Sam's Project Clubsport/OEM+

[LemonConnoisseur]

Nothing has happened with this at all, mainly due to my laziness.

I've got new discs and pads to fit, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

New Zealand is looking more and more likely around next June, so I'll find some time to fit all the bits and pieces I have gathered, but it'll probably go up for sale at some point next year

 

[Force4m]

Great write up of your project so far. Look forward to seeing the new wheels on.

Talking of mot pain, I lost the drivers door mirror on the way to my mot. £84 for a new one from the local dealers as no suppliers in Warwick had them in stock.

Cars, you've got to love em.

 

[LemonConnoisseur]

Great write up of your project so far. Look forward to seeing the new wheels on.

Talking of mot pain, I lost the drivers door mirror on the way to my mot. £84 for a new one from the local dealers as no suppliers in Warwick had them in stock.

Cars, you've got to love em.

Thanks mate. Unfortunately I'm not even sure I'll fit the new wheels If plans are as intended, I'll sell the car and the wheels separately.

That is a s**t situation, sod's law!

 

[LemonConnoisseur]

Suppose I should probably update this now that I have something to update it with!

As I had most of the parts sitting in the garage, and I'm clearly a bit of an idiot by spending a reasonable sum of money on a car I'm looking to sell, this is the result!

I took a trip up to my long term mate, who happens to be a self-employed mechanic, so that we could fit what's needed, and assess the overall condition of the car.

I'd recently bought a 185k mile diesel 1.9 Seat Ibiza run-around, so it was a great joy to get back behind the wheel of the Coupe! I'd sort of taken for granted how special it feels to drive, and it's going to be pretty upsetting letting it go.

Anyway, on to the work.
An advisory from the last MOT was low brake pads. I'd already ordered some more track-biased pads for it, but as they're not strictly road legal, and I didn't want to pass this choice onto the new owner, a set of Brembo pads front & rear were sourced from the local ECP. The old pads have been passed onto another forum member, and I'm curious to see how he gets on with them!

Whilst the car was on the ramp, I also decided to replace the shagged rear bump stops, both front track rod ends, 2 front wheel bearings, rear trailing arm bushes (this was not originally planned), and the rear diff bush. There had always been a "thunk" when changing gear, and we'd identified that it was the diff bush on a previous visit.

On the engine side of things, a new valvetronic gasket, eccentric shaft gasket, eccentric shaft sensor, rocker cover gasket, and an oil & filter change completed things.

A picture says a thousand words, so here they are!

 

[LemonConnoisseur]

That's the rear end and front bearings & discs done.

Now onto pics of the track rod ends once fitted - these were a fucker to get off, but thankfully they did come free!


Took it for an alignment and puncture repair as I found a nail in one of the rear tyres when I took the wheels off... :x

An hour later, the car drove straight! Still a few more bits to do, so onto the oily side of things.





Dropped the oil before all of this, popped the new filter in, went through the Valvetronic relearn procedure using a scanner, put the new oil in, and started up on the button!

Let it warm up, then took it for a quick road test to see what everything felt like.

The result? Well worth it. I get the impression there's a bit of a hesitation towards fitting things like polybushes on this forum, as it increases the NVH too much for an already stiff car, but I think it depends on what you're changing.

Sure, the standard replacement for the rear diff bush probably would've sorted the rear end noise, but then you've got to drop the whole subframe to press it in, so the replacement of the polybush here has made no noticeable increase to noise - an absolute win!

The trailing arm bushes are also a must-do upgrade imho if you push the car through corners. There are the RTAB limiters, but I don't really understand why these exist when you can just replace them with the polybushed option.
Fun fact, the Z4 uses E36 rear trailing arms, or at least the same bush, and it's a well regarded upgrade across E36 owners to replace the standard ones with the polybush, as there's less deflection from the rear end.
I wouldn't say that the trailing arm bushes "transformed" the rear end, but it's given back the confidence that I felt the car was lacking. Sometimes if I was driving in a spirited fashion and pushed it through a corner, I could almost feel the rear end "rubber band" by settling, unsettling, then settling again due to the slightly fucked originals.

As you may have seen, the car is now up for sale, and as gutted as I am to be getting rid of it, I'm happy with what's been done for the new owner here.

 

[hopz121]

Nice update looks great, and some nice work done, the poly bushed RTAB make a decent change imo with zero negative effects. (or at least mine had none)

I am not sure if it matters (i assume it doesn't) but those rear bump stops don't look the correct height or shape.

Good luck with the sale of it, nice to see someone spending the time and money on maintain there zed correctly to a good standard

 

[LemonConnoisseur]

Nice update looks great, and some nice work done, the poly bushed RTAB make a decent change imo with zero negative effects. (or at least mine had none)

I am not sure if it matters (i assume it doesn't) but those rear bump stops don't look the correct height or shape.

Good luck with the sale of it, nice to see someone spending the time and money on maintain there zed correctly to a good standard

Thanks! Glad you’re on board with the RTAB, no noticeable increase in NVH, but definitely increased stability.

As for the bump stops, they probably look unusual as they’re from Bilstein, not BMW. They’re supposedly correct for the B12 kit, as that’s how I ordered them from them… Can’t say for sure though!