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So this will be my first build thread here. I have lurked around and posted a bit of my old e30, but never fully committed to a build/progress thread. I am going to try to keep this updated as things get done, and as I get pictures of the car.
Heres my old e30.
Now about the new car. The car is a 1997 BMW 528i, silver on grey interior. I purchased the one owner car in November of 2014 with 158k miles and nearly 20k in dealership reciepts. I am from Pennsylvania, and after countless hours counting craigslist I finally found the car. It wasnt my first choice for color, but it has since grown on me slightly, and the book of reciepts really made up for it, including the ever so common cooling system overhaul being completed.
When I purchased the car it was bone stock, and looked like this.
Soon after buying the car I felt the need to start buying parts for it. First thing on the list was a set of Broadway Static coilovers.
I had received the coilovers in January and due to being away at school, and not having access to a place to work on the car, the coilovers sat in the box until May, when the school year was over. From January to May I had also purchased a few more parts for the e39 including Luxury Abstract curtains for the windows as well as OEM BMW style 89 wheels off of an e65/66 and 4 tires. All of which were waiting at my house for the day I got back.
May 6, my first day home from school I got right to work without wasting any time. First in order was to get the wheels cleaned up.
Cleaned up pretty well for 400 dollar wheels. They have curbage, but are just a temporary set until I can find the right set of wheels to build. Next up was getting the tires mounted. 215/35/19 Federal 595SS on 19x9 fronts, and 235/35/19 Nankang NS-20s on 19x10 rears.
After getting the tires mounted I went straight to the garage and got started tearing the front apart. This is the only picture I have of the progress of the install, when I get to work, I work much better just focusing on the task at hand rather than taking step by step pictures in between.
Heres the comparison of the BWS coilovers to the stock spring setup.
The install was pretty straight forward. Between myself and a few friends, we were able to get it done after 2 nights of working on it. Ran into a few roadblocks, as always, but overall it was an easy and very worthwhile install.
Heres what the car looked like right after I rolled it out of the garage the first time.
It stayed like this for a little while, missing center caps, and being out of alignment that is. I was happy with the front at this point, but the rear was more aggressive than I had anticipated so I wasnt able to go as low as I wanted. The end goal is to have the car sit completely level, so that the side skirts are perpendicular to the road.
The center caps came in, so I popped them in.
At this point I desperately needed an alignment, and finding a shop that could do it was a chore and a half. I had gone to 10 or more shops all saying they couldnt do it, and STS tire, who got it on the rack, with my help using wood, and got all 4 sensors on the wheels, only for the front to be too low to turn the wheel for the caster sweep and he made up some story of how he cannot do the alignment without the sweep, which I know is false. I finally got it aligned by a shop 30 minutes away, and the front is perfect ever since.
Now I am happy with almost everything except the rear ride height. So I took the car to a friends shop where we adjusted the eccentric bolt to attain more camber, and also tried to keep the toe at a minimum. This is right after maximizing camber and keeping toe as minimal as possible.
Still not being happy with the rear, I borrowed a fender roller from a friend. That plan backfired, as the BWS coilovers are too short for the eastwood fender roller arm, and I wasnt able to use the roller. Being as impatient as I am, plan b was enacted and I grabbed the cutoff wheel and cut off the inner fender lip for more clearance. This was finally enough to get the wheel to tuck slightly but still not enough.
Its got a little bit of tuck right now, but the side skirt is still about 1/2 inch from being level, so it still needs to go down slightly. The problem now is that the camber is good, but the toe is too much, so the wheel hits at the rear of the fender due to toe. So Ive been running the car like this for about a month now, and Im very satisfied with the quality and ride of the BWS coilovers, and close to being satisfied with the car itself.
This is where the car stands now, but I have a set of Thayer Motorsports adjustable rear control arms on their way, so as soon as they arrive I will be adding more camber, and zeroing toe, so that my tires last, as they are at 50 percent tread already in the rear after around 1000 miles. Once the control arms arrive and I get the rear where I want it Ill have some updates for you guys. Until then, ill try to update pictures in between real updates.
Heres my old e30.
Now about the new car. The car is a 1997 BMW 528i, silver on grey interior. I purchased the one owner car in November of 2014 with 158k miles and nearly 20k in dealership reciepts. I am from Pennsylvania, and after countless hours counting craigslist I finally found the car. It wasnt my first choice for color, but it has since grown on me slightly, and the book of reciepts really made up for it, including the ever so common cooling system overhaul being completed.
When I purchased the car it was bone stock, and looked like this.
Soon after buying the car I felt the need to start buying parts for it. First thing on the list was a set of Broadway Static coilovers.
I had received the coilovers in January and due to being away at school, and not having access to a place to work on the car, the coilovers sat in the box until May, when the school year was over. From January to May I had also purchased a few more parts for the e39 including Luxury Abstract curtains for the windows as well as OEM BMW style 89 wheels off of an e65/66 and 4 tires. All of which were waiting at my house for the day I got back.
May 6, my first day home from school I got right to work without wasting any time. First in order was to get the wheels cleaned up.
Cleaned up pretty well for 400 dollar wheels. They have curbage, but are just a temporary set until I can find the right set of wheels to build. Next up was getting the tires mounted. 215/35/19 Federal 595SS on 19x9 fronts, and 235/35/19 Nankang NS-20s on 19x10 rears.
After getting the tires mounted I went straight to the garage and got started tearing the front apart. This is the only picture I have of the progress of the install, when I get to work, I work much better just focusing on the task at hand rather than taking step by step pictures in between.
Heres the comparison of the BWS coilovers to the stock spring setup.
The install was pretty straight forward. Between myself and a few friends, we were able to get it done after 2 nights of working on it. Ran into a few roadblocks, as always, but overall it was an easy and very worthwhile install.
Heres what the car looked like right after I rolled it out of the garage the first time.
It stayed like this for a little while, missing center caps, and being out of alignment that is. I was happy with the front at this point, but the rear was more aggressive than I had anticipated so I wasnt able to go as low as I wanted. The end goal is to have the car sit completely level, so that the side skirts are perpendicular to the road.
The center caps came in, so I popped them in.
At this point I desperately needed an alignment, and finding a shop that could do it was a chore and a half. I had gone to 10 or more shops all saying they couldnt do it, and STS tire, who got it on the rack, with my help using wood, and got all 4 sensors on the wheels, only for the front to be too low to turn the wheel for the caster sweep and he made up some story of how he cannot do the alignment without the sweep, which I know is false. I finally got it aligned by a shop 30 minutes away, and the front is perfect ever since.
Now I am happy with almost everything except the rear ride height. So I took the car to a friends shop where we adjusted the eccentric bolt to attain more camber, and also tried to keep the toe at a minimum. This is right after maximizing camber and keeping toe as minimal as possible.
Still not being happy with the rear, I borrowed a fender roller from a friend. That plan backfired, as the BWS coilovers are too short for the eastwood fender roller arm, and I wasnt able to use the roller. Being as impatient as I am, plan b was enacted and I grabbed the cutoff wheel and cut off the inner fender lip for more clearance. This was finally enough to get the wheel to tuck slightly but still not enough.
Its got a little bit of tuck right now, but the side skirt is still about 1/2 inch from being level, so it still needs to go down slightly. The problem now is that the camber is good, but the toe is too much, so the wheel hits at the rear of the fender due to toe. So Ive been running the car like this for about a month now, and Im very satisfied with the quality and ride of the BWS coilovers, and close to being satisfied with the car itself.
This is where the car stands now, but I have a set of Thayer Motorsports adjustable rear control arms on their way, so as soon as they arrive I will be adding more camber, and zeroing toe, so that my tires last, as they are at 50 percent tread already in the rear after around 1000 miles. Once the control arms arrive and I get the rear where I want it Ill have some updates for you guys. Until then, ill try to update pictures in between real updates.
On the verge of being Stanced
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