People still build E36s?

[RuhRohh]

God I love the RFs on this car.
Making good progress with this one

[fackinsteve]

Thank you all for the kind feedback! I've wanted an E36 on RFs for the last 5 years, and its awesome to be able to pull it off. Today I addressed my rubbing issue on the lip guard of the tire, here's how the quarter looked with the wheel taken off.



The lip of the wheel bottoms out on the quarter on bumps, but the car doesn't rub anymore aside from that. Pulled it out and had a look at the fitment





I'm going to drive it like this until it gets painted, then I will need to probably raise the car or just say screw it and always have rubbed off paint. I just love how the car sits and I dont think that small spot would take away from the rest of the car. Thoughts?



Snapped one last daytime pic before I drove to Providence and dropped off the M3 stuff to get painted by my good friend Sean. He will also be painting the rest of the car once the season is over. This was my first long drive in the car and besides the 3.91 having a crap ratio for street driving it was awesome. Tomorrow I officially will tackle the interior swap, I'll probably start with getting the sunroof cassette out of the M3 and start taking out the headliner in the green E36. I've done the full swap before so it should go pretty smooth, I have two of every interior piece anyways.

[Fruttolo]

Imho you need to solve the "banging fender" problem, I **** when I see a nice shiny car with smashed out fenders...just sit it on bump stops if you don't care about ride, or raise it a bit, or just narrow the wheels so you can tuck them during compression poking lips is the best fitment but ruined fenders are ruined to me

[Quillhill36]

I think the fitment is great but maybe run enough camber to tuck because the fender will just get worse and worse over time. My tires were rubbing and I thought no biggie but in 8k miles they had almost worn through the first layer of fender.

[fackinsteve]

As promised, I started the task of the interior swap on the E36. The first thing I wanted to tackle was the headliner and sunroof panel swap. The biggest drawback to this is that it requires you to (in my case) pull the sunroof cassette out of both cars, swap fabric, then reinstall. I was extremely intimidated going into it but as it turns out, it really wasn't too bad.

With the M3s headliner removed I took out the torx bolts surrounding the perimeter of the cassette. Out it came, I immediately took the sunroof panel off and the headliner portion out.






Saving this for paint to save time on the process




The next day (today) I pulled the same thing from my car, pulled the headliner portion back and unfastened the screws that hold it in, and swapped the cover out.



The car sat for a winter with the sunroof cracked so naturally there was a lot of debris to clean out





I took the time to lube the tracks as well, the sunroof operation still isn't amazing so I'm just going to leave it closed.

I wound up going full rage mode and got it back in, as well as the headliner and all the fix ins.



The end result is the most satisfying task I've ever completed. I'm beyond hyped to have a full OEM Anthracite headliner, I've never seen the sunroof portion for sale before. Tonorrow I start the dash and carpet swap, hopefully it will be wrapped up this weekend. Bumpers should be on for Monday too.

[tombrosorry]

Just wait for the sunroof to get jammed 1/4 the way up like mine always did. Always v pleasant

[fackinsteve]

Spent some time on my lunch break at work to get the dash board out of the car.



Came back after work and started the cleaning process again so that I could begin taking the carpet out and reinstalling the new pieces.





Quickly placed the 92 dash in



For those who don't know, in 1992 the US models did not come with a passenger side airbag. Therefore it doesn't have the bulkier look all the rest of the E36s have, these were also used in the Euro spec cars too I believe. This is the only interior piece I kept from the Alpine coupe. So far I'm making good progress, and hope to be able to button up the center console and the rest of the dash tomorrow. Then Saturday and Sunday I can get the rear parcel shelf, pillar trim, rear seats, and trunk trim in. Then Monday I'll do the finishing touches and should be picking the bumpers up from paint.

[Steven_318ti]

Great work bud, non airbag dash looks far smarter, simple subtle mobs are always the most satisfying in my opinion :-)

[cblock406]

Good job man! People always **** on E36 interior but I love them when they are fresh.

[fackinsteve]

Wrapped up most of the rest of the interior tonight. Yesterday I made some progress by tossing the M3 cluster in and some other pieces to make it look like a car. Threw the Nardi in too.



Threw a coat of paint on the rear parcel shelf and installed it with the C-pillars and rear door cards to prep for the rear seat installation.



And finally buttoned up.







Showing off my e-brake button.



Overall I'm pleased with how it came together. I do want to make some adjustments however and maybe find some cleaner rear door cards and get new seals all around. For now this will be fine. Not bad for just scrounging together what I had laying around. Monday I pick the bumpers up from paint and will throw the front door cards in. Tuesday I will do an eye ball alignment, oil change, and trunk interior install. Wednesday I depart to Ocean City. Hope to see some of you there

[bjk]

Nifty build! Your patience for removing and installing everything is far beyond mine lol

[fackinsteve]

Good job man! People always **** on E36 interior but I love them when they are fresh.

Great work bud, non airbag dash looks far smarter, simple subtle mobs are always the most satisfying in my opinion :-)

Thanks guys!

[fackinsteve]

Nifty build! Your patience for removing and installing everything is far beyond mine lol

Thanks, I was reading through yours the other day and it reminded me of when I was a kid playing Gran Turismo I would always be racing the FTO haha. I'll say the one thing about doing all of this work is that it's nice that I've done it so many times on these cars that it makes it go quick and easy. The biggest downside is that it never goes back together the same way

[DawsonLiri]

Much much better

Great job man

[fackinsteve]

Much much better

Great job man

Thank you!

Today I did a lot of errand running, prepping but most importantly I picked up my pieces back from paint. With the help of Sean, him and I reinstalled all of the painted parts and took a step back to enjoy the view.





I am so excited, I never thought I would like Boston Green but the end result is just so proper.

Stopped for gas on the hour long drive back home.



And took a picture in the spot I always go to for some odd reason.



I actually took the same picture here with my first M3 before I refinished the wheels. That car has been long since gone though.



Tomorrow I am assembling the trunk interior, wiring in the radio, swapping in my glass headlights so I can see at night, doing a quick cleaning, then packing for the trip to Ocean City. It's been a long few weeks but its finally came together and I couldn't be more pleased.