BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 (edited) Hey guys, Here are my plans for my 1996 e36 328I ,otherwise known as "Black Betty". This year I plan on doing a lot to her. Right now I'm doing all new suspension bushings (powerflex polyurethane bushings) along with some new suspension parts front lower control arms, Tie rod ends, Sway bar end-links, braided brake lines, Diff and Gearbox oil change ,rear sub frame sandblasted and repainted, and some other things I can't think of right now. Not sure in what order but after this I will be doing the following. New gearbox. New clutch. (CC stage 4). Reinforce Rear sub frame and rear trailing arm mounts. All new suspension (Powerflex). Exhaust. New wheels and tires. Window Tints. Redo/Upgrade cooling system. New Shocks & Springs (koni yellows w adjustable damping & eibach proline springs) Some type of big brake upgrade ( e46 330I Front Brakes & e46 328I Rear Brakes) 3.46 LSD built by KBM. New window seals all round. Eibach sway bars. Respray. Interior clean up with fixed-back seats and 6 point harness. Half/Full rollcage maybe? Cams Tune Temp Gauges Oil Cooler XYZ Coilovers Some type of power upgrade. (Not sure what road I wanna head down yet) Hope you guys enjoy reading along and watch myself and some mates build a killer car over the months to come! Dropping the rear subframe, Diff and Suspension arms out of the car! All of the old parts! They were fu*ked and needed to be replaced. Some of the new / refurbished parts! Subframe had been sandblasted and repainted the finished product came out way better than I ever expected!!!!! More pics and to come of putting everything back together Edited January 30, 2018 by BatMansWilly 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 I can testify that the old bushings, guibo, control arms, tie rod ends and lollipops were in terrible shape. I cant believe it handled as well as it did with all these things so munted. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1072 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 I can testify that the old bushings, guibo, control arms, tie rod ends and lollipops were in terrible shape. I cant believe it handled as well as it did with all these things so munted. Our E39 bushes looked pretty good, but it wandered and floated - I'd have expected that thing to be hideous! Was it not? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 (edited) Our E39 bushes looked pretty good, but it wandered and floated - I'd have expected that thing to be hideous! Was it not? It was hard to tell because the previous owner had installed koni yellow shocks and eibach springs. Weird since he left the rest of the suspension in such terrible shape. Once Conor gets it back on the road (hopefully in the next few days) I'm sure there will be a huge improvement. He has replaced every single bushing - even stuff that is not commonly replaced, so I'm sure it will handle like its on rails. Edited June 4, 2016 by zero Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 (edited) Our E39 bushes looked pretty good, but it wandered and floated - I'd have expected that thing to be hideous! Was it not? It handled really well before didn't floated or wandered cornered amazing as well. That's why we couldn't believe How fu*ked the bushings were. In saying that as Nathan has said I do have upgraded Shocks and springs. Edited June 4, 2016 by BatMansWilly 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2313 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 Good stuff. Don't forget to weld up any cracks and weld in E36 M3 subframe reinforcement mounting points, especially if you're going to go for poly mounts. Cracks are going to happen in all E36s, happened to mine, happened to various friends cars. If you don't this is generally what happens, 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 Good stuff. Don't forget to weld up any cracks and weld in E36 M3 subframe reinforcement mounting points, especially if you're going to go for poly mounts. Cracks are going to happen in all E36s, happened to mine, happened to various friends cars. If you don't this is generally what happens, Thanks man. Yea that's next on my list just about to order the reinforcement plates from the us! I plan on getting rear subframe and rear trailing arms any other i should do as well? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel0663 30 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 Great stuff Conor, eager to follow this! i need to replace my bushings and reinforce my subframe as well, hopefully my sub-frame isn't as badly damaged ..... uhhggg. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2313 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 (edited) Cool cool. Just these ones, which I think you're aware of. Trailing arm pockets Also the mounts for sway bars on the rear like to go if pushed, you can reinforce them like so Edited June 4, 2016 by Michael. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thorburn 121 Report post Posted June 4, 2016 Shock mounts front and back. Swaybar rear. That'll probably have it sorted. Nice work so far 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted June 5, 2016 Top shelf Conor, great to see it get some love. I'm surprised how well it drove considering. Stopped well too which is good or you and I might be blood stains on Wairau Rd after that old guy blew through that red light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Vapour 76 Report post Posted June 7, 2016 Are you getting a cert after the reinforcement ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 7, 2016 Top shelf Conor, great to see it get some love. I'm surprised how well it drove considering. Stopped well too which is good or you and I might be blood stains on Wairau Rd after that old guy blew through that red light! Thanks Dave! Yeah can't wait to get her back on the road(hopefully this coming weekend) and see the different. Will have to pop over for a beer when Shes driving again and let you take it for a rip! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 7, 2016 Are you getting a cert after the reinforcement ? didn't know I needed one? However if I do then yes will be getting it certed probably wait a bit and get everything cert as once! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted June 7, 2016 Yesterday Conor and I stumbled across a worrying problem. The previous owner had used the wrong strength bolts in some locations on the suspension. Some that were meant to be 10.9 high tensile had 8.8 bolts installed in their place. Thankfully we spotted it (as Conor is going through the car very methodically) and they will be replaced with the correct strength bolts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted June 7, 2016 didn't know I needed one? However if I do then yes will be getting it certed probably wait a bit and get everything cert as once! Shouldn't need a cert for reinforcements of a stock part. The previous owner had used the wrong strength bolts in some locations on the suspension. Well spotted but I hope it wasn't the immediate previous owner as he should know better! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 11, 2016 Update 11/06/2016 After our long weekend last weekend we got lots more done.We really only have to put the brakes back together and get the exhaust back on. How ever i need a new handbrake cable as one of mine has broken.(Anyone have one in there parts bin? Be happy to buy if off you or replace it next week if needed. No parts places are open and really wanna get the car back on the road this weekend!) Note: Sorry for bad pics most of them are after everything was back in the car and its hard to show whats new etc. Here is the rear subframe with all the new bushings in and getting back into the car. Front all back together.... Something everyone should have if your wanting to redo all your bushings. Made the whole project a lot easier. How ever this is still a every time consuming project to under take. Well it was for me anyway 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2313 Report post Posted June 11, 2016 Did you weld in the rear chassis to subframe plates? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 11, 2016 Did you weld in the rear chassis to subframe plates? No still waiting on them to get here. Will be doing it next month or so. Also need time to get better at welding 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted June 11, 2016 (edited) Conor has done really well on this following the 'do it once, do it right' mentality. Every single bushing has been replaced included the ones that are not commonly changed; Rear: Subframe bushings. Diff bushings. Inner upper control arm bushings. Inner and outer lower control arm bushings. Rear trailing arm bushings. Rear shock mount bushings. New ball joints on their way. New sway bar and sway bar bushings to come. Front: New control arms, lolipops and tie rod ends. Control arm bushings. New top mounts to come. New sway bar and sway bar bushings to come. Driveshaft was reconditioned. Subframe was sandblasted and powdercoated. Also new guibo, all new rubber spring pads, new brake hoses, new diff fluid, new gearbox fluid, new bolts and nylock nuts. Any scrapes under the car were sanded back and had new underbody sealant applied - luckily there was no rust or damage. Glenn would be proud Tomorrow we will sort out the brakes and exhaust and hopefully go for a test drive. Then when all the reinforcement plates arrive (rear shock mount plates, sway bar plates, subframe plates, rear trailing arm mount plates, front shock tower plates) they will get welded in and Conor will get one hell of a wheel alignment done. Edited June 12, 2016 by zero 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 12, 2016 UPDATE 12/06/16 Car is back on the road! Wow over two mouths of it being off the road we got her done! Car feels great after doing a rough wheel alignment ourselves (As no one was open at 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon) it was drive able. Feels like a new car! Is a lot harder ride and feels tighter in the steering but not a race car either. Feels more alive, takes bumps and corners amazingly well both at low and high speeds. I'm so happy with - it feels and drivers better than I could ever of imagine. IMO it was worth all the time and money it took! Can't wait for new tyres a proper alignment and reinforcement plates to go in and really see what she can do. Some pics of her back on the road. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thorburn 121 Report post Posted June 12, 2016 Does it have an lsd? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BatMansWilly 74 Report post Posted June 12, 2016 (edited) Does it have an lsd? No I am running a 3.15 open diff atm. Will be looking for a LSD soon... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited June 12, 2016 by BatMansWilly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thorburn 121 Report post Posted June 13, 2016 They're definitely worth the money. Which swaybars are you using? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted June 13, 2016 Hmm, have M3 sways and springs in storage... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
