jzx_andy's E92 progress thread

[JohnDaviz]

just wanted to say the same. I would have never thought it is so much work. Getting the feeling that welding the whole original quarter panel may be cheaper in the end

Can you tell us how much the fender work is roughly? That was actually one of my things on my project list also.

 

[jzx_andy]

just wanted to say the same. I would have never thought it is so much work. Getting the feeling that welding the whole original quarter panel may be cheaper in the end

Can you tell us how much the fender work is roughly? That was actually one of my things on my project list also.

If you can get outer/lower skin quarter cuts off an M3 shell it'd certainly be cheaper. I think swapping entire quarter panels would be a huge job.

These custom quarters are costing me approx $4k AUD, at a very low hourly rate. Unfortunately I couldn't source any quarters from a wreck, and BMW wants ~$12k AUD a piece for newies!

 

[aus335iguy]

and BMW wants ~$12k AUD a piece for newies!

Man I’m gonna part out my car. At those rates with used parts I’ll be a millionaire

 

[jzx_andy]

Another week and some more photos to share. Real happy with how it's looking.

Inner quarter cavities welded/sealed/coated.

We're on the home stretch now.

 

[aus335iguy]

Looking good !

 

[AzNdevil]

this is pretty nice... i wish i could find someone i trust with the skills to do this for me....

 

[jzx_andy]

Recently sorted out a bunch of handling bits that I'd purchased over the years. This included a set of brakes sourced from an F87 M2, the rear section of an E9x M3 driveline and various ball joints and small odds and ends.

Exhaust, propshaft, and rear subframe all had to come out, after which the subframe and knuckles were disassembled. The M3 propshaft required some custom work in order to adapt to the 335i manual box.

I also took the opportunity to change the pesky gearbox selector shaft seal that is prone to leaking and ruining the foam piece that sits inside the shaft.

Unfortunately my stupid ass didn't realise that I'd need to cut out chunks of the rear e9x 335i knuckles in order to fit the F87 brakes with an adapter kit. Being a street car, I wasn't too fond with removing material from knuckles, so I found a bolt on solution for the calipers, which involved replacing the rear caliper bushings with eccentric ones, using a pair of e6x 35i/45i/50i rear rotors, after which they were a bolt on affair.


Front brakes in

Rear subframe out

Knuckles and control arms overhauled, m3 axles fitted to knuckles

Subframe sorted out with new mounts and ball joints

Suspension and driveline assembled

Back on the ground and ready for the next phase

Here's a summary of all the handling goodness that's been fitted:

1M/M3 rear arms with lemforder ball joints pressed in to the outer links with cnc adapters (these arms only have ball jointed inners from factory)

GAS monoball kit for 2x 1M/M3 front control arms

Solid subframe mounts

ST XTA coilovers

E9x M3 front diff bushings

F3x rear diff bushing

E9x M3 halfshafts, e9x M3 3.15 (DCT) diff and customised M3 propshaft

E92 M3 f/r swaybars

Adjustable/ball jointed endlinks f/r

Lemforder ball joints fitted to trailing arm links and inner spring arm link (cnc housing and spacers required for the latter)

New fresh outer spring arm ball joint and lower shock mounts

Manzo adjustable rear toe arms (I've had this one for a while, but should probably replace it for a fancy ball jointed arm at this point)

Stoptech stainless brake lines

F8x steel front calipers, pads and front rotors

F8x steel rear calipers and pads and large E6x non-M rear rotors

 

[jzx_andy]

Regarding the bodywork, the rear quarters are not 100% to my liking at this point in time. It is likely that there will be a little more work involved on the outer radius of the rear flares and the side skirts, in order to get everything looking as seamless and oem as possible. I's close, but I want it to be about as perfect as possible before it goes in for paint.

 

[jzx_andy]

Next up is a few small maintenance items and then onto removing the factory twins and doing some cool shit. I've also started ordering things to fab up a custom stainless exhaust, including these tips (will be keeping quads as I think they suit the car nicely) and a resonator.

The exhaust spec will be a single 3.5" pipe into the resonator, likely a 100cel cat converter, into the largest muffler I can possibly fit under the rear bar, and then split out into two pipes that end at the factory tip locations.

 

[Brule]

Reaper is good.
I did a reaper resonator and massive custom muffler and it was quite on a 4 inch exhaust.
3.5 inch sounds better and will flow plenty.
Nice work.

 

[aus335iguy]

What did it take to get those front brakes on ?
I have the non M 370mm and same rear setup as you.
I’ve got some e9x m3 rear knuckles if you need Em.

 

[aus335iguy]

Awesome progress BTW
If nothing else it definitely looks the part already

 

[jzx_andy]

What did it take to get those front brakes on ?
I have the non M 370mm and same rear setup as you.
I’ve got some e9x m3 rear knuckles if you need Em.

Thanks for the replies and for the offer.

You need eccentric caliper bushings and adapters in order to run the 380mm front rotors on non-M front knuckles. I've left the front dust shields on as well, as they don't seem to even come close to the caliper or rotors.

I'll see how I go with the rear non-M knuckles for the time being, though I think its possible and fairly easy to bolt on the F chassis calipers and 370mm rotors onto E9x M3 rear knuckles. Will see if I can recoup a little money by selling the rear F8x rotors. If only I knew you had some laying around before swapping bushings, wheel bearings and axles on my ones! Haha

P.S. The rear dust shields were so fucking annoying. Trimmed them to hell. Still scraped along the inside of the rotor hats, so ended up cutting them out! Thankfully the parking brake shoe retaining plates didn't require any work.

 

[CalvinNismo]

Nice rear!

Lemforder ball joints fitted to trailing arm links and inner spring arm link (cnc housing and spacers required for the latter)

What inner camber arm bearings did you go for? They don’t look like the Bimmerworld ones.

 

[jzx_andy]

Nice rear!

What inner camber arm bearings did you go for? They don’t look like the Bimmerworld ones.

Thanks!

I went with an Aussie company's offering - https://cmpautoengineering.com/coll...x-e9x-f8x-monoball-rear-lower-camber-arm-bush

I asked the owner of CMP Auto Engineering whether he uses genuine Lemforder items and he said they use the exact same Lemforder ball joint that's found at the knuckle-end of the camber arm.

 

[AzNdevil]

Thanks!

I went with an Aussie company's offering - https://cmpautoengineering.com/coll...x-e9x-f8x-monoball-rear-lower-camber-arm-bush

I asked the owner of CMP Auto Engineering whether he uses genuine Lemforder items and he said they use the exact same Lemforder ball joint that's found at the knuckle-end of the camber arm.

nice part but that is very expensive for a bearing joint + spacers IMO....
i went with using https://www.bimmerworld.com/BimmerWorld-Rear-Camber-Arm-Bearing-Kit.html

its a bit fiddly to install but it gets the job done...

 

[jzx_andy]

nice part but that is very expensive for a bearing joint + spacers IMO....
i went with using https://www.bimmerworld.com/BimmerWorld-Rear-Camber-Arm-Bearing-Kit.html

its a bit fiddly to install but it gets the job done...

Yeah, it's pricey for what it is. The CMP one is $279 AUD, which is about $193 USD, versus $260 USD for the BimmerWorld item.

 

[jzx_andy]

Had the wheel alignment dialled in today. Holy fuck, why didn't I sort out the rear end sooner?

 

[SLOWESTN54]

Had the wheel alignment dialled in today. Holy fuck, why didn't I sort out the rear end sooner?

That much better?

 

[jzx_andy]

That much better?

Totally man. The rear end always felt a little "off" under WOT, and worse whenever the tyres would break loose at speed. Natural instinct is to back off whereas with the lsd it makes you want to power through. Heaps more confidence. That said, I have only run very average Advan V105 tyres on this thing to date.

I'm just not used to having tc not intervening when going WOT at low speeds, and having so much more use out of 1st and 2nd even with tc off. It's got the grip, predictability and directness that a 400+hp rwd car should have imo.