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

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

Twas fun hooning around with you! 
If you do decide to lift it I will lend a hand! 

Hell yeah!. I need to fix the heat and finds tires first, but I will let you know!

[SteelBlue]

You found a bumper in the woods? lol

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

[Rekpoint]

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.

[GunMetalGrey]

SteelBlue said:

You found a bumper in the woods? lol

Rekpoint said:

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

I can confirm that it was just laying in the field that we drove in to take pictures... Super odd

[Rekpoint]

GunMetalGrey said:

I can confirm that it was just laying in the field that we drove in to take pictures... Super odd

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

Damn you  Lucky Find..

[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.