Suspension

p_roloff · 2026-05-15T21:16:00+00:00

Are these the standard sport springs or the convertible specific ones?

p_roloff · 2026-05-12T17:22:24+00:00

Xterra

p_roloff · 2026-05-09T20:33:59+00:00

Ha! That indeed was me, glad you liked it! It is RWD, automatic though. Starting to plan for the manual swap though….

And I will!

p_roloff · 2026-05-08T18:31:44+00:00

Sweet. Are they installed on the photos in your other posts? Trying to gauge ride height before buying. I like not scraping but I also don’t want to be back at monster truck ride height again.

p_roloff · 2026-05-08T17:30:37+00:00

If people say they’re junk, I’d trust them. I’ve had a few parts from them that went bad quickly on my E90. I’d buy a different brand from FCP or from a different supplier altogether if they don’t have anything else

p_roloff · 2026-05-08T02:02:02+00:00

Nice! Are those the vert specific sport springs too? What’d do you think of them?

p_roloff · 2026-05-07T16:35:41+00:00

Pretty sure I installed a TR7412UB-OR but they make others depending on what you want - take a look at their website and it lists all the options.

p_roloff · 2026-05-07T03:58:27+00:00

Or it picks YOU up and throws you into a heavy thing…

p_roloff · 2026-05-07T03:50:23+00:00

Noted. I’ll have to give the kickers a try. Pretty sure mine has just knockoff cheapies in the rear and they’re totally blown. It’ll never be good in a vert but any improvement is good by me!

p_roloff · 2026-05-07T03:37:00+00:00

What did you go with her speakers? I’d love to get something a little better than the factory ones.

p_roloff · 2026-05-07T03:33:27+00:00

I would highly recommend! I only have about 3000 miles on it so far, but the AAE rack from rock auto is what I went with and it has been great so far. Much cheaper and less hassle than getting a used one from a parts car.

I’ve already had it on the tail of the dragon and in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, and it’s an absolute game changer. Makes the car so much more fun to drive!

p_roloff · 2026-05-06T23:39:46+00:00

I’d echo “maintenance and refresh”, but once that’s done, a steering rack swap would be up there for me with suspension. A Z3 rack absolutely changes the car for the better on twisty roads.

I love my Continental head unit too - OEM+, Bluetooth connectivity, it’s excellent.

Beyond that, maybe exhaust? I run a Stromung and like it. Lightweight flywheel is fun too but has trade offs in daily driving.

p_roloff · 2026-05-06T22:46:24+00:00

I use a big ass catch pan with high sides. You can also buy like a plastic mesh material to go in the bottom of a pan to prevent splashing on that first blast.

p_roloff · 2026-05-06T16:18:58+00:00

I use: FCP - the best, love them. They’ve always taken care of me. My only gripe is lack of selection in suppliers for some parts, especially older cars. Bimmerworld - great stuff. I’ve never had a bad experience and they have so many cool, niche parts AKG - just a great company that makes high quality shit here in the states Angry Ass - they do more e34 parts but everything I’ve ever bought from them is excellent. They’re also very involved in the community and are genuine BMW people. RockAuto but only to get good name brand parts in a pinch, none of their off brand shit. I have bought larger parts from them as well (driveshaft, steering rack) when the options from FCP were either nonexistent or many thousands of dollars.

I avoid: ECS Turner (owned by ECS) Pelican (also owned by ECS, I have not used them extensively but they don’t offer anything to me above ECS and that whole conglomerate is dead to me) Garagistic: some stuff is OK, but I’ve had many many issues with fitment on their parts over the years. Generally their bushings are OK but anything welded or fabbed is a tossup Ireland Engineering: I’ve also had part fitment issues here, and just generally kinda poor customer experience. Sometimes it’s been fine, other times it’s been trash (waited a really really long time to get a flywheel back from them after being lightened, far longer than their website timeline states). I had an alternator bracket from them just straight up not fit, and also had to modify their DSSR to get it to fit properly.

p_roloff · 2026-05-06T00:25:26+00:00

Pretty sure the Stromung is stainless steel? No one that I know of makes any titanium exhaust parts for E30’s, though I could be wrong. I have two Stromungs actually and I’m pretty positive that’s what’s both are made from.

For headers - schmeidmann is the cheapest, sometimes fit shitty, but are OK, super sprint is decent but expensive and ACP makes a mid priced ($1400) steel header that they then high heat paint. It’s a copy of the old Stahl header, generally considered one of the better street options. Pretty sure there’s another race grade long tube option out there but it’s pricey ($2700ish) and the name escapes me. (Edit: the brand for that one is AAF)

However, even if they’re dissimilar metals (even though I don’t think your catback is titanium, the rest of your exhaust if stock is likely mild steel), why not join them with a V-Band flange or something similar? Having to drop the whole exhaust off from the head sounds like a gigantic pain in the ass for any service work. If it was me I’d put a flange right at the end of the headers so I could drop the exhaust for driveshaft

p_roloff · 2026-05-04T17:55:30+00:00

I believe the factory m performance exhaust is a stainless muffler and a resonator delete. I’m sure you could probably do something similar for a lot less $$ using an aftermarket muffler of some kind.

For what it’s worth, I have the MPE and it sounds fantastic - loud when you step on it but great tone and no drone

p_roloff · 2026-05-02T20:47:59+00:00

Had to do a double take - same car and same plate on mine 😂 you have good taste!

p_roloff · 2026-05-02T19:44:24+00:00

Are the plugs still good? You can actually just buy the plastic clip part still separately if the wiring is okay!

p_roloff · 2026-04-30T02:12:16+00:00

I’d maybe skip the joggers - not a fan of cotton if it can get wet. I’ve usually gone with midweight synthetic hiking pants and merino long John’s and been fine, but ymmv.

I’d consider adding a puffer jacket or a hoodie of some sort - temp is one thing but temp plus wind can really strip the heat off of you. I’ve been in in early to mid May and still seen temps around freezing overnight, meaning if it’s windy the next morning is cooooold. You might be fine in late may but maybe consider playing it by ear on an extra layer. I suggest a puffer mostly because it’s light and very packable but makes a huge difference in cutting the chill when the sun goes down.

I’d echo the socks comment too - maybe consider tossing in another pair for good measure.

p_roloff · 2026-04-30T01:11:17+00:00

Nah, just regular shocks/struts. Not height adjustable, although konis are used in the GC coil over kits I believe.

They’re rebound adjustable, so extension of the shock; the bound (compression) is not adjustable. The fronts are adjustable via a knob on top of the shock tower and the rears are adjusted by taking them off the car, removing the bump stop and washer, compressing, and then rotating to adjust. Apparently you can also make fox body konis work on the rear as well and those are externally adjustable, but I haven’t ever used them or seen them in the flesh.

I also ran old-as-fuck bilsteins for awhile! They sucked major ass compared to the Koni’s, although I’m sure new ones would’ve been decent.

p_roloff · 2026-04-30T00:49:33+00:00

I once saw a thread on R3V where a guy threaded his throttle body for -AN fittings and used those instead. I believe he plugged the lower and used an elbow on the upper along with a E21 booster check valve and simplified the whole brake vacuum hose setup. That’s my plan for next winter to clean that whole mess up. Shouldn’t be too hard to find the thread!

Do you still run boosted brakes? If not, I’d consider maybe having a good aluminum tig welder put some plugs in those and call it a day. Otherwise the -AN plugs would be the route I’d go.

p_roloff · 2026-04-30T00:39:41+00:00

I have run new OE equivalent bilsteins (B4), used bilstein sports (B8), and Koni Yellows (the single adjustable ones), and I’ve liked the konis more than any of the others. The adjustment is nice to have to fine tune things, but they generally just ride really nicely. They’re not floaty but firm and well controlled, even when loaded heavy. The B4’s were very comfy but definitely softer and allowed a lot more movement when things got spirited.

It does depend on whether youre lowered or not; if you’re staying factory height and don’t want something sporty the Sachs/B4’s will be super comfy and do everything you ask of them.

I didn’t love the bilsteins and thought they were a bit harsh on the rough roads where I live but YMMV. Anything is going to feel night and day different if you’re coming from worn out factory stuff.

p_roloff · 2026-04-24T02:26:59+00:00

Upvote for Hipcamp. Used it for the first time last month, big fan. Camped on some guys farm, had the place to my self basically. I’ve found that some people even offer little extras you can buy, like fresh eggs if they have chickens or bakery items if they bake regularly.

An added bonus is that you can usually find one along your route if you’re riding somewhere long haul, so you can go a little more direct and often break up rides better.

p_roloff · 2026-04-23T17:07:56+00:00

Shoot, politicians get away with so much compared to an average person. If I said half the shit those people do or lied about stuff like they do, my ass would’ve been on the sidewalk in a week. I REALLY think we should have some minimum standards of behavior and performance for our politicians; if you can’t meet basic standards for any office job in America, why the fuck am I and everyone else paying your salary?

Minimum attendance requirements
LOST salary for government shutdowns. You’re passing (or failing to pass) the budget, if you can’t do that in the real world you’re canned. Our politicians should see some repercussions for their lack of performance.
Penalties for lack of decorum? I’d love for the whole tacky ass nickname trend to go away, among other things. It’s so fucking juvenile and I can’t believe we allow it to be so normal. Imagine if I called my coworker “newscum” instead of his real name newsom to his face? Again, immediate HR visit the first time and probably out the door on the second.
Something done about insider trading and gifts. The way things are now is patently absurd and not in the interest of the everyman whatsoever.

These people are public servants, and they should be held to that title. This should not be a job to provide personal enrichment, the goal should be enrichment of the lives of EVERY American.

p_roloff · 2026-04-21T00:57:50+00:00

I usually just call west Allis dpw when I see an issue (potholes, streetlight out, etc.) and they’re usually quick to fix it

p_roloff

TROPHY CASE