B3 3.2 Touring its suddenly getting old

[Simon13]

whats that mean?!

[Kedge]

Just F*cking Do It

[Blitz]

I'd say keep it auto. It just seems to suit the car.

[e30topless]

I would be quite happy to smoke it in spaztronic, but then i do like auto's

maybe just stick the slipper on there and see how it performs ?

[fowler]

i would keep it auto si whats the MPG Si i am up to about 26.5 in my 323 auto around town

[alpina123]

An e46 320 derv box is the same as an e36 evo but 6th is geared slightly different. They are much better boxes than evos aswell theres a man on here not sure of his name with a black 2door chromie he has a alpina 3.2 engine with 320d box in his car

[Dezzy]

An e46 320 derv box is the same as an e36 evo but 6th is geared slightly different. They are much better boxes than evos aswell theres a man on here not sure of his name with a black 2door chromie he has a alpina 3.2 engine with 320d box in his car

That'll be Danthe. The main pain is the clutch. The input shaft is different on new box's. Meaning you have to use a dual mass flywheel. This isn't straight forward either. Spigot bearing needs spacing to get any sort of pedal height. In an E30 it does anyway. Dan is a hero with these things and he's struggled to get it right. Still isn't ideal iirc.

It is a much stronger box than the S50B32 though.

[DanThe]

They are not the same at all, very different in fact. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th are different ratios, only first is noticeably different though.
Dezzy, ive found a company who say they can build me a sprung clutch

Solid flywheel FTW

[Dezzy]

They are not the same at all, very different in fact. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th are different ratios, only first is noticeably different though.
Dezzy, ive found a company who say they can build me a sprung clutch

Solid flywheel FTW

Result mate.

That will be a massive step forward won't it?!

Being able to change gear is always good IMO

[Simon13]

Well its been a long while on this one!

Minor ongoings this year




Gold Stripe action






Big brakes, e36 m3 evo setup





Auto box switch-tronic went out







And 3 pedals with a 6 speed box went in, along with the LSD to re kindle the loss of selling this in the summer





Not quite the hooligan the e30 could be, but a close second

[sweep]

The e30 touring looks mean in that picture...cant beat that boxy shape.

[Simon13]

So onto my current dramas.



This is the drivers seat, doing remarkably well for the 203,000 miles the cars now covered. There been a problem with the heated seats only half working as the base element is in operative.

I think this a real credit to the previous owners of this car that it is in such good shape, or they where very small clean people! Opposite of me then





Spare black M3 cab drivers seat installed for now





Heres a passenger seat base foam i got given from Barold. Its got a small hole on the side that won't get mullered. I'm sure i can sort this out. Its £80 for a new one of these






Barold also gave me 6 heated elements. I thought i'd check these by way of a continuity test on my leccy meter. 4 are bust! Some visibly, others not. So that left me with this base element beeping as ok, but it has a brown stain on it like it won't be long till it burns out also. Doesn't look great, so i've ordered a new one. Its got to come from Germany so will be after crimbo day now. £47 it cost me





Seat in bits





Base cover off, need to be careful as its an individual interior so no finding replacements if i'm a beast with it. Any tips while it can flattened out to tart it up? Maybe just get some more dirt out from the creases






So we can see the break or where the wire burnt out on the element and the foam has a hole in the same place as the passener replacement base. Surprise, no as this is common e36 stuff now. Most sport seats are out of their brains with rips and holes by this milege.

[powelly]

I have stuff that will clean the dirt out, I beleive you can steam the leather to shrink it, don't think i'd try it though, just put up with the arse print!!

[ah]

Im not a big touring fan, but yours did look the dogs b#llocks.

[Simon13]

It will look better than i ever had it now Powelly has it, thats a fact

Going to be rather shiney from now on

[bss325i]

What a nice chap that barrold!

Shame about the elements, i payed £50 for them from some E36coupe forum wanker.

[Rosc0PColtrane]

Just read this thread from start to finish. Your build threads are always awesome. Seems a lovely car.

[bss325i]

Nice bushes Si!

[youtube][/youtube]

[DanThe]

Builder spec!

[pacerpete]

I'm guessing there is more than just slack bushes going on there

[winx]

Sounds nasty. You 2 weirdos there this weekend?

[Simon13]

was going up 2moro Henry, i guess your up the north?

[winx]

Yup for now, will be there on Sunday

[Simon13]

Watching that vid makes some sense now,

anyhow before christmas me and barry replaced all the axle bushes shown on that vid.




We wanted to do the lot in situ without removing the whole axle off the car. exhaust off with heat sheilds





The whole centre of the bush is loose, bit like an e30 subframe one! All 4 were like this





We managed to undo everything and unplugged the senors and bits and the hole lot dropped down nicely on to the stand. We easily get access to all bushes to change them





i pulled the middle out by hand..............





All tooled up from a very nice BMW dealer!





bush number one coming out, very easily might i add






All 4 out, considering the beam is covered in rust you'd expect it to have creeped in where the bushes located and make a pig of the job, but not so.






New bushes going in, went in with ease





new bits, not really needed bar the nuts. Nice to do though





All 4 in





All bolted up, no need for a rear end alignment either. As haynes says refit is the reverse of removal





They were originals with 96 stamped on them all!! 203,000 miles. Now i hoped the rear end clunk when go when changing gear, accelerating etc.

But it wasn't the case



There was still a clunk, now on Friday i was picking up some brake bits for my 2dr from Keri WMS. I dropped it from 6th to 3rd to over take a dork and had a loud BANG!





Where the bush is next to the diff flange a 18mm bolt should be sprouting its head. Gone! snapped when floored it.


Now i swapped in a 3.15LSD the other week and this bolt didn't go up nicely. The threads were rusty so i squirted some double tt on first. Anyhow i either didn't tighten it fully or cross threaded it who knows.


So the diff was loose on the front and banging on the trans tunnel at the slightest touch of the pedal, changing gear and the prop grinding away also. Sounded horrendous and 90 miles from home.

Nursed it home as i don't have break down cover, it would cruise at 60-70 it was just painful getting to speed.






This is what greeted me after dropping the diff out, nice.





The culprit, so at a guess i need to get it drilled taped or something sort the thread out.





I think this bush needs changing also, looks shiney like something was moving!





So i've swapped in my spare 2.93 LSD. I didn't have the correct bolt spare, so this one will have to do. Its wound right up


The clunk has gone and it drives superb now

[pacerpete]

Fooooking fitterz !

[Andyboy]

Who was it that said bricklaying is far less of a skill* that motor mechanics?

Hopefully the thread in the diff casing will be okay. If not, I'd retap it and put a nice high tensile stud in there to take a fat washer and a suitable nyloc nut.






*Having spent a day last week repointing the bathroom exterior wall, it fucking well isn't the case...

[DanThe]

Take it to someone that knows how to use a drill Si, if it went in rusty it certainly wont be coming out easily.

[Simon13]

I'll get it sorted, ive ordered a new bolt and bush to be sure

[HairyScreech]

iirc That's a through hole is it not?
If so there is not much to stop you drilling totally through it and going for a nut and bolt. will do pretty much the same job as long as you use a shanked bolt.

[Demlotcrew]

Si those are notorious bolts for shearing off, it was one of the jobs I made sure to do on the M3 track turd while under the car swapping the suspension out.

If you get stuck, I still have the case from the 3.15 you sold me, I don't have a use for it, I only needed the LSD unit.

[Simon13]

my dads sorted it, thread is ok and wasn't cross threaded so he said.

[Demlotcrew]

[Simon13]

Anyone want to buy this? i'm going to move it on as i'm upgrading to a broken e46 with a 3.4 engine

[anothere21323i]

Anyone want to buy this? i'm going to move it on as i'm upgrading to a broken e46 with a 3.4 engine

What have you got in mind price wise? I'm down your way at the end of next week to start my new job......

[Simon13]

my bro in law is buying it, thanks for all the interest.

I'm sure I shall keep maintaining it