E46 Touring - Clean & Bagged Daily Driver

[austinscottphotography]

so the wagon has been down for about a month and I've been miserable.

The build originally was put on hold for the following reasons:

I moved to a new state
had to find a new job
make new friends with tools and knowledge to help me
buy parts to replace the old worn out stuff

So i was driving the car as is and then the shock decided to blow out on me.



This prompted me to start working on the build ASAP.

...and then I hit a snag


was removing bolts to pull out old suspension and add in bags and the damn bolt sheared right off

after many many attempts to remove it with my extraction kit and penetrating oil i gave up and decided to take off the entire assembly.




unfortunately, i was unable to remove the axle nut with a breaker bar and my muscles so i had to wait until a friend brought his bad as electric impact wrench and pulled both sides off for me.

[austinscottphotography]

PROGRESS!!! PROGRESS!!! PROGRESS!!!

so my parts came in and this is how they were packaged




one of the mounting cups for the rear bags was missing so they made me two brand new ones and sent them out asap.

[Grocery Cart]

So where's the progress pictures, Austin?

[austinscottphotography]

I like the way you did your setup! Great job so far.

thanks! it looks a little different now but essentially the same.

that E28 you're building though...wow

love the stance and those wheels and of course the fact that it's white makes it even better.

[austinscottphotography]

Yeah thats definitely a wall. Sorry to hear that. It will come together though. Finding people that are down to lend a tool or garage shouldnt be too hard hopefully.

i have been very lucky with this move. Dallas has some amazing people that have been very generous and helpful. Joining North Texas Bimmers Club (NTBC) on facebook has made this move so easy.

Working on the car all day today and tomorrow. progress pics to follow

[drosas]

this is my first stopping point

I like the way you did your setup! Great job so far.

[Keith602]

well Keith, i've hit a bit of a wall. (i'll post pics and full explanation soon)

I moved to a new state
had to get a new job
don't have a garage anymore (apt living sucks)
am trying to make new friends with tools
sheared off a bolt while trying to remove front suspension so that has set me back quite a bit.

all new suspension parts will be here this week and lines are being run Saturday.

Yeah thats definitely a wall. Sorry to hear that. It will come together though. Finding people that are down to lend a tool or garage shouldnt be too hard hopefully.

[austinscottphotography]

When do the bags go in? I like what youve done with the management install

well Keith, i've hit a bit of a wall. (i'll post pics and full explanation soon)

I moved to a new state
had to get a new job
don't have a garage anymore (apt living sucks)
am trying to make new friends with tools
sheared off a bolt while trying to remove front suspension so that has set me back quite a bit.

all new suspension parts will be here this week and lines are being run Saturday.

[Keith602]

When do the bags go in? I like what youve done with the management install

[uvebeenrobd]

looks good

[austinscottphotography]

Next i needed to find a mounting spot for the ECU.
Decided to have it face up because i like the lettering and the black and gold...lol





wires will be hidden underneath


bye bye circular storage area



this is my first stopping point


my air tank is smiling at me


just a donut as a spare for now but i'll fit a full size in the future.


i decided to buy a pancake tank b/c it fit much better inside the spare tire well without taking up too much space.
it's still a 5 gallon tank.

i had to stop here b/c i was a few days away from my big move and had to finish packing.
i'm also a bit intimidated by the wiring and all the air hoses. Not a ton of info supplied by the instruction manual but i'll figure it out.

unfortunately i moved from a large garage with all my tools to an apartment and most of my tools are in storage. Finishing this build is gonna be a challenge but it's only till september. I hope to have everything done by the end of February depending on how cold it stays here.

[austinscottphotography]

first thing was cutting the threads way down....



didn't need to cut it out for anything to fit so i decided to just keep it this way.




the Accu Air management system




and this is how you hold a wrench with only 1 person...wedge it against something


i originally decided to hide everything on this little shelf, but i eventually scrapped that idea in favor of a more modular system


cutting out mounting holes for the compressors


1 Mounted, 1 to go



the bigger the washer the more stable the mount


both mounted


the new mounting spot

[austinscottphotography]

let the air ride fabrication begin!!!

my goal is to keep all the safety and creature features that came with the car as well as all the storage space a wagon offers.
Most people like to show off their equipment, i prefer to keep everything hidden while maintaining full function.

if you have any suggestions, i'm sure you'll have no problem with sharing them...lol

[uvebeenrobd]

I'm actually in Dallas off Preston Oaks road.

i didn't find Vintage BMW but c&c website for Dallas says they meet at 6800 Dallas Pkwy, Plano, TX 75024. is that correct?

That sounds about right.

[VanDamage]

This is cool so far.I love E46 wagons, never seen a white one before