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Wanted to share the experience of refreshing the entire rear end of my 2006 R53 with just over 200km (125k miles). Being a Canadian car, you can assume it was not pretty at this point of its life. But its my summer car / track toy and i bought with the intention of bringing it back to life. I planned a full on restoration over this winter of the front subframe, rear subframe and entire engine service. The rear subframe was the most entertaining and actually fun to work on compared to the other two mentioned. All this work has been done solo, in a single car garage on jack stands. So here goes...
Pulled inside, rear end lifted and secured for the next month.
As you can see, the entire rear end was in rough shape. Somehow with the added support of a torch, penetrating fluid and pure hope everything came apart without breaking or stripping out a single bolt. It was at this point i could plan the scope of repairs and parts needed. So the shopping list began, and credit cards blindly being charged.
And finally, here is the entire rear end removed from the car while i contemplate life decisions...
Rear subframe completely stripped down
Weight reduction at its finest, saved a few pounds in rust removal
A little dusty / rusty... wore a N95 mask and still blew out wonderful colors for the next day...
Last edited by Scoobaru2010; Mar 27, 2025 at 01:34 PM.
After completely stripping everything down and further assessing components i decided it was best to completely rebuild the entire rear end minus the subframe itself as it would clean up easily. At least easy for someone who grew up battling rust up here... I decided to upgrade everything instead of going for OEM replacements, and i wanted more adjustability out of it being a track toy, so shopping got out of hand fast!
Went with all adjustable rear control arms, upper and lower (there actually all the same regardless). Branded maXpeedingrods, not overly expensive but solid built.
Picked up R56 trailing arms off a gent parting out his R56 locally, scored some brand new rotors, pads and all the hardware from his rear end for the conversion. Trailing arm bolts, control arm bolts ect.
Quick polish with a wire wheel, painting of the bushing carrier and they were like new. Decided against clear coating or paint as the "polished" alloy looks great!
Rust...
Rust...
And more rust... Actually its in amazing shape for a Canadian car of its age. It was at this point i decided on fixing the tub underside instead of putting an entire brand new rear end in underneath this crusty mess. So back to work...
Cleaned all the rust off with a wire wheel, treated all the bare metal and then rubberized undercoated everything! Besides working off your back, being covered in rust, covered in paint... It was refreshing to get it done. Also decided against trying to get the old crusty heat shields in again. We'll see how that works out long term, i could end up ordering new replacements.
Last edited by Scoobaru2010; Mar 27, 2025 at 07:19 AM.
The big ticket item arrived, beautifully i may add... Took a while to stop admiring the coilovers and actually install them.
Even the dang packaging is mesmerizing
Stickers upon stickers, install guide yada yada... neat package
Thrilled with the look of these, i had the rear coils installed the same day i picked them up. Super easy install, besides drilling into the tub for allowing access for the adjustment ****.
I decided against swapping over R56 rear brakes, as well... They are identical in size to the R53. During picking up of the R56 rear end, i picked up the R56 front calipers, rotors and pads (future mod). Needless to say, poor mans JCW brake kit was happening. So the rear calipers were refinished to match JCW style aka red.
Beyond happy with the result, used VHT red caliper paint.
Also, ordered some new Moog greasable rear sway bar links, speaking of sway bar it was also refreshed and painted red. Naturally the sway bar links were also painted red.
More new, parking brake cables needed replaced. So ordered brand new raybestos and painted them fresh out of the bag, making sure all exposed metal has an extra layer of protection. Not needed but i would hate to do all this work and have some crusty metal below the car within a couple months.
Started mocking up parts, measuring and adjusting the control arms. Bit of a hardware hassle to solve but not overly complicated swapping trailing arms, i believe only wheel bearing / hub bolts (8), coil / strut lower bolts (2) and upper control arm outer bolts + nuts (2) need to be brought over from the R56.
Don't mind the placeholder brake line...
Cant believe the difference in these calipers over how they look stock
Yes to those that noticed, i need to get the upper outer control arm bolt painted... it looks out of place
Beyond happy with the almost final look. Waiting on SS brake lines before i can bleed and drive it out. Which is great as all the snow has melted and temps are headed north! Also noted that every single bolt was heavily greased up upon reinstallation, future work will be a breeze.
All in the new parts list as follows,
- Upper adjustable control arms
- Lower adjustable control arms
- BC Racing coilovers
- R56 Trailing arm conversion
- Conical washers for trailing arm to mount strut / coil
- Stainless Steel brake lines (waiting on delivery yet)
- Moog R56 greaseable sway bar links
- Parking brake cables
- Sway bar poweflex poly bushings
- ABS speed sensors
- Brake pad wear sensor
Refreshed,
- Subframe
- Calipers
- Sway bar
Last edited by Scoobaru2010; Mar 27, 2025 at 01:23 PM.
@ssoliman Thank you, feels like a new pair of underwear lol.
Absolutely will get back to you, i went with the BC default of 7KG front, 5KG rear. We do some mini cruises which are close to 7hrs of driving time so i did not want to be aggressive and regret dropping on coilovers to begin with. Thankfully with the large amount of adjusting it will be easy to stiffen up for a track day or autocross and on the return soften it for commutes and cruises. To sum it up, i don't need my old lady beating me with a frying pan because we drove around in a brick for an afternoon lol...
Not sure if you did it on purpose but you, like me, put adjustable rear control arms on with the R56 trailing arms not knowing the R56 trailing arms have camber adjustment built into it. Parking brake cable inhibits using the camber adjustment on the trailing arms though.
Not sure if you did it on purpose but you, like me, put adjustable rear control arms on with the R56 trailing arms not knowing the R56 trailing arms have camber adjustment built into it. Parking brake cable inhibits using the camber adjustment on the trailing arms though.
I had read into this previously, but i was either going all new poly bushings or swap to adjustables. Price wise it wasn't much difference, but hey I can join the " stance " gang if wanted lol. Solid input tho as you say nothing was accomplished other then another way of adjusting.
Certainly feels like a new pair of underwear just from reading! Planning to do a front refresh on my car soon and I never thought of bringing paint in the picture but now that I see your finished product I will certainly take my time painting these parts!!
Certainly feels like a new pair of underwear just from reading! Planning to do a front refresh on my car soon and I never thought of bringing paint in the picture but now that I see your finished product I will certainly take my time painting these parts!!
Its worth the extra effort for sure. And to be honest not a lot of extra work, a lot of time spent waiting for paint to dry. Having to do all my own maintenance, its nice having piece of mind everything will come apart gracefully when needed like the simple parking brake cable ends that corrode into place over time. Here's to hoping a layer of paint and grease will save that headache. If your attacking the rear subframe like me, upgrade to the R56 trailing arms without a doubt. They can be had rather cheep from part out vehicles and is a part you'll never have to revisit.
Its worth the extra effort for sure. And to be honest not a lot of extra work, a lot of time spent waiting for paint to dry. Having to do all my own maintenance, its nice having piece of mind everything will come apart gracefully when needed like the simple parking brake cable ends that corrode into place over time. Here's to hoping a layer of paint and grease will save that headache. If your attacking the rear subframe like me, upgrade to the R56 trailing arms without a doubt. They can be had rather cheep from part out vehicles and is a part you'll never have to revisit.
Take care!
You're right about that! I actually just recently replaced my trailing arms to the r56 trailing arms since my r53 trailing arms were all rusted and actually had stripped the lower strut bolt threads. Am extremely happy about it and recommend it to all r53 owners.
You're right about that! I actually just recently replaced my trailing arms to the r56 trailing arms since my r53 trailing arms were all rusted and actually had stripped the lower strut bolt threads. Am extremely happy about it and recommend it to all r53 owners.
Glad to hear your already aboard the train. Solid conversion for the enthusiast and long term longevity!
The rear SS brake lines arrived, quick install and a bleeding ceremony with the old lady. Pulled the car out to spin around and finish up some front end work.
brake lines installed, finished bundling wiring together and wrapped up the rear.
the bleeding process was flawless and easy doing the old school pump and dump method. Had the old lady in the car working the "pedal" while I worked the "rear"...
Rear end dropped about an inch from the BC coils factory settings, looking forward to seeing the complete stance in a couple weeks. More to come!
