bmwe21.net forums

has any one weighed the spare wheel well

I've finally got round to getting some front camber plates. Not wanting to spend an arm and a leg, and wait a month for parts to arrive, i went down to my local performance shop and picked up some that they had on the shelf. They're meant for a 97 Subaru Forrester, but fitted really good with only a little slotting of two of the bolt mount holes on the chassis. I've got to drill out the top spring platform (they're designed to be used with coilovers) from 12mm to 14mm, only because i couldnt be bothered waiting a week for them to order me one with a 14mm bore. They cost me NZ$250 for the pair, which i think is pretty cheap. also, i will have castor adjustment with my lower arms, so dont need it up top like the GC units have.

anyways, heres some pics....



slotting the chassis to fit the plates. (i could've also mounted them the other way and just drilled three new holes too)


all bolted up


the view from underneath


top spring perches, to suit the 2.5" ID springs ill be running.

ohhhhhhhh those spring tops are nice!!!!! i like them a lot!

austin25uk wrote:ohhhhhhhh those spring tops are nice!!!!! i like them a lot!

thanks, they are pretty good eh. the brand is BC, and they do drift stuff for a lot of cars. their coilovers are a good price and from what i've read online there are a lot of top guys in nz and aussie using them in competition with good success.


speaking of coilovers, im thinking about going a different route to my original plan of koni adjustable E30 front shocks and koni adjustable coilover units in the back.
was gonna get these, or the cheaper versions of these:


and use these on the front with shortened strut casings and e30 shocks:


but then i found some of these (sample pic only) that i might be able to pick up cheap (im currently bidding on them). they're Tein 'super drift' coilovers for an S13 Nissan 240sx. designed specifically for drifting for probably the most popular drift car in the world.

to make these fit im thinking i cut down the front strut casings to stubs (maybe about 100mm long) and weld on the lower brackets (the green bits), and for the rear id have to cut out the top chassis mount and fabricate one that is about 150mm higher than stock (as these rear shocks are a lot longer than i need). hmm decision time!!
the cool thing with the Tein units is that the lower mounts are threaded so that to adjust the height, the whole shock winds up and down, rather than just winding the spring platform up or down and needing helper springs to keep the spring captive. therefore you can also preload the spring if you want to, without effecting the ride height. also, their reputation is top notch in drifting in japan and around the world.

in other progress, this is what happens if you excessively raise your subframe and have a big custom driveshaft...

(also you can see how i wrecked my rear shocks by doing burnouts with the wrong offset wheels and lots of lowering. oooopss... haha. i've just bought some old 7 series mags and tyres, which should be much better)


and this is how it is sitting at the moment, on the original shocks, bumpstops, and no springs...

it looks higher than it is possibly because of the guards being cut out. this is the ride height im after though, so the current setup has to go!

lastly, i was having a play with photobuckets online editing software and mocked up this.

ignore the colour and the picture on the door, i was just having some fun with it. i would like to model some ideas though, so if anyone is a whizz on photoshop and would like to help me out, pm me and ill email a photo through. cheers.

things have been moving slowly of late, moving flat and starting a new job and all (damn work preventing me from playing with the car all day!).

i ended up ordering some koni shocks a few weeks back but they took forever to arrive and when they did, the guy had got me the completely wrong ones in. i went back a few days later and the right part number shocks had arrived but they had the wrong bushes (they were rubber, and i need spherical bearings on both ends of the rear shocks).

long story short, i should have new shocks some time this coming week and ill be able to start building the new suspension setup. ill post pics when the bits arrive.

in the meantime, ive just got myself some oem e39 16's for it, to use as either burnout wheels or just for a change from the 17's. im pretty sure the 16's will fit over my brakes on the front, which means i can use them on the street as a full set too which would be good. im thinking of painting two flouro green and two flouro orange, then run one colour per side... that, or try out some tasteful colours that id eventually like to do with my m5 replicas.

that skull n cross bones is defo a good look lol.

i know the sr20 is a good swap for the e21. its lighter weight maintains the weight distribution of the car and are easily capable of 700+ hp. i once found a video of a high 7-second sr20 powered 320i

sullybird420 wrote:i know the sr20 is a good swap for the e21. its lighter weight maintains the weight distribution of the car and are easily capable of 700+ hp. i once found a video of a high 7-second sr20 powered 320i

i thought about an sr20 and dont think they offer the driveablility of a v8, especially when the power gets high, not to mention the cost. i could get 700hp from my motor with just boost, conrods and a decent headgasket, whereas a 700hp sr20 would cost a LOT more, and be completely undriveable on the street. also, i dont think there is much weight difference when you consider the turbo, intercooler, plumbing etc.

its a bit late for me to be changing minds on engine now anyway, so im gonna stick with my v8...

ok, update time again...

ive bought myself some used Tein coilovers that have come off a Mitsi Evo 4/5/6, pretty much got them just for the springs, helper springs, and collars, but now I'm thinking that if they're ok to rebuild I might adapt them up to fit the beemer. they dont have full threaded bodies like the ones i was looking at a while back, but they were dirt cheap so cant really argue with that!

they arrive in a few days, so i'll see how they look when i get them.

Post up some pIcs so we can see, I have been having se thoughts about adapting different front suspension

Sooo, all the cool kids were going widebody, so I've finally got around to getting myself some flares!

I think the 2002 flares have been done enough, so found some nice universal flares that seem to fit the bill. They were also a third of the price of 2002 flares, which was a little bonus too

They're 65mm wide, which is about right for the wheel and tyre combo I'm running. If I ever go wider I'll change them up again or just modify them to suit. The supplier recommended bolting them on, but they seem to hang in just fine with duct tape! im yet to decide whether they'll be bolted/rivited/fibreglassed, time (and money) will tell...






and in other news, heres my skids rims I got, nice n cheap. got a set of 15" with really meaty tyres for fifty bucks, and a set of oem bmw 16's with tyres for $130! I think they'll look good with a paintjob and some low-pro's, or maybe some slicks...

update,
In order to get certification for the modifications, so I can road register my car, I've had to put together a fully detailed outline of each of the mods of what I've done and what I plan on doing before the cert. As you can imagine, this took me a while!
it was 33 pages all up, with descriptions, photos, and lots of technical drawings. its being checked by my certifier now and then will go to the national hot rod association, where ten engineers assess it and get back to me with approval (all going well...)
fingers crossed it all goes though ok and then I can start building my fully custom front suspension and custom adjustable steering arms i've got planned.

in less happy news, the person i have purchased some used coilovers off has got my money and not sending the parts and not replying to emails.

I've just bought myself some more Tein coilovers, but some 'drift spec winding master' versions!

Fingers crossed i dont get screwed over again like the last person i bought suspension parts off. I should receive them early next week and will chuck some pics up then and see how they're gonna fit. They're for an S14 Silvia so the rears will be too long and I'm gonna sort something else out if I cant make them work.

Its been way too long doing this upgrade, so I'm fully looking forward to finally getting it back on wheels!

love the pictures to date. be interesting to see what sort of spring rate you go for on the car. and a picture of the new tiens would be good. i have developed a new idea for some front struts for the uk market but i dont know how cheap bmw e36s are over where you are

austin25uk wrote:love the pictures to date. be interesting to see what sort of spring rate you go for on the car. and a picture of the new tiens would be good. i have developed a new idea for some front struts for the uk market but i dont know how cheap bmw e36s are over where you are

thanks. I was going to go for 10kg/mm fronts and 8's in the rear, as thats what the shocks are designed for and my car is similar size/weight/use as the suspension is designed for. I'll probably also buy a couple of softer options too though to try out.

e36's are coming down in price here but probably still more expensive than in the uk i think.