E30 Zone

Hi Guys

Finally got round to strating this thread. Am bored at work so thought id keep myself busy.

I bought my 325i on pure instinct and imagination thinking it would be an easy repair and fix job. My first ever E30 and this is what it looked like:



Had it delivered to a garage in London and repaired without knowing how good a job it was gona be. They did'nt do the best job but they did get the car running again and most things back on. Had it resprayed in Jet Black an this is what it looks like now:



Had problems with the VIC check but eventually got it sorted, just waiting for the V5 to come through now.

My plans are:

Strip out the Interior and check for any Rust spots
Wash Carpet
Recondition/leather care the seats
Replace or repair the door cars (might try and get motorsport style stitching)
Replace Leather gaitors (to black)
Fit M-Tech Pedals
Fit Tech 2 front bumper/valance thats missing
Sort all the electrics out, electric mirror, central locking, fog lights etc.
Ice- Alpine stereo, subs, speakers etc
Alloys (replace or refurb) Might swap for some BBS Dished alloys.

Will need your help with the above.

The car is at Sweeps at the moment, just getting the brakes and engine checked out with a few other bits. Loads of work needs doing to it. Should hopefully get it back this weekend and can make a start. Will post more pics soon. For now, here is what the interior looks like:







What do you think.

So thats what the valence is for.

Yeah, the garage that repaired the car say they couldnt repair my valance. I dont believe them, but gona get it back off them and repair it. What do u reckon from the first pic? Is it repairable.

Anything is repairable! It just depends on how good the repair is.

Is that an E90?

TPS wrote:Is that an E90?

My friends old E46.

I stripped it for the reapair.

The mirrors threw me, it looked E90ish in the light.

nice lookin cabby

TPS wrote:The mirrors threw me, it looked E90ish in the light.

M3 mirrors.

Nice touch, I'd love to work in a BMW workshop, you never know what appears through the door!

To be honest it looked better in the original colour you purchased it in , in the first picture and IMO it looks better then the jet black colour you have sprayed it in.

Nice revamp looks good.

TPS wrote:Nice touch, I'd love to work in a BMW workshop, you never know what appears through the door!

This'll make you laugh. That pic was taken where i used to work, in a Renault bodyshop/service centre.

Liked the old colour better...

Good luck with the project mate!!!

bss325i wrote:

TPS wrote:Nice touch, I'd love to work in a BMW workshop, you never know what appears through the door!

This'll make you laugh. That pic was taken where i used to work, in a Renault bodyshop/service centre.

LOL, Are Renaults as bad as what everyone tells me?

Did u get ths car from COPART?

Zizzle wrote:Liked the old colour better...

Good luck with the project mate!!!

+1

Liked the old colour better...

To be honest, that was one of the reasons i got the car. It looked like a flip purple blue colour and i thought it looked kool, however when i actually saw it, it was normal dark blue (not sure what the actual colour name is). Had a look around and the car had been painted before and its original colour was Black so i decided to go for black. Think it looks good with the Black Roof and cream interior.

Did u get ths car from COPART?

No, i bought this from HBC. Got a bad habit of looking around at salvage company's as ive got free internet at work and nowt better to do.

Got the car back yesterday from Sweeps. Running all fine now. Havent driven it yet as not taxed. Replaced the K&N Filter for the Original Air Box. Fitted all the housing covers in the engine bay. Anti Freeze in Rad. Loads of other things. A few things he has pointed out that it needs.

1. Air Pipe has a slight crack in it so need to replace the pipe that goes to the air filter from the engine.
2. Accelerator Throttle Cable.

Need to swap them wheels for some BBS's if anyone is interested.

Will get some pics up later.

Good to hear you got the paperwork sorted- That must have been a relief.

Going back to the original colour is a good thing IMO, especially if the previous respray was exterior only.

TBH the cream handbrake and gear lever gaitors are a bit too much for my tastes.

cream handbrake and gear lever gaitors are a bit too much for my tastes

The Handbrake gaitor has already come off as it was stoping the hand brake from working and the gear gaitor will be replaced soon also along with the door cards. Its got an ///M imprinted in the gaitor but too bright for my liking.

Has anyone got a picture of the OEM Handbrake gaitor and gear gaitor.

A few more pics of my engine:

before



and after



Engine seems to be running fine but the battery is getting drained. Ive dropped her off to the electricians to have all the electrics sorted.

Whilst it is there, might start on the interior. The door cards are the worst:




Can someone quickly advise how to remove the door cards. Dont wana break anything.

TPS wrote:

bss325i wrote:

TPS wrote:Nice touch, I'd love to work in a BMW workshop, you never know what appears through the door!

This'll make you laugh. That pic was taken where i used to work, in a Renault bodyshop/service centre.

LOL, Are Renaults as bad as what everyone tells me?

Yes 100%!

Those gaitors are the sh1test quality & fit. Get shot of them.

Those gaitors are the sh1test quality & fit. Get shot of them.

On the list of things to do. Done the handbrake gaitor already. Gear gaitor will be done with the door cards.

Goodo.

What door cards are you putting back in? Or are you changing the whole interior?

Faz - glad to hear you got everything sorted out mate - nightmare problem after repairing.

Door cards - 3 screws in the arm rest (remove blanking plug and mirror switch) then pop off (and burst the majority of the plugs in the process and lift the card up.

Back cards - screws obvious after you remove the inner panel (pops off) - similar principle im pull out (remove seat base first)

johnt0709 wrote:Faz - glad to hear you got everything sorted out mate - nightmare problem after repairing.

Door cards - 3 screws in the arm rest (remove blanking plug and mirror switch) then pop off (and burst the majority of the plugs in the process and lift the card up.

Back cards - screws obvious after you remove the inner panel (pops off) - similar principle im pull out (remove seat base first)

You will also need to undo and thread your seatbelts
through the rear doorcard, watch the springs on the seatbelt
anchors.

Theres a local car interior place round ere so gona take the door cards to them and see if they can re-stitch them so they look like motorsport ones, in black leather. The cream bits are just bolted on top of the original door cards (how crap of a job was that). Might also ask them if they can cover my centre consol with leather and have it stitched.

The seats are ok, just need to be opened up and cleaned as they are stiff.

Any updates on this?