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Thread: E36 M3 RallyCross build!

  1. #101
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    Quote Originally Posted by tptrsn View Post
    To each his own, but for my purposes I ALWAYS come out much better by doing my own stuff than I do by going to any alignment shop I have available. If you're not into it, so be it. Sounds like you are comparing a crappy alignment like my local alignment shops do against a decent alignment.

    One year I dabbled with a bit of autocross and won the extremely competitive STS class in four regions nearest to me with suspension components I made in my garage, and home alignments. Home alignments don't have to be halfassed, and you can adjust your setup to your heart's content. But yeah, it's a hassle to get all of the gear around and get all brushed back up on trig that most of us haven't used in years...
    Yeah, I know that if I want to really be competitive at auto-x, I'm going to have to learn how to do alignment stuff myself, but for right now with the rush I'm in, I just need to get this thing on the road.

  2. #102
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    Quote Originally Posted by 95maxrider View Post
    Ok guys, I've got another question. The entire time I've owned the car I've noticed that the power steering feels a little "uneven". It doesn't matter if the car is moving or parked, but the response just doesn't seem normal. It seems like the assist comes and goes. The fluid level is fine and the tie rods are new, so I'm pretty sure it's something inside the PS system.

    But then I did a little digging and I came across a thread that had some good info:
    http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=159559

    That guy's problem sounds worse than mine, but one potential solution given was to lubricate the u-joint on the steering column just in front of the firewall, and it looks like a bunch of people reported that solved their problems, so I think I'm going to give it a try. Probably PB Blaster first, then white lithium grease instead of WD40. Or maybe graphite spray? What do you guys think, am I overlooking anything? There are no weird noises coming from the pump or rack.
    That's funny, I WD-40d one of the driveshaft U-joints that had one rather stiff axis on my POS e36 yesterday and it worked perfectly. Lol

  3. #103
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pyropete82 View Post
    Go offset lollipop from bimmerworld, increase front sway bar size to 28mm+, adjustable links, and new rag joint. All of your nightmares will go away, and you'll have on the fly response in steering. Unless you are experienced binding, not sure what lubricating a u-joint does
    I don't know what an offset FCAB is going to do for this problem, nor the larger sway bar or adjustable sway bar links. My FCABs are brand new, as are my end links. Care to elaborate? By rag joint, I assume you mean the rubber flex disk in the steering column?

  4. #104
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    Quote Originally Posted by 95maxrider View Post
    Yeah, I know that if I want to really be competitive at auto-x, I'm going to have to learn how to do alignment stuff myself, but for right now with the rush I'm in, I just need to get this thing on the road.
    I hear you!! I'm not trying to judge or be a dick or anything, I just wanted to throw that out there in case it could help you. I'm hopeful that with a normal alignment that takes advantage of the additional toe adjustability, you'll be good to go!

  5. #105
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    Quote Originally Posted by 95maxrider View Post
    I don't know what an offset FCAB is going to do for this problem, nor the larger sway bar or adjustable sway bar links. My FCABs are brand new, as are my end links. Care to elaborate? By rag joint, I assume you mean the rubber flex disk in the steering column?
    Yes, steering joint. I had duckracer fab one on his milling machine at home. Still haven't installed it but it's aluminum and is supposed to solve understeer and slop

  6. #106
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pyropete82 View Post
    Yes, steering joint. . . supposed to solve understeer
    That's a new one! Lol

  7. #107
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    Sorry meant rubber flex disc, called rag joint

  8. #108
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pyropete82 View Post
    Sorry meant rubber flex disc, called rag joint
    We know what you mean. But that ain't gonna get rid of understeer!

  9. #109
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    The other stuff gets rid of it. The slop is improved by all of it

  10. #110
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pyropete82 View Post
    The other stuff gets rid of it. The slop is improved by all of it
    I never complained about slop or understeer.....

  11. #111
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    No fancy custom RTAB brackets yet?

    I ran into some pain with my rear subframe rebuild yesterday. The camber bolts are welded into the bushings. Did you experience that? I honestly don't see me getting them out of the bushings, so I ordered new bushings yesterday that will hopefully arrive on Tuesday so I can slam this sucker back together.

  12. #112
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    Quote Originally Posted by tptrsn View Post
    No fancy custom RTAB brackets yet?

    I ran into some pain with my rear subframe rebuild yesterday. The camber bolts are welded into the bushings. Did you experience that? I honestly don't see me getting them out of the bushings, so I ordered new bushings yesterday that will hopefully arrive on Tuesday so I can slam this sucker back together.
    The RTA brackets don't arrive until next week

    Camber bolts? Do you mean the eccentric bolts in the lower control arms? If so, then yes, one of mine was seized and had to be sawed off.

  13. #113
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    Bah! Bummer about the brackets...

    Yes, those bolts. So far they are the only thing on this 19 year old, 220k miles Michigan can that hasn't come apart pretty decently. I think I've lucked out.

    Anyway, I'm in such suspense to see what those brackets do for your situation! Lol

  14. #114
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    Quote Originally Posted by tptrsn View Post
    No fancy custom RTAB brackets yet?

    I ran into some pain with my rear subframe rebuild yesterday. The camber bolts are welded into the bushings. Did you experience that? I honestly don't see me getting them out of the bushings, so I ordered new bushings yesterday that will hopefully arrive on Tuesday so I can slam this sucker back together.
    I had the same issue with one of mine. I drilled out the bolt and replaced it with a new one, but eventually ended up replacing the whole bushing when I replaced the control arm.

    My fancy press:

  15. #115
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    So much yes in this thread. Keep it up!

  16. #116
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    Quote Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
    I had the same issue with one of mine. I drilled out the bolt and replaced it with a new one, but eventually ended up replacing the whole bushing when I replaced the control arm.

    My fancy press:
    That's very similar to my "fancy" press I use for a lot of stuff too! Lol. I have a 20 ton press, but there is a surprising amount of stuff you just can't really get into good position on the press it seems, so the "fancy" press comes to the rescue.

    I ended up using a C-clamp style ball-joint press to push out the center of the lower control arm outer bushing (I referred to as a camber bolt bushing or whatever), and then cut the shell with a body saw so I could just tap the shell out with a hammer. The new bushings went in really tightly, so it doesn't surprise me that they were REALLY difficult to press out with my "fancy" press like yours.

    Question: Does your car have the kind of ball joint shown in your picture in the lower outer position too, or did that just happen to be in the picture of your "fancy" press? I've heard that maybe M3s had a ball joint in the lower outer position after '95 or something? Turns out the lower outer bushings in my '98 328i really were ball joints, but from the outside they just looked like solid rubber bushings. But for the seized bolts in them, I wouldn't have had to replace them. Maybe drilling out the bolts would have been best after all...

  17. #117
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    Yes, that's the lower outer which is the same part number as the upper outer. It was confusing figuring out what to order - I found the right part number and searched it and everything said 328i upper only or something like that.

  18. #118
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    Bmw used an oil filled ball joint on the outer lower lcab spot and a solid at the top. I'd venture to guess the reason was to allow for some play in the rear camber eccentric bolt. The top solid bushing fits the lower position however. I'd imagine if you have adjustable lcas, the solid is a better option.

  19. #119
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    Very interesting, thanks! If I hadn't just done the job, I would have definitely used the ball joints as shown in your pic (Laminar) in both locations... Live and learn I guess.

    I'm not unhappy with the ones I have in the lower outers, but they will impede suspension movement a tiny bit compared to the upper style. And I got these lowers for about $3 each from ECS Tuning, so there's that, haha.

  20. #120
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    Before getting into the serious stuff, here's some small stuff.

    The outside temperature has always read -35* since the car came without a sensor. I finally got tired of looking at -35* and decided to just buy the damn thing and install it.





    Unfortunately, it had no effect and it still reads -35*. WTF.

    Oh well, at least I still have a pretty engine bay since this thing hasn't seen dirt yet!



    Moving on the more successful ventures, I had to fix a little issue with the cheap $25 yellow fogs I ordered for the car. They went in without a hitch, but the PS one didn't light up. Hmm, the bulb still looks good, and the other one works when plugged in on that side, must be something with the wiring. Yup! The little ground thingy was loose and had come off, so I tightened it up.





    Hooray!



    Next up was something that again had been a problem since I bought the car, but only now realized I needed to really fix. Ever since I bought the car, I noticed that the steering was pretty heavy, and the PS assist seemed to kind of come and go. At first, I thought it was just a neglected car, and the problem would go away when I fixed everything. After I did all the work and got the car aligned, it still had the same problem. After finding out about the bent frame, I thought it could be related to the awful alignment, but then realized it happened when the car was stationary, so it couldn't be the frame/alignment. Hmm, pump or rack? Maybe. But I better search first, which is when I came across the thread I posted above, which mentioned lubricating the u-joint in the steering column right near the firewall.

    It's down there:





    So I sprayed the hell out of the joint with brake cleaner to get the gunk off, then decided to go with the graphite lock spray lube instead of white lithium, since I think it's more prone to attract and retain dirt. I worked the wheel back and forth a few times to work it in and sprayed a few times after that. As soon as I pulled out of the driveway and turned the steering wheel I knew it worked. HOLY CRAP, SOMETHING ACTUALLY WORKED! Not only that, but it cost nothing and made one of the most noticeable changes to the car yet. I was and still am completely boggled by how effective, noticeable, and fantastic this one simple repair is! I'm going to do this to every u-joint I come across, and you better believe I'm doing it to the old steering columns in my other cars! The steering in now completely linear and is butter smooth. Effort is obviously way down now too. Everybody needs to do this now! My u-joint may have been especially sticky, so your results may vary, but I'm sure it will do something!

    Then I got the new Style 27 15x7 rally wheels installed. A big thanks goes out to Shawn and Katie who mounted the tires a few days before!



    Unfortunately, there was another problem. Both front and rear wheels required 12mm spacers, which I have. Well, er, most of them. You see, between the E28 getting wrecked, moving into a house with my new wife, and the clusterfuck that was this build, I lost one of my 12mm spacers. No, I'm not going to stack my 5mm spacers. So I called up Motorsport Hardware the next morning and had them ship me one to the hotel I'll be staying at this weekend for the rally-x event. I needed them for Friday since I was planning on shaking the M3 down, and I'm planning on leaving Friday morning early, so they would have to arrive on Thursday. Well, that would apparently cost $40, so nope. Shipping for Friday only cost $6, so I'll pick them up at the hotel.

  21. #121
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    That is GREAT!! After experiencing how some WD-40 freed up that driveshaft U-joint on my POS, I am definitely going to do the steering shaft U-joint too.

    Will the serious stuff be the new RTAB brackets?

    Your car looks excellent with the rally wheels/tires on it.

  22. #122
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    I had really wanted to install my old Recaro Speed seats in the M3, but I needed new bases. The E28 brackets were the same width as the E36 brackets, but were too short. That led me to buy a cheap set of manual E36 seats, since mine are power, and I figured too complicated and heavy. Unfortunately, their design is incredibly complicated, and if I disassembled them enough to be able to mount the Recaros, I would lose all movement in the seat, and I really would like to be able to raise and lower the seat easily. Thankfully, my E28 bases do that! After talking it over with Patrick and Josh we decided that I should trash the E36 seats and just modify the E28 bases. Josh offered to do the cutting and welding, so I brought the seat over to his house and he got to work!







    Boom, done! Thanks Josh!

    One of the rods that connect the sliders had come out and lost its plastic clip thingy, so we drilled a hole in it and stuck in a cotter pin to keep it together. Awesome!



    That seemed too easy! Goodbye junk seats taking up room in my garage!



    First up was smoothing out the edges and painting the new pieces. I also cleaned up the old seat adapter since it too was pretty damn sharp.





    First up was getting the seat belt receptacle on the base. I took one look at the one that came in the M3 and just knew it wasn't meant to be.



    Apparently these are pyrotechnic receptacles, and there doesn't appear to be an easy way of transferring them to the new seats without also kind of ruining the M3 seats. Fantastic. Hmm, well I did have one old school receptacle on the passenger seat of the E28, since only the driver had a harness. That meant I could only install one seat until I found another old receptacle. Then, I would have to figure out all of the resistor stuff to not set the airbag light off. My $25 BMW airbag code reader thing arrived today.....

    Next problem was just getting the seat in the car. The Speed seats have recliner adjusters on both sides, and the one on the drivers side was having all sorts of problems with the b pillar trim. So I took off the plastic trim to see if that would get me enough room. Um, not even close.



    Off came the b pillar trim!

    Then I tried to get the end of the seat belt to bolt to the outside of the seat. Well, as I should have expected, the E36 seat belt bracket did not fit into the E28 seat.





    Out came the dremel



    But of course, the angles are slightly off too, and the bracket on the seat is all the way out against the carpet, so the E36 part needed to be smashed.



    Then it turned out I had to smash the bracket on the E28 base since it was too wide and causing problems with the carpet, which required further smashing of the E36 part.



    After I was able to physically fit the seat down, the two front bolts went in fine. The rears were a bit off though.





    So I opened up the holes a bit...





    Finally! It's not perfect, but it's in!





    There are some pretty bad clearance issues though





    And I'm now somehow offset to the left. WTF is this?



    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by tptrsn View Post
    That is GREAT!! After experiencing how some WD-40 freed up that driveshaft U-joint on my POS, I am definitely going to do the steering shaft U-joint too.

    Will the serious stuff be the new RTAB brackets?

    Your car looks excellent with the rally wheels/tires on it.
    WD-40 isn't a great lubricant, try the graphite or white lithium first. Yeah, serious stuff is RTAB, but I'm not getting into that tonight. I'll just say that the car will not be attending the race and I'm looking for a car to codrive. Thanks on the wheels, I think they turned out pretty nice.
    Last edited by 95maxrider; 07-07-2016 at 09:10 PM.

  23. #123
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    I fabbed up some seat mounts to put some generic seats off of eBay into my e36. I ran into many of the issues you did, and in the end I was amazed at how far offset the seats had to be on the mounts to be properly positioned in the car. Took me about three tries to get the driver's seat correctly centered behind the steering wheel... Seat belts were a big hassle too, but luckily for me I wasn't concerned about airbag lights or anything since all of that was coming out of the car anyway, so I just used whatever I could make work.

    Have you used your code reader yet to see what you have going on for codes now?

  24. #124
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    i have a hard time believing you'll be running the air bag system while rallying.
    why not just remove the bags and the module? the light will def go out then.
    always trying to make it lighter and faster

    ^^former build: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...-neglected-M3/
    current build: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...car-build.html
    instant grams: doktor_b

  25. #125
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    Quote Originally Posted by tptrsn View Post
    I fabbed up some seat mounts to put some generic seats off of eBay into my e36. I ran into many of the issues you did, and in the end I was amazed at how far offset the seats had to be on the mounts to be properly positioned in the car. Took me about three tries to get the driver's seat correctly centered behind the steering wheel... Seat belts were a big hassle too, but luckily for me I wasn't concerned about airbag lights or anything since all of that was coming out of the car anyway, so I just used whatever I could make work.

    Have you used your code reader yet to see what you have going on for codes now?
    No, I've been out of town for the last three days but I'll probably try it out tomorrow.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by doktor b View Post
    i have a hard time believing you'll be running the air bag system while rallying.
    why not just remove the bags and the module? the light will def go out then.
    Well, it will also see plenty of street time, so air bags aren't a bad idea. Although, the back seat is already up, so I can easily disconnect the module. Are you sure that will kill the backup light in the cluster?

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