In reply to Matt B :
I'll be keeping a close eye on the plastic overflow tank. I bought the OEM spec version made by Uro and if it fails I'm upgrading to Mishimoto. The price is right, they are based relatively close to me and it has a lifetime warranty.
Order is in with FCP Euro for most of the mounting parts I need and should be delivered in two days.
Also expecting some ridiculously wide mouth adjustable wrenches to arrive in the next few days which hopefully (god help me if they don't work) will allow me to get these godforsaken adjustable rear spring perches off.
BMW front strut mounts are currently ~$160 a piece from FCP Euro and all of the third party parts are more like $60 a piece with limited/delayed availability. At this point if I have to spend big money I think may end up upgrading overall to either Vorshlag or Ground Control mounts and camber plates for around $440 for the pair. Anyone have experience with any of these manufacturers that I should weigh in my decision?
Posted my old suspension setup on Facebook Marketplace and got immediate strong interest. Have one buyer who may want to take my Z3M wheels and tires too.
Selling old parts always helps take away the pain of how much I spend on new parts so I hope these sell in the next week or two.
In reply to trumant :
I run GC race plates in my car. They were on it when I bought it, and I'm not sure when they were installed, but they seem to be holding up well. I run mine with TCK Single adjustables. I had to add thrust sheets to keep the springs from binding while making tighter turns. Not a big deal.
Vorshlag plates seem to be better made and you don't need to run thrust sheets, but they also cost more.
Just got off the phone with Jason at Vorshlag and he's going to be sending me out some camber plates and spring perches in about ten days. Ended up going with https://vorshlag-store.com/collections/bmw-e36-suspension/products/vorshlag-bmw-e36-camber-caster-plates-perches?variant=15148448263 because after talking to him, it seems like if I decide to move from the Bilstein OEM-style springs over to typical 60mm linear springs that Vorshlag will put together a custom package of parts similar to https://vorshlag-store.com/collections/bmw-e36-suspension/products/vorshlag-bilstein-pss9-10-linear-spring-conversion-kit-for-bmw-e36-e46 that will allow me to build off of my upfront investment.
trumant said:Unfortunately I can't manage to remove the adjustable spring perches in the rear.
That bolt and it's buddy on the other side of the arm must be two inches across but only 1/4 inch tall at most and in a confined space. I've sprayed them with penetrating oil and heated them but the only thing I have that fits around them is channel lock pliers and I can't generate sufficient torque to bust it loose.
Any ideas on removal?
You need a large open ended wrench for one side and a large socket for this one with a big lever. Either that or an impact wrench with swivels and extensions.
You had asked about battery tools. I'd probably go with Harbor Freight. They sell some cheap knock offs of the Matco and Snap On stuff.
One of these should do for removing lugs.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-hypermax-lithium-ion-cordless-12-in-impact-wrench-tool-only-63629.html
If you really want to break stuff then get this thing.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-max-lithium-12-in-cordless-xtreme-torque-impact-wrench-kit-64195.html
In reply to Harvey :
No padding, the rear trailing arm has effectively a tube in the middle. Around/on-top of that tube is an aluminum threaded spring perch. Part of the perch comes into the trailing arm from the bottom, and the other half screws into it from the top.
The part is basically https://www.pinterest.com/pin/686306430685955476/ minus the top with the flange that holds the base of the rear spring.
I believe the aluminum threads are galled on the left rear. On the right rear, I was able to unscrew the bottom, but the inside of the top seems fused to the steal tube coming out of the bottom of the rear trailing arm.
I've tried PB Blaster and heat and thus far no luck. I may end up having to cut these damn things off with a Dremel and a cutting wheel.
Better picture of what I'm trying to remove
And what I'm trying to get to, i.e. what the spring perch is mounted to
So basically the adjusters for the spring perch are just not coming loose and you can't get either side to turn at all. If you get either side to turn you are probably good though. Is it indented on the other side as well?
You're down to basically just the two pieces that lock onto the hub shown in this PDF.
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/E36_E46_Rear_Height_Adjusters.pdf
In reply to Harvey :
One side, when I get a wrench on the bottom and turn, it just spins the top. One wrench on top and one on bottom and simply can't break them loose. One the other side, was able to completely unscrew the bottom and remove, the top seems to be corroded onto the steel of the trailing arm and won't budge at all.
Really appreciate the help!
The one where you have the bottom off and the top is stuck, hit it with a hammer at an angle. If that doesn't work, get a bigger hammer. You could also try putting a chisel up against the bottom edge of that one and banging on it.
The one that is still connected together and spins, if you have nothing that can hold on to the top directly then I'd probably try wedging something up against the top bolt inside of that depression. A piece of wood or something so that when you turn the thing it gets stuck up against it. Then go at the bottom alone with a long lever. Just be careful as this can be a bit haphazard if the wedge up top lets go for some reason.
Also, if it just sucks to get at because of the position on the car you could always take off the arm entirely to get better access to it. If you have an air chisel I find those can also be nice for knocking things loose, if a bit dangerous and damaging.
It's probably obvious, but keep hitting the one that is just stuck by itself with the hammer until it comes off. The bigger hammer is just so you don't have to hit it quite as much.
The old whack it with a hammer trick popped the single side off. Lots of corrosion between the two pieces had it pretty jammed up.
The connected ones are still giving me a hard time but I still need to try the wedge trick.
Assuming you can't really break any of the pieces the big hammer is often the solution to stuck things. There was that one time my Miata's rotors were just stuck like a mofo to the hub and I couldn't get anything into the little screw hole that you usually can use to pop them off. Sledge hammer, many swings.
For the two remaining, edge case if you have some compressed air or shop vac try blowing/vacuuming out the top of it just in case there are rocks or other debris fouling things up, but in general you probably just need to get the top to stop spinning and then give a good pull on the bottom. It looks like a block of wood will jam it up good without damaging anything.
Sold my old suspension quickly on FBM and shipped it out today minus one of the adjustable spring perches. Buyer knows he will have to supply his own. Nice to recoup some of the cost of my upgrades.
My Dremel has been well employed in starting to cut off the remaining perch. Reach and angle is a bit of an issue and rather than drop the trailing arm completely I've decided to try a right angle head on the Dremel and see if it gives me the access I need to complete the process.
New wheels and tires arrived strangely with staggered delivery. Two days ago three were delivered and then yesterday the last one finally showed up.
Moved them to the basement today so the Azenis don't have to suffer the low of 27F tonight.
Was happy to get the first look at the new wheels but it's going to be probably a week before they get mounted up while I wait for my Vorshlag camber plates to show up.
Did you order your tires from TireRack? Generally they have been great, but I had a similar experience with one order of RE11A's for my S2000. Ended up getting one side, a front 205 and a rear 225, and it took another couple of days to get the rest of the set. Most likely the fault of UPS/FedEx/etc.
In reply to MTechnically :
Yeah I'm a loyal TireRack customer. I place the blame on UPS.
I have taken my weapons into battle and after glorious combat have emerged victorious from the battlefield.
Well, it does come to that at times,
I would have spent more in effectively single purpose tools to attempt to remove it unmolested than the cost of a new one. And my buyer for the old coilovers was happy to take a small discount knowing he'd have to purchase a few parts.
Still waiting for my camber plates to arrive sadly or I'd have the new coils installed by now and be moving on to other projects.
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