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I have just completed phase 1 of the restoration of my opal green 323i. I have loads of pics and a story too. I will load up the photos later, but can show the before:



and after:



Car is now roadworthy, but I am still not happy with steering and the front end. The only parts that were reused were the struts and the four large metal washers that clamp the metal sleeves at join of the control arms and the sway bar. The control arms came with new bushes pre inserted, but given the wayward feel of the steering, particularly over a sharp bump, I think I should have replaced the four washers.

Here is the view of one of the arms:



Does anyone know if there is a two piece poly bush option??

I'll lodge another post later today, let interested people see what condition car was in when I got it.

Chris

Chris,

If you want to post images you should use the image address, not the page address. So the image url should typically end on .jpg .png .bmp or something similar.

For more tips check http://www.bmwe21.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15956

not working for me on flikr, will try another

thanks Jeroen

Try here Chris http://www.imgur.com

Here is the before - you can see how low the green car is - engine mounts, change over struts from white car, after cutting one link - new control arms, wheel beargins and tie rods - were all part of the solution:



And yesterday, after a wash:



Here are my weak points in my suspension and I need a solution. The arms came with a new bush pre installed. Steering feels dreadful and any large bumps will twist the wheels in unpredictable ways:



Grateful for advice. Will post the story soon.

Good work.

Those washers weren't tight against the control arm from the factory, there is supposed to be a gap (apparently they're a failsafe if the control arm bush ever failed, to stop it moving up and down the rollbar). There's a couple of threads about it in the tech forum - some double up the old and new washers, and some have even made their own poly bushes to fill the gap and tighten things up. Steering rack bushes are also prone to wear.

thanks Reck, that's what the man at Pedders told me - as long as the sleeve is properly clamped against the sway bar, it is working as designed.

Going to check the steering rack bushes and then take it for a proper front alignment. I did cut the stock springs (one loop at top) and camber is diff from stock, but the steering is so wayward that I need to have it properly checked.

Doesn't help that my seat has two broken springs and is rooted.

The trip from Queanbeyan to my house confirmed the car had handling and steering problems. The previous owner said it was dirty and needed a service - this was an understatement. It has been hard work, and more to be done, but happy with progress and not regretting the project - yet...



Four BBS rims, two with cracked lips (holding the centre caps in). Have been painted white at some point. Only 13s, but good 60 profile on back, near new, and the Pirellis on the donar car are new. One of the tyres on front (I forget which) was so worn on one edge, it wouldn't roll properly.



2.7 litre straight, single cam six from an e30 325e - using e21 fuel and ignition. Note huge strut brace. Didn't put it back on, yet, wanted to see the stock handling....

Motor was dirty as. If you know me, I can't stand this and was a reason my "service" took a week...here's another view





The interior features front and rear seats which have done ok, seats at back are virtually unused. Front ones sag and further inspection reveal two broken springs and padding which was useless. Carpet ok, dash cracked, leather steering wheel has lost its fine finish and needs to be binned. Headlining good, most rubbers need to be replaced and will be.

More tomorrow

2.7 on K-Jet should make it nice and lively! Think you'll notice the difference with or without the strut brace.

As for the floppy feel, front suspension looks ok like this even though I used extra rings to fill the gap but that's not stock. Things to check first are the swaybar bushes all the way at the front and the steering rack bushes imho.

Thanks Jeroen - lively is an understatement, the engine is a beast and pulls strongly from about 1500 rpm in any gear. Tappet noise is intrusive and any links to how I can use some new feeler gauges to quieten them down would be appreciated.

I am sure the gearbox is from an e21 323i, not from the e30. Why? Because the ratios feel too low and my indicated speed on the speedometer is, I am certain, at least 10 per cent faster than my real speed (and its not my rear tyres).

I am getting used to driving the car but there is excessive lateral (sideways) movement in the front. I am going to order some new rack bushes - is there a link to replacing these??

Regards to everyone - Chris

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... st15877487

This is a good post (in fact the whole thread is great for an E21 owner) regarding suspension and bushes.