My restoration project: 1998 BMW M3
#22
Thanks Barry. Hope everythings well with you.
On a side note, got started on breaking down the wheel bearings tonight to repack them with higher quality grease and more of it for that matter. Here are pics of the repack. While doing this, i wondered....how good are Honda bearings and the grease they use? I have to tell you, the grease packed in the brand new bearings for the M3 felt a little better than vasoline and so so little of it. I'm glad i did this even though at first thought it seemed like a waste of time. On with the pics.
FAG bearings, stop laughing guys....i have FAG bearings. Brand new out of the box.
Little pry up with a exacto knife and used a flat head to take the gasket off.
Time to take it all apart. It took me 15 minutes to look at the old bearing i pressed out to see how it was on the inside. Couldn't figure out how to get the race out. It was simple, just push against the inner race with a pick then slowly pull the metal inner surround out. As you can see, not a lot of grease packed into the brand new bearing.
All apart and ready to clean up the old grease. As you can see, the old shitty vasoline like grease was barely there and the quality was shit. I'm sure it would be fine for years to come but when will i have a chance to repack my own FAG bearings??
Here's that wonderful white grease. Used red can Brakleen, paper towels and cottom swabs. Pain in the ass.
Someone on the M3 forums were raving about repacking with this stuff. After doing some research, its a preferred method amongst race teams to repack their bearings with higher quality grease. Redline CV2. Can't go wrong with Redline products.
Using a syringe to pump in the new grease.
All done!! Cleaned up some of the excess grease and put it in a zip lock bag until i'm ready to install!!
#24
Thanks man, don't think I'll be selling after all the labor that's going in. E36 m3 are plentiful but most will need a lot of attention as it's close to 20 yrs old, many of them having high miles. But if you really stay on what's being put up for sale you might get lucky with a low mileage pristine condition car. Or you can take the path I'm taking and replace everything!!
#27
#29
It's all the small shit that's taking forever but trying to sort out everything and do it right so it's headache free on the road and track(occasionally). Really leaning towards ditching oem seats and maybe going with recaro. OEM seats weigh a ton in this car!!
#30
Part of the appeal is you've gone through great lengths to keep the car original-looking and preserve/restore it. You're going to have enough extra power on tap to make up for the seat weight.