My tech 2 325i Sport. 25 years old today 25.10.14

[spook]

excellent stuff, got mine going in two weeks time

[baboon5151]

great job bud.you must be really pleased

[Simon13]

wow! it's getting me excited for mine, my car is diamond too so if it looks like that i'll be well happy!

nice one

[snooka]

nice job, mine is just repainted yesterday, it's also stil 'naked',

urs will looks nice after evereythin is back on

[bmwe30mtech]

That looks fantastic. Best one i have seen so far, such a good finish. Matches the 39k miles.

Mate, were the gutter trims no good? He text me today and i said i would buy them because they are new, and totally undamaged. Whats wrong with them?? Hes dropping by tomorrow night, so i need to know!

Cheers!

[Simon13]

doesn't it need laquer or has it already been applied

[beardymat]

looking good there, looks a nice finish.

if youre anything like me ill bet you cant wait to start thr refit

pulled mine into the paintshop tonight ready to get some primer on it tommorow.got my display pass through for gaydon too which is approaching fast .

ill post some more pics in my thread when i remember to take the camera

[csl]

Lookin good there bss!

[maxfield]

Awesome dude!

[aceraf]

looking awesome....

if i'd gone through all of that work, i'd give it a flat and polish to try and get as perfect a finish as possible....

great job though...and get some pics of it outside when possible...

great work

[Jay07]

Wow!! Cant wait to see the finish article!!

[bss325i]

Mate, were the gutter trims no good? He text me today and i said i would buy them because they are new, and totally undamaged. Whats wrong with them?? Hes dropping by tomorrow night, so i need to know!

Fella they had been on a car before and had a couple of bend marks where they had been levered off and a couple of tiny scratches. they were ok but i want new ones which is what they were advertised as.

Si, it had two coats of lacquer as it says above.

Thanks for all the comments guys, i'm itching to get it finished now!

[cliffybabe]

looking good dude

[hammoj28]

Looks amazing. Wish i had the money to get a respray to make it look new. Very nice job there.

[SHAKEELE30]

Looking very nice bss, cant wait to see it in the daylight and once its totally finished

[bss325i]

if i'd gone through all of that work, i'd give it a flat and polish to try and get as perfect a finish as possible...

I did ask the painter about this but the finish already attained is as close to original as possible. BMW's paint finish has a slight mottle to it and not glass like which could be attained by flat and polishing.

Here's a couple of pics outside and before i begin the fit up.

[beardymat]

doesnt look like it needs any polishing from those pics. if your painter moves to sheffield get him to look me up.lol

nice to see a finish from the gun, too much flatting and buffing makes them look false if that makes sense

get them bits bolted back on

[SPADGE]

Thats looking spot-on
A very difficult colour to paint and to get that finish straight out of the gun is top drawer

[bss325i]

Yes i'm very please with the end result. The painters name is Adam Hughes and he's the best one out of 5 where i work. He actualy sold me the car and has had a few e30's over the years and the escort mexico in the previous pics is his which was 3 years worth of work. I'm going in tomorow to start the fit up, can't wait till its done!

[Loony]

That looks really good.Cant wait to see the pics of it when its all refitted.

[B7]

Hiya mate. Not been about for a week, been in a mini heatwave with the e36 in Watergate Bay in Cornwall.

Barry? what can I say? It looks f***in' ace. I agree that flatting and polishing it would be wrong. That looks factory fresh and exactly as it would have done out the showroom. Give the painter a big up from me. I think you owe him a beer or two?

Can't wait to see it.

Beardy. I know how you feel. Just been and bought little list of parts (from BMW) to enable me to fit the head i bought from Spadge. This is just the head gasket, cam belt all the other little gaskets etc. to actually bolt it down. £255 thanks very much. Boy does it add up!

[Simon13]

head gasket set from the dealer and bolts are £Â£Ã‚£ i can see the pro's for dealer stuff as i have a fetish too, but you can get a headgasket set and bolts from GSF for under £90 and the gaskets are elring which is OE fitment from the factory.

Thats what i used on my touring and it's doing a sterling job for me!

[B7]

head gasket set from the dealer and bolts are £Â£Ã‚£ i can see the pro's for dealer stuff as i have a fetish too, but you can get a headgasket set and bolts from GSF for under £90 and the gaskets are elring which is OE fitment from the factory.

Thats what i used on my touring and it's doing a sterling job for me!

I rang GSF and they reckoned that they couldn't do the thicker gasket for when you skim the head. BMW don't do a full head kit with the thicket gasket either so I was stuffed. I had to buy it all individually.

[Simon13]

what did you go for the 2.08mm head gasket? How much did you take off the head?

When i did mine my dad flashed it up, only took off 4 thou as it was still flat. As it was such a tiny amount i just used the standard thickness one about 1.68mm or so. But my head was off because of a broken rocker not because it had warped cracked

[bss325i]

Hi Trevor, hpope you had a good break. Thanks, I'm very very pleased with the result and yes it can be quite expensive when all the parts accumulate. I'm just lucky enough to be in a position to get a small discount on parts and a masive discount on the labour costs involved in a project like this which easily would have cost twice as much if i'd just walked in off the street. Without this, a project like this would have taken a lot longer as i would have had to try and find someone willing to do it in their spare time and to a good standard.

I began the fit up today and managed to get the headlining which was a fooker of a job and the interior roof fitments in, the had lamps and front grills, some of the body kit clips and lots and lots of wax oil!

[1an]

that looks such a nice finish, and how deep and clear is the shine

[bss325i]

that looks such a nice finish, and how deep and clear is the shine

Thanks fella, cant wait till its all fitted and cleaned up!

[bss325i]

The head lining and interior roof fitments fitted.

Front.

[CiLK_WuRM]

I love these threads

[aceraf]

I take it that you're going to be keeping it stock looking, seen as you've put the chrome grill back on?

[ricey46]

Nice work mate, must be nice to start with a really good shell in the first place. Jobs lookin sweet, Nice one!!

[bss325i]

I take it that you're going to be keeping it stock looking, seen as you've put the chrome grill back on?

Yes fells it will be close to stock appearance, only a wheel change to BBS split rims, Hartge or alpina's. I have toyed with the idea of smoked front indicators and repeaters but haven't decided yet. I also think that the chrome grill is part of the cars identity but i think black grills look ok to.

[bss325i]

Nice work mate, must be nice to start with a really good shell in the first place. Jobs lookin sweet, Nice one!!

Yes im really lucky to have stumbled upon such a clean shell, its one of the biggest reasons why i decided to do All this and to keep it pretty much stock in appearance.

[aceraf]

I take it that you're going to be keeping it stock looking, seen as you've put the chrome grill back on?

Yes fells it will be close to stock appearance, only a wheel change to BBS split rims, Hartge or alpina's. I have toyed with the idea of smoked front indicators and repeaters but haven't decided yet. I also think that the chrome grill is part of the cars identity but i think black grills look ok to.

I think on a resto project like this i'd keep it as stock as possible aswell...the only change i would make would be clear indicators on the front, and clear repeaters, as they'd suit the colour of your car nicely, and give a slight modern touch, whereas the orange would dull the front end down abit...

not a big fan of smoked lights on a dark car...leave no contrast!

That's just my opinion, and we all await what your decision will be!

keep the pics coming!

[Simon13]

smoke um or amber, clears look really council and cheap!

you have 1 more day to finish till Guildford and the stonechipping can begin!