Robs E46M Rosso Corsa Street Build

[ClevoCapri]

That is perfection mate!

[D-O]

Looks very nice Rob.

Did you paint over the Boom Mat? The black finish you have looks quite good.

Don't suppose that axle puller can be used for disassembly?

Jesse

[robgill]

Looks very nice Rob.

Did you paint over the Boom Mat? The black finish you have looks quite good.

Don't suppose that axle puller can be used for disassembly?

Jesse

Thats boom mat straight from the can, it looks really good! Axle puller only does assembly unfortunately. I can almost never get the axels out of the hubs on my own. I usually take them to a local machine shop to press them out.

[Casa de Mesa]

One of my favorite all time builds. I keep coming back to this thread!

[usdmej]

Fishing touch was to cut the floor board and carpet. I did this by using the same pilot drill from below and the same hole drill for a perfect fit. Still need to figure out the side trim pieces but will save that for later.

ingenious!!! did you need to have weight on top of the floorboard/carpet while you drilled to keep it in place?

[robgill]

ingenious!!! did you need to have weight on top of the floorboard/carpet while you drilled to keep it in place?

Yeah I just laid the bar on it for enough weight to just start a pilot hole. Then pulled it all out and used the hole drill to finish it. Still need to sort out the side trim!

[robgill]

Likely the last outing of the year! Met up with EYEHAVEYOU & @andyman746 at Sunday Motor Co in Jersey for some Coffee. Actually started snowing while we were there so its definitely about time to shut it down for the winter. NYC loves to dump absurd amounts of salt all over the roads...



With the rearend done this car drives SOOOOOO GOOOOOD. Absolutely love it. Everything is better. It shifts much smoother, its feels a lot stiffer/responsive and I really don't notice any additional NVH with the solid subframe bushings.

[Casa de Mesa]

With the rearend done this car drives SOOOOOO GOOOOOD. Absolutely love it. Everything is better. It shifts much smoother, its feels a lot stiffer/responsive and I really don't notice any additional NVH with the solid subframe bushings.

You went with OE/OEM differential bushing though, is that correct?

I did the same rear suspension rebuild on mine last year. Everything is a monoball or OE bushing. Subframe bushings are Delrin (the car came to me with Delrin) and I opted to go for solid TMS aluminum diff bushings. I absolutely love how direct the rear suspension feels. It's racecar good.

But it's racecar loud too, thanks to the diff bushings. Noisy little bastards! Had I know just how loud they'd be, I never would have gone that route. I'm likely going to go swap them out with the OE BMW bushings and try my luck pressing them into the diff cover.

[Exclusivs]

This thing is so rad! A brief hiatus from the board, and so much progress done here. Must re-read entire thread, fantastic job Rob!

[Slideways]

You went with OE/OEM differential bushing though, is that correct?

I did the same rear suspension rebuild on mine last year. Everything is a monoball or OE bushing. Subframe bushings are Delrin (the car came to me with Delrin) and I opted to go for solid TMS aluminum diff bushings. I absolutely love how direct the rear suspension feels. It's racecar good.

But it's racecar loud too, thanks to the diff bushings. Noisy little bastards! Had I know just how loud they'd be, I never would have gone that route. I'm likely going to go swap them out with the OE BMW bushings and try my luck pressing them into the diff cover.

What diff bushings do you have now? The stock diff bushings only come with the cover unfortunately.

[robgill]

You went with OE/OEM differential bushing though, is that correct?

I did the same rear suspension rebuild on mine last year. Everything is a monoball or OE bushing. Subframe bushings are Delrin (the car came to me with Delrin) and I opted to go for solid TMS aluminum diff bushings. I absolutely love how direct the rear suspension feels. It's racecar good.

But it's racecar loud too, thanks to the diff bushings. Noisy little bastards! Had I know just how loud they'd be, I never would have gone that route. I'm likely going to go swap them out with the OE BMW bushings and try my luck pressing them into the diff cover.

Yeah I stuck with the OE diff bushings. I think those plus OE engine and trans keeps the NVH down.

[Casa de Mesa]

What diff bushings do you have now? The stock diff bushings only come with the cover unfortunately.

Solid aluminum Turner.

I thought the front bushing was the same diameter as the 2 in the rear? Maybe not, will double check...

Yeah I stuck with the OE diff bushings. I think those plus OE engine and trans keeps the NVH down.

I kept the engine and tranny bushings OEM, but those rears... so loud. It's good to know that with all of the other mods you did that are basically what I did don't contribute too much NVH. Gives me hope!!

[Slideways]

Solid aluminum Turner.

I thought the front bushing was the same diameter as the 2 in the rear? Maybe not, will double check...

Ah, didn't catch that on first read. Yeah, the stock front diff and cover bushings are a bit different.

[D-O]

I am learning a lot from this journal. Thanks.

Coincidentally, I am now installing the rear subframe/suspension assembly after finishing up Vincebar and VinceSkinz install. The TIS says to set the diff in place and attach three (only three?) driveshaft bolts, install all three diff mount bolts hand tight and finally to torque the front bolt followed by the two rears. I have the diff in place and the bolts in loosely, but I have not attached the drive shaft yet.

Will I really need to pull out the three diff bolts before attaching the drive shaft?

Can I just install all six drive shaft bolts rather than only three?

Can the half shafts be attached and torqued to the diff before the diff is torqued?

Lots of questions. Maybe I am over thinking it, but I do not want to take this thing apart again any time soon.

Did you grease the rear CV joint in the drive shaft, and if so, what sort of grease did you use?

Thanks.

Jesse

[robgill]

I am learning a lot from this journal. Thanks.

Coincidentally, I am now installing the rear subframe/suspension assembly after finishing up Vincebar and VinceSkinz install. The TIS says to set the diff in place and attach three (only three?) driveshaft bolts, install all three diff mount bolts hand tight and finally to torque the front bolt followed by the two rears. I have the diff in place and the bolts in loosely, but I have not attached the drive shaft yet.

Will I really need to pull out the three diff bolts before attaching the drive shaft?

Can I just install all six drive shaft bolts rather than only three?

Can the half shafts be attached and torqued to the diff before the diff is torqued?

Lots of questions. Maybe I am over thinking it, but I do not want to take this thing apart again any time soon.

Did you grease the rear CV joint in the drive shaft, and if so, what sort of grease did you use?

Thanks.

Jesse

This was my general process I used on this car as well as my track car. For both I had the entire rear subframe out and disassembled. I did not exactly follow TIS, my primary concern was getting access to bolts to properly torque them. These are the steps I took to reassemble:

1. Installed inner control arms to subframe. I used spherical bearing so I was able to torque those bolts off the car. If you are using OE bushings you'll need to do this on the car with arms in approximate resting position on the car.
2. Installed the diff in the subframe. I did this so I could easily torque the rear diff mounts. Be really careful not to over torgue the OE diff bolts/bushings, they are easy to damage. One tradeoff here is the subframe is a lot heavier and harder to line up with the diff installed. May try installing the diff in the subframe after its installed in the car next time.
3. Installed the subframe (with arms and diff) into car.
4. Installed the drive shaft. I did this so I can put the car in gear to keep the diff from turning when installing the output shafts. I used this lube referenced in realoem and a new seal.
5. Installed the trailing arms with new bearings, hubs, shields already installed. Remember to install the shield BEFORE the hubs. Learned that the hard way...
6. Install the output shafts. I held the trailing arms up with a jack and got them generally in place. Hand tightened the shaft to diff bolts. Then pulled the spines through. I put antisieze on the splines mostly to make it easier to get them out in the future.
7. Torqued the shaft to diff bolts in no particular order, rotating the as needed to get access.
8. Installed the e brakes line and pads. Do yourself a favor and buy this tool. Makes attaching the springs much easier.
9. Install brakes
10. With car on wheels and on the ground, torque the shaft to hub bolts

Good luck!