shifter prob

[normboudreault]

Glad to hear Im not the only one spending quality time laying on his back under an e30!!

BTW,
I cheaped out on the sway bars - kept the stock ones for now... no reason to change them!!

I hope to have the car back on rubber before the end of next week..!

Fingers crossed! 

I might stop by Ikea today and pick up a nice area rug to lay on when under that car.

I can't say the H&R sway bar made a huge difference over the stock one. Although the car feels firmly planted to take an on-ramp at at highway speeds... That's good enough for me.

Push hard and make the deadline. lol

I put in 13 hours on Friday - loved every minute too. Saturday I was completely wiped out from Friday - can't win them all....
Im at work and not back home till Monday night.. I hope to have the subframe back in on Tuesday...Should also get my refurbed wheels back then too - they will be quite nice I think...

[Tgoode318]

Have you tried strong language?





 

[normboudreault]

i did.. but the ball joint splitter I forgot to use worked a lot better!!! 

Im in the process of installing new Bilsteins and cleaning it all up.. Pics manana....

[Nick_318is]

Your comment about a rug made me think of this.


That should really tie the garage together.

[deansweet]

I have replaced 4 half shafts(2 on 318i and 2 on 318is) and I have never had an issue with them sliding right in?
Not too sure why it was so tight?

Hope you have the car back on 4 legs here soon. I could't imagine have an e30 M3 and not being able to drive it... 

[Darky]

Nice work Norm as usual, I see your coping well with your e30osis!

Cheers Rohan

[keflaman]

It wasn't easy and I learned a few things.

3) Bolt up and torque your trailing arms before you start. I did not tighten them up and they are a bitch to get to once the rear beam is in place..

It may be a bitch, but according to the shop manual the trailing arms are to be torqued with the car sitting in the "normal position", i.e. with suspension loaded.

When I'm not polishing my exhaust system I actually read the shop manual. 

[Slowered318]

Nice to see it coming together and I am super jealous of those pinch rails!

Check into the rear sub frame bushing brackets, looks off to me, maybe left and right is reversed?

[normboudreault]

It wasn't easy and I learned a few things.

3) Bolt up and torque your trailing arms before you start. I did not tighten them up and they are a bitch to get to once the rear beam is in place..

It may be a bitch, but according to the shop manual the trailing arms are to be torqued with the car sitting in the "normal position", i.e. with suspension loaded.

When I'm not polishing my exhaust system I actually read the shop manual. 

Thanks keflaman.. I did read that too - I havent torqued them to their final value yet...Not sure how easy that is gonna be considering the new suspension setup gives a 30mm drop!!

Nice to see it coming together and I am super jealous of those pinch rails!

Check into the rear sub frame bushing brackets, looks off to me, maybe left and right is reversed?

Thanks slowered... 
As for the brackets, that's exactly  how they were when I took them off.. I took pics but I will have to double check the manual and see if they were setup incorrectly initially...

[Slowered318]

I wouldn't fully trust the previous work done on the car. My parking brake shoes were installed upside down and the adjuster backwards. Took me a while to figure out why it was dragging and wouldn't hold on a steep driveway.

In your case it should be easy to swap them at this point. See attached picture and link for push rod left.

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E30-318is-M42_1.8L/ES57489/

Not trying to be a "know it all", just like to see things done right the first time.

[normboudreault]

You were absolutely right - I doubled checked my pics and I had totally screwed it up!! I've already switch them sides.

Thanks for pointing it out slowered!! 

[Slowered318]

No sweat. Not sure why the design, maybe to shed water and debris away from the bushing?

Just about to wrap up the work on my rear axel, baking calipers today and assembly +beer hopefully this long weekend.

Wondering if you ran into the same thing as me? Went to order new M10x50 for the diff flange, BMW wanted over $200 for all 12, Brafasco had them in stock for $10. Gotta be careful out there these days! LOL

[colin86325]

http://www.rtsauto.com/re-installing-rear-axles-into-hub-the-right-way-with-the-proper-tool-e30-bmw-porsche-etc/


Here's an affordable tool for half-shaft installation

[Jay-Vee]

Great writeup as always, Norm. As you learn a few things, I learn 100 :p

[normboudreault]

Slowered.. i just bought 4 of the hex bolts: i know youre supposed to change them but i only had four that were a little scored, the rest were perfect.. they were 7$ each from bmw. I get a 20% discount, well, because , when i call they answer "Hello Mr. Boudreault!" before Ive even spoken...i think im invited to this years Christmas party too.....

You should post some pics - my work looks pretty shoddy honestly... gonna put another coat on the subframe and the half shafts need some spuffing up... hopefully my back doesn't give out before im done!

http://www.rtsauto.com/re-installing-rear-axles-into-hub-the-right-way-with-the-proper-tool-e30-bmw-porsche-etc/
Here's an affordable tool for half-shaft installation

I read that article too and when mine wouldnt go in i explained that to the shop and they all said: no its supposed to just slide in... well ive since gotten my half-shafts back and it looks like the splines were just machined... they are guaranteed 3 years so we will see....  i hate feeling like ive cheaped-out on the m3 but its very esy to spend A LOT of money... besides atleast they are the original bmw half-shafts...

Great writeup as always, Norm. As you learn a few things, I learn 100 :p

Thanks -Jay-Vee.... ive said it since day one - im certainly no expert!! First time at all of this car stuff! But the M3 is identical to the 318iS. I couldnt even see the difference in the subframes.. the brakes are supposed to be beefier but dont look it at all. The rear sway bar is thicker but the front one is identical though its attachment point is different. So lots of familiar stuff for me...Worst part of all this is i have to do it all again for the iS later this summer!!! Atleast there will be no rust to deal with!!!
I wont bore you guys with posts of that dont worry!!