FuturisticConcept Art BMW E36 with a V8 on a bottom dollar budget

[Jdesign]

E46 control arms showed up, but it turns out I dont have CAD data for the CAB's. I ordered some offset CAB's as I continue to wait for the tie rod ends.

The rear sway bar brackets did show up and I installed them in the car. I drove it a little bit but the tie rods are making quite the racket now and I dont want to ovalize the mounting holes before I install the tie rods. So I wait....  

In the meantime I REALLY REALLY would like to have functioning windows. I think My plan will be to run a momentary 6pin 3 position toggle switch on each door, as the motors and doors have been swapped around and nothing is compatible anymore. if anyone has done a door swap from a late to early model E36, please chime in if its easy to convert. Otherwise Im hard-wiring some Steampunk Phuturistic one the door so I can relive my self of swampassness.

[Daggerty]

Jdesign said:

I drove it a little bit but the tie rods are making quite the racket now and I dont want to ovalize the mounting holes before I install the tie rods. So I wait....  

If this angle kit doesn't work I'm suing you for the 45 dollars.

Jdesign said:

In the meantime I REALLY REALLY would like to have functioning windows. I think My plan will be to run a momentary 6pin 3 position toggle switch on each door, as the motors and doors have been swapped around and nothing is compatible anymore. if anyone has done a door swap from a late to early model E36, please chime in if its easy to convert. Otherwise Im hard-wiring some Steampunk Phuturistic one the door so I can relive my self of swampassness.

 I remember reading a post awhile back on bimmerfest about a guy trying too do it. He had both full doors, @Early and late, and swapped harness, spliced wiring and in the end he bought the early model door that was right.

Saw a video of a guy who had the motor spliced into a 2 prong extension cord male end and the female end spliced to power and ground so when you flip it over and plug it in you reverse the polarity so too speak. Not sure if that's the way you want to go but thought it was pretty clever.

[Jdesign]

Daggerty said:

If this angle kit doesn't work I'm suing you for the 45 dollars.

Here was my problem.....

Fucking assholes had the wrongs title and I didn't notice. So I have since ordered E46 tie rods. (FYI/ Note to self; E46 rods are .5mm larger DIA that E36) 

Daggerty said:

 I remember reading a post awhile back on bimmerfest about a guy trying too do it. He had both full doors, @Early and late, and swapped harness, spliced wiring and in the end he bought the early model door that was right.

Saw a video of a guy who had the motor spliced into a 2 prong extension cord male end and the female end spliced to power and ground so when you flip it over and plug it in you reverse the polarity so too speak. Not sure if that's the way you want to go but thought it was pretty clever.

Yeah that's what my plan was. I have been rolling the windows up and down with just two power wires and flipping the polarity, but that is really annoying when you just want to hop in and roll them down.

[Jdesign]

Tie rods came, now waiting on offset CABs.

[Jdesign]

Put in a bunch of hours on this over the past two weeks. I might not have pictures of everything because I was too busy trying to make sure I had everything I needed.

I did miss some things I considered important ( glass coolant overflow/ Non-working passenger window) but the track tech didn't, so that's I good news.

Heres a list of everything I did:

• E46 control arms 
• Nolathane Offset CABs
• E46 tie rods
• New top hats/camber plates (more on this below)
• Rear sway bar brackets
• Installed the rear sway bar
• Installed a 6 prong 3 position momentary switch for the windows 
• Drove the car a bunch

The tracking is much wider with the new arms and I gained quite a bit of angle

Heres a quick pic I snapped of all the new suspension goodies installed. (sponsered by eBay)

So I ran into an issue after installing everything. I had this really odd binding and I couldnt for the life of me figure out where is was coming from. I tried adjusting everthing. Finally I figured out the source after installing and uninstalling my front coilovers about 7 times. When I drove the car to Slinger to visit a friend I notice that the car developed a clunking in the front. So upon inspection I noticed that the struts have a locknut at the top that was loose. So I grabbed the nearest Cresent wrench and tightened them up. 

Big mistake. As one would expect, the spherical top hats/camber plates on the "Maxpeeding Rods" are made from Chinesium, a very delicate metal that I happened to crush with my exuberant strength. This added force caused them to pivot in their sockets very tightly and abruptly giving me the binding issue. I then ordered new ones in RED as seen below. 

Once these were installed, and I read the correct installation torque spec: ( when the car is on the ground, snug but do not over tighten main strut 22mm nut ) the car felt fantastic again.

[Jdesign]

So fantastic in fact that I went to the Jefferson speedway this past Sunday and went skid racing. I had a blast and didnt have a single hiccup the entire time.

[B C]

Yes! at least one of us is out enjoying their car already this year!

great work my friend! 

Was this your first event?

I wish we had access to a big abandoned runway that we could just do whatever on. Setup a cones course, rage rolls, saudi drift experimentations, burnout exhibitions..

[Jdesign]

snap said:

Yes! at least one of us is out enjoying their car already this year!

great work my friend! 

Was this your first event?

I wish we had access to a big abandoned runway that we could just do whatever on. Setup a cones course, rage rolls, saudi drift experimentations, burnout exhibitions..

This was my first event in this car, and first time skid racing! 

Jefferson is super laid back and everyone was very helpful and patient with everyone. There were guys that had fully prepped and built cars, to guys that just bought their first car and wanted to try it out. It was well worth the $30 for the entire day!  I got in about 20+ runs. 

Funny that you mention the abandon runway. I have be tossing around the idea of trying to host an event about a mile from my shop on an old airport runway. The venue would be perfect.

[B C]

Lets make it happen!

[Jdesign]

snap said:

Lets make it happen!

I think I need to drive a car that IS NOT this car. First impression to the owner of the property is key. But I will swing by there this summer to ask if its a possibility. 

Photo of venue for reference:

There are old planes, properly weathered out buildings, and large hangers that give it an awesome retro vibe.

[suspenceful]

Jdesign said:

Funny that you mention the abandon runway. I have be tossing around the idea of trying to host an event about a mile from my shop on an old airport runway. The venue would be perfect.

I'm 200% in for this. Please look into it.

[P_Roloff]

I just looked into it a little online, and there was some discussion on a pilots forum about it. It sounds like the runways are better than they used to be in that they aren’t covered in weeds with brush encroaching on the sides, but they’re definitely bumpy. 

I might take a look at it when I get back to Madison in a few weeks, I didn’t even know it was there honestly and I live 15ish minutes away.

[Jdesign]

P_Roloff said:

I just looked into it a little online, and there was some discussion on a pilots forum about it. It sounds like the runways are better than they used to be in that they aren’t covered in weeds with brush encroaching on the sides, but they’re definitely bumpy. 

I might take a look at it when I get back to Madison in a few weeks, I didn’t even know it was there honestly and I live 15ish minutes away. 

Ive been there both when its been covered in weeds and when its been cleared. There are two guys in specific that fly an autogryos there quite a lot when the weather is nice and they still fly smaller planes out of it because its still an active airfield. So I don't know how easy it will be to get approval to host an event there. I do have a good friend of mine that knows the owner of the airfeild and he also said it will be difficult. I was going to contact him again first and see if I can get more information rather than just going there unannounced. 

Also I would like to add that if you go down the wrong driveway, there is a risk of being shot. Another friend of mine that grew up in CG rode his bike down that driveway and had an angry neighbor fire a warning shot to scare him off. LOL

[P_Roloff]

Jdesign said:

Ive been there both when its been covered in weeds and when its been cleared. There are two guys in specific that fly an autogryos there quite a lot when the weather is nice and they still fly smaller planes out of it because its still an active airfield. So I don't know how easy it will be to get approval to host an event there. I do have a good friend of mine that knows the owner of the airfeild and he also said it will be difficult. I was going to contact him again first and see if I can get more information rather than just going there unannounced. 

Also I would like to add that if you go down the wrong driveway, there is a risk of being shot. Another friend of mine that grew up in CG rode his bike down that driveway and had an angry neighbor fire a warning shot to scare him off. LOL

Jesus. Maybe I won’t be going to check it out. Talk about crazy neighbors.

[Rekpoint]

Crazy neighbors might start shooting if you make too much noise...

[straight6pwr]

two things

1)its not the size of your rods, its the angle of the dangle

someone said:

  if I hit redline for more than 20 seconds or so

2. winning

[straight6pwr]

the angle kit sounds like a great way to get quicker steering on the e30, but the kits are super expensive, and they seem a bit tedious (i.e. special bearings/parts that will wear out). seems like a rack would still be a better option, unless i'm missing something.  looks like they reduce lock-to-lock by a half a turn at least.

[Jdesign]

straight6pwr said:

the angle kit sounds like a great way to get quicker steering on the e30, but the kits are super expensive, and they seem a bit tedious (i.e. special bearings/parts that will wear out). seems like a rack would still be a better option, unless i'm missing something.  looks like they reduce lock-to-lock by a half a turn at least.

You are missing something. They are just under $50 shipped. Its not a complete angle kit that replaces your LCA's, its just an aluminum adapter that changes the mounting point of your outer tie rod to the knuckle pushing it closer to the main centerline (A'shown below)) of your wheels rotating axis. If that makes sense..

A= the knuckle and hub where the wheel is rotating

B=where the existing tie rod was

C= where the tie rod is now after the angle kit

J= either direction you can steer?- (I have no idea I stole this image from the internet)

[Jdesign]

Oh and for good measure, here is some of that angle:

[straight6pwr]

i understand the concept, it just appears due to the e30's steering design, the kits are complicated and are between $300-400.

there seems to be no simple version available like the e36/e46.