m42b32

Things I've done to the car since my last update... nothing!
 
While I've enjoyed having a running car that I can drive any time I want, there's been some issues needing addressing and I've started to plan to improve a number of things. One thing I've noticed is that the pressures in the intake manifold were constantly negative and I don't have time for all that negativity. In a random late night marketplace search I came across this lovely chunk of positivity for a pretty good deal... 
 
 
It'll be a while until I dig in and start fitting this as I want to finish my garage improvements first but it should make for a pretty fun project later this year(s). 

Wow, what a stupid pair. The full ride at 15 years would be a nice touch. 

https://stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?34029-Touring-International/page42
 

That is awesome. I figured this post would be about the headers and I was pleasantly surprised! We’re down on FI e30s right now so this should reset the balance quite nicely

I have to you snagged that one after it had been floating around for a bit on FB. I'm glad someone I know snapped it up as I was contemplating it myself, twin screws satisfy most of my desires when it comes to power additions. 

I'm looking forward to seeing more about it!

Nice score!

Things I've done to the car since my last update... nothing!
 
While I've enjoyed having a running car that I can drive any time I want, there's been some issues needing addressing and I've started to plan to improve a number of things. One thing I've noticed is that the pressures in the intake manifold were constantly negative and I don't have time for all that negativity. In a random late night marketplace search I came across this lovely chunk of positivity for a pretty good deal... 
 
 
It'll be a while until I dig in and start fitting this as I want to finish my garage improvements first but it should make for a pretty fun project later this year(s). 

Congrats on the new ride!! I'm gonna miss this one big time but I'm glad it went to a good home. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Here's two of my favorite pics for motivation!


 

Lol

Plates arrived!


Im already getting itchy on changing to the Ice Age Trail ones in March when they release, but we’ll see.

The black looks spectacular I think so it’ll be really hard to beat. Maybe I’ll get a set for the e28 to take off after I sell it and keep for decoration?

Swapped out rear shocks and mounts tonight with OE Lemforder sport shocks (white label). Much improved ride in the rear, rebound damping is much better and it doesn’t huck stuff into the air anymore. I could handle a little more stiffness though, so I may experiment with Bilstein HD’s if I get antsy. Should be more than OK for now, front struts and control arms are definitely a higher priority. 
 
Very impressed with the ease of this job, the hardest part was removing the plastic caps by where the parcel cover attaches. Otherwise, really intuitive and simple. Everything goes back into place with minimal effort and fits nicely. 
 
Replaced serpentine belt, idler, and tensioner as well on Sunday using the FCP Euro kit, continental belt and INA (?) idler and tensioner? Went in easy other than getting the belt back on the harmonic balancer, there’s a tight spot near the bottom that the belt doesn’t like to thread through. Took about 20 minutes total to get the belt back on, and checked with mirrors to make sure it was fully seated. It was, and it made the trip back to MKE tonight so I think we’re all good. 

Reserve not met at 17k, I think that's more than fair given the driver fender being trashed. The seller is going to have a hell of a time trying to get more than that in the current market in my opinion. 

Reserve not met at 17k, I think that's more than fair given the driver fender being trashed. The seller is going to have a hell of a time trying to get more than that in the current market in my opinion. 

First batch of parts has arrived!

Hoping to find time this weekend or next to get the shocks installed, oil changed, and serpentine belt/pulley/tensioner replaced. It’ll go in fairly soon for the wheels to be re-balanced, and it’ll be aligned in the spring when I’m done replacing some other suspension bits. At this point, planning for:
- Front shocks
- Front upper and lower control arms (replacing with the TRW M3 parts)
- Rear subframe bushing inserts. I know full bushing replacement is ideal but I don’t care to jump in that far just yet.
- Any other rear bushings the shop notes as torched. Anyone who has done rear end work on an e90, are there any bushings or ball joints in particular that tend to go earlier than others? Ideally I’d like to not have to replace everything at oncoming the entire car, so if I can do a few things on the rear and the whole front this year, and other rear bushings later, that would be ideal. 

119,390
First parts ordered. Taking care of the oil change, serpentine belt, and rear shocks (including the mount kit) with this batch of parts. Damping when the car is loaded is… not quite what I want to keep things from going flying, so I’m going to take care of the rear shocks sooner than I initially planned and then doing front struts this spring/summer when it’s warmer. Ordered the Continental kit for the serpentine and OE M Sport Sachs dampers for the rear. 
 
I’m going to need to pick up a good E-Torx set for maintenance on this car, any recommendations?

Congrats on the new ride!! I'm gonna miss this one big time but I'm glad it went to a good home. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Here's two of my favorite pics for motivation!


 

Thanks! It totally does, I'm looking forward to taking some trips and getting out in the woods! It's actually pretty fun (in a silly way) on road and in corners too. And totally agree but I'm definitely biased haha. 
Thanks! I wish there were more to go around too... 
Thanks!! I was hoping for some snow drifts to go bombing through this morning but we ended up getting nothing but rain 👎 Enjoy the new ride!!

Congrats on the new ride!! I'm gonna miss this one big time but I'm glad it went to a good home. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Here's two of my favorite pics for motivation!


 

Congrats on the purchase! and on avoiding the knife fight of potential buyers for this car 🤣 this really is a perfect daily and looking forward to following it more.

You didn’t really think that this car was leaving the state with how much we all love it, did you?

119,270

It probably needs no introduction to any of you, and I’m ecstatic to have it joining the fleet. The e34 will get some much needed TLC and likely be heading down the road to a new owner within the next year and daily duties will be supplanted by this. No big plans other than to do some minor aesthetic mods and general maintenance, and hopefully many many more comfortable and fun miles! Hopefully it won’t even realize that it changed stablemates, going from a white e30 to a… white e30 😂 
 
My general list of plans, for no real reference other than my own:
Maintenance:
- Serpentine belt and tensioner: Due for another (about 4yrs old) so this is the first order of business along with an oil change.
- Front control arms: Not shot yet, but I’d rather get ahead of them and sharpen up the front end some. Likely going to install the M3 arms while I’m at it. Summer project.
- Shocks/struts: Originals, going to put original sport pack Sachs dampers in to freshen the ride up. Certainly not bad at all currently but I’m a sucker for fresh OEM suspension. Also a summer project.
- Trans filter change/fluid change and diff fluid change. Probably going to have a shop do the trans, I’ll likely handle the diff. Not in a huge hurry on these.
Upgrades and such:
- LED angel eyes
- Color-matched reflector covers for the front bumper
- Not an upgrade, but the headlights are a bit foggy and I’d like to clear them up if I can. It’s the little things!
That’s really it for now, Joe has been a great caretaker of the car through his ownership and I’m excited to keep this car in the area. The 16 year newer tech is a very welcome change!
 

Congrats on the new Ferd Joe! Having seen it in person, the color and overall looks are even better than the photos, which is saying something. Now that you officially posted about it though I think there’s a requirement for photos of it hard parked with one wheel on a big ass snowdrift 😂

Wish the touring was coming home with me, but I'm sure it's still going to a good home. Congrats on the bronco too!

Congrats on the purchase, love the color! I got the 4x4 itch too, it opens up a whole new door for driving adventures. This wagon is still one of my favorite modern cars on here though. I'm sure the new owner will enjoy it just as much.

119.2k
Finally got around to doing the brakes over the last couple months as they were properly worn out. I built up a sandblasting cabinet over the summer and stripped/painted the 335i calipers and caliper brackets and rebuilt with new seals/boots/guides/hardware. I also painted them gold because I wanted a little color and liked the look of the oem BMW performance brake kit that's painted in phoenix yellow. I installed everything along with new rotors/pads/outer rubber lines and a fluid flush. Because of the larger calipers I coded in the performance brake option to the vehicle order that adjusts the bias/pedal feel/abs/etc. to match the larger brakes. Overall a massive improvement, should've done it way sooner. 


 
I also bought a new daily about a month ago. I've had a weird itch to get into something manual/4x4 for a while and more recently my wife and I decided we needed something a bit bigger for road trips. Decided it was time to scratch that itch and after a lot of searching I got a bit lucky (given the current car market) and ended up picking up a manual '22 Bronco Badlands out in Seattle. I've been really enjoying it so far.
 
 
The sad news is that the Bronco will be replacing the wagon so unfortunately that's where my time in the Longroof club ends.... or so I thought. After nearly 5 years and 50k miles of trouble free driving for me it decided to do this on a test drive with a potential new owner lol. 

 
Sooo I got it towed back home and did a fairly complete cooling system overhaul last weekend. New radiator, expansion tank, upper and lower radiator hoses, replaced the hose that split with the updated version, water pump, thermostat, both of the large diameter hoses that connect to the water pump, replaced the plastic 'mickey mouse' flange on the head with an aluminum version and new hose to that too, and a fresh fill of the good ol' BMW blue coolant. Also replaced every o-ring on the hose connections I disconnected but didn't replace with new peroxide-cured EPDM o-rings. With that it's running great again and it'll be headed to its new home this week. I'm definitely going to miss this one. 

119.2k
Finally got around to doing the brakes over the last couple months as they were properly worn out. I built up a sandblasting cabinet over the summer and stripped/painted the 335i calipers and caliper brackets and rebuilt with new seals/boots/guides/hardware. I also painted them gold because I wanted a little color and liked the look of the oem BMW performance brake kit that's painted in phoenix yellow. I installed everything along with new rotors/pads/outer rubber lines and a fluid flush. Because of the larger calipers I coded in the performance brake option to the vehicle order that adjusts the bias/pedal feel/abs/etc. to match the larger brakes. Overall a massive improvement, should've done it way sooner. 


 
I also bought a new daily about a month ago. I've had a weird itch to get into something manual/4x4 for a while and more recently my wife and I decided we needed something a bit bigger for road trips. Decided it was time to scratch that itch and after a lot of searching I got a bit lucky (given the current car market) and ended up picking up a manual '22 Bronco Badlands out in Seattle. I've been really enjoying it so far.
 
 
The sad news is that the Bronco will be replacing the wagon so unfortunately that's where my time in the Longroof club ends.... or so I thought. After nearly 5 years and 50k miles of trouble free driving for me it decided to do this on a test drive with a potential new owner lol. 

 
Sooo I got it towed back home and did a fairly complete cooling system overhaul last weekend. New radiator, expansion tank, upper and lower radiator hoses, replaced the hose that split with the updated version, water pump, thermostat, both of the large diameter hoses that connect to the water pump, replaced the plastic 'mickey mouse' flange on the head with an aluminum version and new hose to that too, and a fresh fill of the good ol' BMW blue coolant. Also replaced every o-ring on the hose connections I disconnected but didn't replace with new peroxide-cured EPDM o-rings. With that it's running great again and it'll be headed to its new home this week. I'm definitely going to miss this one.