Back on the road

Got all the big items done. Here's a full list:

Rear end

rear control arm bushings

subframe bushings

final ss brake line segment installed

dif mount

e-brake pads

exhaust hanger

Brake system flush

wheel nut holders

Driveline

center support bearing

guibo

cv boots and clamps

transmission rear nut retainer

transmission shifter seal

transmission Rear main seal

Flush w/Mobile 1 synthetic ATF

Shifter rebuild

Z3 shiftlever

rear carrier bushing/support

delrin front carrier bushings

lever ball socket

shifter washers

support retention clip

Fixed backup light short

Shifter rubber boot

Shifter u-joint and retention pin

Steering

Z3 rack

new tie rod ends

new hp ps hose

New boot clamps (zip ties)

Body

rear quarter side trim & clips

Only significant issue is I have to re-do the power steering fluid return line. The stock line is too short and just doesn't mate up well, and I'd have to bend it to 90 degrees to fix it which would kink it. I'll just cut it off and clamp a reinforced hose to it. Until then the fluid reservoir isn't firmly bolted.

The interior is still not fully assembled as I will install a little dynamat on the rear wheel arches, need to adjust the e-brake, and will check the heater core for leaks. I also want to convert the power window defeat button into a starter kill.

Just got it back from alignment. They tell me I have a "Radial Tire Pull" so I'll rotate the tires and see if that's for real or BS. If it's real I'll have the tire shop replace the tire as it's pretty much new.

Rust

Pulled up the carpet to cut the firewall for the Z3 steering rack installation and found this:

Don't really want to fuss with it right now, as I'll have to completely pull the carpet, remove the soundproofing, etc... So I just wire brushed what I could see and treated it with a rust eater/inhibitor. Looks like this now:

Will also need to determine the source of the water. The foam under the carpet is a little damp, so I'll probably need to check the heater core and sunroof drains later. Need to get it back on the road first.

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.