[andreu12qw]

Update:
From the time I visited Laguna Seca there was a laundry list of changes that I was able to complete. I will post photos here in a little but here is the rundown.

I took the B-12 kit off the car as my front end dropped more than the advertised amount. I moved from central valley, California to Los Angeles and my front bumper went from spotless (literally), to covered in scratches in about a month. Growing tired of scraping, I swapped out the b-12 kit for new B8's and the M-sport springs. This setup was alright but the car had more body-roll and dive than the B-12 kit and so I started to look for new options that would fix that while maintaining some usable clearance.

While I debated my suspension options, I carried out my plans to refresh the rear end. I had Malek@MRF install his solid rear subframe bushings along with car_con Condor Speed shop's Diff bushings. while the subframe was out I had the sway bar replaced with an Eibach rear bar. Not the most extreme but I wanted to balance out the car so I bought their non-adjustable F/R kit. I will say the front bar was a noticeable improvement as I installed that beforehand. MRF's solid bushings cleaned up the rear end wiggle I experienced on track and really made the car feel more stable. There is no increase in NVH with the subframe bushings. zero, zip, zilch, nada. I say this for the people that bought a BMW for the comfort and quietness, there is a MICROSCOPIC increase in NVH with the condor speed shop bushings BUT as long as you don't hate fun and a feel that this car should have come with from the factory, then you wont notice it at all. With the windows down or music playing you cant hear any difference..

After this install, I hit up a few more track events and the car was great!

Over the last year, I took care of a clutch replacement around 140,000 miles due to a failing throw out bearing. Was told my clutch had a lot of meat left on it so I could have possibly taken it to 200K.

I then decided on a set of coilovers. Went with Fortune Auto. I have seen mixed reviews but in doing my research, these guys were the friendliest in answering my questions and were also ABLE to answer my questions. They also have that 5 year warranty! I purchased these around the time that global supply chains started to strain as things slowly started to open up. The install took about a month as I needed some parts swapped out shortly after starting the install. My wife is forever scarred by me telling her "this will only take a few hours on Saturday and Sunday".. I also added the turner motorsports rear lower monoball shock mounts and they made installing and adjusting the shock tube height a breeze as the lower threaded stud can slide into the monoball mount a lot easier than the rubber mount. While this was not the sole reason for getting these, its was a very nice benefit. I will eventually get the solid upper mounts to help solidify the rear suspension.

After getting everything installed and aligned, I scored a cheap set of RE-71r's (as they were stopping production on these) and picked up a set of BimmerWorld's TA5R wheels. With a more track appropriate alignment and some more serious tires, I headed out to the streets of willow and Holy S%!$. This car was hilarious fun! Set some decent lap times and ended up only a few second behind my buddy in his E92 M3. Only got two out of the four events in due to a misfire. Limped home and swapped out what looked like the original plugs and coilpacks. If these were the originals, they served me and the previous two owners well, up to 152k miles!

After this track day, I visited Malek@MRF again and he hooked it UP with rod bearings, the waterpump and thermostat along with some other tender loving care for ol' blue. If you can make the drive to his shop I 100% recommend going to him.

One thing I have seen on Youtube only a few times, are the "influencers" that actually invest heavy in BMW maintenance over some of the other useless or less beneficial mods. I get it that they will do the flamboyant mods for views but it is funny to see someone like the Vehicle Virals channel where some of the episodes are just maintenance. If you really want to flex nowadays, show me your E36 in perfect working condition. No floppy headliners, or burnt out pixels.


Anyways, that's all I have for now. Will follow up with photos shortly!