Just about completely torn down now. I figured I'd tackle the big items all at once, and there is no shortage of those. Items I found after taking it appart:

CV boots are trashed

Transmission output shaft is leaking

Guibo has significant cracks

Center support bearing is completely shot

The only one that really surprised me is the center support. I would have assumed I would have felt shaking or knocking, but no sign. Here is what it looks like:

Here is a full list of the things that will be done in this stint:

Z3 steering rack

New tie rods/ends

New subframe bushings

New control arm bushings

New CV boots, and repack the CV's

New differential bushing

New guibo

New driveshaft support bearing

Complete shifter linkage rebuild including Z3 shift lever

New transmission output shaft seal and shifter seal

Flush differential, fill with Swepco 201

Flush transmission, fill w/redline MTL

Here is the current state of the garage, quite a mess, but all that's left to remove are the shift linkage support and seals.

Starting the Big Jobs

It's starting to get wet and cold here in Seattle, well, relatively cold. So I decided to get racking on the rear end rebuild and steering rack. I found a 98 Z3 steering rack at a scrap yard for $120 delivered, got it the other day and it looks to be in good shape and includes the tie rods and ends. I've had the subframe bushings and several other rear end parts lying around, just waiting for me to dig into the back end. I figure it will be more enjoyable if I take my time, working a little bit each day, only until I feel like I've accomplished something.

I decided to drop the entire rear end. The upper fill bolt for the rear differential is a little stripped and I can't get it out with it in the car, so it's a good time to go ahead and take care of all of the rear end parts that need replacing.

Started today. Got it jacked up, exhaust out, and about 80% of the rear end bolts undone. It's been pretty simple so far, the main axle bolts still had the factory retainer in place, and once that was off they came out easy. I decided to stop today when I got to the drive shaft bolts, they are on there pretty good, which is expected, so I'll tackle them later.

I also have a complete shifter rebuild including the Z3 lever on the way, will probably do that now as well.

Finally some movement

Been a while and busy with the move to Seattle. The car started to show signs of leaking coolant, and the best candidate was the water pump. Sure enough, I pulled the old one out and it was a complete POS. The impeller was stamped metal instead of cast, the bearings and seals were crap, and the housing even snapped while removing it. Replaced with a proper Meyle water pump, car runs just a hair cooler now and doesn't leak a drop.

Cost $60.

I was also just driving around in the rain and the rear end was just sliding all over the place, so I decided I couldn't stand living with the crap tires that came with the car any more and had to do something. Upgrading to 15" wheels and tires was going to cost $1k-$1.2k, and I really didn't want to do that yet. I want to get the other items sorted before doing that. So, I had a set of Falken 205/60R14 tires installed on the car. Huge improvement, but then that was expected as the old tires were mix and match POS tires. I'd held off doing the tires because there was so much slop in the steering that an alignment was pointless. However, I have a Z3 steering rack on the way and some other items to fix it up right. More on that later.

Cost: $375 installed.

Clean-ish engine bay

The previous owner let the car go with a significant valve cover gasket leak for a while, so the engine has been caked in oil gunk since I got it. There is also a leak coming from the oil filter housing and a coolant leak from somewhere that I can't identify, so the first step was to clean the engine bay. To replace the oil filter housing gasket I was going to have to remove the alternator and tear into the car anyway, so it was a good time to flush it out.
I removed the alternator, radiator, and hoses, and then went at it with a hose jet attachment (not a power washer) and a whole lot of de-greaser. The results are pretty good. Previously I couldn't see any of the silver color of the front engine cover, oil filter housing, or power steering pump.

New Seats

Finally got the e90 seats installed (well, almost, the passenger seat isn't in 100%, but it's livable). Here's a pic:Why? The original driver's seat was very worn out, and it drives me nuts when a seat has slop in it. The cover was torn, lots of slop, and the cushions were long since beaten into submission. Why e90 seats rather than the more popular e36 seats? Age and price. I got these for $250 delivered, and since they came from a car newer than 06, they are in much better shape than any e36 or e46 seats I could find. I didn't realize I could get e90 seats in manual, I assumed they were all power, but these fit the bill perfectly. I'm guessing from the manual controls these are likely leatherette.

Normally I wouldn't have bothered with seats before doing the steering rack, sway bars, etc... but I found these at a good price and decided to jump on them.

In retrospect, fitting them was pretty simple, 2 plates on each side, just had the find the right position to offset these seats, put the old seat belt clips on the new seats, and it was all set. However, it took me a while to find the ride position, due to interference from the original mounting bolts, so I ended up having a shop do 2 sets of adapters for me. Ended up costing about $150. I could have just bought bar stock and drilled it myself, but at the time I didn't know it was going to be that simple.
They look great in the car. At some point I'll have the rear seats redone to match the leather on these ones. Total cost for seats, shipping, several versions of mounting plates, and hardened bolt hardware came to about $425.

Hoses, Intake complete

Finished replacing the vacuum hoses under the intake, several were significantly cracked, and installed everything. Did the idle control valve while I was at it. Now the car finally idles right. It was ok before, but idles near perfect now. I also noticed better throttle response, and less lag off the line. Overall the engine feels like it's running exactly like it should now.

I wasn't able to do the oil leak yet, as there is some bushing blocking the bolts I need to remove. I'll either do that later or let the shop do it, if it's too much of a pain. Here is a shot of the engine bay with the painted intake installed. I haven't put the wiring cover back on yet, or cleaned it up.

The idle on the car is ok, but its never been perfect. It seemed to be getting a little worse, in a way consistent with a vacuum leak. So I decided to replace the vacuum lines under the intake and the idle control valve, as the hoses were noticeably cracked and this is a common cause of this issue. While not difficult, this is not trivial. I had to remove the throttle body and intake. Here's a shot of it torn down.
I had to take it off to verify the parts to order, and while I wait for those to show up, I decided to go ahead and paint the intake. Pimpy, but given the cosmoline and dirt on the motor, I figure painting it black is a good way to dress things up a little. 1 coat of engine paint primer, and 2 coats of gloss black engine paint.

Here is a shot of the intake, cleaned and primered. I cleaned it with simple green and brake cleaner. A good greenie-weenie scrubber and water came in handy.
Here is a shot of the finished product. After painting I sanded the raised portions.
The engine paint says it take 7 days to fully cure, and since I have to wait for the parts to show up, it's a perfect time to do it. I'd do the valve cover as well, but not yet, I'll get to that later. Total cost in paint is $15, with enough extra to do the valve cover later.

Odometer and front air dam

Finally got off my butt and fixed the odometer a couple of weeks ago. Cost $80 for the new gears. Unfortunately when I got done, the left side instrument cluster bulb went out, probably from moving it around, so I'll have to take it out again later and fix that. But, now I can determine what kind of mileage I'm getting.

Also, today I finally got the brake cooler intakes painted black. Unfortunately BMW no longer makes the clips for these, so I had to steal one from the left side and use double-sided sticky tape on the bottom of each, but they seem to be held in well. Also, I took the bumper off, and with a big cresent wrench, and some small wood blocks, managed to bend the front air dam back up. Apparently it had gone over something pretty big, as the whole thing dipped down and made a pretty noticeable gap below the front bumper. It's not perfect, but it's good enough that I'm not feeling the urge to replace that front section. Here's a shot of the finished product.

Brakes

The brakes on the car were pretty weak, and there was some fluid leaking from the master cylinder reservoir grommets, so in the interest of safety I decided to tackle the brakes next. Also, since I could not get any fluid to some out of the right read caliper, I knew I wouldn't be able to bleed the lines if I disconnected them to work on the rear end.

New parts are:

• New rear calipers
• Stainless Brake lines (DOT)
• Textar pads front and rear
• New front and rear discs
• New reservoir grommets

Total came to about $550.
I wasn't able to use all of the brake lines, as the line between the rear axle and frame are a PITA to get to, so I figured I'd wait until I drop the rear axle to do those.
Overall, the pedal feel didn't firm up as much as I'd hoped, but I'm sure I'll net more improvement when I get the last section of the brake lines replaced with the stainless ones. Though much of the feel is likely to due with the size of the master cylinder and the overall dated design of the system compared newer BMW braking systems. However, overall braking is much improved. The Textar pads are supposed to be OEM, and they definitely bite like they are. While the pedal is mushier than a newer BMW, the overall braking power seems to be equal to an e46, which is a nice improvement.

Running total: $4175

Back on the road

Finally, all wrapped up, suspension all fixed up and running well. Finished the suspension install last night, car drives great. Doesn't feel like it needs an alignment, and since I'm on the stock wheels with junk tires I won't bother for now. Very solid, not quite handling on rails, but then it's got 14" wheels with junk tires and the stock swaybars, so I don't expect much, but it is very fun to drive. Gone are all the knocks and bumps. When I removed the control arms, one of them was so badly worn that I could move one of the knuckles around with just my hands. No question they were shot, and the shocks appeared to be the original units.

Plus, I got a new surround for the computer and installed it properly, along with the e36 radio, now it looks like a proper interior. Right now I'm just using a tape adapter for the ipod, but will wire in the dice unit later when I get a CD changer cable that works.
Since this picture was taken with a flash, it really shows all of the stains on the carpet, which are a lot less obvious in normal light, though I'll probably shampoo them at some point.

The brakes are ok, I flushed the system but the bleeding screw on the rear passenger caliper didn't leak any fluid, so I will likely need to rebuild or replace that caliper. The discs are definitely very worn, with a significant lip from wear, but the car is stopping well. When I pressurized the system to flush it, there was fluid leaking from below the reservoir, so I will likely need to replace the master cylinder and the seals there at some point, but it's not critical right now, as the brakes are working fine. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement in the braking system, but I'll wait till I decide to completely gut the system and do it all then.

More stuff

Didn't have the tool to press the M3 control arm bushings on, so I had a local shop do it, $50, well worth it.

I also picked up a 97 factory cassette player off ebay, along with the e36 wiring harness for $50. I've soldered it in, so rather than the loose connections of the e30 I have an e36 plug harness. The plan is to plug in the iPod using a Dice adapter, but that will come later. Normally I wouldn't do stereo stuff while the car is not drivable yet, but I couldn't pass up the deal.

I also got 2 pair of Nakamich 5.25" coaxial speakers for $45 each, shipped. Again, too good of a deal to pass it up.

e36 Head Unit $35
e36 Wiring harness $15
speakers $90
pressing in bushings $50

Running total: $3625

Getting started

Here's the big job, parts all here, new front end, springs and shocks. Here's the car ready to start.

Utter stupidity

Here is a monument to my own stupidity.

I purchased a new hinge about 2 weeks ago, knowing the lower hinge pin was broken. So, I got the part, removed the pin, and put in a nice neat plastic bag for when I was ready to fix the passenger door. And put in on the windshield so it would be easy to find.

Well, a couple of days ago I decided to drive the car, came home from lunch to pick it up. And without looking drive off. Now, I've removed the passenger door, a surprisingly simple job....and no hinge pin...moron...now I've gotta order another one before I can put the door back on. Sometimes my own stupidity is just annoying....

Suspension

I was on the phone with a friend of mine this weekend, and while talking to him I realized that I didn't really have a good reason to spend the extra $250-$300 to get Koni shocks vs Bilstein Touring. Plus, if I do decide to get Koni eventually, then I will really be able to judge the difference between the two. So, I went ahead and ordered a set of H&R OE Sport Springs and Bilstein TC shocks. This is the same setup I had on my old 318is and it works well. Not as jittery as Bilstein Sports, and because the OE springs only drop the car about .5-.75", the TC shocks still work with them. This is the last of the major suspension parts needed to tear into that. So once these arrive I'll be able to take care of the biggest fix this car needs.

Cost: $470

Running total: $3435

A mistake, and redemption

Did the valve cover gasket, and did the motor mounts and transmission mounts. As expected, they were badly worn, but what I didn't expect was that both of the lower mount bolts on the motor mounts were missing, so the engine was basically only held in by gravity. This explains why the motor mounts felt so badly. But, after the valve cover gasket and the mounts, I started the car up and it ran very poorly. Couldn't even get down the street without it dying on me. It was late, and I was tired so I just parked it and decided I'd check it out later.
Well, I got the latest shipment of parts from BMW, and figured I'd take a poke at it. Turned out that the intake boot had gone from being a little torn to almost completely split in two. Most likely from rocking the motor when putting the motor mounts in to make sure the engine was centered. Fortunately I'd ordered one in the BMA shipment, so I slapped it on, turned the car over and it tan like a top, even the cold idle runs pretty well. There are a few other hoses that I'll need to take care of , but the engine is running really well now. No odd noises (from the engine), no valve noise, just runs great (well, almost great, still needs a little tuning)

Valve cover gasket

Didn't feel great Thursday and Friday, so I didn't get anything done on the car. Felt better this afternoon, so I decided to crack into it this evening. This car is ridiculously easy to work on. The valve cover gasket is maybe a 30 minute job, took me about an hour because I was really meticulous. Now that the valve cover was off, I got a chance to look at the timing chain and cams. They look to be in great shape. No serious sludge, could use a flush, but I think just some regular oil changes will take care of that. Here are some pics of the engine.

Clean bill of health...relatively

I was worried about the valve noise, so I took the car down to the local BMW shop. They went over it and replaced the tensioner. Between that and the oil change the noise is gone. Could have done the tensioner myself, but given the noise I didn't realize it was such a simple fix. However, while I had it down there I had them go over the car and do a compression test. Came out about 150 across the board with none out of tolerance. Of course they identified all the little items I knew needed replacing, but nothing new and the engine seems to be healthy and ready for another 50k+.

Also had them do the plugs as they were non-stock. Total was $415 out the door. Not cheap, but good for peace of mind.

Now it's time to get down to work, next on the list is the valve cover gasket, and motor mounts, and brake system flush, then I get to go to town on the suspension.

Running total: $2965

More parts

Got under the car to take a look at what needs to be replaced. As expected, the motor mounts and control arm bushings are trashed. The motor mounts are about half as tall as they should be, completely blown, almost metal on metal. The rubber in the control arm bushings is separated from the metal as well. All expected items given the age.

What I didn't expect is that this car still has every piece of original underbody plastic, still intact, not only the skid plate, but also the brake ducts, plastic behind the headlights, everything. It's obvious this car has never been abused, it also still has a lot of original parts, so it hasn't been restored in any way, but that's what I'm doing.

Ran down to the local BMW dealer and got:
Oil pan gasket $22.44
Motor mounts $170.50
Transmission mounts $51.64

Again I'm surprised at how reasonably priced the factory parts are, plus my 10% BMW CCA discount doesn't hurt. Unfortunately it will take a week for the motor mounts to get here.

Also completed a cooling system flush, oil change. Dropped the oil pan to inspect, no bolts in the pan, I did find 2 small pieces of what I thought were timing chain parts, but on closer examination appear to me small bits of the timing chain guide, but they are small enough that I don't think they represent any serious wear. The oil that was in the car was pretty much sludge, long overdue for a change, and didn't appear to be the correct weight, so I filled it up with proper 20-50w oil.

Installed the O2 sensor, air filter, coolant temp sensor, thermostat. Going to see how the engine sounds before I did into the valve cover gasket, not sure if it will need work in that area yet. It was making some lifter noise when cold, but I think that's due to the oil and engine tune, we'll see.

Running total:$2550

More parts

The passenger side door was sagging, the lower hinge pin looks worn out. Ordered a new one.
Passenger door pin $70

Also found a Momo Champion steering wheel on eBay. I already have the horn button and e30 hub, so all I needed was the wheel.
Momo Competition Steering Wheel $112
Factory touch up paint at the local dealership
Touch-up paint $34

Finally a round wood shift knob. This is a holdover from my college days when all I could afford was a $7 shift knob. Got used to it and had to find one. Doesn't seem to be readily available in any of the stores anymore, so I had to get one off the web.
Shift Knob $12


Running total:$2305.62

First Round of Fixes

I want to track what I spend on the car, so there is the first round of fixes. The stomp test returned a code of 1222 which is the Lambda/O2 sensor, so I ordered the following today:

Valve Cover Gasket Set $28.77

Oxygen Sensor $105.77

Fuel Filter $16.70

Air Filter $8.76

2 Oil Filters $15.42

Water Temperature Sensor $21.81

Thermostat $25.32

Thermostat Housing Gasket $5.07
Total: $227.62

Should be here by the weekend if I'm lucky, though I'm not sure if I'll have time to work on it this weekend. I'll also need to get some touch-up paint from the dealer to deal with the chips.

Running Total: $2077.62

Arrival

Got it home last night and had a little time to hit it with some polishing compound this afternoon. Here she is:

Here's a short list of the things I need to take care of:

• Oil leak from the manifold gasket
• Cold idle is rough, but hot idle is fine and it runs well
• Control arms and bushings are shot
• Shocks are worn out
• Brakes are stiff
• Service light is on
• Antenna seal is leaking
• Minor tears on driver's seat

Some good items

• Body is in very good condition, no major damage
• Paint is original
• Engine revs well and has good power
• Other than the radio it's 100% stock
• Shifter surprisingly tight

Lots of work to do, need to take care of the idle first, clean it up, then get cracking on the suspension. I'm betting that everything in the front end will need replacement, and any rubber mount will need to be done as well.

Had a chance to run it around the neighborhood and open it up a little. It's easy to forget how nice a simple, light car is, and above 3.5k rpm, this thing really starts to jump. While my wagon is solid and has great handling with the sports package and Koni FSD shocks, it's nowhere close to the snappy feel of this car. Can't wait to fix it up.

Found it

Just got this off the local Craigslist, $1850, original owner, receipts from day 1...details to follow...