Super4 E36 318isc demo car

[Super4]

Well its a while since I have posted in the projects section as there have not really been any worthy mods being done.....until today as it was coilover day . Seeing as I now supply JOM coilovers I wanted to trial run a set to see what they are like as a low budget entry level coilover. Upon opening the box and pulling everything out and having a good look all over I was impressed even if the rear adjusters felt a little cheap in the hand they are not bad at all once fitted. The height adjustment tool for the coilovers it must be said is pretty poor but more so for when you have to adjust the rear suspension height as the silly pivot setup is slightly frustrating to work with.

Now enough with the moaning after all they are a €250.00 coilover kit, all in all I am very impressed with the quality of this kit for the money, once fitted and adjusted I was out for a drive to see how it all felt, at this point I would also like to mention that I fitted new KYB front suspension mounts as mine were pretty shot and I did not feel like taking out the shocks again to do the mounts. I had previously replaced the rears with Meyle HD items along with the Z3 reinforcement plates.

Before fitting could even start I had to work around the problem of getting off my BMW lock nuts without the lock nut tool as I seemed to have misplaced it :confused, anyway after a couple of minutes pondering and eyeing it up I took my small half inch drive extension and hammered it into the lock nut then proceeded to loosen them with the breaker bar.....each lock nut took 5 mins max to get off. Happy days :thumbsup

LOCK NUT REMOVAL : Weapon of choice





JOM COILOVER KIT :



BEFORE REMOVAL :



DURING :

JOM COILOVER WITH NEW KYB MOUNT BESIDE MY EIBACH PRO DAMPER AND EIBACH SPRING :



At this point i decided to take out one of a set of the BMW wheels I accquired during the previous week and sit it into place, the wheel is 16" x 7.5 with ET19. Needless to say it sits out pretty far but hopefully I can get it to work with some Falken tires and a bit of a stretch (not that I have much to stretch with). Need to look in to tire sizes now and start organising new boots.

NEW WHEELS :





NEW KYB TOP MOUNTS :



COILOVERS FITTED FRONT SHOT :



Sorry there are not more pictures of the fitting process however I shall get up some more over the coming days. I was also changing suspension in another E36 today so time did not permit lots of picture taking. I took the car out for a spin this evening and have to say from what little I have driven it I am fairly impressed. The ride is not overly harsh by any means and the car feels much tighter. Over the coming weeks time shall tell alot once they have settled and at that stage I shall report back with more information on them. Hopefully the rear has settled by then.....not really liking the drag look

QUICK EVENING SNAPS :






Thanks for looking and opinions and comments welcome as always
[hr]
Hi all, I managed to sell my 16" style 32's and they are being collected this weekend so I thought i'd better pull the finger out and get some wheels on the car this week. The Motorsports ended up being the option I went for as these only needed two tires and purse strings are being kept as tight as possible. So I got two Conti's thrown on to the rear today and all four wheels balanced. I have to say going from a 225 tire to a 215 tire has made a nice difference to the driving of the car for sure. it feels that bit more responsive and less tramlining too which is nice.

Any ways I shall let the quick pics do the talking Car needs a good washing.....

BEFORE :







AFTER :





Will get up some better pictures once it stops raining and I have given it a good wash etc.


Thanks for looking as always

[Super4]

I'm just in the door now from working on the car (0100am), was in with a mate of mine this evening giving him a dig out in the workshop as he was bombarded and going on hols tomorrow so everything was rush rush. Needles to say rush rush caught up with him when he reversed into my car!!, it's not bad by anymeans and we all know shit happens and I'm not too bothered......just typical that it happens before Sundays show.

Work carried out on my car today was :

New Meyle HD wishbones with ball joints but without lollipops
New 501 side light bulbs.....much brighter now thank god.
Went at my inner tie rods as the locking washers are slightly worn so they had vibrated loose....Not ideal :sarcastic (Just did passenger side tonight, driver side tomorrow)
Painted my other 2 alloys
Collected a spare Motorsport alloy from a fellow BMW-Driver.net member (orientblau) for free might I add. Thanks mate.

Will get up some pictures in a day or two.......i'm wrecked so off to la la land I go.

NEW ARMS :



DURING :





OLD CHEAP SPURIOUS ARM WAS KNACKERED & with hair line cracks.... :





NEW MEYLE HD WISHBONES :





WHEEL PAINTING :





THE DAMAGE :





Not to bad at all and I'll tackle it next week.


Thanks for looking

[Super4]

Well another piece of the jigsaw was completed today with the arrival of my rear aluminium strut brace. No sooner had it arrived it was straight on the car

BEFORE :



DURING :





AFTER :








Thanks for looking

[Super4]

Washed and lowered some more on the rear, much happier with the height now.





Thanks for looking
[hr]
Third time going for uploading these pictures.....internet exp keeps crashing!!!! Very annoying. Had a guide done also but lost it. Easy job takes about and hour. You'll need 8,10,17 sockets and some torx .

Apologies for the poor quality pictures I was in a bt of a rush so as you will see they ain't the best.

BEFORE, DURING AND AFTERS :




































If anyone has any questions then please feel free to ask and I shall be more than happy to help, I just done have the heart to do another right up now. I will see the visual improvement is fantastic ad hopefully the real improvement shall show when it rains and now more water gets in .

Thanks for looking

[BluhBluh]

What did you do with the rotas?

[Chrispyfish]

What did you do with the rotas?

I think he is transferring the thread bit by bit, this is about where the car was last summer

[Super4]

What did you do with the rotas?

What Chris said mate .

What did you do with the rotas?

I think he is transferring the thread bit by bit, this is about where the car was last summer

Yup it sure is mate, hard to believe tbh. How is your car doing? Off the road for the manky winter months?

Hope all is well.

[Super4]

Got a couple more very small bits done today and one job started which I shall finish tomorrow. Parrot CK3000 evo hands free fitted as its only a matter of time before I get nabbed yapping on the phone and its safer for all.

PARROT FITTING :









The earth strap at the back driver side corner of the bonnet had completely split so a made up strap replaced until I get some proper thickness earthing cable.



I also decided not to wait any longer to change the spark plug oil seals as I had these already so I started on this job also, however due to a time constant I shall have to finish it tomorrow hopefully.

NEW PLUG OIL SEALS :







More updates coming tomorrow if weather & time permit.


Thanks for looking

[Super4]

Finished off my wrinkle finish rocker cover today, thanks to Larry K for the VHT wrinkle paint.

It took a while with not having a fantastic heat source at home to back it in as it didn't fit in the oven ( I tried). Anyway I managed to get it all done and refitted, the paint is touch dry but still soft underneath but this shall soon be sorted after a good drive. I also changed the spark plug oil seals so hopefully no more plugs bathing in oil. New Iridiums are on the way and should be here this week then I'm just waiting on the leads to arrive.

I have more to do with the intake manifold now as it doesn't look right so shall take care of this in a week or two.

WRINKLE FINISH ROCKER :



DRYING :







NEW PLUG OIL SEALS FITTED :



COVER BACK ON :







The paint looks quit orange in the pictures however it is far from it, it's a lovely blood red color very much like the EK9 type R rockers etc.

BEFORE & AFTER :






Thanks for looking

[Super4]

This job is a doddle on the E36's and easily doable for any diy home mechanic with a max time of 20-30 minutes without a ramp. The front end in particular on my car still felt a loose and rattly, this has now pretty gone since changing them and made the car nice amd quiet again .

ARB BUSHES DURING & AFTER :











After doing the bushes I decided to remove the front passenger seat and start a job I had been putting off for some time. The dreaded sound deadening removal....

I am using a very strong paint scrapper and hammer which is doing the job nicely so far to be honest. I thought this was going to be a lot harder (spoke to soon). It will most likely be a pig of a job on the driver side now I have made the previous statement, Oh well.

THE START OF THE SOUND DEADENING REMOVAL :




Thanks for looking
[hr]
Need tires pronto, might stop me looking and taking pictures of the wheels ,