E30 Zone

Hi All,

Over the next year or so 3/4 of the outer arches on my cabriolet are going to need replacing, 1 x front and 2 x rear and I'll also have to look at the usual other suspect places.

If I'm having the arches and probably other bits done, having it sprayed etc i think it might be worth upgrading to the M3 type arches.

I just really like the flared arches. At present the only kit I can find is this one, they seem to be fairly thin on the ground...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... it/1462328

I know on non cab m3's the C pillars are different, whats different on the Cabriolets? Whilst i know that it will never be an M3 as the steering wheels on the wrong side and to be honest I'm not after a nut and bolt exact replica, as i said i just like the wider looking wings.

Does anyone have any experience of this or any other kit that may be of a better quality? I assume that one with proper metal arches will be telephone numbers? Does anyone know where they could be available from/what price approx so i can make a comparison?

Its already got a M30B35 so making it look good would be the next thing to do.

Any ideas or pointing me in the right direction would be great!!!

Thanks

Don't bother unless you are happy pop riveting/tiger sealing/wood screwing the fibergash kit on. It will always look gash even with top dollar p1ssed up the wall in body work.

To do it properly in metal, at a guess I don't think you would see much change from £6k + including paintwork.

I would repair it to a decent standard using factory arches. Nothing screams saddo like some lashed up emthree replica rocking a boat anchor

Plenty bodykits on ebay, can also get e30 wide arches for under £100.

I would avoid the m3 look all together.

Unless its done properly it will always look like a halfarsed replica. And to do it properly takes a lot of time and money.

Panel wise, an m3 cab just has all four arches, doors with no side mouldings and one piece bumpers with no front valance. Bonnet and boot are the same as regular e30.

@gb69. Couldn't find anything at all on eBay as it was my first point of call! I have looked all over the place and spent hours searching the tinted web to no avail, if u could send me a link I'll hold my hands up and say I'm a total flump but couldn't find anything in the UK.
The only thing I found like that was wider drifting type arches and I'm not how they'd look on a cab, they were only £98!
@ross jsy, I haven't even found anywhere that even does the metal arches, would being fabricated from scratch be easier/ cheaper?
Anyone had any experience of this?
As for the fibreglass kit, I have a good bodyshop that I've used bundles of times before and they are reasonable, would even the best bodyshop in the world still end up giving a crappy result?

Cheers

@harry p, I just want something slightly different from the norm, the m tec 1&2 kits coupled with alpina rims are nice but they are just so many!!! I just wondered if with a bit of work, planning and careful collecting and researching I could create something that's suits it, different from the norm and will probably split opinion but is done well and will last. Just seems that the wide box arches are timeless on that shape... I'm not sure I have the time, energy or endless budget to create an m3 nut and bolt replica rather something that's slightly different from the norm...

Wondered if there were any other tested methods...

BMW will be able to supply genuine metal arches, but they won't be cheap. You might get lucky and find a used front set (PM people like pacerpete off here and stick a wanted ad up) and you might get really lucky and find used rear ones which have been cut off a crashed m3, have seen a few builds done this way.

As for fabbing a set, it's possible but will be costly if you aren't doing the work yourself. For a novel take on the idea check out a build by kingkruiser (sp?) on here. He made his own metal wide arches similar to m3 ones. The build thread will give you an idea of how much work is needed.

Personally I wouldn't use fibreglass on a road car as it's always going to be a compromise on how you attach the rears. There is a build on here where someone has made a decent looking rep on a white coupe. Personally the solutions used aren't what I would deem acceptable but it does look the part.

It will all cost a lot though. You would be better off restoring the car to 100% rust free, at least you will see more of a return if you decide to sell it. An m3 rep with fibreglass arches isn't worth a pot of cold p1ss IMO.

One of the biggest issues here is, what are you going to fill the arches with? Standard wheels will look ridiculous if you hide them in the cavernous m3 arches, and just bolting wider wheels on will make your car drive like shit.

Seriously expensive parts, like a 5-stud conversion, will be needed to make the car look reasonable, and then you're well on your way to an m3 conversion anyway.

I have a used front set...:p

I manage a large fiberglass company and am also an e30 fan. I am currently building a wide e30 and have fitted fiberglass arches etc so am fairly well up to speed on what you want to know. Although I dont like to admitt it all the guys are right. If you can possibly get the metal body parts then that is the way to go. If not and you go for fiberglass parts from a mass producer the likely hood is that they will be made from the cheapest polyester resin system they could get there hands on and as such will suffer from shrinkage over time. There is however some things that you can do to help but not guaranteed to fix this. What you want to do is have the parts completely cured before fitting. Take to your bodyshop and have them post cured before fitting. Something like 4-6 hours at 60/70 degrees. Be carefull how they are positioned during this process however as they could change shape. This will do two things. Reduce the movement after fitting and show up and air pockets in the layup before paint. These will appear as bumps as the trapped air expands inside the fiberglass. They can be excavated with a drill and filled. Trust me that you are better to find them at this stage of the game. After you have them fitted its about 99% that they will need to be filled to some degree but the right body person will be able to leave nice and straight. One last point. As the fiberglass rear arches have to be fitted over the original panels the dimensions change a little and your tail lights will probably not reach the outside of the car. I have this problem now and think I will have to make special lights if I want to fix. Some pics of my arches

heres my m3 replica built from the same wide arch kit from pistonheads

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... highlight=

Love them arches!

I think the green one above will be ok because its bit trying to be an m3 copy. The problem with using parts that are supposed to look like m3 parts means you have to get it right in every detail or it'll look like a bodge job.

Going for wider arches which don't copy the m3s gives ou freedom with the rest to make it how you want it without being forced down the exact replica route.

Grrrmachine wrote:One of the biggest issues here is, what are you going to fill the arches with? Standard wheels will look ridiculous if you hide them in the cavernous m3 arches, and just bolting wider wheels on will make your car drive like shit.

Seriously expensive parts, like a 5-stud conversion, will be needed to make the car look reasonable, and then you're well on your way to an m3 conversion anyway.

A five stud conversion does not increase the track.

If using M3 arches then you dont need to go mega wide with wheels to fill the arches.

im not for the fiberglass rear quarters but has anyone any experience with the front wings?

blclar wrote:@gb69. Couldn't find anything at all on eBay as it was my first point of call! I have looked all over the place and spent hours searching the tinted web to no avail, if u could send me a link I'll hold my hands up and say I'm a total flump but couldn't find anything in the UK.

Cheers

I have bought these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190944840300

GB69 wrote:

blclar wrote:@gb69. Couldn't find anything at all on eBay as it was my first point of call! I have looked all over the place and spent hours searching the tinted web to no avail, if u could send me a link I'll hold my hands up and say I'm a total flump but couldn't find anything in the UK.

Cheers

I have bought these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190944840300

That sir is an awesome amount of lock!!!! And whilst i'd like those arches on a saloon or even a tourer, I'm not sure they'd suit a cabriolet.

But I will hold my hands up as promised and call myself a total flump!

Wheels to fill the arches i dont think will be an issue!

As for the 5 std conversion, from what i've read, the e36 EVO front setup and rear compact setup will work fine but that will be the next stage after getting the bodywork up to scratch...

From what I understand, it is a possibility that the fibreglass M3 ones could bend and effectively become unbonded which would mean another expensive trip to the body shop.

I have just picked up a set of second hand M3 front wings from a fellow zoner so this is great start...

I am having trouble with the rear M3 metal arches, i've spoken to cotswold and they can longer get the M3 rear arches for the cabriolet, so i asked about the coupe to see if they were available, at least potentially they could be chopped around to make them fit but they're also discontinued....

Obtainable at the moment are the doors, sills, front and rear bumpers. The rear bumper is expensive at almost twice as much as the front!!! So it have a fibreglass rear bumper for the time being anyway.

So if BMW do not have them, any other ideas on where i might be able to obtain the rear cabriolet arches that go from the door shut to the curve of the boot.

Surely someone else has done their arches in metal on the forum recently? If they did, where did they get the rear 1/4's from?

If anyone could at least PM me if they do not want it public knowledge it would really help.

Cheers

B