E36 Sedan Stance Project

[michel3171]

Some updates on the bimmer!

I'm back with some small updates!

The weather sucks, its cold and rainy.

Have to go for the annual MOT checkup next month, after which I can finally get the nice wheels back on - **** these winter steelies.


I've had a crack in my windscreen for a very long time now, and have decided that it might be time to replace my Cracked - Chipped - Scratched windshield, for a fresh piece of glass.



The crack isnt any hazard, nor does it bother me while driving - but it bothers me when I think about my car. Also, I've got insurance for windshield-replacement so no biggie.

New windshield isnt OEM, but It's German - so close enough?





I asked the guys replacing it if I could get into the workshop - normally not allowed - but they were okay with it! So got to see how its done, which was pretty interesting! As shown on the picture the guy uses this fancy device, to pull the metal wire through the old glue - to free the old windshield.




While removing the windshield, I got to see the underside of the paraffin plate. Which didn't look nice - theres alot, and I mean - ALOT, of grime under there. Will have to clean that up once I order a new one - since this one has cracks running along the edges.



I also found this Parking/Meter ticket under the windshield, wedged between the underside of the dash and the window. It's from the 8th of December '99. Vintage?






With the battery-powered glue-er (it ejects glue) he made a nice bead around the windshield. After asking for my approval (lol) he got the help of a co-worker and put the windshield on the car. Fresh new rubber on the top of the windshield - and it was ready to go! I wasn't allowed to wash the car for the first 24 hours - so I made sure to wait a full week before doing anything near the windshield. Maybe a little overkill, but rather safe than sorry!



Now a week later, knowing for sure that the glue (should) be dry - I decided to finally give my baby a proper wash. Which I haven't done in a while. It was dirty...

Started the "Detail" from the underside of the Hood/Bonnet.



Not that bad - but could use a little soap. The engine has some yellow stuff caked on it - which isnt easy to get rid off without a wire brush or something - so I left it right where it was.



Didn't spend too much time here, used some detail-spray on the black plastics to restore some dark shine.


Right, now onto the rest of the car.










Spent a couple of hours on this - taking my time and using the 2 bucket method.

Pre-Rinse
Wash with washmitt
Clay
Rinse and dry
Polished the right side of the car (the left side had been done a month or 2 ago) to get rid of the swirls - and get some shine.
Waxed the whole car

I was pretty pleased with the results - the paint isn't in the best condition, deep scratches and some dings- and dents here and there. Will have to get it resprayed somewhere in the future.






I also (finally) got rid of the rear window-sticker 'Daily Driven' And replaced it with one saying "Lowered". That will not be statisfying to the Purists, but oh well.

I also added a new sticker on the windshield, ''RollHard''. I attended the meeting last year - but wasn't allowed in due to not having ''good enough condition paint''. Which was true, my front bumper/grille has alot of rock chips and missing clearcoat. But I'm hoping to get in this year!



And that's the end of the wash - clean!




The next day I met up with a friend, to get rid of something that's been bugging me for a long time....

THE TOW/TRAILER HOOK/HITCH!


Now that my car is low, stanced and impractical - a hitch is pretty useless. So I decided to get rid of it.




First we took off the bumper.





Upon inspecting the way the hitch was mounted, I found out that I couldn't simply take it off - I needed to get new mounting points for the rear bumper. Me being a cheeky ricer, I decided to just get rid of it the easy way.




Yep. We ground it off.



I dont have alot of experience with grinders, so I'm always scared of getting sparks, metal, or pieces of disc flung in my face - hence my face looking like im constipated.

Also managed to scrape my finger on the grinder. Yeah.. No biggie though.





After I ground everything off, I used some High Temp Matte Black paint to keep it from rusting. It's the only paint we had on hand, I do realise that a towbar doesnt get that hot haha.





The way I see it, is that I now have a reinfoced rear - since the middle beam of the towbar is still there. Kinda like a tube-frame? (LOL)





We put the original bumper back on, and the removal was complete!

And yes, my exhaust is attached in a very wonky way. But I will fix that too!



After we finished the delete, we replaced the door-handle gaskets. These were mostly cracked.







We took the old ones off, and cleaned off the dirty paintwork underneath - using some detail-spray and a microfiber cloth.







I also made a comparison shot between the old and new gasket. The gasket comes with the handle-trim attached to it, I couldn't buy the rubber seal on its own (I went to the local dealer for it).




And yes, my glove is mostly gone - but that's okay. I'm in the process of making this a trend - will be the new mechanic's fashion accessoire.

Here's what the new trim looks like:



I was very happy with how it looked, made a pretty big change to the car's appearance!



A week or 2 ago I managed to pickup a set of OEM M3 Bumpers and sideskirts. It sat on a totalled E36 Coupe, Madeira Violett Metallic. The car was in a pretty bad condition, but the kit was in great shape! Got it for a steal!




Must've scraped a guardrail, and then ending up in a ditch? Would explain the scrape - and the sh!tload of mud.


While I was busy unbolting the bumpers, I was focused mainly on, you know - unbolting the bumpers. After dragging my toolbox, and ALL THE BUMPERS, in 1 go - because men never walk twice - to the car, I forgot that I had a small car. Not a van. So I spent 15 minutes piling/puzzling the stuff into the car, without making my interior dirty or broken.




And while I couldn't use 5th gear, since the bumpers were in the way - I got everything home safely. Luckily it was only a 10 minute drive back to my house.

That same evening I washed everything, and got the mud - and years of grime - off of everything!


The plan for these is to get em sanded, and painted in my colour (Montreal Blue Metallic) and to bolt everything up to my car. Which im super happy about - since I now won't have some fake knockoff bumpers, but the real deal!



As some might have noticed, I'm missing the shiftboot/Ebrake boot. Now this was just for 1 day, and It's nice now.


I bought a set of Shift- and Ebrakeboots from 2Mshiftboots. It matches my interior, and looks very, very nice.

The owner, Matt, is located in the US, and makes custom shiftboots in all kinds of different fabric types. Pretty nice guy.

I bought a set, which I then assembled onto the plastic frames myself.

Here are the results!








I'm very happy with the way this looks, and it really compliments the interior nicely.

I also ordered a matching keychain, for the extra streetcredz.


And lastly, to finish this long update, I have a sneak-preview of what will be coming next time:




Since this random wooden box probably won't ring many bells, Ill give a hint.

*US*



Till next time, fellow Stanceworkers!

[gilf]

Nice E36

[cblock406]

Love that new interior!

[DUTCHswift]

Those seats are sick

[Benwalsh91]

I was thinking the same! Trying to find one, and I'll probably wrap it in a matching Suede (matching with my headliner).

Perhaps also fit in a Automated sunscreen? hmmmm..

haha I was thinking rear window blind aswell!

[michel3171]

I quite like the rollup rear windows. also, would you be able to locate a parcel shelf without the holes for headrests. I love the no rear headrest look.

I was thinking the same! Trying to find one, and I'll probably wrap it in a matching Suede (matching with my headliner).

Perhaps also fit in a Automated sunscreen? hmmmm..

[Benwalsh91]

I quite like the rollup rear windows. also, would you be able to locate a parcel shelf without the holes for headrests. I love the no rear headrest look.

[michel3171]

roll up windows and cloth sport seats?!?!?! that's so sick

Funny, I was actually already looking into a Power Window conversion for the rears - but I guess there is some hype over the Rollup windows? lol Thanks though!

This has certainly come on a long way from the start! the interior make over is really good and glad you got them seats in the end! now you just need to locate some black pieces for the interior such as the sun visors, handles and lights etc.

look forward to seeing where this progresses.

Thanks man! I actually have a set of black sun visors already waiting to be installed, but haven't gotten around to fitting them though.

Nice car! I really like those sport seats!

Thanks!

[meech]

roll up windows and cloth sport seats?!?!?! that's so sick

[Benwalsh91]

This has certainly come on a long way from the start! the interior make over is really good and glad you got them seats in the end! now you just need to locate some black pieces for the interior such as the sun visors, handles and lights etc.

look forward to seeing where this progresses.

[19birel]

Nice car! I really like those sport seats!

[michel3171]

Fresh Interior!

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted something on this page. Figured I'd give you guys some intel about the Bimmer.

Its still running! After a little more than a year of ownership, the only major thing that broke on me was the starter. Which only happened a week ago, and I fixed it for under a 100$.

But, the more time you spend with a car, the more will break. Or loosen up, or fall down.

Well, this is what happened to my headliner. As all E36 owners know, these headliners WILL fall down. It's not a question "if", but "when". For me this was about 3 months ago. It happened over the course of 1 week, and what started off as a small loose flap, turned into old, nasty fabric hanging on my head, and almost over the headrests.

This was ofcourse unacceptable for such a beautifull car, and it made make the leap to restore my interior. (Door inserts were also loose btw).



Together with my girlfriend, without whom I'd not have managed such a incredible result as we did, we embarked on the journey, to remove the headliner, take it out of the car, without breaking/bending/snapping it.

And yes, it is possible to remove the headliner out of a Sedan, without removing the front/rear windows. You need to lower the passenger seat all the way down, move it to the back, and put the car in 1st or 3d gear.

After a while of hustling, we got it out, and started rubbing off all the old glue on the doorpanels/headliner. Headliner had no sticky residue left, it was all bonedry which made for an easy cleanup.

The doorpanels on the other hand, they were still sticky - and were annoying as F*CK to clean, we managed though.

Here are some during/after pictures, didnt have any "before" pictures, but imagine a big bag hanging from the ceiling.









This was the result:














I must say, im VERY pleased with the outcome!

We used real Suede, but it's not black. Its more a very dark blue/purple mix, and it matches the car's colour pretty well!


After that, I started hyping myself to get some new seats. The driver's seats had more holes than fabric, so that needed replacement. So the hunt for seats began.

Recaro, Sparco, Bride, Stätus, I looked at so many seats that I was starting to develop a deep hatred against Chairs/Sofa's/Seats.

BUT THEN!

ON EBAY!

My rescue!

I found a, near pristine, very rare, set of OEM Sport seats. I'll let the pictures do the talking.



















THESE SEATS, ARE VERY COOL!

They're the sportseats out of the 318IS Motorsport Class 2 SEDAN.

With the M/RAIN Pattern stitched into em.


I AM IN LOVE!!

Allright, I hope you guys like these new "mods" too.

It's been a while, I did some other small things here and there too, but no pictures sadly. I'll keep this post more up-2-date from now on!!!

Cheeersss!

[michel3171]

Yes! Finally graduated! Now on to spend my summer days working my low-paying job at Shell Fuelstation. Oh well, here goes the long forgotten update.

To celebrate finishing school, I decided to go on a trip to the Eifel (German mountain range) with my girlfriend and her friend

Very nice roads there, lots of room to play around, and ALOT of turns!



Before leaving I applied some fresh wax on to the car.







A bit of rain here and there, which was tempting me to leave some skid marks. But my passengers didn't like me doing that lol.


But here goes, the REAL holiday. We went on a trip to Poland, had lots of fun, and drove many kilometers. 4500 to be exact (2800 miles)


First day in Poland I forced my GF to go to a carshow with me, RACEISM 2017 in WROCLAW.






Also went up to the mountains.












The trip was nice, but one of the main Highways was terrible. Did some damage to my suspension (nothing major, quick and easy fix)

SCHADE:



Also got around to replacing the spark plugs, after having bought them 4 months ago.



Well, that's it for now. More updates coming soon!

[michel3171]

Im running a cheap Coilover kit from TA-Technix. Cheapest I could find that still has an attest!

[Jack__e24]

What type of suspension are you running