OMG its a BMW ZHP!!!!

[DirtyPillows]

I have a question. I know our diff is an open diff so when I turn one wheel in one direction the other should spin in the opposite direction. Now is this true for both wheels because when I twist my rear passenger side tire the otherone does twist but when I try to do that for the driver side that is not the case. Thoughts??????

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[danewilson77]

Wut?

Droid! Srs Legitness!

[DirtyPillows]

When spinning the tire( car is lifted off the ground) of my passenger rear tire causes the driver side rear tire to spin in the opposite direction. This is because of the open differential on our cars ( i know that at least). However when i spin the driver side rear tire my passenger side does not move. Is this normal or is my diff bad or what?

[danewilson77]

I thought it would happen the same way on either side...unless the ebrake was on.

Droid! Srs Legitness!

[az3579]

I thought it would happen the same way on either side...unless the ebrake was on.

Droid! Srs Legitness!

That's only if you have an LSD.

[danewilson77]

That's only if you have an LSD.

Yeah....I guess. So is his operating by design.

Droid! Srs Legitness!

[DirtyPillows]

No ebrake was down. But i did find out that i needed new diff mount its no completely bad but has a rip in it. Tomorrow ill try to look at front end ill also post pics soon of what i saw and you guys can look to see if stuff is bad. Because i really dont know what im looking at lol.

[gr330zhp]

If you have the original front control arm bushings at 80k, you're probably due for new ones. I have seen DIYs posted here recently, quite easy to do yourself. A visual inspection is valid, but replacing them anyway is a good thing to do at that mileage. If they're just ugly and not making any weird handling or noises, then they won't ruin your fun.

Springs and shocks should be OK for another 10k-20k miles, then shocks likely. You can inspect them for leaks now. Even if they are leaking, they won't prevent you from enjoying your first autocross experience either.

Check the rear shock mount at the top, inside trunk, under trim panels on either side. They are prone to premature failure. There are upgraded parts available from some tuner sites (bimmerworld, turner, etc) that are much more beefy and very simple to install. In fact, if you're going to inspect them, you may as well order new ones and just replace them while you're in there looking at them. Getting access is most of the hassle.

Check the rear swaybar bushing mounts, they can fail. I've had mine beefed up cuz I beat, er, use my car for it's intended purpose. No issues even with 30+ track days and 15 or so autocrosses. I had it at a shop for some welding work and just had them do it while it was there.

I highly recommend the Sock Mod to prevent your p/s reservoir from spewing all over your nice clean engine. Check the level and make sure it's correct, if low, add ATF to top it off. If you don't know the history of it, change it. DIYs around for that too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1pzRJMwRx0

Other than those things... if your car is driving fine and not making any weird clanking noises, you should be good to go. Be sure to torque lug bolts when you get to the event. If you don't have a torque wrench, someone around you certainly will. Make sure to pump up your tires some, 38-40psi. Stock suspension has very little negative camber up front and you'll roll over the sidewall of your tires if the pressure is too low. You can ask others with similar car/tires what they run and adjust yours. I like to show up with too much air and let some out... that way I don't have to dink around with a pump to add air, easier to remove it.

Your engine may tick (lifters) after a few runs, but it will go away on the drive home. Top up the motor oil so it's at or just above the full line. It's OK to run a little more. Even tho I do this, mine still ticks... it's a feature of the E36 and E46 and freaks out first timers. It's normal.

Great post Jeff! I found it very helpful!

[jvr826]

My pleasure!

[DirtyPillows]

Just ordered my front wheel hub. Hope fully this will fix the noise im getting.

Quick question though I did the test where I push the lifted wheel front 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions and I got no noise or play when we spun the tire around I could not reanimate the noise I hear while driving. The only hints I have that it is my front right tire is that now car vibrates slightly as I drive straight and when load is on tire it vibrates more harsher. While when load is off that tire during turns car has no vibration. So what do you guys think?

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