There's not enough clearance due to the lower control arm bushing. Plus, the cut I made is far along already. Good suggestion about the high teeth count blades. Mine came with low teeth count blades. Hopefully, the high teeth count blades will cut much faster. I use a face shield.
Mr_Clutch42 wrote: There's not enough clearance due to the lower control arm bushing. Plus, the cut I made is far along already. Good suggestion about the high teeth count blades. Mine came with low teeth count blades. Hopefully, the high teeth count blades will cut much faster. I use a face shield.
Why are you cutting it on the car? It is 4 nuts above the muffler and two at the break under the center section of the car just in front of the rear subframe ... take it down!
I need to take off the full exhaust so I can change out the guibo and check the shifter bushings also. Plus, it taking forever to cut it off has dampened my enthusiasm for working on it since I should have been able to have the exhaust, driveshaft, and guibo out a few days ago.
I have run non-bmw coolant in all of mine and my buddy sure as hell doesn't run it in his race e36.
I did not see a water pump swap in there. The water pump is probably waaaay overdue. Hopefully you already did it and just didn't get any pics.
Shifter bushings can be done without removing the exhaust. Water pump is a must. Saleri has good reviews. Avoid Graf. I used one for ~30k miles without issue but Ive heard of problems of those falling apart. Aluminum thermostat housing is a must too. Even the OEM plastic ones crack (at ~10k miles for me).
I had an auto-x event cancelled today due to a dual booking of the College at Wilmington, NC. It was a big disappointment. Hopefully we can make it up in early June. So I was able to turn a lemon into some lemonade.
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The blade on the bottom was the one the saw came with. The top one is an 18tpi thick metal blade I bought.
I was able to cut the rest of the exhaust off in about 20 seconds. It went through it like butter. All the credit goes to Beagle. I don't use saws much, as you guys can tell and he knew exactly what was needed to get the job done, and economical too.
Here is the aftermarket guibo on the left and the OEM one on the right. I thought it would be smaller than it is but it is slightly skinnier than the cheap one. I bought the cheap one about 11 months ago.
Here's a shot with the driveshaft off. I unexpectedly ran out of energy and had to stop for the day. I should be able to get much more done tomorrow.
I read all the articles on the cooling system. I did include the water pump in the budget, I just might wait to put it in for a while (if I get the high performance one). I'm also debating on getting an aftermarket one with metal impellers or the high performance pump. I want to put in a diesel engine in a couple of years. What would the GRM readers do?
Just a quick FYI, mark that two piece drive shaft. if the center bearing (which you should closely inspect) falls out, you lose your balance.
The center bearing typically has an outer rubber ring. This can sometimes tear and create a wonderful and huge pain in the ass "thumping" noise to troubleshoot. I am not totally sure that the e36 had this "wonderful" rubber ring of annoying pain in the assitude. While the driveshaft is down, now is an EXCELLENT time to get all the shifter stuff figured out. Replacing the shifter bushing makes a monster difference. The plastic cuppy thingy seems to be the key. The one that mounts directly to tranny is a huge PITA and doesn't actually do much. The one that mounts to the body is really easy to swap while the drive shaft is down. FYI if you ever drop the rear subframe, definitely change the bushings. Place said bushings in the freezer prior to install.
I did check the center bearing. It is in good condition for now. I did do all the shifter bushings last year, but I need to check the cup bushing because it is (was) still sloppy when the trans was cold (from what I remember).
Timeormoney wrote: I am not totally sure that the e36 had this "wonderful" rubber ring of annoying pain in the assitude.
Why, yes, it does!
And he is right - mark that driveshaft and reassemble exactly as it came apart or you will spend $175 to have it rebalanced lest it shake the piss out of you, and your rear trans seal.
I was able to take a few of the bolts off that hold the engine and trans together.
I'm not a fan of these torx bolts since they're seldom used.
These better be much more resistant to stripping than standard bolts.
My external torx sockets are the deep version and, of course, I need the stubby set. Does anyone have tips on getting the top bolt?
While I'm waiting on getting the necessary tools, I changed the fuel filter. It was much better than doing my Camaro.
I can't believe that the original owner didn't get this changed in the warranty period! 
The car ran well too.
Got the new one in, no problem.
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
The red paint on the driveshaft/guibo mount is also on the correct spot on the driveshaft for easy realignment. What say you on the water pump since you had an E36?
In reply to Mr_Clutch42:
Drop the trans bracket and let it drop on jack to tip it so there is room in the tunnel. Use 3' of extensions and a swivel from back by the tail shaft.
The one just above the starter bolts is an shiny happy person. Be patent. It is easier if you have an engine hoist. Lift the motor off the mounts and tip it way back on the balancer. I usually just pull it out and do the clutch on the floor next to the car.
I generally pulled the engine and tranny together for clutch work. Another while you are in there, probably a great time to do the starter if you are ever just staring at it.
Maybe the next time I have to do a clutch, I will get an engine hoist and take out the engine and trans at the same time. I'm still waiting for those external torx sockets so I just did a little work on it today.
Here's another present I got a week or so ago.
Here they are mounted up. The night shot is a cool change of pace.
They are not accurately aligned since one side is in maybe 7 threads and the other side maybe 18 threads, but my local repair shop can correct that when they do the alignment.
We used to count the threads prior to changing the tie rods, then puts the new ones back the same as the old. Made getting the alignment close much easier. Of course we were "learning" string alignments at the time and needed all the help we could get.
I completely forgot to count the threads this time. I won't forget next time.
I finally got the external torx socket set by pick-up from Sears. I still need to get the top two bolts. It's a tough job.
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