Malachtgrun 320i cabrio from Australia

[Tzantushka]

I'm loving my new remote central locking (thanks btw!). I thought I'd add a picture of what I found whilst I was digging around under the dash - it might bring back happy memories! Aftermarket alarm (disabled), old RCL, and a mystery box (garage door sensor?). Lots and lots of scotch locks and electrical tape. There were a few more bits and pieces not in the picture that I removed on a second pass.

Isn't it a relief getting rid of all that junk and simply having a remote kit that works?

Thankful to @Brianmoooore and the others for recommending the Right Click unit.

[coopman]

I'm loving my new remote central locking (thanks btw!). I thought I'd add a picture of what I found whilst I was digging around under the dash - it might bring back happy memories! Aftermarket alarm (disabled), old RCL, and a mystery box (garage door sensor?). Lots and lots of scotch locks and electrical tape. There were a few more bits and pieces not in the picture that I removed on a second pass.

Isn't it a relief getting rid of all that junk and simply having a remote kit that works?

Thankful to @Brianmoooore and the others for recommending the Right Click unit.

Absolutely. Once you get rid of all the crap, it's amazing how neat and tidy the original wiring looks.

The central locking was a bit hit and miss previously when using the key (I'd have to check both doors and the boot to see if they'd all locked). The remote kit works perfectly.

[Tzantushka]

Because we all love pics (especially Mart)...

Looking great after a complementary wash from getting a diagnosis to track down a cooling system leak.

[HenryM3]

That is a credit to you. Probably in better nick than it came out of the factory. Such a pity we can’t regenerate ourselves and take 30 years off

[martauto]

WOW !!!!!!

(more please )

Mart.

[BenHar]

Looks good.

What was the coolant problem?

Ben

[Tzantushka]

That is a credit to you. Probably in better nick than it came out of the factory. Such a pity we can’t regenerate ourselves and take 30 years off

Thanks
I would say "...factory + a few years of use..."
Bringing it back to a state where everything works, is presentable and reliable - where I can jump in with the family, turn the key and go.
It would be good to go back in time 30 years when things were much simpler.

WOW !!!!!!

(more please )

Yeah, I'd like to find a nice location with nice lighting to present it better.
Being a dark metallic green, in some light conditions it looks almost black.

Looks good.

What was the coolant problem?

Thanks - the car was consuming coolant after the cooling system was refreshed - here.
Not a lot, but enough to be a concern.

[JungleGus]

Looks great!

[Cypriotgeeza]

Hello from the UK!

Just wanted to say this is the reason I love the zone, threads like these!
I was on here quite a bit while doing my conversion, but since then I drifted away from here. It's so good to see people like yourself still keeping the site alive with build threads! I'm also trying to make it a conscious effort to update my thread and to help others like I was helped all those years ago!

I was in Australia (Perth) in December 2019 and I have to say I wish I had my E30 out there, absolutely prefect weather for a convertible BMW! You must be loving it especially with the A/C!

I look forward to more updates!

[Tzantushka]

Speaking of updates...
The gradual consumption of coolant was sitting in the back of my mind every time I drove the car.
The head was original 198k km (123k miles) with the old style hex head bolts instead of the E Torx head bolts.

So I ended-up doing it right and going for a head-off recondition, gaskets, injectors etc.
Well that was back in April when I dropped it off at the workshop...
Tear down confirmed a slight coolant leak - cyl #5 was 'steam cleaning' the internals.
Hoping for just a tired gasket causing the leak the cylinder head went off to be pressure tested and reconditioned.

Unfortunately not.
Head & valvetrain was in very good condition except from the wear on the eccentric adjusters.
Except for a small hairline crack above cyl #5 - shyte...
Couldn't be welded, so it was off to look for a reco head.

Fair to say that the cylinder head reconditioner was a perfectionist and 3x different 731 heads where tried with varying failure modes.
Finally secured a good one and the job could be completed.
While the head was off, had a the injectors refurbished (ultrasonically cleaned, flow tested & new baskets, pintles & seals).
For our Australian viewers these came from AZnew.
Everything else was also done right - $$$ - waterpump, tensioner, etc.
After that setback, wait waiting on some parts ex-Germany for a while (thanks to COVID induced air freight delays).
But last weekend it cam back home.

And what a treat.
Pulls harder than before (I have Speetouch's chip), virtually no valve train noise, much better fuel consumption.
And of course no coolant consumption.

And to top this off - now Victoria is in lockdown for the 5th time.
So Mart will have to wait for some photos.

[coopman]

How much did all of that cost??

P.S. Apologies on behalf of NSW for the latest lockdown!

[Tzantushka]

Way more than I was expecting...

And, lockdown was way more than I was expecting...

[martauto]

Mart.

[ocde30]

This car and the work you have done to it is an absolute credit to you! Thank you for sharing the progress with the clear photographs - it encourages us all.

[martauto]

This car and the work you have done to it is an absolute credit to you! Thank you for sharing the progress with the clear photographs - it encourages us all.

Very nice one Trev !!!!!!!!!

Mart.

[Tzantushka]

This car and the work you have done to it is an absolute credit to you! Thank you for sharing the progress with the clear photographs - it encourages us all.

Awww shucks. Thanks for the kind words.
Everyone needs a distraction during these challenging times.
And why not share with other E30 addicts.

While we are still in lockdown finally got around to fitting the upgraded starter cables and engine earth.
I bought these a while back from Bavarian Restoration as I knew the engine earth was original and wasn't looking that great.
They are certainly a thicker cross section than the originals.



Starter cable was straightforward, 12mm bolts on the battery clamp, 13mm nut on the starter.
Remove, re-route new cable, tighten & cable tie the cable to the existing loom tray.

Old cable


Engine earth was a bit more involved with the airbox & AFM removed to access the engine earth from the top.
2x 13mm nuts later, wipe-off the grime and refit.

Can't see it from the photo, but the engine earth was only attached by a few bunches of strands.
It's a minor upgrade and helps the old girl out when starting.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Wow you weren't kidding when you said the originals weren't looking great

Good work mate

[DanThe]

First time ive seen this thread, lovely original car in a fantastic colour and your doing a great job of bringing it back to its former glory

[martauto]

First time ive seen this thread, lovely original car in a fantastic colour and your doing a great job of bringing it back to its former glory

Nice one Dan !!

How on earth (no pun really) did this work ??????

Mart.

[Tzantushka]

Thanks Lads - it's not a common colour and even more reason to keep it close to factory.


Well - we're still in lockdown for 6th time...
It was a cool but sunny weekend before spring, nothing better to do than clean & treat the soft top.

Based on the receipt folder that came with the car a new soft top was fitted in 2012.
It's in reasonable condition - although the tension straps are stuffed.
Since owning the car, I've done nothing to the soft top fabric apart from regular vacuuming and infrequent washing.

Decided to give it a good clean and treatment.
Went with 303 Cleaner & Fabric Guard.
Raggtopp is also recommended but hard to find here in AUS.



To prevent water ingress & over spray during treatment ended up using one of those cheap painters drop sheets under the top.



Hosed it down, good spray with the cleaner & agitate with a soft horsehair brush.





Good excuse to take the car for a drive in the sun for an hour with the roof-up and surprisingly the top dried-off perfectly.
Once in the carport, drop sheet under the top (covering the rest of the car) and time to apply the treatment.

Instructions say to spray, which gave very good coverage using a 2-3 medium coats.
Also ended-up using a 5cm soft paint brush and brushing the treatment into the main seams & stitching to ensure through coverage in those areas.
The treatment is curing for the next day or so - will need to wait for the usual water beading photos...

Few observations.
The treatment did darken-up the fabric a little & made it look newer.
Any over spray on the plastic window was wiped off straight away.
Wasn't too stressed as the back window was given a clean-up & polish.
When you brush it on, it soaks-up a lot and turns white but dries clear.

[Tzantushka]

Lockdown continues... So not many updates.

Recoloured the seat back covers.
You might remember from this post the seat backs were the odd colour out after the door cards, horseshoe & foot well kick panels were refinished in Duplicolor Medium Beige.
Well, that has been fixed.



Yes, there's a bit of separation, but I'll fix that when the seats eventually need recovering.

Also, collected the re-skinned dashboard goodness awaiting swap over.
(not looking forward to that task)







On first inspection the texture looks pretty close to the original material - unlike the 'rubberised E36 material' from the recent OE production runs.
Although one of the centre vents copped a shunt and needs to be fixed.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Great work as always!

The dashboard really isn't as bad as most people will have you think!
My only advice is the A pillar trims - either remove them altogether or tape them up as the metal brackets on the sides of the dashboard can easily scratch them!

[Tzantushka]

Great work as always!
The dashboard really isn't as bad as most people will have you think!
My only advice is the A pillar trims - either remove them altogether or tape them up as the metal brackets on the sides of the dashboard can easily scratch them!

Thanks for the heads-up.
Followed your advice and removed the A pillar trims first - as they were busted from the 1980's alarm install and needed to be repaired and the vinyl re-glued.

This is the dash that's coming out.
It has been cracked in it's day, then an attempted repair, and cracked along the repairs.
The repair has been done with a filler and then texture paint that's spattered all over the place.
The pictures don't show how shyte it really is.

[Tzantushka]

Aaaand the dash came out last night.



The usual clean-up of the crumbly HVAC gasket and 30+ years of dust in the ductwork is required.​

[ah]

Rather you than me, good luck, there is one thing I don’t like about your cab,and that’s that I don’t own it, because it’s seriously nice.

[aimlessrock]

whilst the dash is out check the back of the battery tray from inside the car- its a known rot spot (in Uk at least) and with the dash out its much easier to repair/weld.

[martauto]

there is one thing I don’t like about your cab,and that’s that I don’t own it, because it’s seriously nice.

Mart.

[Tzantushka]

Rather you than me, good luck, there is one thing I don’t like about your cab,and that’s that I don’t own it, because it’s seriously nice.

Thank you.
As a hobby & weekend car it's perfect for mental health during lockdowns!

The good news is the re-skinned dash is in.
In the process, I did discover there is a difference in dashboards that affects cabby owners.
Will document that for future reference

whilst the dash is out check the back of the battery tray from inside the car- its a known rot spot (in Uk at least) and with the dash out its much easier to repair/weld.

Good tip.
I did have a look and it's sound.
There's some surface rust on part of the battery tray, which has been treated to slow it down.
I'll wire brush & refinish that later.

[Tzantushka]

The good news is the re-skinned dash is in.
In the process, I did discover there is a difference in dashboards that affects cabby owners.
Will document that for future reference

And here's something new I learnt...
Apart from the last few production runs of replacement dashboards (E36 rubberised material & grain), I thought E30 dashboards were all the same.

The donor re-skinned dash was from an early E30.
I could tell as the original dash vents had the early style whole markings (solid white dot instead of an 'o' to indicate the closed position).
Plus the production date on the dashboard...

When the reskinned dash went into the car, it wouldn't sit as far forward.
It was fouling on the LH & RH side where the A pillar and firewall meet.

As it turns out, comparing the dashboards side by side, you can see the convertible dash has an extra cut-out for the LH & RH brackets.
Can only only assume that this is due to the extra thickness pillar-firewall bulkhead (cabriolet specific reinforcements)

Donor dashboard from early model car


Cabby specific dash


I can only assume that BMW may have slightly altered E30 dashboards for facelift cars when the cabby was introduced into the range.
In other words, YES you can fit a coupe/sedan/touring dash into a convertible - BUT needs to come from a facelift car...

Oh yes, I made it fit by tracing and trimming off the mounting brackets on the donor dash to match the original dash.

[Tzantushka]

Technically, we're still in COVID-19 lockdown.
But allowed to travel up to 15 km (9 mi.) from home...
The weather was nice and a great excuse to go for a drive, check everything works (and take the family for a walk).

Because we like pics - couple of photos of the finished dashboard swap....


(full size here)


(full size here)

This is one of those 'cosmetic fixes' but makes a huge difference and puts a smile on your face

[BenHar]

The dash looks fantastic.

Where did you get it reskinned?

Thanks
Ben

[martauto]

This is an absolute credit to you
That dash is brand new, dont try and kid us mate !!
What did you use on the rest of the black interior trim to bring it up soooooooooooo well ?
Mart.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Its always the little things people don't normally notice that make the biggest difference on my car i e the dash and also the sound deadening under the bonnet. When I replaced that it made a huge difference to the engine bay! Its all on my thread if you've got a few weeks to spare to read through it lol

Good work as always mate

[ocde30]

Splendid work on the dash - as always. Can't be much left to do now ...can there? Great car.

[Tzantushka]

The dash looks fantastic.

Where did you get it reskinned?

Was done locally in Melbourne, Australia - The Dashboard Doctor.
They have video on their website depicting the process

This is an absolute credit to you
That dash is brand new, dont try and kid us mate !!
What did you use on the rest of the black interior trim to bring it up soooooooooooo well ?

Thanks Mart - almost as good as new.
With the rest of the black trim, it's a secret!
Sssh... I'll just share it between you and me - right?
Basically it's a ceramic coating by Carpro.
There are two options:
- CQUARTZ DLux
- CQUARTZ Leather (and Vinyl)
I ended up using DLux as it returns the interior trim to the anthracite colour (instead of faded grey in our climate).
After 30 years, the secret is surface preparation.
Clean, clean, clean.
Interior all purpose cleaner to lift the dirt and one of those magic erasers to help clean the grain and slightly dull the surface before coating.

Its always the little things people don't normally notice that make the biggest difference on my car i e the dash and also the sound deadening under the bonnet. When I replaced that it made a huge difference to the engine bay! Its all on my thread if you've got a few weeks to spare to read through it lol

Good work as always mate

Thanks for the thumbs-up.
You're spot on - it's the little details that add-up.
I have read through your build thread for inspiration!

Splendid work on the dash - as always. Can't be much left to do now ...can there? Great car.

Thx.
And yes, the big things have been checked off.
The rear brakes will need some attention and the only thing left withe the interior is a flakey neutral safety switch for the trans and indicator stalk is temperamental.