A bit of a long overdue update, on stuff that happened in Summer!
To follow on from last update, i removed all the alcantara, just wasn't happy with it. It's cheap stuff, so i suspect if i got the pricier genuine alcantara that it'd be a lot nicer, but i'll just live with the aluminium panels just now.
On that note though, i ordered a new ZHP gear knob, shift boot and handbrake boot too, i ordered them custom spec on the basis of my dash being alcantara, but obviously now it isn't so I'm not sure if they look out of place or not. Still a vast improvement on standard!
The next thing I tackled was slightly more involving.. the root issue i was trying to solve was the infamous "clunking" from the rear diff when changing drive direction or letting the clutch out in gear. As you probably all know, this involved removing the exhaust which meant I would need to tackle the nightmare job of getting the exhaust studs out. Ha....
To make the job easier i bought a mobile scissor lift, it was pretty cheap and ideally i want a hydraulic one but until i get my house this will do. Great bit of kit once you get it all setup! One you get the balance point right, you can actually rock the car back and forward to work under the front or rear which was especially hand for this task. I don't think i have a photo of the car fully lifted, it goes quite a bit higher than the photo below.
Then onto the task at hand
Many drill bits later, i found the best method was to use a Dremel with cutting discs on it to cut the studs off, then separate the exhaust and remove it, with the remaining stud on the manifold side drill a pilot hole through it then work up one size of drill bit at a time until you can get it out. Once i'd done the first one, the rest were a lot easier. Use plenty of cutting fluid otherwise it'll just destroy drill bits. My drill took a battering and it's still got cutting fluid coming out of it today!
With that dealt with, it was almost time for the home straight. I removed the propshaft and the input flange to apply the OEM BMW grease (p/n: 83 23 0 443 864). Quite an easy job although i don't thikn i've actually applied quite enough grease to the right part, but the diff will likely be coming out next year anyway
Reassembled and put back together with 4x new M10 BMW bolts as per spec.
Then chucked the exhaust back on with some new fixings up front and some new OEM rubber hangers and BMW gaskets (how are these so expensive?!?!).
Last job while i was there was to change the "lifetime" diff oil, i couldn't get any good oil for it in time so just went to Halfords and got some COMMA 75-90 synthetic stuff being an open diff i wasn't too fussy and as i mentioned before the diff should be coming out next year anyway.
And thankfully that was that! The grease on the input flange definitely helped the clunking noise, although i probably could've been a fair bit more liberal with application!
Now the car is off the road just now as i'm in the process of buying a house so the extra insurance, tax etc was not really viable to have as a spare car over winter. I don't have many winter plans to do stuff to it, but as I mentioned next year i would love to fit an LSD, refresh the bushes and have at least the rear subframe powder coated etc to freshen it all up. I might go down the route of looking for a set of 18" wheels i like too. As much as I love the look of the BBS, the 19" wheels are very firm with such low profile tires and although i've never experienced it the front appears to rub a tiny bit on the arch liner. I would get a much better tire choice on a set of 18's too and i'm all for a bit of meat on the sidewall. No rush though. To be honest I wouldn't mind going back to an OEM set of 108's as that's what this car was spec'd with from factory. On top of that would love a Royal Wheels refurb too just to finish tidying up the interior.
Here's a couple of pictures i've taken with my first year of ownership, loving it so far! (yes the photos are rear bias because coupe)
glad you persevered & got what you wanted in the end 
