Sketchy E36 M3

[bdesmarteauej205]

Got the car up and running again. For some reason my photos won't work on my computer, so this update will be lacking. Since the last update, i got the car running, but put the clutch disc in backwards, RAD. pulled he trans again, re installed it correctly. After letting the car get up to temperature, i noticed a puddle of fresh oil on the ground, RAD. Noticed it was dripping off the primary chain tensioner. replaced that crush washer, still leaking. found that it was leaking from the timing cover area of the head gasket, RAD. Start removing the head, AGAIN. While I'm doing that, the clutch blows up in my daily, RAD. At this point, I'm having a slight melt down cause i have no running car and life keeps shitting on my chest. I figure i can get the M3 driving faster, so i pull the head off and replace the headgasket AGAIN. The reason for the leak was my fault, i didn't know RTV is supposed to be applied on the timing cover before laying the head gasket down...live and learn i guess. I threw that shit back together and had it running within 24 hours. Been running good so far. ill probably check the head bolts again after i put some more miles on it. i got my frond bumper/ lip painted, rear lip is at paint now. Although the car vibrates so much more, the solid trans mounts and shifter have made a huge difference. i still need to address some little things here and there, and theres still some stuff i want to do, it feel so good to drive this again. Now I'm just impatiently waiting for warm weather and driving.

heres the 2 photos that will work for me, ill have more soon. sorry for the novel, and I've given up on trying to resize photos lol

[DawsonLiri]

That roller is fire!

Nice head gasket

[xxcody2130xx]

Love this car, pics are not working for me though. Keep up the good work man!

[Miroteknik]

glad you didnt give up, looking forward to seeing it come back!

[bdesmarteauej205]

I ended up just pulling the motor and trans. My goal is to just reseal and clean everything. Ordered a bunch of seals and gaskets off of Pelican, so hopefully this thing won't leak for a while. Its a 90s bmw, so I'm sure it still will.


The selector shaft seal has always been pissing fluid since I've owned the car. so i replaced that and power washed/scrubbed the trans with a scuff pad. Good enough for me.


Removed the harness, degreased and pressure washed the motor


Everything up top is still looking good. Ive never messed with vans or the cam gears before, so hopefully i don't fuck it up putting the motor back together.


As i was loosening the head bolts, the longer bolt that goes into the timing cover snapped off, so thats cool. i drilled/ re tapped the hole, so hopefully i can snug that bolt down without any issues


Im pretty sure this may be why my car has always been a bitch to bleed. i don't even know how any coolant was getting through here. The fact that this motor hasn't popped yet honestly amazes me. Literally almost every coolant passage looked like this


This pretty much brings it up to date. I put the oil pan on today with a fresh gasket. I'm just waiting for my head gasket to get here, then i can start putting everything back together. Whoever "resealed" this motor last pretty much used rtv for everything, so its nice knowing that there will be legit gaskets in there now. I sold the model 5's and ordered skrimz from VR. This thing should be the best performing/looking its been (imo) after its back together.

Also, my friend surprised me with this film photo from summer time. Im super stoked on it and regained some motivation I've lost on this thing.


Thats it for now, ill be back soon.

[bdesmarteauej205]

Update time. So that private event happened. It was super fun, probably some of the best driving I've done. I think next year ill get a go pro and try to upload videos here too, we'll see. Met up with some friends at a gas station like usual before heading down to the track. My friend took what is the coolest roller to date of the m3


We took a different route this time, which ended up taking us through some really foggy twisties and really close to Mount St Helens, which was pretty tight. Got to the track, unloaded everything, drove a whole bunch and had a bunch of fun.



On my very last lap of the day, i managed to YEET it into the tire wall. I flicked towards the wall like always, but when i went to chuck the wheel, the car just kept going straight. Im not sure if i just got caught in tire debris/dust up against the wall or what, but the front end went in first, then the car just spun around super quick. After the car stopped spinning, i heard a loud hissing sound and the motor was shaking super bad, so i shut it off. The condenser and radiator were smashed, and the a/c lines snapped off the condenser. shattered my lip and bumper into over a dozen pieces. The coolant line that runs under the radiator and to the reservoir got cut in half, so i lost all of my coolant. We pushed the car back to the pits and got the radiator to fit good enough to get it home, but my main issue was the coolant hose. I used to use a cut piece of bmx handlebars as an old e brake extension. for whatever reason, i decided to throw it in my tool bag before i left. I ended up bridging the hose with this piece of handlebar to get the car home. We spent hours cleaning up and trying to bleed the cooling system, which has always been a pain in the ass. Stopped for mexican food, then set out on the couple hour drive home.


Finally got the car home, let it sit for a while, then started taking it apart.

[bdesmarteauej205]

Car looks awesome. Sad about the wheels but all things go. I absolutely NEED one of the bad luck club stickers. Are they something I can get online?

thanks! Yeah id just google bad luck club and his site should come up

[Quillhill36]

Car looks awesome. Sad about the wheels but all things go. I absolutely NEED one of the bad luck club stickers. Are they something I can get online?

[bdesmarteauej205]

Damn i suck at updating this. Got the rear end back in the car with the new bushings, rotors, and parking brake shoes. The rear of the car feels way more solid than it did before, which i expected. I guess its just crazy to me to actually feel the difference. The only thing i couldn't get to work is the handbrake. I tried burning/bedding the shoes in, but i just can't get the rear wheels to lock up for shit. The only way i can get it to kind of lock up is after the car is sideways, and even then its mediocre at best. I had lots of issues with the car just straightening out because the wheels wouldn't lock up, so if anyone was any advice for that, I'm all ears.

Now for the 2 day event/ matsuri/ summer uprising. We all set out early in the morning to make the 2ish hour drive down to SPR. After arriving we unloaded all of our equipment, put up the canopy for some shade, and tried to stay cool till it was time for the drivers meeting. After the meeting we went back to the tent and chilled so the initial rush of the first drivers on track would go by. I could only get about 3-4 laps in before my water temp would get around 220f, but i drove pretty much from 9am to 6pm on saturday with out any issues, and on the same pair of kr20's. Those tires are the shit. After driving, we went to a river maybe 5 minutes from the track to cool off and relax. The rest of the evening basically consisted of sitting around with homies and throwing back beers.

Sunday was pretty much the same deal, drive all day 3-4 laps at a time. We decided to leave early because of the heat, and traffic on i5 towards seattle is shit, so we wanted to try and beat it. As i was loading stuff into the trunk of the m3, some shit happened that I've never even heard of before. My car was off and in gear because the ratcheting thing in my e brake is broken, my car tried to start itself, and since it was in gear, it jumped forward a couple times and ended up running over some tools, a coolant jug, and started to go into out table/ tent. I jumped in and put it in neutral and went to disconnect the battery, when i grabbed the negative cable, it was so hot that it blistered my thumb as i grabbed it. Next thing i know theres a cloud of smoke coming out of the hood. We had to bump start it, drive through about 3 hours of stop and go traffic with a constant fear of something else burning up on the car, but i made it home.

The started was wired to a relay from the PO, but the relay wasn't secured in any way, so by the time i found it, the plastic case for the relay was gone, the relay was covered in oil just resting against the block..so i replaced the starter and relay, redid the wiring, and mounted the relay to an eyelet thing on the dipstick tube so its secure and away from everything else, we gucci now.

All in all it was the best 2 days I've had behind the wheel of this car. i feel that i progressed a lot as a driver and found areas where i need to improve my driving, as well as some areas on the car. Heres a couple photos that one of my friends took.

Sorry for the novel, i just thought it'd be cool to kind of share what i do and where i go with this car. I just think details like that make threads more interesting.









Still don't know how to resize photos..ill go through and resize them after i figure it out, sorry.

I ended up trading the leons for some advan tcii. I just really wanted to go back to one piece wheels, plus these are tight.



Im doing a private event at SPR next month, after that ill be done for the year and ill start refreshing the car. So far my list consists of, fix and repaint aero, new gauges, catch can, reseal a bunch of stuff, cage, refinish wheels (maybe), steering rack, reservoir, and hoses, maybe new flca, radiator fan out of some 90's volvo, solid mount shifter, and probably more stuff i can't remember. Ill update as i remember to.

[Bvrnbridges]

The leon’s look dope as hell! Been waiting to see a set on a e36

[notmarshall]

what about the part where you caught your car on fire?

[bdesmarteauej205]

So in preping the car for the 2 day event, i wanted to get my tab pocket plates welded in. Considering the number of cracks i have dealt with on this chassis, i figured it was only a matter of time until i ran into more issues. My buddy was keeping me company in the garage and we were talking about other stuff the car needs. Next thing i know, I'm taking the entire rear end out as a "while your in there" kinda thing.

What i ended up finding was: 4 cracks in the passenger side rtab pocket, both rear brake rotors cracked, e brake shoes look like theyre about to crumble apart, subframe is cracked in 2 places, and all 4 cv boots/ points are not in good shape (already knew this). so i ordered solid Nerptech subframe bushings, and offset solid rtab inserts so i can actually get the rear toe in spec. While everything is out, I'm going to rebuild both axles, and new rotors/ brake shoes. So the car should be feeling pretty good. Theres still stuff i want to go through and replace, but ill to that at a later time.

Heres a couple photos that i remembered to take.









I just got a new computer and I'm not how to resize photos yet, so y'all will just have to deal with the jumbo ones. sorry lol

[xxcody2130xx]

So much yes, subbed

[bdesmarteauej205]

Not much has gone on lately. Planning on hitting an event at the end of the month, then hitting a 2 day event at the end of July. so until i have stuff worth posting, heres some blurry short from a local spot i found

[Atomicgarage]

hope you dont mind i am about to make one of your pictures on your car as a wallpaper!