Project: Back in Black

[Majend]

Finally got some quality shots of the new car so it's time to put this up. I'm going to condense everything i have posted so far here so it is all in one place.

So last year i sold my last BMW, for those that never saw it



it had its problems but damn was it fun. I regretted selling it almost immediately but I thought it was for the best at the time. After an e30 i ended up in a prelude for basically nothing and thought i would just drive that as a daily. At first it was a little fun but in the bad of my mind i kept thinking about the old e36. Finally i just said F this, sold the prelude and went shopping. At first i looked around locally but everything was either really rusty or way to much. So i checked how many miles i had and how much flights were costing at the time and i decided to take a bit of a trip.

After about a week of looking i finally found a decent car down in Miami. It had some small dents from a shelf falling on it but it had brand new coilovers on it, receipts for cooling system work, a reasonable amount a miles and the owner was great about taking pictures and videos of the car for me so we agreed on a price and i jumped on the next flight down.

When i got down there i found this:



A black on tan 1997 328is 5 speed with just a tan over 130k on the clock. All that was really done to her was a hot air intake, ultimos (they seriously make the regular racelands on my 325is feel like week old pudding...) staggered DSIIs, Recaro seats (SUPER FAKE) and VAC Motorsports seat mounts. Car drove really solid so we both signed a few things i gave him a small stack of cash and i drove off.

The trip up was beautiful and a trip down memory lane from when i moved down to Fl in 2006.





Just north of the FL/GA boarder the driverside rear wheel bearing started to go. at first it wasn't really noticeable but about 800 miles later it started to get really loud. I stopped for the night in Saint Louis thinking it was my best shot for finding a shop in the morning (saturday) but the only place open the next day want $1200 to do the job and wouldn't guarantee that they would have it done. Given that the book time is 4 hours and it is a $90 part for OEM i did the math and figured it was actually cheaper for me to tow it home so i said F that and hit the road, AAA card in hand.

Made it!



A day or so later i took it to Broadway Autotech for them to do the wheel bearing since i read it can be a horrible DIY. Boy was i right, everything was seized and nothing wanted to go back together. After a lot of doing they were able to get everything back together and the car felt soooo much better.



Then it was time to take care of the tint. Not only do i not like tint very much, every panel was damaged or purpled so it had to go.









Added some stickers



Then someone decided to cut one of my rear tires so i decided it was high time for some wheels since the DSIIs were pretty rashed but fixable. I wanted to do something fun with them but it was going to be a lot easier to do the work with the tires off. Pete said he would sell me his old style 32s, i said F yeah and got to work

When i got them





I sanded them down, inside and out and hit them with some primer





Then sprayed them with some white enamel



After the new tires were mounted i headed over to Chase's place and put them on, rolled the fenders and lowered the car down further.



My front spacers didn't come in time...







but then they did come



I decided to finally do the airbox on the BMW. When I bought the car it just had a cone filter on a 45 degree elbow. it sounds great but it looks REALLY cheap in the engine bay. I want to go with a more OEM+ look in the engine bay so i wanted to grab a stock airbox. Luckily my friend Travis had one but i still wanted a bit more volume than the stock box. I am pretty sure what I am doing is going to harm the performance over the stock airbox but given that the setup I have right now doesn't have a heat shield I would have to imagine that it at least wont be worse than the current setup.

So here is the stock box on my messy coffee table


Untitled by Majend, on Flickr

and here is the section I wanted to remove


Untitled by Majend, on Flickr

I wanted to get a clean line so I put some yellow tape down so I could draw out where I wanted to cut, Nora approves


Untitled by Majend, on Flickr

then I went downstairs and cut the section out with a dremel


Untitled by Majend, on Flickr

and then I finished off the edge with some sandpaper just to clean it up. You won't really be able to see this when it is in the car but I felt it was important.


Untitled by Majend, on Flickr

I'm going to put it in the car sometime this week but it is a bit cold and dark out to do it right now hehe.

And now for what this post was really about. Jared kept saying he wanted to shoot the car so I got Joey to detail it (AMAZING job) and this past Sunday we went out around my dad's house













Thats where i am with the car right now. I've started to gather a few small things here and there and i am working out what i want to do wheel wise for next year. I have a number of ideas i want to try out so put the car further than my last e36. I doubt much will happen though till the spring beyond hoarding parts.

cheers!

[Digital K]

good luck w/ the new project! hope it is making you happy.

[Audiphile]

Glad to see your back on the dark side. Bringing this or the Opel to the Bluntech g2g?

[TTaM]

you license plate is crooked

[Majend]

Glad to see your back on the dark side. Bringing this or the Opel to the Bluntech g2g?

this opel wont be running till next year

[Majend]

good luck w/ the new project! hope it is making you happy.

thanks buddy, it feels really really good to be back in a bmw

[BenjaminButtton]

Looks amazing, making me want an E36 really badly right meow.. Keep up the great work.

[Stephen]

looks good alex, im excited to see what your wheel selection will be

[CabbyScott]

Car looks great! I wouldn't mind getting into one of these someday.

On a side note I went to high school with Guf. Always been amazed by his abilities.

[Sven7]

I like your mask most of all.

[baywindowmagic]

Nice looking car! i really like those wheels!

[Majend]

thanks everyone!

so i went to fit the airbox and as a result i figured out the main difference between the OBD1 and OBD 2 air boxes. The one i bought (OBD1) had a port for an intake air temp sensor. I couldn't find it in my car for the life of me and i think that they were not a part of the airbox on OBD2 cars. I wouldn't care that much but the opening for the sensor is after the filter so leaving it open is not something i want to do.

oh well thats life, if anyone has an OBD2 e36 airbox please let me know!

EDIT: realized after writing the post that the thing that bolts into the airbox is that heater thing and not a temp sensor

[KamakaziX]

Car looked awesome today man! Love it!

[Majend]

Car looked awesome today man! Love it!

Thanks, wished i had cleaned her up again. I did last night but this morning it was dirty from the rain so i just said F' it

on a side note, i need to get a better camera...


Untitled by Majend, on Flickr

[Digital K]

what were ya doin in my hood?