Hello. My name is Dan, and today I doomsday prepped

[straight6pwr]

woot woot, stubby antenna, thanks to earl giving me a great deal on the ti base. also got the long antenna, which I will keep in the trunk for rides into the boonies where reception goes to hell.  (to install just buy the match grommet. everything else is plug and play)

also finally had the opportunity to remove the trunk ballast. for those not familiar with e30s, there is a large amount of this super heavy, tar like weight ballast in the trunk of 6-cyl e30s for weight balance/sound deadening. it is not needed. to remove, wait for a hot day and leave your trunk open in the sun and it just pries right off with a hammer claw/screw driver. 

this stuff is heavier than it looks!

also swapped CSBs. although the driveshaft's u-joints spin freely, the front one has some play which i assume is the main cause of the CSB wearing quickly. i've got my eye out for a used e36 m3 driveshaft. the csb pulls off easily in two parts with a 3-jaw puller. to install the new one, I used a length of PVC (1-1/4, i believe) with the correct inner diameter and tapped it on.

[m42b32]

Wow, I had no idea that trunk tar stuff weighed so much! 

Stubby antenna looks great too!

[straight6pwr]

small updates.  a nice roaring/vibration sound started last weekend suddenly, when shifting the cars weight to the left side. pretty easy to diagnose as a wheel bearing. 

old vs. new 

the old hub pulled off by hand (bonus!) 

securing nut replaced, as well. torque to 210ft lbs. (or approximate if your torque wrench only goes to 100ftlbs.)

 

decided to pull apart the old bearing to see what wore out. "well there's your problem" 

also, i got a little more sound transmission than i liked through the car after removing the rear trunk tar, so i put a couple lbs of dynamat xtreme back in. solved. 

replaced a worn tie rod and had the car aligned. 

first autox is Sunday!!!!!! stayed tuned for video.

[straight6pwr]

been slacking on videos/photos from the summer. mostly because gopro changed their studio software and made it 100% useless, and the learning curve on free video software is steep enough to annoy me from finishing. anyways, snapped a photo I liked this weekend on a fishing expedition:

[SteelBlue]

Is this one of the few running E30s on here?

[jc43089]

Looks good!

[straight6pwr]

been collecting some photos of my car in its natural habitat from other photographers at autox days

[Jdesign]

[SteelBlue]

This car is goals.

Whats the front seat setup? Also, what is the CSB set up for your driveshaft? I have 4 bolt E36 M3 DS and I bought an E36 CSB. I have read you need to run an E30 one backwards?

[straight6pwr]

SteelBlue said:

This car is goals.

Whats the front seat setup? Also, what is the CSB set up for your driveshaft? I have 4 bolt E36 M3 DS and I bought an E36 CSB. I have read you need to run an E30 one backwards?

aww thanks.  front seats are stock sport seats. I don't have any problems staying put during autox with them.

correct on the CSB - use an e30 one with the e36 driveshaft. the orientation does matter for aligning the driftshaft with the tunnel/trans. I THOUGHT i had it 'backwards' the first time i changed my CSB, but it ended up being incorrect and made the driveshaft offset to the side slightly. if you look at my photo above with the 3-jaw puller, that was the incorrect orientation.

[SteelBlue]

straight6pwr said:

aww thanks.  front seats are stock sport seats. I don't have any problems staying put during autox with them.

correct on the CSB - use an e30 one with the e36 driveshaft. the orientation does matter for aligning the driftshaft with the tunnel/trans. I THOUGHT i had it 'backwards' the first time i changed my CSB, but it ended up being incorrect and made the driveshaft offset to the side slightly. if you look at my photo above with the 3-jaw puller, that was the incorrect orientation.

Well I'm gonna have to order another one then...

[straight6pwr]

SteelBlue said:

Well I'm gonna have to order another one then...

make sure you mock it up first to check. its possible that motor mounts/trans type/trans mounts/prior vehicle accidents/etc may create slightly different alignments.

[SteelBlue]

straight6pwr said:

make sure you mock it up first to check. its possible that motor mounts/trans type/trans mounts/prior vehicle accidents/etc may create slightly different alignments.

Is it the holes on the bracket of the CSB that makes them fit differently? Do they mount to the under body portion of the car?

[GunMetalGrey]

No, it's the offset of the bracket

[Jdesign]

This^  I found that out when I swapped my car that the offset of that bracket is important! LOL

[straight6pwr]

right after it rains is a great time for night photography. i happened to have my camera late tonight after the storm rolled through milwaukee. (albeit only with a wide angle, so the variety of shots is not very...varied) 

also didnt have a tripod, so everything was hand-held and and shot wide-open, so the depth of field is not great. but i digress.

[Jdesign]

straight6pwr said:

This shot is $$$$.

[Boris3]

Agreed. Dan you've got a great eye for photo setup. Nice pics!!

[straight6pwr]

Boris3 said:

Agreed. Dan you've got a great eye for photo setup. Nice pics!!

thanks!

[straight6pwr]

welp, I rented a small garage for the winters, so I'm excited I'll get to slowly plug away at my spring project list and just get to driving once the snow goes away.

list for over the winter:

1.replace power steering lines due to leak

2.fix speedo - working intermittently. pulled it and reconnected all the plugs, no change. will dive into the internals to check for borked connections: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1617464-Intermittent-speedometer-and-mpg-gauge

3.replace the windshield

4.swap rear speakers to premium units

5.wire aux fan properly, currently running with an on/off override switch and no temp control.

6.detail interior

7.detail undercarriage

8.sell bbs RS wheels and buy cheap daily wheels + auto-x tires setup.

this weekend I got the garage setup better and the power steering hoses + res done. for the inquiring minds, here is the part list. exact setups may vary, but my situation is: e30 with e36 rack and s50 swap and the stock res in the stock e36 bracket on the driver's side motor mount. an extension is needed on the return line with this configuration, as the hose loops towards the back of the motor and needs to make a turn. there may be a better solution out there, but this is what exists on the car, so I left well enough alone. as well, you need to cut the feed line shorter than it comes.

 BMW Power Steering Reservoir (ZF) - 32416851217  
 BMW Power Steering Return Hose (E30) -  32411133401
 BMW Power Steering Hose (Res to Pump) - 32411135936
 BMW Crush Washer  (16x22mm) - 32411093597
 BMW Hose Clamp -  07129952109