My E36...

[Ratcliffe33]

I have only just joined here, but I have just read the whole of this thread and I have to say, much love for this car!

[BenKoflach]

I sized my Ultra Racing strut brace up the other night and for the second time, it won't fit. When bolted down it will be touching the S54 and I'd rather not bend a brand new strut brace so I'll probably stick with the UUC one for now. Checked the underside one and that'll go straight on - luckily the reinforced crossmember RAW put in my car already has the threads for an X-brace so I'll be ordering the bolts today (part #07119915093) so that I can pop that on at the weekend.



I also put my Rotas back on before the weather gets too poor, even though I don't plan to use the Touring anywhere near where a gritter has been. They're now fitted with the 235/45 and 255/40 Goodyear Eagle F1s which I initially had on my Rays. One of the fronts had to have a small weld as a crack had appeared and though it wasn't yet at the bead it needed sorting, so that was done and then the tyres were mounted up at my local tyre fitters. The grip is insane and apart from a touch at full lock up front, I'm not getting any rubbing at all.

Had the day off yesterday so gave the car a bit of attention. First up I was pleased to see that my coolant level hasn't dropped at all - before I replaced the pipe it would leak about a litre every 100 miles which is obviously far from ideal. The level of antifreeze in there is pretty low at the moment so at some point I'll be draining a bit out and topping it back up with a bottle of genuine coolant. This might wait until I have a new radiator mind you. Then washed the car with some Auto Finesse goodies, though it still needs a proper going over once it's had the various bits of paint it needs.

I then set about fitting my new badges, courtesy of Nevets over on TotalMCars.com. I couldn't decide whether I liked the German flag colourway but as they don't cost much, I decided to go for it so I can see what I think on the car. I went for this theme as my car is red, yellow and black so it ties in - after some time trying to decide I also went for M3 side moulding badges as a subtle clue as to what's under the bonnet, though initially I said I would never put an M3 badge on the car other than the kickplates when I get hold of a cheap set.



Side ones were nice and easy - the old badges were the original ones and so looked pretty knackered. These make a nice difference IMO and will certainly be staying for now.



Then the one in the clocks was changed - a bit fiddly but didn't take a moment.



The final one is the M badge on the engine. Drew had painted the M badge black which I quite liked, but the colour stripes were peeling so I pulled them off and painted the rest of the badge black, ready to have the stripes applied over the top when I've got a mo.



Finally, I relocated my air temp sensor as it wasn't really in the airflow before.

[BenKoflach]

Also just dug out a few pics of a driver training day I did a couple of months ago. The aim was to learn how to stop a car going sideways for a good part of the day, but I just couldn't help myself. There was a drain line we were supposed to not cross so though it looks like I'm just randomly sliding in the middle of the tarmac, I did have some boundaries.











Think I might have been about to spin in this one -



General handling - quite surprised at how much roll it has, which is something I'd like to reduce. It has Eibach ARBs with the rear set to stiff, the front to soft, but this will change. Also after new coilovers as mine are pretty tired.

[BenKoflach]

Small update, picked this up this morning - Hawker Energy race battery. It actually turns out BT use them as backup power for their substations, so with the right contacts you can pick them up really cheap - I paid £50. It's not overly light for the size but at the same time is a fair bit smaller than the standard one so will make a nice saving. I'll weigh each one when I have them side by side.



I'm as yet undecided as to whether I'll measure it up and buy a bracket/mount for it or whether I'll make one - at the moment the latter is sounding like good fun.

[Miles.]

Just spent a while going through this build, awesome.

[BenKoflach]

Thanks Miles.

The battery is fairly big - similar in length to a standard one but about half the width. There are lighter batteries out there but as I'm still running a fair few bits of electronics I didn't want it running out all the time - I have no way of leaving it on trickle charge at home either so it needs to hold charge for a couple of weeks at a time. The battery saves nearly 6kg which should make a nice difference right out the back of the car - it can also be laid flat.



Not a very good photo but I fitted my Ultra Racing underside brace this weekend, which has made a really noticeable difference so I'm pretty chuffed. Front end feels so much more direct and connected. I then also put my front anti-roll bar to the stiffer setting, during the process of which I found that the droplinks were really siezed up. They've gone back on for now but next time I have to remove them I'll be using a saw and replacing them - already looking at UUC rose-jointed adjustable ones.



Also fitted my OMP Corsica steering wheel, which I used to run a couple of years ago. Annoyingly it's blue but it feels so much better with the wheel closer and with a round rim rather than a sculpted one.



Finally, I was keeping my girlfriend company at her work (jeweller/silversmith) and thought I might as well make use of my time, so made a start on a battery bracket and also made connectors from 1.2mm brass sheet.

[hakhawk]

ive looked at those under braces before as an alternative to the m3 brace, so you like? might have to pick one up

[BenKoflach]

Yeah I do, Used to have an M3 X-brace but never fitted it - this one is lower underneath the x-member but after that it has more ground clearance than the M3 one which is why I went for it. Bolted straight on too, the only problem was that the suppled hardware completely didn't fit, but I'd ordered OE front bolts from the dealers anyway so wasn't a problem.

[Zacne_4]

I really like your go-quicker-around-the-bends parts that you put on!

My 325 feels planted with coilovers, x-brace and roll bars but i didn't drive it much before fitting those and I don't really know the difference..


G.


Sent from my mobile apple command iCenter

[BenKoflach]

Thanks. I have to say this brace has made a bigger difference than I expected, just so much more confidence inspiring now and with the stiffening up of the front ARB it handles completely differently and so much better.

It could feel a bit vague before but now I'm more than happy to have it sideways out the corners at any excuse! (Not that I really needed one in the first place...)

[Zacne_4]

Man I just went through your whole thread!

Jaw dropping!

I wish I had the money and time to do this to my saloon! Because of lack of those two important factors I am going the rough-around-the-edges-smile-giving-driving-tool route!

You are quite (considering S/W being a US based forum) local to me (I'm in Enfield Middlesex)!

Last question, do you happen to still have that 325 maf?


G.

[BenKoflach]

Thanks! Honestly I don't have a life because of this car and it's nowhere near where I want it to be. I've been very lucky to have friends around me who've helped make it all possible, and I dread to think of the hours that have been put into it.

You're not too far away! Relatively speaking.

I do somewhere yeah. It looks smaller than a 328 MAF so if you want to measure yours to check I've got the right thing then I'd be happy to measure up this end.

[Zacne_4]

I'll do that tonight, and thanks for liking my (our) FB page!


G.

[SanderZ]

This is so cool

[BenKoflach]

Couple of better pics of the brace -