The Full Banana

Chassis harness is done and 99% functioning. There are small things to correct, like fogs and low beams control wiring is wrong and I need to move some pins around in the bulkhead connectors. 
Fuel lines, flex sensor etc is done i just need to mount the fuel filter.
 
ECU is mounted and one of the bulkheads is terminated.
Will finish second bulkhead and engine harness sometime this and next week. The goal is to start the engine this month. 
 
I cleaned the motor, slapped new gaskets including a headgasket and it should be ready to go. This thing sat for 4 years behind my shed. Damn chipmunk lived in the motor and stored bunch of chipmunk food in the head port. 
 
Hopefully everything cleaned fairly ok. I will pull this motor anyway and drop some forged goodies over the winter. 
 
I welded drain plug and turbo drain  and oil pan is now ready to go.
My arp flywheel bolts from bmw m10 are a bit too short. I will need to replace with 28mm bolts.
Also the tilton hydraulic throw out is 2mm too long and I will need to swap the TO piston for the shorter one. 
 
 
 
I got the steering shaft mocked up with some woodward u-joints. Will finish it once i get the e36 column in final position.
 
I decided to not run the motor NA and go for boost. I got the intercooler setup and i have a log manifold from my friends Volvo. The cylinder spacing is spot on i just need to redrill the flange for m42 bolt pattern.  I got some green top injectors that should support 200-250whp which should be more than enough to test the chassis. 
 
I also pondered the idea of running e90 cluster in  my car. I got the arduino setup with can shield and was able to control most of the cluster. Cluster talks at 100kbs and maxxecu supports 500kbs i will need to setup arduino with dual can to translate the messages from maxx to BMW but that should not be a big issue. 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 


 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

They are 15x7 in front and 15x7.5 in the rear. The 16" RS definitely come with a premium. But I've always like 15s on the car better. 
 
Had the car out for its first test drive and it was pissing transmission fluid. Engine and transmission had to come back out. It ended up being my fault - I put the input shaft seal cover on about 90* off which just so happened to line up the fluid return hole on the transmission to be lined up with an open hole on the cover. So it literally was pouring out. Fixed that. Drove it around this weekend some. Realized I forgot to tighten up the nut on the driveshaft where it splits. Sooooooo one more fucking time on the lift to do that, but then it should be all set!


Other notes: 
This winter I also made rear speaker boxes and front door tweeter pods and fitted in Focal component speakers in the front and rear. I installed an Infiniti Basslink Mini under the front seat. The sound system is now fantastic and sounds like what I've always been chasing. 






Interior is exceeding my expectations. I love them. The seats are so comfortable. Also finished the e-brake handle boot. 


Also able to test my H1 LED high beam kits. Since the caps on the euro smilies can't really accommodate the larger LED bulbs or the wiring, I wanted to make these since I don't have my US Ellipsoids anymore. I am not disappointed with the performances of the MLED projector and LED high beams. 



 
Made a stop at Fermentorium in Cedarburg with our youngest while the older two and my wife were at a birthday part. After Fermentorium, I used the e30 to pick them up and continue on to Sahale in Grafton. What a family car. 


 
 

Electrical work is progressing well. I decided to abandon the Littlefuse integrated fusebox and build my own using TE fuseboxes. It allowed me to bus the power to the components the way I wanted.

I left the original rear harness and terminated it with the 20 pin deutsch connector. It will connect to the front harness.

Body harness is 90% complete. Almost everything under the hood is done. I am still adding some wires under dashboard for gauge power, glovebox lights or radio power and finishing up some grounds. It should be ready this week.
I get the set of cheapo rock auto parts e28 axles , brake discs and some pagid brake pads. I also got the gasket set for the m42. 
I got a set of cheapest VAG coils of amazon to see how they fit. I think i will whip something to retain the coils. Once that thing moves out of garage under it own power and suspension aligns I will replace all el cheapo parts with something of better quality. 

I spent some bucks on the Radium FPR and it fits beautifully with the nuke fuel rail.
Next:
Finish the fuel system: I got PTFE lines and fpr AND now its time for Flex fuel sensor and some AN fittings
Finish the steering: I ordered woodward u-joints and will need to whip a steering shaft. I still have to mount the column in final position. And lastly will need to sort the tie rod situation. I am thinking shorted e90 inners and e36 outers? 
Engine: I have a second m42 which was sitting (covered) outside for almost 3 years. Damn squirrel lived in that thing for two years before I chased her out of there and sprayed 2 cans of pb blaster into the motor. It made very interesting, kind of crunchy noises when turning so I am pretty sure that it will work great. I got a gasket set for it  and I am ready to dingleberry the shit out of the cylinders if needed and re-ring the pistons.
 
Who knows maybe it will  make it to the Vintage  
 
 
Beginning of the new fusebox
 
 
New fusebox
 
 
And the guts : power first
 
 
 
And the outputs
 
 
Radlok for incoming power: This thing is well........... very rad. Possibly best power connector I've seen so far
 
 
 
Finished product with chassis harness attached. Still need to shrink the boots but first will need to test and verify all circuits. I already found horn connected to the radiator fan output and vice versa. Hooooooonk you overheated
 
 
FPR. works really well with Nuke rail. Looks like this part was meant for m42 with my manifold
 
 
 
Chinesium coils
 

I were going to build one then i figured that I can set up the canopy thing outside but I got some stupid neighbors who would certainly call code enforcement cops so decided to move it inside. 
 
Paint came out great. Engine bays are not my favorite thig to spray. There are bunch of angles, crevices and spots that are hard to get. I got couple of spots with that dry spray texture. I did not bother using a tack cloth after I preped the bare metal so there is bunch dust spots. Its good enough tho for the engine bay.
 
The floor around the drivers side torque box rusted out so this will get fixed next. I need to paint the driveshaft center bearing supports and diff mounts. Also will get the rear fender lips touched up since they cracked pretty badly when I pulled the fenders. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

KW coilovers, Ground Control camber/caster plates, lower control arms,  TC Kline rear shock mounts, sway bar links and bushings all installed the past week or two. Had some time to do a paint correction yesterday as well as install a paint matched rear wiper delete. Getting closer to being satisfied...for now. 

Tried this thing. It didn't work though due to the GAPING HOLE IN THE WATER PUMP GASKET I found after filling it up with coolant. 
Replaced the gasket and then it worked and made filling it up really easy. 

Some interior dingle berries to wrap up. Just waiting for the classic wisconsin 30 degrees and snow to 80 degrees and humid over night transition to summer. 

Hey guys. I've been working pretty hard on these and have a variety of options now: 
Morimoto Mini H1 8.0 DIY Projector Retrofit Kit for $495-530 shipped. 
Acme Standard DIY Projector Retrofit Kit for $295 shipped.
Depo Smilie plug and play headlights with the projectors already installed and all required HID hardware included: 
Morimoto: 
$775 shipped for clears $795 shipped for smoked Acme: 
$535 for clears $565 for smoked  








 
 
 
 
 

Nice progress, TJ! Can’t wait to see this on the new wheels this summer.

Came up with a solution for subpar light output on the e30 when all other options were unavailable or undesirable. Once I install them and confirm fitment and function, I am going to offer them as kits (minus the projectors). Been working on these for a long time and just received my stack of SS mounting plates in the mail yesterday. 

haven't had any sightings for a while! Forgot to post the other day but when I was on the over pass on HWY 26 to head north on 41 and a green E36 sedan passed on the other side. It had a silver hood with some particular black stripes on it. Pretty sure it was the @The Full Banana @rampelsauce dukes of hazard M3 hood which gave me a good laugh.

Today was a great day to get out for a little back roads drive! Since picking the car up, I've swapped wheels/tires, stock headlights, added wheel spacers, Gruppe M carbon airbox, bimmerworld intake elbow to delete ASC, AC Schnitzer leather steering wheel, and installed a BMW motorsports golf ball weighted knob.
 
 

Given the current market, I wouldn't take anything less than the low $20k range for your car. If it were me, I would have a really hard time justifying selling an appreciating asset for one that will depreciate. Good luck with your future endeavors!

I moved to Lake Mills this spring so I’m biased. Driftless to the west, Kettle Moraine to the east… life is good. 

Car made it to Utah and back without issue other than a vibration from the rear at 80mph which I suspect to be an axle or maybe a wheel bearing. More pictures and thoughts later.

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 
Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 
Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.

Good call! I was pretty reluctant on the maxjax given that I didn't want to lose quick access to the garage, but with it on the lift I can still get in and out the door OK. And they are much easier to move out of the way than I thought they were going to be. 
 
But on the car - it's back on the ground. I have 12v at both power leads in the engine bay. It started right up (obviously not the first time because the fuel pump was repressurizing the system). But the following starts it cranked really strong and started up with much healthier sound than it ever has. 
New ground and power wires:

Solder loaded battery terminals worked amazing.



And the new fusible link.


I also replaced the fuel lines because the ones that were in there had some cracking along the tops of the hoses. I didn't know there was fuel hose and then fuel injector hose. So I got proper hose this time. 

Anyone know what this blue connector is? It's behind the kick panel in the front passenger, it was unplugged when I opened everything up. 

 
 
 

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 
Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.

I'm selling my daily driver because we just picked up a replacement X3 M40i to serve as our shared daily driver, given that my wife and I both work from home. This car has been really good to me over the past few years I've had it. It absolutely eats up the miles and the N55 + ZF8 package is pretty stellar. 

It's a 2011 BMW 535i xDrive in Space Grey paint over black leather interior. Most notably, and the reason why I jumped on it when I found it, it's equipped with Sport Package (shadowline trim, 19" wheels, sport seats, sport steering wheel are the highlights for this model year) so it looks a fair bit nicer than a lot of the F10 535's out there. 
Coming up on 145K miles and I'm the second owner. Before me it was owned by a CFO of a Financial Services firm who maintained it well (I have records of various services in the glovebox such as oil filter housing gasket, trans fluid change, front upper wishbones, etc). I haven't had to do a lot to it in the time I've had it. 
It sits slightly lowered on H&R sport springs with new OE shocks, struts, mounts. I also replaced one of the front axles after a boot tore and there was occasional clicking from the CV. I have the axle for the other side and it will be included, should it ever need to be changed. 
As seems to be common on these cars, there is a vibration around 70mph. It's been there since I got the car. In an effort to alleviate it, I put new Michelin Pilot Sport All Seasons on, replaced a cracked wheel and replaced a thrust arm while trying to figure out the source of the vibration, but it's still there. At this point, I've effectively chalked it up to a design flaw from BMW, and it really doesn't impact driving. 
I'm asking $9,850.
 




























 

I'm selling my daily driver because we just picked up a replacement X3 M40i to serve as our shared daily driver, given that my wife and I both work from home. This car has been really good to me over the past few years I've had it. It absolutely eats up the miles and the N55 + ZF8 package is pretty stellar. 

It's a 2011 BMW 535i xDrive in Space Grey paint over black leather interior. Most notably, and the reason why I jumped on it when I found it, it's equipped with Sport Package (shadowline trim, 19" wheels, sport seats, sport steering wheel are the highlights for this model year) so it looks a fair bit nicer than a lot of the F10 535's out there. 
Coming up on 145K miles and I'm the second owner. Before me it was owned by a CFO of a Financial Services firm who maintained it well (I have records of various services in the glovebox such as oil filter housing gasket, trans fluid change, front upper wishbones, etc). I haven't had to do a lot to it in the time I've had it. 
It sits slightly lowered on H&R sport springs with new OE shocks, struts, mounts. I also replaced one of the front axles after a boot tore and there was occasional clicking from the CV. I have the axle for the other side and it will be included, should it ever need to be changed. 
As seems to be common on these cars, there is a vibration around 70mph. It's been there since I got the car. In an effort to alleviate it, I put new Michelin Pilot Sport All Seasons on, replaced a cracked wheel and replaced a thrust arm while trying to figure out the source of the vibration, but it's still there. At this point, I've effectively chalked it up to a design flaw from BMW, and it really doesn't impact driving. 
I'm asking $9,850.
 




























 

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 
Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 
Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 
Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 
Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.