The car that stole my life

[DakotaE36]

if you made coupe door panels for an e36, i would loooove to buy some!

[Dunzo]

Dude, what the hell. This is crazy. You're crazy. Do you have OCD? I'm not going to lie though, this is basically porn. It's taken me over a year to do less then 1/10 the amount of work to my E36 and I still have more to do, and so much I can't do because of money. How much have you dropped into this car including the initial purchase cost over the years??

[Spyke]

Just read through your thread, that E36 is beautiful man, keep up the good work!

Thanks! I'm actually finalizing another aluminum innovation right this minute, will post a pic tomorrow.

if you made coupe door panels for an e36, i would loooove to buy some!

Dude I've been trying to get my hands on a coupe for a while to make up a template. If you're ever going to be in Danville for a couple days hit me up and we can make it happen. I'll give you the hook up.

Dude, what the hell. This is crazy. You're crazy. Do you have OCD? I'm not going to lie though, this is basically porn. It's taken me over a year to do less then 1/10 the amount of work to my E36 and I still have more to do, and so much I can't do because of money. How much have you dropped into this car including the initial purchase cost over the years??

I sort of do, but I try and suppress my OCD as much as possible lol. Like my Sharpie paint job for example!

Honestly, I don't know, but I save all my receipts and could tell you if you wanted. It wouldn't be a pretty number though, I can assure you of that. I assure you I am NOT rich, or even remotely well-off. I only buy maintenance parts new, everything else I try and get through the classifieds here or Craigslist/ebay first... If that doesn't work out then I buy it new. I've definitely saved a grip of money doing that.

I also try and make as much as I can - like the door panels, floor plates, so on and so forth. And I do all my own labor besides tires, alignments and smog. My car has never been to a shop for any other reason (knock on wood). The car was only $700 complete and running, although it was pretty beat down and begging for a better owner. You can do it man, just have confidence, and find your motivation. You'll get there.

[Spyke]

Pics as promised. I usually don't carry anything I don't need to keep weight down and save gas, and I just don't like clutter period. I usually leave my spare unless I am going on a longer trip away from home. Well without the spare, that terrible fiberboard-ish thing that comes from the factory sags down into the recess and falls off the supporting lip, and is just annoying in general. So I made up an aluminum trunk floor! Really happy with it. It's very sturdy, and stays in place even without hardware due to the snug fit. The stock tie downs are still able to be accessed, and the best part is that one could thread in fittings to make all sorts of anchor points in the aluminum, lots of possibilities there.

I am trying to find some quarter turn fasteners to anchor it in place really well, and I am leaving it one piece for strength. It is sized just right to be able to be removed from the trunk completely, and all you have to do is lift it straight up to access the spare if it's in the trunk. I know my EMT buddy Andrew is going to love this:


e36 Sedan Trunk Floor 1 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


e36 Sedan Trunk Floor 2 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


e36 Sedan Trunk Floor 3 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr

[Spyke]

Soo... I installed these today.... Quite the life-changing experience. Car has never felt more crisp and tied together but jesus, if someone gets in with me they are going to think the engine is shaking itself to pieces and is milliseconds from blowing up. You also find every single possible rattling object in your cabin, just fyi


IMG_8071 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr

[airforce7882]

Pics as promised. I usually don't carry anything I don't need to keep weight down and save gas, and I just don't like clutter period. I usually leave my spare unless I am going on a longer trip away from home. Well without the spare, that terrible fiberboard-ish thing that comes from the factory sags down into the recess and falls off the supporting lip, and is just annoying in general. So I made up an aluminum trunk floor! Really happy with it. It's very sturdy, and stays in place even without hardware due to the snug fit. The stock tie downs are still able to be accessed, and the best part is that one could thread in fittings to make all sorts of anchor points in the aluminum, lots of possibilities there.

I am trying to find some quarter turn fasteners to anchor it in place really well, and I am leaving it one piece for strength. It is sized just right to be able to be removed from the trunk completely, and all you have to do is lift it straight up to access the spare if it's in the trunk. I know my EMT buddy Andrew is going to love this:


e36 Sedan Trunk Floor 1 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


e36 Sedan Trunk Floor 2 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


e36 Sedan Trunk Floor 3 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr

Damn straight I love it! Now I can finally put all my dirty gear in my trunk and not have to worry about ruining the carpet! Would the sedan plate fit in the coupe or would you need to make a new template?

Speaking of templates... I'd be willing to let you use my coupe as door template model. One of these days when Im working on it all day anyways you can swing by and make a mock up. That way you can start rolling out some of those awesome panels to other members on here.

[Spyke]

Ummm, yes yes and yes.

I would think the trunks are the same, or very similar.

[jjjjjjj]

Awesome cover! Great fab work as usual. I have a junkyard coupe carpet in my sedan trunk and it seems just a little too big so yeah there's a slight difference.

Are those the AKG 75D motor mounts? Be honest how much vibration, I'm really considering these (already have 75D in diff and rear subframe)

I definitely noticed a bit more vibration at idle with just my red IE tranny mounts+enforcer cups

[Spyke]

They're the newly designed Vorshlag pieces. I bought them right when they were re-released and finally had a day when I could swap them into the car. The vibration scared me, I thought I somehow messed up the engine for a split second and then I quickly realized... this is simply how it's going to be. The infamous Getrag gearbox whine has tripled (I secretly love it) and sounds almost like a full race sequential with straight cut gears. Going from fresh OEM mounts to these makes any natural vibration go I swear 5 to 6 times the intensity. There's some flywheel chatter, but pretty minor. For once I have zero qualms about making a gear change mid-turn, and it's a joy. For the longest time that was a big frustration for me. It's very hard to drive the car slow now, which I was getting fairly good at lol. It just feels and sounds so beastly, pulls very hard, strong and true, you want to keep mashing the pedal.

Bottom line: If you have any hesitations about having more NVH, do NOT do these.
If you want to feel the best shifts and driveline synchronization you've ever felt in your own car, DO it.

There's absolutely big sacrifices either way, just depends which side of the fence you want to be on.

[markm1]

hey Spyke i have a 93 325is coupe, out of curiosity how much do you charge for a set of door cards with custom graphics, i just think they are awsome,fantastic job on the cars, considering your budget.

[Spyke]

PM'd you earlier today Mark.

Finished a set of copies today, overlayed with carbon fiber vinyl that's truly convincing... easily the best looking vinyl I've seen to date.

e36 sedan aluminum door panels with CF vinyl overlay:

IMG_8142 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


IMG_8144 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


IMG_8143 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr

[Spyke]

Meeting with Dakota this Saturday to develop e36 coupe panels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shoman24v]

I like the mud flaps, and appreciate the time spent fixing the car. I'm a bit confused on the direction.

[Spyke]

These are the e36 coupe aluminum door panels - Bare brushed aluminum finish (Installing Friday if all goes well). Once fitment is confirmed I can offer these bare, with custom graphics, or carbon fiber vinyl.


e36 coupe aluminum door panels by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


Bare brushed aluminum detail by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr

[Spyke]

We bumped the install up to last night, came out great. With the e36 coupe we are able to use threaded rivets (riv-nuts) on the top, left, and right edges. The area across the bottom edge and bottom corners is too thick to allow using the threaded rivets, and will require standard rivets, self tapping screws, or some other method for fastening.

e36 coupe aluminum door panels - installed

IMG_8197 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


IMG_8256 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr

[3MPowered]

That looks tight! What is the insulation like with these? Does a lot more noise come through from the outside? Do they rattle at all?

and do you miss having an armrest? Hahah sorry for all the questions.

[Spyke]

Noise really doesn't come through the doors, it comes through the floorboards/transmission tunnel so you would be fine there. Especially if you still have tar and carpeting. The panel material I use does however provide some sound/weather insulation regardless. They also do not rattle like single-ply aluminum will if it's not attached correctly. Believe me, I would know... I now have those Vorshlag engine and transmission mounts.

I get the armrest question sooo much. Honestly I have never used a door mounted armrest in ANY vehicle. They're just never positioned correctly. The steering wheel or shift knob is my armrest. If someone really needs an armrest it meas their driving position is not adjusted correctly.

[airforce7882]

Stop tempting me...

[Spyke]

Stop being such a party pooper Andrew lol

[Spyke]

Got a date this Saturday to finally get my subframe reinforcements welded in!!! I will be swapping in my M3 subframe with fresh AKG bushings, a 3.46 LSD, and an Active Auto diff brace (all of which has been stored for well over a year).

Besides installing my euro headers, getting retrofitted headlights and an engine swap, I am almost at the end of my "To Do" list on her...

[Spyke]

Everything is installed! Going easy on her until I'm positive everything is locked down right, feels great so far though.

[DailyE36]

nice work man, DIY is the way to go

[Spyke]

Finished up rear e36 coupe aluminum panels (rear deletes) with Dakota tonight! These allow OEM 3 point belt retention, and you can keep rear seats too since they're thin:


IMG_8360 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


e36 coupe rear delete panels by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


e36 coupe rear delete panels by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr

[ShaunB]

Sweet door panels, hope to do the same to my sedan eventually. Love your build btw.

[MINIz guy]

When you install your aluminum door panels, do you remove the door vapor barriers or do you keep them and just mount over them?

Do you notice excess moisture in the cabin if you do remove the vapor barriers?