1999 e36 m3

[nas90tdi]

New to the forum. Not new to M cars.

I have just purchased my 4th M car. And, thought it was time I actually join the forum. I feel like I will be doing a lot more to this car than my previous ones, so will be open to some input and ideas on it.

A little about the car.
1999 E36 M3
I bought it from a guy in his 60's that bought it at auction with salvage title due to flood damage about 14 years ago. He purchased it at 14k miles
Car has 37k miles on it currently and I can find no evidence of any water damage. So, I suspect it was very light and after 14 years any issues would have either been fixed or glaringly obvious.
He had originally planned to track the car and did a couple of times and then it just sat in his garage and was driven occasionally.
Runs out great and is nice and nimble feeling.


Schrick cams (waiting on the PO to verify which ones.)
3 1/2" MAF
AFE cold air
S50 intake
Exhaust (Also waiting on him to dig up his receipts to verify which it is.)
24# injectors
TC delete

Drilled rotors
Porterfield pads
SS brake lines
Cooling ducts

H&R springs. 1.5" lower
Koni adjustable shocks
Camber plates

SSR Comp H wheels 8X17

My previous M's are:
1998 E36 M3
1999 E39 M5
1999 M Roadster


I do not plan to track the car, so I find the suspension to be a tad harsh for daily driving. I probably will get used to it, however.
A/C compressor clutch is making a bit of whine.
Power steering hoses weeping a bit.
A/C display pixelated.
Airbag light. (Haven't pulled codes on that yet.)
So, nothing really surprising there. And, all pretty easily fixed.


None of my other M's were really modified beyond chipping and I put did the muffler delete on the M5. Mostly just maintenance.
I did install racing mounts on the Roadster transmission after a very brief money shift that cost me a new head.I was fast, just not fast enough when it ran up. And ,shock reinforcements on the rear.


So, any things I should be on the lookout for with a slightly modified car that isn't already clear?

And, as we know, posts are worthless without pictures. As soon as it stops raining and I get it cleaned up I will do so.

[pbonsalb]

Back then, there were only 264/256 Schricks. Schrick experienced a factory error around that time that resulted in a batch of incorrectly keyed cans that won’t time correctly using the factory timing blocks.

[nas90tdi]

Thanks for the info.
The guy had not done anything with the car in years, so some of my questions he is hoping he had receipts packed away from the original work. Specifics like that he he wasn't 100% sure on. I think he had mostly had joyriders/tire-kickers coming to look at the car, so wasn't really prepared for all my 9 million questions about specifics.

I wasn't horribly concerned as I don't intend to do much with the car but drive it in the short term to work out any bugs in it. I just like to know what's in an engine if/when I wind up working on it.

[nas90tdi]

Your info was spot on. PO just sent me the info on the cams. Seems he purchased from Eurosport and had some speed shop in Salt Lake do the installation.

[crqflier]

If there's no documentation on the cooling system being refreshed, I'd do that even though you've got low miles. I did. I'd do rad, therm, housing, wp, hoses, belts, pulleys. I'd also do suspension bushings, etc as that rubber is old now. Congrats and welcome.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[UsernaM3]

Just gonna say it...

- - - Updated - - -

Your info was spot on. PO just sent me the info on the cams. Seems he purchased from Eurosport and had some speed shop in Salt Lake do the installation.

I'm from SLC. DO you know the name of the shop? I might be able to get you some ideas on if the work was good or not or even just help out somehow -- not sure how, but if I can I'd be happy to!

[nas90tdi]

It seems I need 10 posts to upload pictures.
This counts as one more.
I am actually trying to remember the name of the shop. That was something he told me at my initial inspection of the car. I will probably reach out to him in the next few days and see how he is coming digging up his receipts box. He moved from Utah a few years ago and fears it may be buried deep in his attic.
I haven't pushed too hard. It certainly won't be the first car I owned that didn't have a complete history. I spent quite a lot of time looking over the car and test driving it. So, I feel good about the purchase, especially for what he accepted. Made me really like his wife. She wanted the thing out of her garage. But, I like keeping records on my cars.
But, I am always open to any info I can get.

[nas90tdi]

How much is involved in removing the suspension and putting it closer to stock?Maybe a tad stiffer than stock. With the suspension set up on it currently is the majority of the set up the same as stock except for the Struts, springs, and camber plates? I have never used a suspension like is on one of my cars, so I am not certain what all is replaced in the installation of it.
As soon as I get enough posts I will put some pics up. In the meantime, here's a Dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ubyzuy5t...YzydG0dIa?dl=0

Thanks.

[tvcasualty]

How much is involved in removing the suspension and putting it closer to stock?Maybe a tad stiffer than stock. With the suspension set up on it currently is the majority of the set up the same as stock except for the Struts, springs, and camber plates? I have never used a suspension like is on one of my cars, so I am not certain what all is replaced in the installation of it.
As soon as I get enough posts I will put some pics up. In the meantime, here's a Dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ubyzuy5t...YzydG0dIa?dl=0

Thanks.

Youll need to just get different springs pull the front struts off use a spring compressor and replace them. Rear should just drop out when you unbolt the shock. Pop the new springs in.

Since you arent tracking the car just take the camber plates off and sell them.

[nas90tdi]

I guess I should have been more specific. I know how to do the work. I was more inquiring about parts. Can I just replace the springs and reuse the Koni struts and rear shocks? And, if I remove the camber plates, what parts are removed when those were installed that will need replaced?
I didn't say that exactly, but that is the question. What parts will I be purchasing to take it back to stock and what will be reused from the existing suspension? Since I had never installed a suspension like it, I wasn't sure what got pulled off and chucked and what remained the same.

Thanks.

Edit: I know I will need a new upper strut mount to replace the camber plates. Just curious about the struts ect as it exists. I am not sure about length ect. I tend to deal in off road suspensions, so lots of movement. Not sure what the range of movement on the Koni. And, if it works for varying ride height springs.