The M3 rides again...
Well, it was expensive. It was painful. It was necessary. And it was worth it.
My black 1989 BMW M3 is again road worthy, and I just had to share some of the details...
A few months back, i started hearing a noise. It was a noise I really didn't want to hear, something like a noisy tire, that reminded me of a noise it made when I first aquired it. Wheel bearing noise, like the other one was beginning to give out. (I had fixed one side when I first bought the car.) This, in addition to the necessity of replacing the shocks, or having them rebuilt. I really didn't want to have to do this yet, but necessity is.
So, I started gathering parts, while reducing my commutiong mileage.
How do you "reduce" a commute, you might ask... Here in Seattle there are a couple of options for getting to and fro. First, the Metro busses run regularly. Unfortunately, due to my particular residence location, getting to work by bus meant increasing my commute time to about an hour and a half each way, and 2 to 3 different busses. The other alternative is the Metro Vanpool program. A group of people meet and ride together in a van provided by Metro. Each member of the pool shares in the cost of maintenance and fuel, etc. Oh, and it's subsidized by many employers. (If a monthly or annual bus pass is offered, this will often cover the cost of the vanpool dues.) This reduces mileage on my car to 2-miles each way from home, and only increases the commute time slightly.
What all parts did I start gathering? Boy... It started with a replacement wheel bearing. Then I added a few reinforcement items (it's an old car...). Front subframe, rear swaybar, front swaybar mount point reinforcements to prevent stress fractures. (A crack was later discovered in the subframe, fixed at the same time as the installation of the reinforcement.) New rear shocks and front strut inserts (more on that later...) and I also upgraded to lug studs and nuts instead of lug bolts (personal preference and easier to make tire changes on driving days...)
A few days later, while waiting for some of the parts, one of the rear strut towers developed an issue... see "It's all who you know" and "E30 rear shock tower repair" for details.
This necessitated the purchase of additional parts, as the new rear shocks I was planning on using would not fit the shock tower mounts that were in the car. Damn expensive custom suspension... it was really starting to get in the way... So I ordered a set of Ireland Engineering rear shock mounts. Nice pieces, too.
Finally, I was able to get the car into the shop for all these bits and pieces to start going in. Lo and behold, there's a problem. At this point, big surprise... (Not!) The issue: The customized front struts no longer accept a stock sized strut insert, which is what I had on hand. So the hunt was on for a set of replacements. We ended up with a set of Tokico inserts being used. All the work was done, and now the car is yet again a dream to drive. It's just amazing what this car can do when it's set up right.
My black 1989 BMW M3 is again road worthy, and I just had to share some of the details...
A few months back, i started hearing a noise. It was a noise I really didn't want to hear, something like a noisy tire, that reminded me of a noise it made when I first aquired it. Wheel bearing noise, like the other one was beginning to give out. (I had fixed one side when I first bought the car.) This, in addition to the necessity of replacing the shocks, or having them rebuilt. I really didn't want to have to do this yet, but necessity is.
So, I started gathering parts, while reducing my commutiong mileage.
How do you "reduce" a commute, you might ask... Here in Seattle there are a couple of options for getting to and fro. First, the Metro busses run regularly. Unfortunately, due to my particular residence location, getting to work by bus meant increasing my commute time to about an hour and a half each way, and 2 to 3 different busses. The other alternative is the Metro Vanpool program. A group of people meet and ride together in a van provided by Metro. Each member of the pool shares in the cost of maintenance and fuel, etc. Oh, and it's subsidized by many employers. (If a monthly or annual bus pass is offered, this will often cover the cost of the vanpool dues.) This reduces mileage on my car to 2-miles each way from home, and only increases the commute time slightly.
What all parts did I start gathering? Boy... It started with a replacement wheel bearing. Then I added a few reinforcement items (it's an old car...). Front subframe, rear swaybar, front swaybar mount point reinforcements to prevent stress fractures. (A crack was later discovered in the subframe, fixed at the same time as the installation of the reinforcement.) New rear shocks and front strut inserts (more on that later...) and I also upgraded to lug studs and nuts instead of lug bolts (personal preference and easier to make tire changes on driving days...)
A few days later, while waiting for some of the parts, one of the rear strut towers developed an issue... see "It's all who you know" and "E30 rear shock tower repair" for details.
This necessitated the purchase of additional parts, as the new rear shocks I was planning on using would not fit the shock tower mounts that were in the car. Damn expensive custom suspension... it was really starting to get in the way... So I ordered a set of Ireland Engineering rear shock mounts. Nice pieces, too.
Finally, I was able to get the car into the shop for all these bits and pieces to start going in. Lo and behold, there's a problem. At this point, big surprise... (Not!) The issue: The customized front struts no longer accept a stock sized strut insert, which is what I had on hand. So the hunt was on for a set of replacements. We ended up with a set of Tokico inserts being used. All the work was done, and now the car is yet again a dream to drive. It's just amazing what this car can do when it's set up right.
posted by Stephen Hughes-Jelen at 11:00 AM
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