Cooks m52 316i - going S54!

[Cook318IS]

I've got 7 hartges in my bedroom already. The bbs's look good in the pictures but they are curbed and flaking in places.

[Rav335uk]

I still think it needs settling in a bit. The springs have been sat in a box for many months and its only an m52 under the bonnet its not exactly an m30

Hartges comes before suspension i think.

Even if you had the M20 under the bonnet, those springs would sit the car right, it's all that PLASTIC that not doing it

[DanThe]

Still needs to come down Paul, looks like its about to take off on the action shots!

Even my chromie sits lower at the front

Have you seen the thread with the US guy selling the front suspension spring hats that give -15mm? Might be an option

[Cook318IS]

In the middle shot i was accelerating to be fair These are only as a stop gap. I have seen the drop hats, i was going to buy some 2nd hand ones on here. I reckon that i'll do 35mm h&r springs with the drophats on the front.

[DanThe]

TBH mate I bought the 35mm H&R and they seem to be higher than expected compared to the 60/40
At least with the lower springs you can always pack them up to raise the car if need be

[Cook318IS]

What a pain in the arse springs can be. I suppose it could be because the h&r's are stiffer and the lighter engines like the m52 mean that it doesnt go as low as its supposed to?

[DanThe]

Well mines iron block, not too bad at the front TBH but it is that bit heavier than yours

[Dezzy]

Dan's lump was built in an M50 block. My M50 with H&R's and lower top hats sits nice at the front now. Just need the rears to sit right now.

[ETERNITY]

i got the same dilema with lowering mine.i think 60/40 drop is best drop.perfect stance.

[leeparkes]

Motion pics look

You still running a 3.64 diff, whats it like?

[Cook318IS]

Motion pics look

You still running a 3.64 diff, whats it like?

Im not anymore. Its now got a 3.25 M3 lsd. The 3.64 was bags of fun in the dry. In the wet i really had to take it easy. I do have ditch finder specials all round (which were on the car when i bought it!) and you'd get axel tramp pulling away in first at about 1k. in second gear (not giving it any beans) as soon as i hit about 2.5k it would be going sideways.

[leeparkes]

as soon as i hit about 2.5k it would be going sideways.

Nice

[Cook318IS]

Pics of the old clutch!
The springs are quite loose and spin easily too - not normally like that are they? And there are flat spots and much shinier parts on the edges.



Check out how much meat was still left on it!


And this is shiney smooth on the pressure plate


BUT more fail regarding the clutch i dont get the grinding noise anymore - Wayhey! but i've got a different problem instead now. Its now very stiff getting the car into 1st, 2nd and reverse and (this is hard to explain so bare with me!) but when slowing down to stop at traffic lights in gear it feels like the car is being dragged, you get that noise you sort of get in a high gear when the rpms are too low (the kangerooing sort of noise). The revs sometimes starts to hunt too when this happens

Ideas? Im all out.

[Bob_S]

TBH mate I bought the 35mm H&R and they seem to be higher than expected compared to the 60/40
At least with the lower springs you can always pack them up to raise the car if need be

My m52 was running on b6's and H&R 35mm springs and it sat just right

[E30BeemerLad]

50mm drop, on 16's, not settled on new springs & alloy M52 under the bonnet, plenty of sump clearance too

[Dezzy]

50mm drop, on 16's, not settled on new springs & alloy M52 under the bonnet, plenty of sump clearance too

Look's better everytime I see that pic Lee.

[DanThe]

TBH mate I bought the 35mm H&R and they seem to be higher than expected compared to the 60/40
At least with the lower springs you can always pack them up to raise the car if need be

My m52 was running on b6's and H&R 35mm springs and it sat just right

This is why I cant understand why my chromie is so high in comparison Bert, you bought the springs new yeah? Maybe I should have tried your rear coils on it while I had them sat around for months

[DanThe]

Pics of the old clutch!
The springs are quite loose and spin easily too - not normally like that are they? And there are flat spots and much shinier parts on the edges.



Check out how much meat was still left on it!


And this is shiney smooth on the pressure plate


BUT more fail regarding the clutch i dont get the grinding noise anymore - Wayhey! but i've got a different problem instead now. Its now very stiff getting the car into 1st, 2nd and reverse and (this is hard to explain so bare with me!) but when slowing down to stop at traffic lights in gear it feels like the car is being dragged, you get that noise you sort of get in a high gear when the rpms are too low (the kangerooing sort of noise). The revs sometimes starts to hunt too when this happens

Ideas? Im all out.

This was a new clutch? Doesnt look that new to me, how do the inside edges of the levers look? They were obviously catching on the centre plate springs, ive always found LUK to be pretty shoddy quality when compared to Sachs

Got some good quality oil in the box?

[Cook318IS]

Yup the clutch in the pictures was brand new when i bought it. Its only got 4k on it

Oil is Halfords ATF oil (so comma basically!) i've not had this sort of problem yet which is really unusual

Bob's ride height isnt too bad there, i think with the drophats it would be even better though!

[DanThe]

Dextron 3?
Shouldnt have problems with any ATF TBH

[Cook318IS]

I'd have to check but it think so yeah. give me 5 minutes or so

[Cook318IS]

I cant find any left over bottles atm, but ive had a quick look on the halfords website and the dextron 3 bottle is blue - i dont think the bottle i used was blue so i could have dII.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165750

[Bob_S]

Dan, chromie rear arches aren't as deep as the facelift stuff.
Your welcome to borrow them again and try and if it's better we can swop I'm not too fussed mine are from dec 2008 as it's one of the first things I lashed on the car! Brand new of course!

I wouldnt want to run mine any lower it was hardly driven with care and I didnt fancy sump swopping on a 24v!

[DanThe]

Sound, I might have a pootle up to your gaff once the engine is behaving

[Cook318IS]

Heres my dads diagnosis -

Started the engine, popped the bonnet and looked around. Then pumped the clutch pedal.

"everything looks fine but your clutch pedal moves further than in my e34"

Thanks dad He didnt even take it around the block to see what the problem is I've been looking at new gearboxes too now. I dont fancy going back to a e30 gearbox after i've just spent out on an m3 lsd though.

[78gizmo]

All the new problems you describe sound like the clutch is not clearing, e.g when your clutch pedal is fully pressed to the floor the clutch disc is still dragging slightly on the cover. Where is the biting point, is it close to the floor too?

[Cook318IS]

Nope biting point is at its normal point about halfway down the pedal.

Although come to think of it dont some people have to put a bit of weld on the end of the clutch fork?

[monkey]

i spaced the bearing forward when i put the m20 flywheel on my m52 e36 . haven't bothered on my e30 but i am still using an e30 gearbox . can you use an e21 bearing as i thought i read somewhere that they are a bit taller

[DanThe]

I had to mod the bearing for my 6 speed box



Have you not put a 22mm slave back in?

[Cook318IS]

I was lying in bed last night when I remember about people adding plates / weld to the clutch forks to space them out and I thought that has to be my problem. Last clutch had too much travel
and now I've not got enough! Grrr!

I've still got m3 slave cylinder in, I can't remember what size it is.

[DanThe]

I think you went from 20 up to 22 to reduce the travel, you need to go back to 20mm now it would seem

There is also an 18mm slave but I dont think it works with an M52 box

[Jhonno]

I run a 20mm...

[Cook318IS]

I think you went from 20 up to 22 to reduce the travel, you need to go back to 20mm now it would seem

You're joking!? What a pain in the arse! I bought a genuine bmw slave cylinder too

Would just replacing the slave sort the problem out or would i need to space the bearing / fork as well as?

[DanThe]

Ive never had to space a bearing out with an M20 flywheel, ive used new Sachs and LUK clutches before also, and even a mixture of new parts

I run a 20mm...

You dont use an M20 fly/clutch though pat

[Jhonno]

True..

I don't run a BMW one at all..