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      08-30-2017, 06:09 PM   #23
02Pilot
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Drives: 128i
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: NY

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As someone who's owned 2002s for the last 25 years, worked on basically every component of them at one point or another, and driven them in competition, let me offer you a few bits of advice.

You've got the car disassembled to the point that rebuilding whole systems makes a lot of sense. Work in this order: brakes, suspension, power. If you can't stop, bad things happen; if you can stop but can't control the car precisely, bad things happen; if you're making less power than you'd like, you're slow.

The braking system is pretty straightforward and easy to rebuild. The soft lines can degrade internally and cause fluid pressure to be retained at the wheels. Wheel cylinders are cheap. Get good pads and rotors for the front, and shoes for the rear. Make sure the adjusters on the rear baking plates are free, otherwise you won't be able to adjust the rears properly and you'll have excessive pedal travel.

Suspension is where you have to start making choices. If you want a street car with compliant handling, replace every bushing with rubber. If you want a tighter suspension that trades comfort for handling, replace every bushing with polyurethane. Do not leave old bushings in place, as they will compromise everything else you do to the suspension. The steering linkage should be dealt with at this point as well; the shaft coupler can fail, so replace that too. There are plenty of options for springs and shocks. I prefer Bilsteins to Konis, but that's personal choice. Any modern shock and spring combo will be superior to the factory units; the question again is how much lowering you want (if any) and how firm you want the suspension to feel.

Get those things squared away and then worry about the engine and drivetrain. Always keep in mind that it's generally more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow.
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