My 1997 M3 (That I'm not going to part out anymore)
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Did some suspension adjusting today and threw the rear wheels on finally
Rear wheels rub when I hit bumps, I might have to go up a hair all around. My front and rear arches are mildly rolled already, so i'm going to rent a fender roller and roll them a bit more. I have adjustable rear control arms sitting in my garage, but I don't wanna have to run excessive camber and it's a pain moving the diff forward to put them in etc.
I was going to do my rear sway bar bushing and links today, but the bushings don't seem like they could possibly fit
I was trying to force the bracket around the bushing, and there is no way it's going in like that. I don't know if ecs sent me the wrong bushings on accident, or if I'm doing something wrong. A few years ago I was going to do the front sway bar bushings on my old M3 and I had the same problem. Bad luck twice?
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I hate those parts that are tough to install and dont seem quite right. It could just be that the bushing is designed such that it requires stretching in order to ensure that there is no slop. I have only ever dealt with urethane replacements. Rubber is the superior material but urethane is so much better for a DIYer to work with and easier for aftermarket production so urethane usually wins.
those beebs lookin’ real nice!
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Looks like a bushing for the wrong DIA Sway bar.
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Been kinda busy/unmotivated the last few weeks, going to order poly rtabs, sway bar bushings, e46 M3 rotors and brake pads for the BBK tonight. This weekend I'm renting a fender roller also. I feel kinda guilty because now the car will probably be ready just in time for school this fall, the 4th summer in a row where my BMW has been out of service.
Anyway, I went to Gibsons in Appleton yesterday and today and went overboard because they are so insanely cheap. Found something very cool that will make it's way into the M3
I found a 328i vert in the yard and initially when I saw the interior I thought wtf did someone do to this car, seeing all the interior panels wrapped in tan leather. I didn't immediately realize that this car had the super rare extended leather interior package. I looked up the vin and this car also had the M aerodynamics package, wood package, and a BMW phone that was now gone. The hood was smashed closed, but I'm pretty certain this was an individual car.
The center console section was the worst, someone had yanked on it to get to something.
These things are foam with metal running through them, and thankfully it bent back and a few sections of broken foam just need to be glued. It already looks like nothing ever happened
I found the glovebox cover on the ground outside of the car. All the leather is pretty stained, but somehow its soft and has absolutely no water damage and no peeling or bubbling. The only piece missing is the driver side panel that goes under the steering wheel.
The full haul:
I paid $64 for all the extended package leather stuff, and $26 for everything else...
Have any of you ever dyed leather? Do you have to spray it on or do you just rub it in? This leather is stained beyond repair and some spots need to be filled etc. and I don't want tan anyway. They would look perfect dyed black and in my car
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Awesome find. Didn't see that when I was up there somehow. Did it still have the aero bumper covers or were they gone?
Rear bumper is still there, diffuser gone. Unfortunately it has M twisty skirts that are smashed and not just the sport ones. Front bumper is gone, all side trim gone. Color is Schwartz
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Do they still get BMWs frequently? I might need to go plundering for some brake booster related items.
Interior is a good find.
Fresh 4 door e30, forgot to tell you. decent amount of interior stuff left, all body panels too, didn't look under the hood. Black center console and glovebox, carpet, oh-shit handles
The rear aero bumper doesn't have a removable diffuser. It has one molded in. The aero bumpers are actually just covers for the lower half of the stock bumpers.
Hm, I'm not sure I guess I didn't get a good look at it. It definitely has the twisty M3 skirts, the build sheet says "S715A M Aerodynamics Package" I found a vert online with an identical build sheet and it just has the M3 rear bumper and diffuser.
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Fresh 4 door e30, forgot to tell you. decent amount of interior stuff left, all body panels too, didn't look under the hood. Black center console and glovebox, carpet, oh-shit handles
Hm, I'm not sure I guess I didn't get a good look at it. It definitely has the twisty M3 skirts, the build sheet says "S715A M Aerodynamics Package" I found a vert online with an identical build sheet and it just has the M3 rear bumper and diffuser.
When are they open until during the weekend and weekend? I’m probably gonna have to make my way over on Saturday
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Quick little update, I really need to start busting my ass on this car so I can have it daily-driveable for school
Washed my floor pan like a weirdo and put my black carpet in, I haven't replaced that firewall gasket still but the dashboard can come out with the carpet in. The car remains garaged 24/7
Putting a carpet in is always a PITA
Got some mudflaps from a guy on Bimmerforums for $10
Took my really bad sagging headliner out, glad I got it out before that foam/glue shit started getting all over everything. Very hard to clean off, happened on my last M.
I put all the handles and visors back in, probably just gonna drive it like that for the fall
I also tried to replace my rear emblem that was flaking apart, I got lucky and found a oem one off a e60 (same size) at the scrap yard.
It was surprisingly hard to take off, it took a ton of force and I scratched the paint behind the emblem up
. The little pegs broke off inside the grommets. I ended up ruining both grommets getting those pegs out, so I have to order some of those.
Check out that orange peel. I'm gonna guess this trunk is a respray, at least it has the vin still
I also lined up my bumper and fog lights and it looks 1000x better then before
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Have any of you ever dyed leather? Do you have to spray it on or do you just rub it in? This leather is stained beyond repair and some spots need to be filled etc. and I don't want tan anyway. They would look perfect dyed black and in my car
I am going to be dying the door cards in the E30 along with the headliner and carpet. From the research I've been doing, the Duplicolor Fabric and Vinyl is the stuff to get, can be found at most automotive places and hardware stores. I've seen lightly wet sanding the leather with 1000 grit sandpaper, then cleaning the leather of an residual gunk, and then finally rubbing it down with some isopropyl alcohol. Then spraying the dye on like paint for the most part and letting it dry.
I think I might dye the back seat black as it won't have very much traffic on it, but the front seats I will likely just be replacing.
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I am going to be dying the door cards in the E30 along with the headliner and carpet. From the research I've been doing, the Duplicolor Fabric and Vinyl is the stuff to get, can be found at most automotive places and hardware stores. I've seen lightly wet sanding the leather with 1000 grit sandpaper, then cleaning the leather of an residual gunk, and then finally rubbing it down with some isopropyl alcohol. Then spraying the dye on like paint for the most part and letting it dry.
I think I might dye the back seat black as it won't have very much traffic on it, but the front seats I will likely just be replacing.
I found some leather dye at the craft store, but it doesn't work at all. It's hard to explain but it almost seems thinner then water and it separates out and refuses to stick to the leather. I'm concerned that the fabric and vinyl spray paint will have a very shiny appearance, do they make a more matte spray? I know that my rear seat is sort of shiny, but something like a shift boot has no shine and I think that's more like what I want for the center console
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I found some leather dye at the craft store, but it doesn't work at all. It's hard to explain but it almost seems thinner then water and it separates out and refuses to stick to the leather. I'm concerned that the fabric and vinyl spray paint will have a very shiny appearance, do they make a more matte spray? I know that my rear seat is sort of shiny, but something like a shift boot has no shine and I think that's more like what I want for the center console
From the videos I’ve seen of people using this fabric dye it looks like the same consistency as spray paint. I will let you know how it goes, might start doing it this week.
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Currently doing my RTABs,
Blown out pretty bad
The drill method worked pretty good, but I left a small notch in the trailing arm. Opinions on if it'll ever matter? It's obviously not huge, it's in the thickest spot of the arm and it's circular so it wont crack I'm thinking. The poly bushings went in snug
So I have the poly in, everything torqued and the arm is back in the car on the drivers side. unfortunately I found a small hairline crack at the mounting point. I'm not going to risk driving on it, so I need to have it welded and reinforcement plates welded in ASAP, I only have 2 weeks before I go back to school. Can anyone recommend a shop that will do this right? I don't want it rusting or anything like that because a shop didn't prep it right.
I hit it with some sand paper, and it is indeed a crack. The other side is the side that clunked bad, so fingers crossed
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I'm an absolute idiot, and despite trying to be more careful with the other trailing arm I cut into it worse. I didn't feel comfortable with it so I welded it and sanded it down
The trailing arm bushing went in very snug like the other side, but I need an honest opinion on if you guys would worry about this or replace the trailing arm. It's in a nice thick spot, but I'm not a pro welder and I doubt I penetrated very deep. These are cast from what I understand and I don't want it to crack and explode when I'm driving or something, I don't know if these things get insane load or if it's not that big of a deal
Also more cracks.
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I'm an absolute idiot, and despite trying to be more careful with the other trailing arm I cut into it worse. I didn't feel comfortable with it so I welded it and sanded it down
The trailing arm bushing went in very snug like the other side, but I need an honest opinion on if you guys would worry about this or replace the trailing arm. It's in a nice thick spot, but I'm not a pro welder and I doubt I penetrated very deep. These are cast from what I understand and I don't want it to crack and explode when I'm driving or something, I don't know if these things get insane load or if it's not that big of a deal
Also more cracks.
Honestly it should be fine. A nice piece of mind for you to have it welded, but sadly I have seen much worse on race cars that just send it.
On the other hand, that subframe mount totally needs to be repaired to prevent if from getting worse. Media blasting the area first prior to welding would be a very good idea. Where are you located? I can give you some suggestions based on your location..
https://www.instagram.com/_jdesigner_/ http://nevertoolow.tumblr.com/
🥳SOLD BMW E24 633CSI - BMW M30B32 🧪SOLD HCH ES9 - 1.3 LDA
👽BMW E30 325IC - Toyota 1JZ-GTE ⏰ HONDA EF9 CIVIC SI - JDM B18C5
☠️BMW E36 318i - Ford 5.0 FE302 🚴♂️ GT-Labomba - 26x2.75 Freeride
🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05
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