Broke College Student Dealing with Suspension!

[jrockthejoker]

Alright so I have a problem, but I think some background knowledge is needed to support the ultimate question.

I just graduated from high school (yaaay!) and ill be going to college in a month or two. My grandmother decided that she would give me her old 1999 bmw 328i with 175,000 miles on it as a graduation present. This is great because I need a way to get to and from school which is only about 3 hours away. But it isn't in the greatest condition so hopefully with the help of you guys I can start this project of fixing it because #1. Im a broke college student and #2 I really don't have a lot of experience with car work.

I took it to the dealership to have them take a look and everything was actually in pretty good shape except my control arm bushings, rear coil springs, and brake pads/ rotors. I feel like the brakes are the easy fix but the suspension might be a little tricky. The process for replacing the bushings and coil springs (with the help of my dad) look pretty easy but here are the questions I have.

1. Where should I get the parts
2. I know after all this suspension work i'll need to get an alignment. But there are only Mom and Pop shops around my town so I would have to go to them. I called all of them and ask if they knew how to align BMW and they claim that they just do it like they align any other car. Im not looking for the perfect experience I just want my car to last, is this ok to take it to them?
3. Any tips on other things I should check on this car? I am clueless.

Oh and one other thing is that my grandmother was recently in an accident and the first mechanic she took it to tried to total it because they believed it would never "align to BMW performance standards" but she has driven for the past 3 years and it seems fine. It veers to the right a bit when driving but Im fine with that I just need to be able to come to school and go home for the next three years.

[Mless5]

e36 or e46 body?

1. FCPEuro.com for bushings. Get used springs in Classified section here or at your local junk yard.
2. Control arm bushings need to be pressed in with a press, I suspect you don't have one. The part you need to get off the car is easy to remove, but be prepared to bring it to some shop to have the old bushing pressed out and new one pressed in. You don't really need the alignment if you're only doing control arm bushings. You could however buy bushings that are already pressed in like in this DIY: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...Y-doityourself
3. Cooling system is a big issue on these, if you have no records of it being done, be prepared to splurge some $.

[scooper]

do a lot of reading up top in the stickied sections of the e36 or e46 sub-forums.