Newb from Ireland

[Super4]

Hi all,

From Ireland and driving a 99 BMW E36, looking forward to being apart of Stance Works and doing a bit of this on the 36. Have to say after spending a few days looking through the site.....i'm loving it!!!

Shall get up some more pictures when I get a chance, here is the car when I bought it :






Thanks for looking

[jasonklee]

What does the car look like now? Lowered yet?

Welcome to StanceWorks

[Super4]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for the welcome , yes I only got a around to lowering the car last week having bought in some JOM coilovers for customers I decided to try out a set for myself.

A couple of quick snaps :







Thanks for looking



Super4bmw
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[Super4]

Hi Folks, so with being upto my tonsils since originally posting this thread I have not been on here much at all. However I feel it is time to continue this thread and get it up to date. All work has been done over the last 2 years so in a nut shell I have 2 years of updating to do. These updates are copied and pasted from another forum I frequent so certain member names may not be applicable to this forum.

Hope you enjoy the updates, and hopefully in the coming days/weeks I shall have this at present day .

First day : After quick initial cleaning and mopping water







A week later i cleaned the little 4 pot :





While i was away for a week I got the bodyshop to paint the front bumper and grill panel, the paint finish is very good although they painted it on the car so I got left with some over spray and brake ducts ended up Avusblau Scrub and paint time!!









I have now stripped down the bumper and found that my right hand side front fog light bracket is broken and to be honest i'm not surprised as it is a sh@t fixing, that if knocked by any pothole would break.

Also found the reason for my front bumper not sitting back properly on the right hand side :



With the bumper being off the car i could now easily inspect the ARB's without needing a jack and the alt belt whilst i was there



Needs changing too



And here is just a very quick photo shop that I had already posted to show what sort of look I am going for with the car on the outside : Yup I know about wheels being 4x



Thanks for looking

[Super4]

Well today turned out to be seriously nice so I decided to do a little bit more work on the front end seeing as I was home for the day I wanted to finish off cleaning up the trims on the bumper as well as the plastic pieces on the under side that bolt onto the wheel arches guards as these were painted blue also :frown

Here is how she looked when I started



I then proceeded to sand down any of the plastics that got caught in the dreaded Avusblau crossfire , and started painting. With it being such a nice day there was plenty of good drying time.



All the plastic bumper trims were taken off, keyed and painted in satin black and I have to say i was delighted with the way they came up. You really wouldn't think they were resprayed. The reg plate plastic has a few nicks here and there but it's in pretty good shape all the same, and won't be changed yet.

Thanks for looking



As i looked back at the car in pieces i noticed something else that i and my rattle can could tackle so i proceeded to remove the kidneys and key them down... This paint has a hold on me





While they were drying I put the plastics back on my bumper and started snapping away, the bumper is starting to take shape slowly and all I need now it the plastic trim that covers the towing eye as this was missing when I got the car :frown, not too worry i'll pick one up shortly enough. Also needs to order up my fog lamp bracket....why do I keep forgetting to do this!!





Both kidneys done and back on the car



Front bumper is just resting and not bolted back on yet as there is a little more fettling that I want to do before I bolt it all up, I think I am slightly OCD and definately very fussy about my cars. But that's a good trait right....???



Need to sort out headlamp badly too as it really does take away from the car, and some M3 mesh as well.



Thanks for looking

[Super4]

Well picked up my Used Eibach Anti Roll Bars and bushes from a car that was being broken for parts, definitely one of those rare finds indeed as the rest of the car was completely standard aside from a full set of Eibach Pro Springs which I will be going back for once they are out of the car

Here's just a couple of snaps as I couldn't wait to look at them when I got home this evening, as I'm sure many of you know already these bad boys have serious weight in them. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the car is like with them on. Before I fit I will be ordering new drop links all round for the car as well and may just order a new bush kit from Eibach too.....We'll see I also managed to get a passenger side headlamp for €25.00 (:jaw-dropping ) and it's spot on so looking forward to getting that fitted as it will really clean up the front of the car no end.

ARB's :





Headlamp :





NEXT TO DO :

Tax the car - ON GOING
Order new drop links - DONE
Order front bumper towing eye cover trim - DONE
Change rocker cover seal - DONE
Order new discs - DONE
Fit new discs and pads - DONE
Change rear wheel bearing
Get the front bumper completed and bolted up - DONE
NCT the car!!!! DONE

That's it for now, there is plenty more although I need to be smart and conserve funds too so once the above is done I shall be slowing down unless more great exciting deals come up

Thanks for looking

[Super4]

Collected my EBC Greenstuff's today, I got these for a great price €75 for front & rear as they had been ordered by someone else but never collected!! So well chuffed with that, now I need to get on the case of the discs which won't be so cheap as I will be going EBC drilled and grooved on the front and standards on the rear (rears not to bad price wise). I also need to order new handbrake cables as mine are stretched a tad...... this list just keeps growing by the minute , now if the shagging rain would f*^k off I might be able to get some of these parts fitted. Got a phone call today from my local dealer letting me know the Z3 rear plates are in so will go and get those on Monday hopefully.

Once I have the plates, new Meyle HD top mounts, Meyle drop links and Eibach Pro-Kit springs (which i'm collecting tomorrow) I will be set for a nice bit of suspension overhauling. Of course should I find the shocks to be completely buggered I will then have to address this issue before it can all go back together. Whilst collecting the srpings tomorrow I willl also be picking up the other headlamp for the driver side then the headlight modding can begin.






Thanks for looking

[Super4]

I got up this morning nice and early and headed off to collect my Eibach springs, the drive is half an hour each way which isn't too bad and also if they turned out to be poor condition then I wouldn't have wasted a lot of time going to see them. Other than being pretty dirty and splattered in tar they seemed fine with no visible faults. He brought the back ones out to me first which I put in the car then he came out with the fronts still attached to the shocks.....I thought to myself "great more junk for me to separate and then have to dispose of"....... Oh well, into the boot they went peanuts was handed over and off I went.

I think getting home only took about twenty minutes as MPG conservation went clean out the window as I was eager to get them home and start scrubbing



Whilst taking the picture I noticed the white stickers on the bottom of the shocks, and seeing as how I like my stickers I went in for a closer look to see what it said!!!!! The sticker said "Pro Damper" and above it valved by Eibach!!!!!! Upon closer inspection I saw the faded Eibach logo beside the sticker.... All the while thinking "maybe not more junk after all". :thumbsup



I bought everything down the garden for a scrubbing and closer inspection :



Cleaned up the front shocks and springs first with some RTFR and a sponge, didn't get into de-tarring everything just washing down. The front springs really don't look old at all and are in very good condition, I shall remove the springs from the shocks and then see what the rebound etc. is like on them or might just swap the lot over and go for a drive to test them out that way. At least the cars weight etc. will be on them making it easier to diagnose the condition better.





The ARB bushes are okay but are showing signs of wear so think I will just order up a new Eibach bush kit, although I will fit these ones for now and can swop over when the new bushes arrive as this is not hard.





My nutty dog looking for his toy!!! :hihi:hihi:hihi



Here is how the car is sitting at present as with the rain being non stop over the last few days I have not been near it! No doubt the battery will be flat when I go to start it....oh well. At least with all the rain we have been having I will be able to see if the car is still leaking as it only seemed to do this when being driven. If it is it means there is a second leak and I shall have to start the search again.








Well that's it for now, will update again shortly hopefully the next update will be some installation taking place

Thanks for looking, and opinions and advice always welcome.

[Super4]

Today I stumbled across a ART & HOBBY shop so out of curiosity (and being impatient waiting for my Lamin-x to arrive) I decided to go in and ask if they had Yellow glass paint.....Few minutes later I was €7 lighter and had paint and brush.... So what else would one do at 00:19 on a Sunday morning??? Trial painting of the old headlamp lens





After 3 coats :



Well after painting a spare headlight lens I had last night I decided that today I would get stuck in and do a full headlamp renew and get them up to scratch. I whipped out the lights, separated them and took them inside got out the newspaper and popped them onto the kitchen table. Out came the hobby cutting blade and away came the sealant



Once all the sealant was off it was into the kitchen sink they went to bathe in some hot soapy water, the headlight glass got a good cleaning as did the plastics then it was onto the range they went for drying.



While I was waiting for them to dry I started painting the main beam lenses with my yellow stain glass paint :



The lenses took three coats of paint and too be honest I think I might have like one or two more to go on but they're fine for now. Just me being finicky : It was then time to get the lenses back into the surrounds and get to sealing them back into place. I made the boo boo of putting the newly painted yellow main beam lens into the dipped beam slot but only realised this when I had put new black silicone sealant on!!!!!!! :jaw-dropping "B@ST@@@@@@@RD". A few minutes later and all was sorted and redone.....Calmies again



Re-sealed :





Went a little mad on the headlight pictures......Sorry!!! :silly



Oh and I am also putting amber corners on the car as I think they look / contrast better with the Avus Blau paint work and the now yellow main beam lenses. The passenger side headlight is in much better nick than the driver side but it's okay as I have another one lined up....just means doing the mod on one lamp again.





Waiting on the other amber corner to arrive so she's looking a little pieb@ll at the moment :









Headlights on :








Thanks for looking, opinions always welcome

[Super4]

Decided I would change my rocker cover gasket (As it's been leaking a while by the look of it) that I had bought earlier last week seeing as it was a nice day and not raining. All went fine apart from the rocker cover really being stuck on and pipe number 13 being soft, brittle and coming away from the rocker cover itself. Shall have to sort this tomorrow, trying to get as much done over these few days as I want to start driving the car and enjoying it

A little oily :





Figured my oil cap needed some love :





Also noticed my kidneys I had painted last week were already chipping yet I haven't even driven the car..... I couldn't figure this out until I heard a PIIIINNG when I looked around my nutty dog was chasing his ball and had kicked up stones onto the grill thus chipping the paint. So these came back off, I went and bought some tougher paint as the other stuff was coming off way to easily! :







In between all that I decided I wanted to paint my rocker cover and yes you guessed right it is now black , I had done my 166 engine the same and really liked how it came out so this was to get the same treatment although there shall be a very slight twist coming at a later date.









The rocker cover stud bolts were manky so they had to get some attention also :





All done and back together :



Will be changing the setup on the spark plug cover very shortly as I don't like it and i rushed painting it due to being very hungry




Thanks for looking, hope you enjoy

[Super4]

Last night before I went in from the cold after having a day at the bimmer I decided to do one more thing, it was a kind of spur of the moment thing. Basically I was looking at my new freshly painted rocker cover and decided the upper half of the inlet manifold really needed some paint too

So off it came in the pitch dark using the torch on my phone :





Then this morning when I got up it was time to get stuck back in again and get scrubbing and painting, it took no time at all last night to whip it off about 10-15 minutes then today about an hour scrubbing, painting and re-fitting. I was tempted to do the other half of the inlet but my sensible side took over as I thought to myself "it will never see the road if i keep pulling it apart" so I held back.... I'll get it at a later date, lol

MY SHAGGED AND BRITTLE BREATHER PIPE :



THIS WAS SERIOUSLY FECKED.... :



I wanted to get the car driving today (which I did) so I went to my local DIY and picked up the finest (:sarcastic) of braided garden hose as a temporary measure to replace the shagged breather pipe . On it went and working a treat, although seeing as this is not resistant I wouldn't want to be leaving on for too long me thinks.

LE LUMP :







And all back together....ha ha for how long though??? :





......Well that wasn't long, think I took a break for an hour then decided to go back at it and tackle the front ARB as I had picked up new drop links today. Totally forgot I had ordered the Meyle ones!!! when they arrive I'll have a spare set LOL,





Cannot wait for the new discs to arrive then I can get my pads on, hard to see in the picture but the front discs have a nice lip on them indeed!! :



OUT WITH THE OLD AND ALL THAT :



EVERYTHING COPPER GREASED FOR EASE DURING FUTURE TINKERING :



AND IN WITH THE NEW :



CLOSE UP OF THE GRILLS :



Some more snapping, left it jacked up tonight as I shall be getting stuck in tomorrow on the front shocks and springs hopefully :






[BThat's it for today as always thanks for looking[/B]

[Super4]

Well the car did great today, for a car that has 140,000 miles on the clock it really is very tight. I do need to get the tracking and balancing done though as she wanders a bit but nothing major, I shall do this when I am finished with all the suspension.

One downside today was that there is still a leak in the car..... It has not been driven now for a couple of weeks yet there was small amounts of water in the spare wheel well and both passenger side (very minimal) and driver side rear pockets (under first aid tray) I am starting to think maybe the rear lights are letting in water also so tomorrow i am going to give it all a big check over which won't be to bad as there isn't a shred of rear interior left accept quarter cards

Driver side rear pocket under first aid tray :



Driver side rear pocket under first aid tray, just underneath rear light. Yet i can't see visible water marks leading to the pocket floor!!!



Spare wheel well, side closest to the driver side rear pocket :



Passenger side only small amount of water in the corner closest to the rear lights, something at some stage spilt in here creating this lovely sticky mess



Nothing major done today accept a small bit of maintenance and leak hunting Whipped out the rear lights and gave all around them a good cleaning down and polished behind them. Inner seals on the lights i noticed are a little compressed (to be expected) and the outer are slightly dried out and cracking....Might bite the bullet and buy a new set!!!! We'll see how the funds go, also this morning i ran a very quick wax of the car

This side was really, really filthy when i removed the rear lamp. It was mucky and wet so thinking this side could be a cause of the leak???? (forgot to take a before pic)



Passenger side not too bad compared to the other side plus the muck was dry on this side :





Then fitted my other stereo as this has been in 5 of my cars and still going :



After this a bulb check was done and any offending bulbs were changed :






Thanks for looking

[Super4]

Decided this morning that I'd make a stab at the front suspension, the two lower strut bolts had been tightened up with "thread locker" so that made things fun then when I finally got them all undone I saw that in between them was what looked like a small bolt going from being the hub into the shock!!!!!! After a few minutes of panic thinking "BALLS THIS WON'T BE QUICK" followed by logging onto Bimmerforums.co.uk and simultaneously finding the same guide as Devil318is did on Pelican I was back in business. Turned out it just needed to be pried away from the evil nub! Thanks again for the help Devil

BEFORE : Very technical way of measuring







DURING :



The mess has started



I think my new DELPHI drop links are crapping themselves (looks like grease is coming out) under the strain of the Eibach ARB!!!! Might change the setting.



AFTER : More technical measuring





Just off the jack :



After a good drive :



Random snap :




The test drive went very well and it is very comfortable and seems to handle pretty good too on the front, it's hard to know at the moment as it needs more suspension work. I noticed today my outer track rod ends could do with being changed also! Really looking forward to getting it all setup properly when everything arrives.


Thanks for looking,

[Super4]

I picked up a bulb also for my light switch also so that has sorted that little problem out, and whilst at the factors I ordered a Gates Alt belt and standard rear discs which should all be in tomorrow. Called down to Ollyman who is on the forum today also to have a look at his car as he has picked up an kit mtec kit for it but I shall let him tell all about that in his project section. He very kindly gave me his towing eye cover as he wants to replace all bumper plastics with new ones (Cheers mate), no sooner was I home but it was sanded and repainted. My front bumper now looks sooooooo much better and a little more complete



BEFORE :



AFTER :



As I was walking in for the night I looked back and saw that the black plastics on the rear bumper were no longer black.....more like grey! "A sure it'll only take a minute" I thought to myself walking back to take them off the car sand them and paint 20 minutes later and they're done.

BEFORE :







DURING :



AFTER :






The light had gotten low so the pictures are a bit crappy, will get some better ones up soon when my car is looking more respectable I plan on taking out my big boy camera and taking some proper photo's of it which I shall post up. Upon arriving home this evening these were sitting on the table for me :



Happy days, all I need to do now is collect my Z3 reinforcement plates and the rear is due for a nice overhaul. Got some power steering fluid today and gave the pump a drink.....it had a little too much to drink and came out the over fill cap on the bottle! Mental note to ones self "do not check level on uneven surface" Doh!!! that's what I get for being lazy.


Thanks for looking,

[Super4]

Changed the stereo setup to Orange to match the dash, although this stereo has been faithful 9 years on and it's showing signs of it's age naturally. It's survived 1 car fire and one serious hi speed sleepy at the wheely accident. General night time shots of the dash with all the lights working now.....








Thanks for looking,