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  • #91
    Just in time

    Got these photos from the fabricator today. Looks like I got to the RTAB pockets just in time.






    Fortunately he’s welding in plates and fixing that all up. Hopefully more photos soon, I literally got those photos a few hours ago. As mentioned prior, he’s doing all the bushings while there, since I really have no ambition of doing another rear subframe drop on the floor again. Until I get a lift, I’m done dropping subframes

    I’m thinking about celebrating with a track day, once track days are a thing again of course. I’ll need some different wheels for that though, so... time to source another set?

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    • #92
      Jesus, all these cracked e36s pictures have me worried about mine lately, hope it will hot be too late when I can manage to do the reinforcements

      FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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      • #93
        Sorry to see that common e36/e46 manifested on your car, but happy you caught it in time and getting it fixed.
        Fruttolo, you should do this sooner than later.
        "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
        Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

        3.0 L e30 ground up build

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        • #94
          I want to buy an E92M3 in the next year or two, but stuff like this RTAB issue scares me. For the life of me, I can't understand why BMW can't get simple stuff like subframe mounts and rod bearings right.

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          • #95
            Originally posted by Fruttolo View Post
            Jesus, all these cracked e36s pictures have me worried about mine lately, hope it will hot be too late when I can manage to do the reinforcements
            It's worth checking at the very least to see if they're failing already. But if you have the time, I'd definitely recommend it. Even if your car never experiences this failure, it's relatively cheap insurance. If it fails, I've seen it take out quarter panels from the wheel smashing in. I was going to do it regardless if mine was damaged or not, but turns out I timed it just right!

            Originally posted by gnmzl View Post
            Sorry to see that common e36/e46 manifested on your car, but happy you caught it in time and getting it fixed.
            Fruttolo, you should do this sooner than later.
            Thanks! All good, I've seen cars with more severe damage get repaired, so I'm not stressing it too much. Definitely glad I caught this now before it got too bad, had it failed completely I would have had a very, very bad day.

            Originally posted by honeybadger View Post
            I want to buy an E92M3 in the next year or two, but stuff like this RTAB issue scares me. For the life of me, I can't understand why BMW can't get simple stuff like subframe mounts and rod bearings right.
            In my experience, these issues are mildly annoying if you catch them before they become a big issue. The aftermarket has solutions for everything, so if you find an E92 with service history on the bearings and you're willing to do some preventative maintenance to add that level of insurance, it's pretty much a non-issue.

            The big issue with BMWs is buying a car with no known history and then not taking steps to prevent future damage. That's where most enthusiasts run into trouble. You'll read countless forum posts about people saying they never reinforced their E36, or never did the rod bearings on their S65 and they're just fine. And like sure, you are until you aren't. And then typically what was a "relatively small" job, suddenly becomes a full blown engine rebuild or rewelding your floor back together.

            I'd say if you're in the market for an E92, don't let the rod bearings scare you off, just make sure you do your due diligence to make sure the car you get either has had it addressed, or it will be immediately taken care of on purchase.

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            • #96
              Welded


              So fortunately everything is fixed with the trailing arm reinforcements. Just goes to show there's no need to panic over these, but if you own an E36 it is definitely something to be aware of.


              After all of that, the only poly bushings we ended up installing were the subframe bushings. The trailing arm bushings were brand new, and the diff bushings look ok. I may go back in and do the diff bushings myself at a later date, but for now I'd prefer to leave the rubber ones in. Less noise in the car that way.

              Today it got aligned, went back to that shop briefly to fix a small mistake with the speedo sensor, and was then dropped off for fresh tint. So progress is happening as best as I can while the world is upside down.

              A brief question for all E36 owners: has anyone had PCV valve (oil separator) failure that resulted in high crank case pressure blowing out the seals? You may remember I had the same problem in my Miata a year ago. After facing continued oil leak issues, it occurred to me that this is only happening after driving the car hard. If I get it high into the RPM and park it, it seems to leak oil pretty badly. If I put around, it doesn't. A friend of mine noticed that a small amount of smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I floored it, which is consistent with PCV failure, but I wasn't sure if that really translated into crankcase pressure becoming so high it's pushing oil past the seals.

              I already ordered the parts, but I thought I'd ask if anyone else has gone through this. It's driving me a little nuts.

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              • #97
                Pandemic Productivity

                Lots of small updates lately because it’s not like I have anything better to do. First, I got the car back from alignment. If you’ve been following the thread, you’ll know I had some concerns about my steering rack and the handling of the car after doing all of that. I’m pleased to report it was just my own horrible home alignment. The toe was so far off on the front axle that it wouldn’t self steer. One fresh alignment later, and the car feels perfect. The ZHP rack feels tight and linear, and has a great lock to lock ratio (3.0). Huge upgrade from the blown stock steering rack.

                Unfortunately now I’m dealing with other weird handling dynamics. I think I just discovered some flaws in my plan. The front feels sharp and direct, but the rear end of the car feels washed out and too soft. A number of problems come to mind, the narrower tires on the rear over stock, the less grippy compound that I’m running now compared to before, mostly using rubber bushings vs. poly in the front. Of course dampening settings could play a large role in this as well. So I’m going to take some time to fiddle with the rear shocks and see if I can’t improve it.

                I have a feeling in the next few months you’ll probably see me change up my entire wheel, tire and ride height situation to get the car to feel a little sharper. I think I probably slammed it out a little too much.




                Also, less interesting but still exciting for me, I finally got the car retinted. When I bought the car it had horribly bubbled tint on just the rear glass. I love the fish bowl look, so I had it all redone in 70% ceramic. Living in Arizona, we’ve already started hitting over 100F temps the last few weeks, so I wanted to make sure the AC had a fighting chance. I got Xpel XR Plus ceramic tint put on all the way around (minus windshield). It’s a dumb foot note on the car that I’ll never mention again, but in case anyone was wondering what a nearly invisible tint looks like, here you go.

                Up next, I am still waiting on the PCV components to arrive. I need to install the ACS delete boot, as well as my intake back on, and fuss with a few loose ends in the engine bay. I’m also slowly collecting pieces for paint, I had a whole bunch of rubber gaskets/window seals arrive for the car this week. I’m just trying to collect every bit I need before I send it off later this Summer.

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                • #98
                  I was 99% sure the steering problem was just the car screaming for an alignment LOL glad it was, too
                  Are those garagistic rear subframe bushings? If yes keep an eye on them, just yesterday I was reading a thread on e36 world groups talking about those failing due to being low quality and having no sleeve for the bolt, hope they don't fail on you too.

                  Rear end dynamics tho are worth discussing further, your ride height is not that dramatically low IMO

                  FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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                  • #99
                    Originally posted by Fruttolo View Post
                    I was 99% sure the steering problem was just the car screaming for an alignment LOL glad it was, too
                    Are those garagistic rear subframe bushings? If yes keep an eye on them, just yesterday I was reading a thread on e36 world groups talking about those failing due to being low quality and having no sleeve for the bolt, hope they don't fail on you too.

                    Rear end dynamics tho are worth discussing further, your ride height is not that dramatically low IMO
                    They are Garagistic bushings, and I’ll keep a close eye on them, thanks for the heads up. I know AKG bushings don’t have a sleeve either, so I had noticed that when ordering but assumed it was ok. I’ve always heard about Garagistic quality issues, but I’ve never experienced any for myself after years of using their products. However, definitely a point of concern if others are experiencing failures. I’ll keep a really close eye on it. I was discussing this with some friend’s last night, it’s very likely that when I S54 swap this car I’ll pull out the whole rear end again for a second refresh to change a few things. So they just need to last until then if they are poor quality.

                    On the handling point, yeah I didn’t think I was too low but I’m struggling to figure out what has caused this. I’m going to have a very comprehensive post in the near future of me setting the dampening and fussing with the setup until I’m happy with it again. I may need to ask you some questions from a track perspective and see what I can do to sharpen the car up. But I’ll message you on Instagram about that later haha.

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                    • Whats your rear alignment?
                      Insta Mintyhinrichs

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                      • Originally posted by hinrichs View Post
                        Whats your rear alignment?
                        Whoops, sorry for the lag. Since I didn’t have anything specific in mind, they just set my rear alignment to OEM specs. I am very open to suggestions as to what would be a better setup.

                        M50 Manifold

                        I had pretty much decided I was not going to do an M50 manifold since I planned on swapping the car later. But my oil separator failed, and my big hands don’t fit well under the manifold. I figured it was probably easiest if I removed it and checked the state of all the hoses anyways, and if the M52 manifold was coming off, then an M50 one was going back on. Even though I plan to swap the car, might as well pick up some free power in the interim.










                        I also did an ASC delete while I was in there. Ordered the Bimmerworld boot to make things go easier, though to be honest I’m not totally thrilled with the fitment. It seems to be a hair too long. BW does seem to mention that you may need to cut it down, but that kind of sucks for the cost. I guess I’m just lazy, but I also don’t feel like I can safely trim it haha.

                        Fired the car up last night, everything seems happy and it idles smooth. Not a particularly difficult swap, and it’s been done a million times over, so nothing exciting either. At this point I’m looking at an RKtunes tune for the car. Partly to accommodate the new intake setup, but also to delete the SAP coding. I’ve had a permanent CEL because of my failed SAP. So I’d very much like to get rid of that, and maybe pick up a few horse puppies during the process.

                        Beyond that, I’m really getting down to a short list of what all needs doing. Interior needs some addressing soon, paint obviously, but otherwise the car is getting pretty close to well sorted.

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                        • Cut to Size

                          Remember how I said the Bimmerworld boot was too big? It was. Hilariously so. They say “It may need to be cut” as if it’s going to be close. It was 30mm too long. So I started chopping.








                          For anyone who stumbles across this thread searching for information on cutting down a Bimmerworld silicone ASC delete boot, it’s really not that hard. Mock everything up in car, mark where the cuts need to be (be aware that it’s not at the ends of the MAF, but at the lip where it seals), get some sort of ruler/straight edge, make marks all around the boot equally from the base, use tape to create a “no no” zone, use razor blades and scissors to cut. Take. Your. Time. It’s super frustrating to work with and trim.


                          End result is a boot that actually fits. Test drove the car some, seems to like the M50 maifold and the new oil separator seems to have mostly solved my puking oil under load issue. So we’ll call that two wins.

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                          • Oh yeah cutting the intake is just so much fun. Glad to see you got the M50 on without much trouble. I think I have pulled mine about 8-10 times now for other issues and you get kinda good at it lol. I need to find my alignment specs but I think its -3 camber front, 0 toe, -2.5 rear and 1/8 total toe in. Its whatever the m3forum says to run lol
                            Insta Mintyhinrichs

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                            • Originally posted by hinrichs View Post
                              Oh yeah cutting the intake is just so much fun. Glad to see you got the M50 on without much trouble. I think I have pulled mine about 8-10 times now for other issues and you get kinda good at it lol. I need to find my alignment specs but I think its -3 camber front, 0 toe, -2.5 rear and 1/8 total toe in. Its whatever the m3forum says to run lol
                              Not quite the same car but I run -3° front, -0.04° toe out, -2.5° rear, +0.05° toe in. Makes for a really predictable car, and saves up tyres. I mostly drive twisties and my tyre wear is perfect. Rear end is "kinda loose" as in real happy to walk out of tight turns sideways but never snappy like it wants to spin, slides a bit but still mantains direction and speed. I trail brake tho so that also matters. Also my antisquat is fucked up big time due to being too low I had it at 0 toe front and back and it wasn't good, way too much oversteer from the rear, and front wanted to walk a lot on me when driving straight over 100-110mph. I'll probably give it a little more rear toe in but waiting on a trackday so I can actually push it and feel the needs.

                              FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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                              • Shakedown


                                Earlier this morning I finally got a chance to stretch the M3’s legs. I took it out to one of my favorite roads nearby, and I learned a whole bunch about the car. Some good, some bad, mostly expected though. Here were the big takeaways:
                                1. Some alignment changes are needed.
                                2. This exhaust is annoying as hell around 4-5K RPM.
                                3. I kind of want cloth seats.


                                I talked to Fruttolo some this morning, and he suggested I add some camber and go to 0 toe up front. Based on what I’m experiencing, this seems like it’ll be a good first step to get it feeling a little less lazy. I also was getting a fair bit of rubbing from the front on tight hairpins. I’m hoping the camber will help some with that as well, because under load on tight turns, if the wheel is turned enough it hits the fender. I can stiffen the front up some, but I don’t want to go too far with that to correct this problem. So it definitely needs some adjustment.

                                On the exhaust, it really is annoying for most of the drive. Unless you get high into the RPM, it just drones and drones and drones. On the street I haven’t noticed so much because I’m usually under the level where it drones. But in the canyons, with it bouncing off the walls, it’s hard to ignore. I wish I had ear plugs half way through.

                                On the seats, I’ve been looking for Vader’s for a while now, but after today’s drive I’m thinking about just having these redone in cloth. Similar to the LTW M3s. These get really hot, and you obviously slide a lot, but they’re otherwise comfortable for cruising. I figure the cloth would breath a little better, and hold better just based on the added friction. Anyone do this before? Any suggestions on material?






                                Finally, I’m having some radio woes. I sent my radio off to a company called German Audio Tech in Long Beach to have it repaired. They also had a service to add an AUX port, so I went for it. It got back late last week, I plugged it in and nothing. They also failed to return my volume knob, and so far they’ve been pretty rude in their responses. I’m hoping I can get things resolved, but if anyone else is looking at preserving their OEM radio, I’d suggest not sending it to them. Just on customer service alone.


                                So I’ll close it out on that note for now, I have a long list of stuff I want to change now. I have some cool parts in the mail, I’m looking at ordering some other pieces to make further changes to the car, but at least I was able to get out and drive again today.

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