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

[Boris3]

Great find!

Strange things can happen in parts finds. The hard top in my old 93 Miata was being used as a sled by some kids when the PO found it. He was driving by, did a double take, stopped and picked it up.  A bit of fiberglass to repair some small cracks on the edges, new paint to match his Miata and good to go. I bought it from him and a few years ago sold it with the car.

[Jdesign]

SteelBlue said:

You found a bumper in the woods? lol

The fact that it was an E36 M3 bumper too...

Field*

Rekpoint said:

No way..... Are you fucking with us or did you actually find that?

OEM?

I have a plate holder trim if you feel the need of buying one.

I will gladly take you up on that. 

Rekpoint said:

Here I was.... 6 months ago. "I want an M3 Bumper I wish I could find one for free. "

Damn you  Lucky Find..

Funny thing is its in better shape than the bumper on my car.

Yeah it was the most super completely random thing. Andy jokingly was like, hey there's an extra bumper for your car (as he points to a white object in the middle of some tall grass and mud. I look over and see a bumper face down in the dirt. I could see the black molding on the side and replied with "Actually, that is a BMW bumper of some sort, I can tell by the trim." So I walked over and picked it up.  Well no shit, its actually a perfect fit for my car. 

[m42b32]

Jdesign said:

Field*

I will gladly take you up on that. 

Funny thing is its in better shape than the bumper on my car.

Yeah it was the most super completely random thing. Andy jokingly was like, hey there's an extra bumper for your car (as he points to a white object in the middle of some tall grass and mud. I look over and see a bumper face down in the dirt. I could see the black molding on the side and replied with "Actually, that is a BMW bumper of some sort, I can tell by the trim." So I walked over and picked it up.  Well no shit, its actually a perfect fit for my car.  

This blows my mind, of all things to find in a field haha

[Jdesign]

I managed to find an Rx3 too when I went to pee behind a building, but it was completely rotted out.

[GunMetalGrey]

Pic of said RX3

[m42b32]

I love RX3's, awesome find! Sad to see it rotting away like that, looks like it's too far gone to save.

[straight6pwr]

YoungCR said:

I foresee more rust in your phuture

futurerustic!

[SteelBlue]

Jdesign said:

I managed to find an Rx3 too when I went to pee behind a building, but it was completely rotted out.

What kind of car wasteland were you in and where is this?

[Jdesign]

SteelBlue said:

What kind of car wasteland were you in and where is this?

Its called....

Madison

[SteelBlue]

Jdesign said:

Its called....

Madison 

Madison really is like a fever dream I think we’ve all been living in simultaneously. 

That being said, see you there Friday

[Jdesign]

Finally got the rest of the images from http://noggsphotography.com/ 

[Jdesign]

Rear end on this thing is super loose.

Ordering the following:

• Sub frame bushings
• swing arm bushings (#4/#12)
• Axles
• Wheel bearings (#1)
• Upper control arm bushings? (#2/#6) 

Does anyone make, sell, or use aftermarket upper control arm bushings?   Thoughts on this? 

#2 and #6 on this diagram:

[jc43089]

2 and 3 can both be replaced by using part 3 in both places.  It is a spherical ball joint.  I just did that recently, M cars came like that.

6 and 8 have so little rubber that they are likely just fine, no need to replace.

Also there are some places that make a RTAB replacement that appears to use #3 or a similar ball joint as an insert.  That seems like an excellent option because the RTAB has multiple axis of deflection, although I have used UUC poly RTAB bushings for a long time and they are great as long as you grease them when installing to prevent squeaking.

[Jdesign]

jc43089 said:

2 and 3 can both be replaced by using part 3 in both places.  It is a spherical ball joint.  I just did that recently, M cars came like that.

6 and 8 have so little rubber that they are likely just fine, no need to replace.

Also there are some places that make a RTAB replacement that appears to use #3 or a similar ball joint as an insert.  That seems like an excellent option because the RTAB has multiple axis of deflection, although I have used UUC poly RTAB bushings for a long time and they are great as long as you grease them when installing to prevent squeaking.

Awesome. Thats helpful.

Luckily I have aftermarket lowers so 3,7, and 8 are new.

The RTAB is my main concern as I can feel and see it flex in multiple directions under minimal load. I will likely just use a Poly bushing here. I want the rear of the car as solid as possible, yet its not worth buying a nice spherical joint for this contraption.

[jc43089]

Jdesign said:

Awesome. Thats helpful.

Luckily I have aftermarket lowers so 3,7, and 8 are new.

The RTAB is my main concern as I can feel and see it flex in multiple directions under minimal load. I will likely just use a Poly bushing here. I want the rear of the car as solid as possible, yet its not worth buying a nice spherical joint for this contraption.

Did you replace 3 when you did the lowers?  It is not part of the control arm, it's pressed into the trailing arm.  If you did then replacing the upper is exactly the same, I turned some cups to press them out/in with a bolt and impact wrench.  Pretty easy with the right tools, probably a nightmare without.

[Jdesign]

jc43089 said:

Did you replace 3 when you did the lowers?  It is not part of the control arm, it's pressed into the trailing arm.  If you did then replacing the upper is exactly the same, I turned some cups to press them out/in with a bolt and impact wrench.  Pretty easy with the right tools, probably a nightmare without.

Yes I did. I cut my own bushings out of Delrin and pressed them into the trailing arm. I assume using the ball joint design on the upper it the best option though.

[Jdesign]

So, can anyone provide me feedback on the following besides price?

I know everyone says that Garagistic sucks on quality control, but could they really manage to fail at making some bushings? I am looking to probably order them because I dont really give a shit about this car, and I dont care to machine my own bushings from delrin again.

[Earl]

I loved my coupe when it was full Condor in the rear but like others said, the rtabs need to deflect as the arm moves. I never noticed any binding or odd issues but that doesn't mean it wasn't happening to some extent

[Jdesign]

I "THINK" I fixed the heat. 

I did a quick google search of BMW E36 with "weak interior heat" and found a video of a guy explaining that its a common issue. Turns out the fix was a new cabin filter.... DUH.

So I pulled the glove box and half the dash apart to find this:

Yeah thats about 10 lbs of leaves, dirt, nuts, and whatever else debris made its way in there. 

I reminisced that when I got this car it didnt have the cowl cover and the guy had this car sitting under a tree for over a year with the windows open. I needed to get a vacuum in there and suck out as much as I could before I even was able to remove the old filter. It was wedged tight with material and it wouldnt even move. 

When I got it out, this is what it looked like:

$15 across the street and Oriely had me back in business.

I have yet to drive the car aroudn and see if it makes a difference. BUT I will say just turnung the blower motor on, there is a DRASTIC improvement of the force of the air coming out of the vents. I want to add a simple patch panel to the floor and improve the hacked up trans tunnel to keep the cold air out before I start driving this more often in the cold weather.

Also, does anyone know if 275/75R17's will fit an E36?

[jc43089]

Tire fitment unlikely without saw/grinder action.  That is a big tire.

Good call to replace the cabin filter.  Probably 4 times the airflow now.  I did that and flushed coolant and my heat is now very hot in my e36.