P_Roloff

Setback after setback....this is the final result! 295 rear tires and 245 fronts, fitment is great but I plan to lower it just a bit more.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It was a very busy couple of days for the M3!



At 109k miles I did the rod bearings and bolts, motor mounts, header gaskets, trans mounts, driveshaft center support bearing, trans fluid, and engine oil. 
The motor mount on passenger side was two pieces, and the drivers side was collapsed and the oil pan was resting on the sway bar. 

Bearings looked acceptable for the mileage, but good to have piece of mind that they're done. 


The motor had been replaced by the dealer at around 300 miles for a stuck injector, and it looks like they didn't do the header gaskets correctly... 



The drive after felt great, significantly smoother with the engine not rocking around in there and being properly isolated from vibrations.

Update! Finally got the new Yokohama Advan V601’s mounted on the e88’s. Finally decided on 255/35 after lots of debating on what size tire to run. 
 
They fit fantastic, have to install new rear bumper brackets that I ordered with more adjustability to widen the rear bumper a tad and I should be good to go. Very happy with the new setup, falling in love with this car again. Probably going to have some stuff resprayed on it in the very near future after a long winter of daily driving. 

The first of the parts are showing up! Still need to place my order with FCP for the bulk of the manual transmission items (clutch, master, slave, etc.) but ordered my DSSR and selector today joint from Ireland engineering, driveshaft, clutch pivot pin and fuel tank from Rockauto, trans mounts from AKG, and shifter stuff from McMaster. Shooting to fab that up this weekend with the help of @m42b32’s excellent write up, I drove his car last year and fell in love with the shifter enough that I had to have my own. Also, the price of OEM shift levers seems to have increased significantly, and I see no reason to spend more for an inferior end result.
 
Anywho, the fuel tank showed up today, and I thought I would give my initial impressions since I really haven’t seen much info online about the tank I bought. If anyone has looked recently on Rockauto, the Spectra tank that seems to be the first choice is out of stock, with the only available option being from Liland Global. Didn’t have much choice, so bit the bullet. 
 
Packaging was kinda shitty, no bubble wrap or protection but other than a few bent tabs, everything seems to be in one piece. All of the small fittings have foam protectors on them to prevent overspray and clogging of lines, which I thought was a nice touch. Some waviness can be seen in a few spots on the tank but overall it seems to be an okay product for the money. The finish is pretty uniform and seems to be relatively thick and tough, and the metal itself is of reasonable thickness. I will probably POR the seam before I install it to try to eke a little more life out of it, but that’s probably not strictly necessary. My only real gripe so far is some small bits of debris in the tank shown in the images, but it’s nothing the fuel filter won’t take out. 
 
I’ll post another update when I go to install it, and another when it comes time to fill it! Fingers crossed!
 

Oh man, I haven't seen that in ages.  I also never noticed that his lighter had a BMW roundel on it.
 
In other news, Earl actually asked me about his car this week. I think he might be anticipating some effort towards it this year!

Sorry, forgot to update. Didn’t have any of these, the majority of the trim pieces are door sill plates. 
 

Went to wire up the center gauges and install center console, but ran into a whoops moment. While testing the interior dash lights, I bumped a couple terminals with my small pick tool and shorted it out. Dash lights immediately turned off and wouldn't work again.
Checked the fuses, radio fuse was blown. Good, easy fix. Nope wasn't the issue although probably part of it. Did some googling and came up with the rheostat inside the headlight switch that dims the dash lights easily fry apparently. 
One fix is jumpering some pins in the headlight switch to bypass the rheostat. Tried that and I was able to turn the entire car on by pulling the headlight knob out. Ummm, no thanks! Reversed that.
Another fix is completely disassembling the headlight switch to solder the broken area and everything should work as normal. Let's give it a try!
Disassembled the switch

Found the spot on the rheostat that fried. Hard to see but it's the very first coil of the spring behind the silver tab.

Soldering this small is nearly impossible for my giant solder gun, so big blob it is. 

I tested the continuity between the end of the tab and the other end of the coil spring wire. Looks good to me. 
Threw it back together and into the car. All works as it should! Sorry no pics of that yet. Glad I was able to save some cash as every part of this car seems to be priced like gold. We shall see how long it lasts now. 

If it has serviceable unjoints and is less than a rebuild, the cost over a used driveshaft seems worth the investment to me if you can swing it now. Rebuilds will be far cheaper.
also forgot to reply sooner but glad the bushing job wasn’t too much of a pain! Really surprised one came out in one piece for you.

Slow progress is still progress! Work has been nuts for me lately, but I found some time today to get out to do some work on the car. Managed to get the diff disconnected from the subframe (confirming in the process that the existing diff is FUDGED), and got the old subframe bushings out and the new poly ones in. I knew the diff had a shot I out bearing, but upon turning the output flanges it appears that the gears or bearings in the carrier are roached, it’s super chunky and has a lot of resistance to movement. Kinda curious how much fluid is actually left in it, but not looking forward to the smell when I find out.  Should make a good welded diff at any rate. Old crusty stuff:


New nice stuff (including the 3.73 LSD I bought from @rampelsauce:



Thanks to @YoungCR, I had the correct tools for the job, the right puller made this pretty pain-free. I used a torch to heat up the bushings from the outside and just applied force with the pusher until they popped out. One bushing was pretty cracked and deteriorated but stayed in one piece, while the other was completely torn in two. The new bushings should make a huge difference after seeing that, and thank goodness for the easy install of poly!
 
I can’t remember if I updated here, but I picked up a full manual swap a few weeks ago from a local guy. I ended up paying more than I thought it was all worth especially considering condition, but I really want to get this back on the road quickly so sacrificed had to be made. I discovered however that the driveshaft u-joints were borked after I got home that night, and thankfully after some coaxing the seller gave me a refund on that (sold it all to me as good-condition, working, no issues with anything for a price that reflected it, so I was I think justifiably a little upset about it). So I’m still looking for a good g260 manual driveshaft if anyone has one laying around. And before anyone asks, yes, I’m planning to reseal the G260 before installing. Seller claimed that it shifted well and didn’t suffer from any grinding or gear pop-outs, so fingers crossed that’s actually the case. 


Other random news: scored a console with a Husco armrest for $10 the other night along with some sweet e34 parts, excited about that! It needs the cover replaced but I believe replacements can be sourced; otherwise, I have family that does upholstery so I could potentially go that route too. (E34 parts were rear headrests and a power rear sunshade if anyone cares)
 
Next on the list: Drop the exhaust and driveshaft, then pull the fuel tank and replace. Then, it’ll be on to removing the trans and starting to put things back together. 

Slow progress is still progress! Work has been nuts for me lately, but I found some time today to get out to do some work on the car. Managed to get the diff disconnected from the subframe (confirming in the process that the existing diff is FUDGED), and got the old subframe bushings out and the new poly ones in. I knew the diff had a shot I out bearing, but upon turning the output flanges it appears that the gears or bearings in the carrier are roached, it’s super chunky and has a lot of resistance to movement. Kinda curious how much fluid is actually left in it, but not looking forward to the smell when I find out.  Should make a good welded diff at any rate. Old crusty stuff:


New nice stuff (including the 3.73 LSD I bought from @rampelsauce:



Thanks to @YoungCR, I had the correct tools for the job, the right puller made this pretty pain-free. I used a torch to heat up the bushings from the outside and just applied force with the pusher until they popped out. One bushing was pretty cracked and deteriorated but stayed in one piece, while the other was completely torn in two. The new bushings should make a huge difference after seeing that, and thank goodness for the easy install of poly!
 
I can’t remember if I updated here, but I picked up a full manual swap a few weeks ago from a local guy. I ended up paying more than I thought it was all worth especially considering condition, but I really want to get this back on the road quickly so sacrificed had to be made. I discovered however that the driveshaft u-joints were borked after I got home that night, and thankfully after some coaxing the seller gave me a refund on that (sold it all to me as good-condition, working, no issues with anything for a price that reflected it, so I was I think justifiably a little upset about it). So I’m still looking for a good g260 manual driveshaft if anyone has one laying around. And before anyone asks, yes, I’m planning to reseal the G260 before installing. Seller claimed that it shifted well and didn’t suffer from any grinding or gear pop-outs, so fingers crossed that’s actually the case. 


Other random news: scored a console with a Husco armrest for $10 the other night along with some sweet e34 parts, excited about that! It needs the cover replaced but I believe replacements can be sourced; otherwise, I have family that does upholstery so I could potentially go that route too. (E34 parts were rear headrests and a power rear sunshade if anyone cares)
 
Next on the list: Drop the exhaust and driveshaft, then pull the fuel tank and replace. Then, it’ll be on to removing the trans and starting to put things back together. 

New seats are in!   First impression is good... I really like the driving position and comfort, but I wouldn't want to be any taller with these....It would be hard to fit with a helmet on.
I personally think they look fantastic, definitely fit the period look.  
Would recommend if you're less than six foot tall!
 
- Timmer

Almost ready to drop the m52. 
Need to remove: Fuel lines, heater core hoses & front suspension (to make it easier to manage on a jack) 

Andddddddd got bored of the TE37'S. Going to put them in the closet for a few months. E88 time! Going to go down from pictured tire size (255/40/18) to 245/40/18 PS4S and should be golden!
 
Never in my life did I think a year and a half ago when I bought this ZHP as a daily it would someday be S54 swapped with a set of TE's and E88's LOL
Oh well, this car has been the most fun and surprising project of my life. 
 

Had to toss the car up on stands again to bleed the brakes since I messed with brake lines again. While it was up I decided to toss the new X pipe on. Overall was super easy to install, just tedious with all the metal braces that have to come off.
 
Only hiccup was the pipe didn’t come with hardware to transfer over the factory pipe’s heat shield. If I’m going to do it might as well do it right so I went out and found some nice grade 8 yellow zinc hardware to attach it. One bolt had to go backwards because of the clearance, which bugs me, but oh well. 

*sigh*
 
I get the idea behind the rear design but it does come out looking like you’re staring down a stink star. Disappointing because the e92 is one of my favorites too. Seems like he took some inspiration from the Baldessari car. 

Dang you removed all the seasoning 

You are doing a lot of good things! Nice work! I enjoy the updates.
Post a sound clip in the spring once its back on the road

Aluminum trim set is complete! Meant to post this update earlier, but the first set I bought was damaged in shipping. Excited to have rid the car of that crappy plastic titan trim. 
Also picked up a Rennline phone mount, but just can’t seem to get it to fit just right. Might have a defective one

Last from the trip home, I've been recovering lol. I noticed this lighthouse on Google Maps and wanted to visit. Turns out its on private property but the valet at the Castle Hill Inn was happy to instruct us on how to get there and if we didn't have prior dinner arrangements we would've loved to have eaten there. Its just a short hike from their parking lot.

Thursday I made the trek from Newport to Lake Placid once again racing against a snow storm. Interstate was just starting to get bad, The wrangler unlimited I drove up with was loosing traction in 2wd. He switched over to 4wd as we got off and then it was all mountain roads for 45min after that which this handled flawlessly. This was when we got to the house we stayed at. Friday morning there ended up being a 3ft + pile of snow at the end of the driveway from the plows. 

I couldn't have picked a better day to get back into skiing though. It was around 7* windchill when we got to Whiteface at 8am but the runs were all covered in 5"+ of fresh powder. It was an incredible day. Went to the summit twice in the afternoon. The building on the left is the where the lift ends up and the start of the Men's Olympic Runs. I did end up going down Skyward at the end of the day and it was awesome except for that near vertical drop in. The rest of the run was actually easier because more trafficked runs had iced over at that point vs still being more powder. 

Saturday was more brutal at -18* windchill when we got there but still a blast. Everything was groomed overnight so better overall conditions for me still looking to gain my skills back. Same photo at the summit just before we dropped in Skyward on a way colder but clearer day. It was a lot more challenging to go down even first thing in the morning because of the ice build up hence "ice face" as the resorts nickname.
 
Managed to keep warm and didn't get my lips stuck to a beer can so win win 😂 I gained a lot of confidence and we ran another full day. This is looking up at the summit late afternoon. Skyward is the the run on the right of those 3. 

The worst thing I could've done for recovery though was spend 19 hours in a car but I did so in relatively good comfort. My hamstrings didn't want to stretch out for one of the rest breaks. It's also been a long time since I drove with good modern headlights, which were great to have driving through the woods in the dark for the first 3hrs of the trip. I ended up getting 26.45 and 26.59mpg on the 2 full tanks that I used coming back and that's with a good headwind too so I'm happy to have that as a starting base.
Made it home around 9:30pm Sunday night, threw the awaiting Weathertech seat cover and floor mats in and had the wife and dog out for a short drive. She's very happy with the purchase and figured out the controls quickly too. It was bittersweet too as our dog Maggie has been having kidney issues since before Christmas so I was so glad she was still around when I got home and she's very much been enjoying her favorite activity of going on car rides. 

more than once I drove the e34 with a bungie from the drivers door pull, across my lap, hooked to the ebrake. these were like freezing rain/car wash in the winter scenarios. 
someone has probably mentioned it, but i wouldnt recommend trying to open the windows in freezing conditions either, unless totally necessary. the door regulator motor is so strong it can rip the regulator right off the bottom of the window

Making progress tonight. Rears needed a little clearancing at a 4 degree angle to fit inside the new lips. A friend that dabbles in machining got me set up and was able to try my hand at it. Brand new center caps should be here tomorrow. Then, off for coating.

Update - it is now a barn find. Think I can register it as "chalk gray"?

 

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. 

Started working on a set of wheels that I've had laying around for a little over a year. Had some custom Radinox lips made by Felgenfuchs in Germany. The wheels are 18" AC Schnitzer Type 2 Racing, made by Ronal. I had to buy an entire e36 M3 to get them.... Thankfully, everything came apart without breaking any of the unobtainable titanium hardware. I need to have a friend machine the faces before powder coating. Can't wait to get these together!