in Minnesota for $700.
'91 auto, listed as driving but ball joints were trashed so it needed a tow.
Borrowed a trusty 4runner and went to snag it.






Got it home and went through the front suspension. First thing's first, had to do all 4 front axle boots, control arms, and tie rods.



Next up was timing belt, sure glad I got to that right away



Soon after started realizing that as I sat at red lights, the brake pedal would slowly go to the floor. Decided to try going with an E32/E34 master cylinder since there was some mention here and there of it fitting in the iX chassis. It ended up being a direct fit and much cheaper than the E30 iX specific master.




A couple weeks later, the auto trans started slipping terribly. You know what that means, parts car time for manual swap!




Swapped out the cracked up dash for an old crack free one I had sold to someone who sold it back to me



Since owning the car in August, it has thrown the following at me:

• All 4 axle boots torn
• Control arms on the verge of failure
• Leaking master cylinder
• 2 broken flush brake bleeder screws
• Control arm bushing bolt broke off deep inside frame (broke extractor in bolt as well)
• Head gasket started milkshaking the oil
• Front bumper bolts stripped
• Central locking and lighting wiring cut in multiple places
• Horrible aftermarket headlight wiring job
• Slipping auto trans
• FPR o-ring blowing out almost starting a fire
• Coolant flange bolt breaking off flush in the head during HG job (broke extractor off in bolt as well)
• Leaking gas tank (still need to fix...)
• Rear subframe bushings shot (still need to fix...)

Plus a bunch of other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting about right now.

Definitely my worst track record E30, but can't complain about it keeping me busy while I wait for the F10 to be back on the road.


Now for the fun. I had always wanted to throw some big all terrain tires on my last iX, and after seeing a friend with some on his RWD E30 I knew I had to.

So with the help of E34 front springs, E36 vert rear springs, and Condor spring pad spacers I was able to get some 27" tires in with minimal rubbing issues.








So far I have had to trim the inner back part of the front flares and bend the front valence out a bit, but no other terrible issues.
The front valence bending is a temporary solution, will probably do something different with the front end eventually.

So that's where I am today, will keep this thread updated as I make changes. Excited to make it through the midwest winter and have some fun with this car!

[jeenyus]

Great start! I gotta do my CV boots sooner than later. They are starting to crack and I know it's just a matter of time. Did you replace the whole control arm or did you just replace the ball joints? If ball joints, where did you find those?

[2mAn]

Hows the angle of the CVs with the lift?

[MattPro]

Great start! I gotta do my CV boots sooner than later. They are starting to crack and I know it's just a matter of time. Did you replace the whole control arm or did you just replace the ball joints? If ball joints, where did you find those?

Some advice for the front axles, there is a clip that holds the axle shaft into the CV. I have done a couple sets of these now, and just breaking one of the bent ends off of the clips and rotating the clip out has saved me a ton of time instead of trying to do the clip the "right way." You'll see what I mean when the time comes!

For now, I just threw in a "good" used set of control arms to get me on the road. But I will be replacing just the ball joints due to cost. I have these part numbers saved to order after I do the tank/rear subframe:

325iX Inner ball joints - Lemfoerder PN L1054301
325iX Outer ball joints - Lemfoerder PN L1054402

I was able to find both in stock at various websites.

Hows the angle of the CVs with the lift?

I will grab a picture and share tomorrow!

[rzerob]

Yes. Subscribed.

[rzerob]

What is the tire size?

[MattPro]

What is the tire size?

27x8.5


Other updates:
When I found the coolant and oil were mixing, I pulled the head and it checked out straight so I just decided to replace the gasket. Looks like that didn't pay off, checked the oil to find this today:





Was hoping to escape a trip to the machine shop, but I must have missed seeing a crack on the head or block. Going to take the block from the manual swap parts car and another good head with a bad valvetrain and make the best out of it.

Good thing for FCP euro's lifetime policy on the headgasket parts I just bought ;)

[jeenyus]

i hate when you have to just concede to going to the mechanic.

[MattPro]

Back on the road!

Had the spare head refreshed at a machine shop. All valve guides were shot, had 3 bent valves, and had extreme cam lobe/rocker wear. Pulled the spare block from my parts car, threw everything together and no more milkshake.

Took this opportunity to replace both diff fluid and the transfercase bushing as well.

(having a garage built at the moment, would have been nice for this...)










Picked up a use roof rack. Need to recover a bit from this job but will have more updates soon! Still need to grab a picture of the front CV angle, will do it soon.

[MattPro]

Had our first real snow and an "official blizzard" here in Chicago this past weekend. Sadly, the snow was super heavy and a big brand broke off the tree in my front yard and hit the car. Seems like the hood took a brunt of it and the fender got scratched up. Could have been much worse so I am not that upset.










Got to test the car out, very happy with how it did with the tires and lift! I am not sure if it was because the snow was so wet and heavy, but the car was grabbing very hard (tires lived up to their name ;D )














The next morning got to test out the t-case and rear diff. Seems like the rear viscous diff is shot. Might swap in an LSD for better low traction situations as handling as not that important to me.

Didn't dig anything out, car was pretty frozen in. Just threw it in reverse and went for it. Wish the car was a bit taller, kept bottoming out on the hard icy snow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvbtG5ebA0A

[rzerob]

My ix is lowered. When I bought it 5 years ago it was my second ix and the suspension was shot so I upgraded and was disappointed that the H&R's lowered it as much as it did. But it still handles phenomenally in the snow.

A couple of years ago I came out after work and the snow was above my hood. I cleaned off my windshield while it warmed up and just drove it home with no real issues. While a lot of guys 4x4 trucks couldn't move. It was great.

[jeenyus]

With my snow tires, i have zero issues in the snow. Drove up to the mountain in about a foot of snow on the road without an issue. Everyone was hyping on the fact the car made it up there cause i swear, everyone was slipping around, but i just powered on. These cars in the snow make it worth dealing with these cars in general, i think.

[TheWipprSnappr]

These cars in the snow make it worth dealing with these cars in general

qft

[nando]

That's awesome. I'd think your height should be plenty good enough. I was almost always lowered and the only time I ever got stuck was because I chickened out and slowed down for a big snow drift (that I had already been through once).

My ix is the reason my brother in law sold his truck lol. He had to park a half mile down the street because there was a foot of snow in their driveway on top of a layer of ice. He couldn't even make it halfway up the road, but I drove right in like it was nothing.

What I liked about coilovers initially is you could raise it back up to stock height for winter. But now I just don't even bother to drive in the snow (I can just work from home), or if I must, I take a car I don't care about like the X5.

[MattPro]

Yes, my last iX was bone stock and it alone did amazing in the snow. I was hoping with this build to have a lot of fun in the winter and then some other all-terrain conditions and tag a long with some of my friends when they go do those kinds of activities.

I wish I could raise the rear a bit more, but I am near the limit. Since the trailing arm is open so much, the wheel is so close to the front of the fender kit.

Maybe some day in the future I will study some suspension design and outsource some custom control arm design to some friends.