u/McTech0911

Went with the Meyle HD arms with all metal ball joints and the OEM 95 M3 offset solid rubber bushings.

Spent all weekend on the install and a few days beforehand getting the bushings pressed into new lollipops which was a whole thing.

Hardest part was pressing the bushings into the carriers then pressing the bushing assembly onto the control arm. Had to invent the tools to do it because I didn’t want to spend the money for a one time job. Wouldnt recommend going this route unless you like tinkering and figuring things out.

The top nuts for the inside ball joints were tough to work with since theres not much space to get to them and couldn’t get a torque wrench in there either which sucks. Would recommend taking the sway bar off to get a bit more room. Couldnt get to the nuts from inside the engine bay either.

Also couldn’t torque the outer ball joints to the knuckle since theres no room unless you remove the struts from the knuckle or get a torque wrench thats more of a wrench than a socket and ratchet type.

Overall the car feels much tighter and snappier and the steering feels much more connected to the road. The setup works great with my oem+ suspension setup of oem M3 shocks all around with H&R OE sport springs. Next up will be the euro m3 oem sway bars to fully convert to M3 suspension.

Went with the Meyle HD arms with all metal ball joints and the OEM 95 M3 offset solid rubber bushings.

Spent all weekend on the install and a few days beforehand getting the bushings pressed into new lollipops which was a whole thing.

Hardest part was pressing the bushings into the carriers then pressing the bushing assembly onto the control arm. Had to invent the tools to do it because I didn’t want to spend the money for a one time job. Wouldnt recommend going this route unless you like tinkering and figuring things out.

The top nuts for the inside ball joints were tough to work with since theres not much space to get to them and couldn’t get a torque wrench in there either which sucks. Would recommend taking the sway bar off to get a bit more room. Couldnt get to the nuts from inside the engine bay either.

Also couldn’t torque the outer ball joints to the knuckle since theres no room unless you remove the struts from the knuckle or get a torque wrench thats more of a wrench than a socket and ratchet type.

Overall the car feels much tighter and snappier and the steering feels much more connected to the road. The setup works great with my oem+ suspension setup of oem M3 shocks all around with H&R OE sport springs. Next up will be the euro m3 oem sway bars to fully convert to M3 suspension.

Some might remember some jagov stole my oem LTW BMW Motorsport International side badges. I couldn’t find a set anywhere since they’re no longer made. I found some on Etsy but the quality and fitment was pretty bad and just looked cheap so I decided to make my own using carbon fiber sheet.

The first prototype came out pretty good for being handmade. I designed the mounted CF bracket portion to slide into the trim from behind and lock into it in two places on each end, one being underneath one of the trim clips which holds it tightly in place. It also gives a carbon fiber outline of the badge and sets it in a bit compared with the oe part. Might play around with different color carbon fiber sheet also.

I went with the M Technic badges for this one and will make another set with the motorsports style. I think I figured out how to put both badges on a single mount bracket so you can flip it over to show either style so 2 for 1 basically.

I realize theyre also stealable but theyd either have to figure out how to get everything apart or take the whole side trim which would be less subtle. The oem ones just pop right off in 2 seconds.

While I was already working on it I also made the LTW dash board trim bezel since I couldnt find oem anywhere and other options were stupid expensive. But think it came out okay. Its real carbon fiber which is cool. Will have to get better with alignment if I make more.

What do you guys think

Heres the original post I made following the theft of the original badges.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BMWE36/s/zO6Lw1kCuc