Alrighty all. I've owned my '96 Arctic Silver M3 Evo since November but it's only in the last couple of months i've really started tinkering with it. I owned a '93 JDM Honda Integra Si before which was quick'ish point-to-point and pretty nimble but the M3 is in a different league, it's great to have something that actually has torque! Anyway, thought it best to say hi and introduce myself.

It needed a bit of work.... First the rear trailing arm bushes needed doing (surprised?!) as the back end was wandering & skipping about all over the place. Upon closer inspection, i got a bit of a shock to see one of the bushes was actually hanging out with little rubber left at all! Next i decided it needed a bit more engine noise so i contacted one of the forum members on E36coupe.com (DaveF) after hearing nothing but good things about his kits. The noise it makes is awesome,
especially above 4k all the way to the red line as im sure some of you know. I would love a carbon airbox but can't really justify spending the sort of money they command...at the moment.

After a couple of months the diff then decided to implode on the motorway at motorway'ish speeds(!)  I wasn't sure exactly what had went but opted to get it stripped & rebuilt with new bearings, seals and possibly gears.  It turned out to be a collapsed bearing which then seized due to oil loss & then weld itself to another part of the unit!  At this point i stumbled across a new crown wheel & pinion from an E46 M3 going fairly cheap and, after doing my research, found that it would go straight into the original Evo casing.  Some owners i'd spoken to who had it done already all raved about it.  This meant that i now effectively had a brand new diff with a shorter final drive of 3.62 compared to the standard unit's 3.23.  It now pulls so much better in every gear especially 3rd & 4th! Well happy!

Next on the cards was to sort the persistent kncoking from the rear.  It had been knocking & clunking from the rear since i got the car which i initially put down to the rear trailing arm bushes however the noise remained when these were changed.  My next suspicion took me to the root of the problem, it was the rear shock mounts.  So, i ordered uprated mounts from Rogue Engineering...

Brilliant bit of kit, they've really beefed up the rear of the car.

I'm now looking into some new suspension as, naturally, what i believe to be the original shocks & springs are feeling a bit tired after 12+ years.  Unsure whether to go down the coilover route or some uprated springs & shocks. While doing this i'll also be getting most of the major bushes checked and maybe look into some Eibach arb's.  In the meantime, a few shots after i washed and clayed the car...










It hasn't been polished or waxed in these pics but i'm amazed at how well the clay has worked on the car, don't think it's ever had it in it's lifetime judging by the crap that was removed! There have been a few minor cosmetic changes such as the black grille instead of the standard chrome one and some carbon bonnet & boot badges along with new centre caps.  It's not perfect as the old tin-worm has made itself known on both rear arches but that's something else i plan to get sorted in the near future.

Comments welcome, thanks.

Paul