Project E36 M3: Part 5 – Suspension V1.1 – Sway Bars, Control Arms, and Fender Rolling

,

M3 fender rolling sparks
A few stray sparks are a pretty good sign that you’re reaching the end of the seam sealer, and this part of the job doesn’t take much time at all, but obviously requires a steady hand and a bit of patience.
E36 M3 Eastwood fender roller
A bit more elegant than the old baseball bat method, the fender roller bolts right up to the brake, and is fully adjustable for various vehicles, and to allow a slowly progressive rolling that bends the lip only, without as much risk of accidental fender flaring. It does still require caution, however, hence the reason I didn’t do the work myself.
E36 M3 rear fender roll Eastewood Nick Hargis
The slow and steady hands of a pro like Nick Hargis at C&D were the key to a successful and otherwise undetectable rolling job. While you could simply roll the lip flat,  we stopped once in a while to verify the clearance we were looking for.
E36 M3 rear fender roll paint
Once the rolling is complete and you’ve verified that you have the clearance you’ll need, remember that you very likely have at least a small amount of bare metal from clearing out the seam sealer. Take the extra step to prevent any issues of future corrosion by spraying the areas on which you worked.
Butler C&D Kansas City custom truck
This truck in another bay didn’t look like it was going to have any issues with fender clearance.
Toyo R888 255/35-18
As mentioned earlier, despite having plenty of clearance with our street tires, the whole reason for rolling the fenders was to allow for a bit more room in case we decided to go wider for our track tires… Which we did. Stay tuned!

Go HERE for more Project E36 M3

Sources

BimmerWorld 

Bavarian Autosport 

Hotchkis 

Butler C&D 

APEX Race Parts 

Michelin 

Rogue Engineering 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*
*