I figured since I have been digging into my car fairly regularly I would start this thread to share my adventures and get some advice.
The car is an 95 obd1 325is 5speed with just over 200k on the clock. I have put 50k on the car myself. The car has several issues at the moment that need to be assessed before continuing to opperate the vehicle. There are some grinding and clanking sounds/vibrations coming from the suspension system, I know the wheel bearings are shot so I ordered new ones all around with new rear hubs (these should be replaced together) the rims are bent and I believe this is the source of much of the havoc plauging the suspension system. The bushings are old and worn out and the ball joints are shot. When I replaced the front controll arms I installed some powerflex street urethane lower controll arm bushings and I plan on replacing all the bushings with these. The car has a phantom vacuum leak I believe is in the brake booster. The car needs new shifter detents. The car needs new headlights. I recently found fluid on my struts, looks like brake fluid.
Parts I have ordered and need to install:
Guibo
Driveshaft centerbearing
Wheel bearings and hubs rear
Wheel bearings front
Sway bar end links
Tie rods
Water pump
Thermostat
Metal thermostat housing
Tensioner
Idler pulley
Accessory belt
Raceland shorty headers
Parts I have recently replaced.
Fan clutch
Cam and crank position sensors
Temp sensors
Coils
Maf
Vacuum lines
O2 sensor
Magnaflow mid pipe with new cat
Lower controll arms
Probably a bunch of other shit I don't remember.
Over the next few months I plan on buying.
TRM c4 17x8 rims and tires
10mm spacers front 12mm spacers rear
Powerflex street bushings (pretty much all of them)
Bilstien street sport struts
Bavarian autosport street springs
Steel braided brake lines
New drilled callipers and new pads
Inspect and repair power steering components as needed.
Subframe brace from convertible
After this the plan is to locate a low mile wrecked 328 to pull the motor, brake booster and other components, some stuff needs to be replaced before the car is driven as I refuse to put myself or others at risk. You may ask yourself why I am rebuilding such a piece of shit car, I figure once I replace everything I should get at least another 5-10 years out of it before having to replace parts again. There is also something deeply satisfying about fixing something old and decrepit and making it better than it was when it was new.
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This weekend I will be working on the piece of shit ford minivan in the backround. I managed to screw up a routine plug and wire job as I sourced the firing order from the internet and it was definately not right. So now I need to get the correct order and remove the intake manifold to sort it out. Working on the piece of shit transverse v6 has given me a new love for my e36. The car will begin surgery on Monday most likely. I don't have all the parts yet but I can get started removing the wheels and getting the car on jacks, I can also get started on the guibo and centershaft brearing and test fit the headers. I may sell the race lands and go for a bolt on set that retains the oem style three bolt flange, if I do use them I will be chasing them with a grind stone to smooth and debur the welds and making a custom pipe to bridge them to the magnaflow mid pipe. I'm not willing to chop up my mid pipe to install them so it could be a problem. I can weld though so as long as it's physically possible to bridge them I will go that route.
Last edited by FiberFast; 12-31-2016 at 02:10 PM.
I can't see the pics - it just says invalid link when I click them.
Eat, drink, and be merry - for tomorrow we drive.
I have been using tinypic dot com
Eat, drink, and be merry - for tomorrow we drive.
A little update, due to shitty weather I have not started on the car yet. Most likely it will wait untill the weekend but if the weather is clear I may get started after work this week. Symptoms I am trying to resolve include what sounds like sheet metal clanging during hard right turns, an obvious grinding bearing and a general loose/sloppy feel about the whole car. I would like to have the suspension completely sorted within a month.
I use Photobucket to host my pictures and has worked great for years. I'd suggest going that route instead of uploading through BFC. And we all want to see them!
CBlock
Ok so I got the drivers front wheel bearing and tie sway bar end link installed but now I am stalled on the rear wheel bearing. I have unbolted the drive shaft but still do not have enough room to remove it. That does not bother me as I already have the hub and innards of the wheel bearing removed. The problem is, it seems the outer casing for the old bearing is fucking jammed in its bore. I cannot remove the damned thing. It would appear I need to remove the rear sway bar completely to get the axle out. I am about to unbolt the entire assembly and remove the entire rear control arm and main hub to beat the damned thing out of there unless someone else has a better idea?
Last edited by FiberFast; 01-14-2017 at 11:35 PM.
Bump, any advice would be great. I am thinking about taking a chisel to the stuck casing.
If you take out the whole assembly just take it to a shop and pay $15 to have them press it out. Less likely to cause any damage.
Well, I pressed the new ones in with a big fucking mallet lol. Works fine though, all four wheel bearings replaced. Got the a.c. pump bracket out and replaced the away bar end links. I did not replace the tie rod ends yet.
This is not an easy project, took 2 full days and I feel like somone beat the Shit out of me, then came over the next day for a second helping.
Buttscratcher?
"So we've come to the conclusion that BMW just has parts laying around they decide to throw on cars for no reason."
Interest on a Very Budget Supercharger Build??
Hah! I could use one of those right now. The car rolls but I got a chance to look over the rear suspension while I was in there. All the bushings are shot for sure, the struts are done for, the rotors need to be replaced allong with the brake lines. Took the car to les Schwab for an alignment after the controll arm replacement and the asshole did not tighten the main nut that holds on the hub/wheel bearing. There is more but we will get to that later.
Say what? Why would an alignment have anything to do with the axle nut? He probably never even looked at it.
Say what? Four wheel alignment, the guy called me and said he could not do the rear cause the wheel bearing was bad and tried to charge me $475 to replace one bearing. The main hub nut was left loose on the side he said was out. I am a better mechanic than most places I could afford to take my car lol...
Ok, drove the commuter to work and back. There is a distinct "clunk" sound coming from the passenger rear wheel. It has been there but i have been handeling other problems. I checked the subframe and there is no tearing around strut mounts. I am still trying to decipher exactly what is making the sound. Its part of the suspension cause it only happends when I go over bumps or uneven road. Could this be caused by failing or completely non functional struts? Also all the bushings in the rear are done for. While looking over the rear suspension I moved all the various armatures while they were disconnected and the bushings feel squishy and loose, maybe something is traveling out of bounds and hitting something?
I'm so confused. You said you replaced the bearings. And the alignment guy shouldn't have touched the bearings. So why was it his responsibility to tighten the axle nut?
Let me clarify, I had the alignment done after replacing the front controll arms. While the mechanic was doing the alignment he informed me that one of the rear wheel bearings needed replacement. When I replaced the wheel bearings (several weeks later) I found the loose axle nut on the failed bearing he had mentioned. Bad bad bad... Back to the clunk, any ideas?
Oh OK. Got it
RTABs can cause a clunk if they're bad enough.
Bump for other suggestions. Sounds like a thick piece of sheet metal ratteling. I will further inspect the rear subframe for tearing.
If it's a rattle check your exhaust heat shield
Yes, I know for a fact the heat shield is hitting the exhaust. This particular noise was coming from the rear upper strut mounts. I flipped the retention disc upside down which has temporarily solved the problem. Somewhere between my house and work there lies a rear strut bolt, I put in a m12x1.5x50mm bolt for now but I am going to order new ones allong with a strut mount reinforcement kit at the end of the week. Don't know if it backed out or what cause I know I tightened it so, threadlock is going on those when I get new struts.
Last edited by FiberFast; 01-23-2017 at 11:53 AM.
I know on the Bilstein instructions, it says re-torque them after 100 miles (I think). Just wrapping up that install along with a bunch of other stuff.
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