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Bringing my only thread back from the dead as I took a long break from building anything due to some life events! I can’t create a new thread for some reason so I am just going to keep updating this one until that is fixed. It’s a bit of a read so bear with me.
I originally started this thread with a low mileage E30 that I completely forgot to post pics of (sorry). It was a Zender 325e, 5 speed coupe, I ended up driving it around to get some last minute Christmas items on Christmas Eve, in 2015 when I hit black ice going while trying to merge onto a freeway. I had solid winter tires and the car was in good working order but nothing you can do hitting black ice at 80km/h. Slid back across 3 lanes of traffic, and nailed the cement barrier in the middle. Got out of the car, by some miracle I hadn’t hit anyone, my rear bumper had been ripped clean off by the impact and my front drivers fender was crumpled as well. Pulled the fender out on site, picked up my rear bumper and stuffed it in the trunk and drove home. Never ended up fixing it, sold the extra parts I had and then the car went off to a new home.
In between then and now I’ve had 4 bmw e36’s, another e30 as well as a dumped mk4 Jetta 1.8t but never did anything to them aside from the odd coilover addition here and there after the accident.
Come around to now in 2018, I picked up a 1999 BMW 323is from a fellow enthusiast and figured with a new year I might as well start a proper thread and see a project through from start to finish.
The car is a 1999 BMW 323is with a 5 speed box and 257k on the clock. It’s a pretty basic unit, but after searching for a clean chassis to start a build with for the last 6 months, especially in Alberta, Canada, I was just looking for a clean body. Picked it up on the December 29th, the car has no carpet, the heat is really soft, the OBC doesn’t work and the hood cable pull is broken. Perfect. My friend had told me that the rear left toe was messed up abit from the previous owners coilover install and that it was toe’d in quite a bit. I know e36’s have a oem toe in and upon inspection I figured it couldn’t be too bad to just drive home. I was wrong, I got a 1/4 of the way to my house, it was -36, ice covered roads, and my rear end was everywhere. Now being in school to become a tech, I’ve learned about alignment and all that stuff but this was my first time realizing how big a difference a small amount of toe variance can make. So I pulled into a parking lot and left it there and let it sit till morning. Next morning, I picked it up with my brother following behind and the warmer day weather helped the roads clear a little and we made it home with no further issues.
Now I know e36’s have a small amount of toe adjustment in the rear, so I figured my alignment had some how gotten off track. Didn’t do much on the 30th as I was working, got home and waited for my brother to get home so we could go grab a jack and some tools (my last set was stolen from my condo storage locker). Ended up getting side tracked and got home at 2 am, jacked up on Red Bull and adrenaline from 3 hours of laser tag. Decided to pull the e30 into our underground lot and let it thaw out and jack it up. This is what I found
25574827658_9fae1c1fe1_z.jpg
The drivers side rtab had completely failed and the adjustment plate was pushed as far out as possible. So currently I have ordered, along with some other things that I need to get the car back up to snuff
New rtabs with poly limiters
New front lower control arm bushings
New black carpet
A UUC short evo shifter
A new maf (current one is toast)
I originally started this thread with a low mileage E30 that I completely forgot to post pics of (sorry). It was a Zender 325e, 5 speed coupe, I ended up driving it around to get some last minute Christmas items on Christmas Eve, in 2015 when I hit black ice going while trying to merge onto a freeway. I had solid winter tires and the car was in good working order but nothing you can do hitting black ice at 80km/h. Slid back across 3 lanes of traffic, and nailed the cement barrier in the middle. Got out of the car, by some miracle I hadn’t hit anyone, my rear bumper had been ripped clean off by the impact and my front drivers fender was crumpled as well. Pulled the fender out on site, picked up my rear bumper and stuffed it in the trunk and drove home. Never ended up fixing it, sold the extra parts I had and then the car went off to a new home.
In between then and now I’ve had 4 bmw e36’s, another e30 as well as a dumped mk4 Jetta 1.8t but never did anything to them aside from the odd coilover addition here and there after the accident.
Come around to now in 2018, I picked up a 1999 BMW 323is from a fellow enthusiast and figured with a new year I might as well start a proper thread and see a project through from start to finish.
The car is a 1999 BMW 323is with a 5 speed box and 257k on the clock. It’s a pretty basic unit, but after searching for a clean chassis to start a build with for the last 6 months, especially in Alberta, Canada, I was just looking for a clean body. Picked it up on the December 29th, the car has no carpet, the heat is really soft, the OBC doesn’t work and the hood cable pull is broken. Perfect. My friend had told me that the rear left toe was messed up abit from the previous owners coilover install and that it was toe’d in quite a bit. I know e36’s have a oem toe in and upon inspection I figured it couldn’t be too bad to just drive home. I was wrong, I got a 1/4 of the way to my house, it was -36, ice covered roads, and my rear end was everywhere. Now being in school to become a tech, I’ve learned about alignment and all that stuff but this was my first time realizing how big a difference a small amount of toe variance can make. So I pulled into a parking lot and left it there and let it sit till morning. Next morning, I picked it up with my brother following behind and the warmer day weather helped the roads clear a little and we made it home with no further issues.
Now I know e36’s have a small amount of toe adjustment in the rear, so I figured my alignment had some how gotten off track. Didn’t do much on the 30th as I was working, got home and waited for my brother to get home so we could go grab a jack and some tools (my last set was stolen from my condo storage locker). Ended up getting side tracked and got home at 2 am, jacked up on Red Bull and adrenaline from 3 hours of laser tag. Decided to pull the e30 into our underground lot and let it thaw out and jack it up. This is what I found
25574827658_9fae1c1fe1_z.jpg
The drivers side rtab had completely failed and the adjustment plate was pushed as far out as possible. So currently I have ordered, along with some other things that I need to get the car back up to snuff
New rtabs with poly limiters
New front lower control arm bushings
New black carpet
A UUC short evo shifter
A new maf (current one is toast)
Nice to see another dude going with an e30
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