E36 316 SE Touring

[danlolasdad]

Im doing prep work to my car before fitting new suspension and all the support mods for more power i discovered that the RHS (drivers side for me) front control arm bushing bracket was held in place with one bolt and some numpty glued the head of the second bolt in place after it had sheared off:mad: so today i set about removing it below is the story in pics.

the bolt head in question and glue remnants

what i was faced with is actually a weld where someone attempted to fix the problem but made it worse my welding the bolt to the threaded sleeve

pilot hole started

i drilled down the side of the bolt so was messing with die grinder for a while but i persevered when i got it close to flush i drilled down with a 13mm bit to get a new center point the 13mm it fits nicely in the un-threaded part of sleeve and it minimised the chatter of the bit just as i got it flush the bolt threads spun slightly which was a good sign in my opinion with the end tidied i was able to drill a new pilot throught the centre of the bolt threads as they were clearly visible now


finally i keep imperial allen keys for these jobs

finished

i used wd 40 to lubricate constantly and cool drill bits i also heated the work area with a heat gun in an attempt to free the threads

[DesktopDave]

That's a heroic struggle there...I'm happy it ended well!

I'm secretly glad you didn't post a "how do I get this bolt out?" question...

[keflaman]

Nice job! I've never seen a hex key used like that to remove a broken bolt. You tap it into place and then twist?

[danlolasdad]

well im a very capable mechanic and like to do a job right i have a habit of taking lots of pics thats how i updated customers with their toyota builds. ill be applying what ive learned over the years to building up the touring.

Up front its getting
refurbed M3 front hubs,brakes brass bushed,HD outer ball joints, offset rear CA bushes, coilovers, camber adj topmounts, strutbrace, x brace.thickest ARB i can find, quicker ratio oem steering rack if available?

at rear
refurbed M3 complete back axle incl 3:15 LSD. HD rear topmounts, fully polybushed,double outer balljoints, thickest ARB i can find, complete rear brakes overhaul, remote rear 2pots for hyd handbrake, braided brake lines throughout,ill fab my own rear camber arms.

ill play with the M40 engine initially possibly supercharge it with a toyota sc12 or sc14 depending on whats there i might have a HKS supercharger i can utilise with VEMS standalone. when m40 goes pop ill have something sexy ready to replace it maybe bmw maybe not time will tell.

[DesktopDave]

Not only that, how lucky are you to have tourings?  Only coupes & sedans over here.  :-(

[danlolasdad]

Heres a link to my touring project on a local (irish) forum I hope this is ok

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37928

[DesktopDave]

Geez - don't be posting links like that!  You're making me so sad - I can't machine my own brackets!   

Just kidding - keep up the excellent work!      You're inspirational.

BTW, what did you use for the hard fuel and flexi breather lines?