E30 Zone

Hi guys,

As the title says, I'm after some much needed advice about restoring my E30 325i convertible, well actually I'm after a service that can do everything I need doing to put the car right!

I'm pretty certain I'm going to need the following put right on the car.

1) rust, I.e arches, fabrication and welding

2) maybe a full body respray

3) engine and auto box re build (don't want a manual box and not fussed with speed from a engine conversion)

4) engine bay tidying up

5) all external rubbers and trims replaced

6) setting it on air ride suspension/advice on wheel

There maybe more things that need doing, but the list above gives you an idea.

So question is, can anybody recommend some one who can do all that for me in one place?

Ideally in the midlands as I'm based in Telford. But if not then I suppose I can go where ever needed.

Many thanks for taking the time to read the post.

Bump

Your not going to find one place that can do all of that, You are at least looking at an engine builder, a gearbox recon shop, a body shop and some kind of custom place to do the stance bits.

I can put you in touch with a good engine builder and bodyshop in Manchester (they can both work on the car at the same time) but this sort of quality work does not come cheap.

PM me if i can help.

It's going to cost close on £1500-£2000 for a full respray if you want a top notch job, this project will need deep pockets for all that work.
I bet all the rubbers/trim won't be cheap, the stealers quoted me £100 for a sunroof seal

Cheers for the input so far guys

Greenun wrote:It's going to cost close on £1500-£2000 for a full respray if you want a top notch job

And the rest! Try doubling that for a proper job including arches.

Where are you getting top notch resprays for £1500-2000? My guess is your top notch and my top notch are two very different things

Why does everyone think a respray costs £1000-£1500!!!!!!

Because a blow over chocked full of filler costs that. Full body respray innit

My mate owns a bodyshop and will do a £1500 respray, but it is a bit of filler and a blow over. He doesn't like doing it but unfortunately we've all got to make a living.

On the other end of the scale, he's got 4 cars in for bare metal, which do require a bit of welding etc and they're all going to be £5k plus.

What would be a realistic price for a windows/engine/all trims out bare shell respray to a good finish?

I may be looking to do this shortly.

elan wrote:What would be a realistic price for a windows/engine/all trims out bare shell respray to a good finish?

I may be looking to do this shortly.

A decent job will cost you 4K+ Its not the paint its the hrs that have to be put in to get the good finish your looking for.

Leigh

bigbird76 wrote:

elan wrote:What would be a realistic price for a windows/engine/all trims out bare shell respray to a good finish?

I may be looking to do this shortly.

A decent job will cost you 4K+ Its not the paint its the hrs that have to be put in to get the good finish your looking for.

Leigh

Completely. Just sorting the door dings out on mine took 11 hours. I still have to do the sill welding, the shell carry mounts and the bits around behind the tech 1. Expecting at least another 20 hours work to do it properly.
Paying someone to do that would be 5x the value of the car.

HairyScreech wrote:

bigbird76 wrote:

elan wrote:What would be a realistic price for a windows/engine/all trims out bare shell respray to a good finish?

I may be looking to do this shortly.

A decent job will cost you 4K+ Its not the paint its the hrs that have to be put in to get the good finish your looking for.

Leigh

Completely. Just sorting the door dings out on mine took 11 hours. I still have to do the sill welding, the shell carry mounts and the bits around behind the tech 1. Expecting at least another 20 hours work to do it properly.
Paying someone to do that would be 5x the value of the car.

So is £6K reasonable to strip the car to bare shell, address rust areas and paint?

Any recommendations for places around the London area?

my e30 body resto cost me 6 grand 6 years ago

Don't forget that good paint and laquer wil be double the price of cheap materials

elan wrote:So is £6K reasonable to strip the car to bare shell, address rust areas and paint?

Any recommendations for places around the London area?

That all depends on how much and where the rust there is!

Simon13 wrote:my e30 body resto cost me 6 grand 6 years ago

You stripped your car to a bare shell yourself which saved quite a bit on labour costs and yours was not as badly rusted as some can be.

Wide range of figures being thrown around

Retropower do complete (bare shell, engine, transmission etc etc) restorations over near Hinckley, dare say it'll be expensive though!

87mtech27 wrote:Wide range of figures being thrown around

A bit like it'd be getting quotes in the real world then!!

bss325i wrote:

Simon13 wrote:my e30 body resto cost me 6 grand 6 years ago

You stripped your car to a bare shell yourself which saved quite a bit on labour costs and yours was not as badly rusted as some can be.

true but it needed attention in all the classic e30 rust spots, but i got the car done before it was really bad in certain areas. Point is they needed this sort of work 10 years ago plus!

I changed every bolt on panel also as they all had rust in certain points and painted everywhere! engine bay the shuts the boot the lot

The costs must be way more now i bought from the dealer brand new wings for £100 each, sunroof panel £100, bonnet £200 then 2nd hand doors and bootlid for about £50 total.

I can keep going!

Simon13 wrote:

bss325i wrote:

Simon13 wrote:my e30 body resto cost me 6 grand 6 years ago

You stripped your car to a bare shell yourself which saved quite a bit on labour costs and yours was not as badly rusted as some can be.

true but it needed attention in all the classic e30 rust spots, but i got the car done before it was really bad in certain areas. Point is they needed this sort of work 10 years ago plus!

I changed every bolt on panel also as they all had rust in certain points and painted everywhere! engine bay the shuts the boot the lot

The costs must be way more now i bought from the dealer brand new wings for £100 each, sunroof panel £100, bonnet £200 then 2nd hand doors and bootlid for about £50 total.

I can keep going!

Yep. Wings are nearly double and sunroof panels are over three times the price now!

I can see how the costs can mount up. I suppose its partly about weighting up the restoration costs with what it might be worth in the end.

elan wrote:

HairyScreech wrote:

bigbird76 wrote: A decent job will cost you 4K+ Its not the paint its the hrs that have to be put in to get the good finish your looking for.

Leigh

Completely. Just sorting the door dings out on mine took 11 hours. I still have to do the sill welding, the shell carry mounts and the bits around behind the tech 1. Expecting at least another 20 hours work to do it properly.
Paying someone to do that would be 5x the value of the car.

So is £6K reasonable to strip the car to bare shell, address rust areas and paint?

Any recommendations for places around the London area?

The other thing to remember is that it is absolutely pointless bolting tatty, rusty, crap brackets, fixings, suspension, steering, mechanical parts etc, to a freshly restored shell. All of that mounts up as a few bits are now NLA so you are into having the originals restored in themselves. All of that will mount up to well over your welding costs alone!

£6k will probably get a car stripped, welded and painted. Don't expect a "thorough" job though, it will be a bing bash bosh job's a good un type job.

On the other end of the scale, i'm doing a full nut and bolt resto and getting towards the end of the work now, with the current spend working out about £15k (plus cost of the car).

Probably will cost about £20k when done as i've done a lot more than really needed...but I want it to be up there with the best examples in the world.