VladSoilerOfCarpets

You'll see around 220-230bhp from just the M50 plus a decent map. Everything else falls into place after that. I made my 233bhp with DaveF air filter, M50 intake, decat system and lightened flywheel. 40bhp increase from 4 simple bolt-ons- what an engine! Valeo do a kit for the early E36 325i (1991 or so)- which was a solid flywheel! That was what I got, then it was machined down and balanced with the clutch plate. That should sound awesome- sound clips necessary! Flared arches will look great. I'd love the AC Schnitzer CLS kit, but it's hella expensive and not ready for the awesomeness of a Touring (they only do it for the coupé/cab bodystyle ) Fair enough- as long as you're happy. It will eat tyres, I'd recommend your own tyre machine and balancer. OK, apparently it's one wire going to the plug which BMW sell that plugs directly into the sump. Could be worth a look..! If you need some original clocks then let me know.

She's very very healthy, good luck catching her. next on the list, and the final thing realistically, will be the US-spec M3 cams. Once they're in, it'll be a bespoke map to tie everything together- 265bhp at the absolute minimum. 280bhp is theoretically possible... It's the Toyosports exhaust, it was £180, I couldn't say no. It sounds utterly fabulous. Alpinas aren't my style, I'm more a Hartge kinda boy, but I appreciate the offer also have some extra summer wheels... Yes, they are Cadbury's purple flipped with deep blue. Steering wheel I've only just put on, go steady old chap. some new clocks and a short shifter kit from AC Schnitzer (both of the items) are in the post as of Friday. Then it's a steering rack rebuild and an M3 x-brace courtesy of my new breaker car... 328i, convertible, electric roof, tax, test, £300. Any tips/tricks/solutions for the E36, gimme a shout and I'll do what I can.

Oh, go on then... Custom-made update for you Briskodians. Well, she's done a lot since the last update. A hell of a lot... First things first, August 2013. She got a service, a road trip, and a lot of usage. New plugs, new oil, other various bits. Please observe my terribly safe work ramps. Then I took some pictures at half 2 in the morning, and they came out pretty well. This went on. Genuine Sport LSD, locks up like a Jew looking after a bank vault. This was amusing. This was so uplifting! Scraaaaaaape! This was the start of a brilliant trip. This was fun. And terrifying at the same time! Some expensive scaffolding... These are incredibly beneficial. I love this one. Late night again. Quite enjoying it. Then I had some new boots (we're in December now, by the way). Actually... they're old boots, just put back on! "HUMAN! PUT ME DOWN!!" This was an expensive water pump, but **** me it's gorgeous! Then the winter shoes came out. And a remapped ECU. Sooooo... 250bhp, standard wheels, and a 318i badge. Yes, I'm a ****. Black electric Vaders. Laaaaavly. And an alcantara steering wheel. I do believe I've not missed anything out!

Hold on... I'm doing it... A few things to consider... - M50 makes a massive difference, even more so when mapped. - If you need to change clutch, swap the dual mass fly for a solid one. I went from 21kg dual mass to 7.8kg solid. The difference is... marked! - They do sound incredible, even more so with a ballistic exhaust attached. - Check the rear arches religiously, they're the first thing to go rusty and they go very quickly. - Welded diff can be a right pain in the arse for daily driving... but if it works for you... - Have you got your oil temp wired in? If so, how?

I know, the ****ers just won't **** off... you'd think because it's cold, they'd go away! Mutter mutter mutter...

A nice, stiff RARB will make a massive difference. Takes away the understeery pig-dog feel. For a road car that occasionally gets tracked, I'd recommend a really good ARB setup and poly bushes over coilovers. The ARBs will ensure the car handles loads better... and you can then tweak how twitchy you want the rear end. Polys will give you a much better idea of grip levels/feedback, they worked wonders on mine. So far I've poly'd the ARB bushes (awesome, surprisingly big difference), lower arm bushes (massive difference to steering feel, unsure if it's the same on a MkIV platform), and am working on subframe ones at the moment. Good tyres and good brakes are also a must.

Sorry I couldn't make it tonight to sully the ranks with my chav wagon! Next time, fo' sho'!

I was just about to put my name down... but... it was already there! :p

I'll see what the shifts are doing (again)!

Bad times, I'm working 2-11. :( definitely won't be making it! Happy birthday for the 6th Stuart... you old git.

I'll check the rotas..!

I'll be on duty, so will nip through and check everything is all in order..!

I'll still be holding fort, so pop along..! Burgers shall be had, and Lee, you're a massive let down.

You rang? On an early that day so can actually make it this time.

I love these. So comfortable, so spacious and so quick. Like a turbocharged sofa with a wardrobe attached. They look amazing with slightly greyer wheels.

That looked tidy- didn't see what the other VRS ran, do you remember? I remember seeing one of Clive's stickers on it. Yes, that was mine. Last one of the day- made 233bhp, which I really wasn't expecting (193bhp standard with a few bolt-ons, plus it's a 110,000-mile engine). Realistically 170bhp is your top whack before you start ****ing about with massive intercoolers/PD150 turbos, so I'd be happy with that. my old Fab vRS was running around 160bhp, I think...

Which one was yours, the silver or black one? I was there with the silver BMW...

I will check my shifts and see what the crack is, but fingers (and testicles) are crossed.

If I've got my ECU on by then, I'll definitely be there. Did one yesterday at JKM, but would like to know the power results after the map... And Lee, it's not that loud...

Maybe... will he take RWD?

And me..!

This is looking very tidy! Can you post up a vid of the noise? Always loved the VR6, especially with a nice induction kit on there. Good call. Is it quick? Always thought these craved more power from the output.

And my update from earlier this month: Been a busy old month. First up, saw these on eBay and (shamelessly copying vsonix), I had to have them... they've got different centre caps, but are ultimately the same wheels- Hartge Design Ds. Not an easy find, although since I bought them I have since found another set on eBay... typical. :hehe: Next up, Sport rear bumper finally fitted. This was a labour of love and STILL isn't sitting right! I'll get there though... it looks good. Next up- some quality rust-stripping/proofing, courtesy of the trusty paint/varnish/rust remover tool I bought a few pages back and a tub of silver Hammerite (perfect colour match for Titan Silver?!). Also stripped the exhaust of its black finish, purely because the Sport rear trim made it... 'disappear' a little bit. Now on to the interesting toys... Bilstein B10 Power Kit. Buy cheap, buy twice. Sold the second-hand AC Schnitzer M3 suspension, and went for this handsomely-priced set of new suspension that a chap hadn't fitted to his car. The results are below... The crime scene for the day. A very good friend has a tidy E36 cabrio that he's already done the suspension on. I jokingly mumbled on Facebook about holding a gun to his head and getting him to do mine... you can imagine my surprise when he chirped up with, "Don't forget your suspension tomorrow!" (Me: "Really? Are you sure? SA-WEEEEEET.") Old versus new. It was the original suspension- 14 years old- all the shocks were utterly fubared! Although, bizarrely, the top mounts were in perfect nick. Be having them, in that case... One of the lovely new struts, built up and ready to be popped in. Bubblegum blue and sterling silver- a good blend. They're Bilstein B8 shocks, with Bilstein's 'own brand' springs... Snug as a bug in a rug. The rears were pathetically easy to do- the hardest part was pulling apart the cargo bay to get at the top mount bolts in the back! We ended up with something that looked a little bit like this: While I was there, I collected my newly sprayed parts that I've been banging on about... Before: After: Also, little bits- bagged a rear wiper from a 406 Estate and fitted that (Aero look), thus removing the spindly nasty mess that it used to have but retaining practicality. And here's the exhaust tips in context... I've also rebuilt the cargo area as there was quite a lot of trim missing. I won't bore people with photos, but it all actually fits together now. Simple things. Few photos with James and his utterly lovely E36 Cabrio- he now has my old Style 32s, so is well covered for gorgeous wheels on his car! I know you're reading this mate, thanks again for all your hard work and help- he sprayed the new front bumper, new side strips, rear strips AND helped me change all the suspension on the car. Friends like that simply don't grow on trees. What's next? Well... These came in the post, so I guess I'd better fit them. Converted to fit the E36 (with some slightly dodgy-looking brackets), they came with grooved/vented 325mm discs and new pads. I've bought the relevant E36 M3 Evo master cylinder/servo/reservoir and done a test fit on the breaker car, should be relatively simple. Apart from that, ECU will be changed for a mapped one before I nip to the 'Ring, then a tidy exhaust, then just the niggly bits- grey leather rear seats, refurb the Vaders, repsray bits, rust-proof. Well happy. Plenty done, not much left now!!

Update from early May: The dropping is coming! For now, though, my latest bargain... Some quality time vacuuming before popping something in... Awh yeah. Electric, too! And a black leather rear bench/seats from my breaking one until I find a tidy grey one from a Touring. Next up- collect painted parts on May 18th, fit LSD, apply new suspension, new exhaust, remap, finish BBSs. Then she's pretty much ready for the 'Ring.

Sorry mate, neglected this slightly! Lots been done though! Update from late April: Little bit of progress before next week, when all hell will be breaking loose! First up, wheels. The black finish was **** anyway, and I have a few little bits that need sorting out on the wheels. Purchased an Oakey Paint & Varnish Remover drill-mounted sanding disc, and a super-aggressive one, this is how we're doing so far... Kittychops joins in the fun again. He's quite a useful cat. The drill-mounted demon thing. Two whole wheels and some of a centre cap done. This thing utterly rips up manky paint, and also leaves a beautiful finish- some 400/800/1200 emery paper will help me most of the rest of the way. Haven't worked out what I'm doing with the black centre areas yet, but as the lips/centre nuts are going highly polished and the centre parts are going Mercury Grey (old Peugeot paint colour), I'm not sure it'll matter so much. Either way- love the look. It has unearthed a problem- the pleb who owned them before me sort of neglected to mention that I have 3 RC041s and one RC042. Arse. Now I'm in searching for either a '42 or a '41, any help?!! Now, what else have I been up to... oh yes... That'll be some painting, then. next week my buddy should have these all sorted out in time for me... front bumper, front strips, side strips (MTech upgrade too, woo!) and rear strips all going to be silver. As far as I know, you don't see many colour-coded E36s... so this'll be a welcome change. The new bumper's awesome too- just a standard prefacelift one, but with some hench lip added on- anyone know what it is? Apart from that, I've got an LSD coming next week too (standard 328i Sport one, like my revs as they are!) and a remap in the near-ish future. Then we're on to fitting the AC Schnitzer M3 suspension I picked up for a song off eBay, a couple of braces, then she's pretty much sorted mechanically... until I get bored and decide to drop a V8 in there. Fitted these... And a couple of gratuitous shots now she's back on '32s. She's now also got a trip to the Nurburgring to train up for in August, so I've got plenty to get done by then- ideally I want her mapped, LSD'd, re-suspended, rebushed and re-lower-armed by that time. Once that's done, she's ready. LSD will be end of this month, as mentioned... remap will probably be May... going to get the suspension, bushes and lower arms done at the same time (not sure if I can handle that, I'm good with spanners but not good enough).