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

[dimebag_from_hell]

Impressive, very good work. Love the car.

[Blitz]

Very nice. I need to do this but I dont have a pressure washer.

So cheap now Mo. And I woulddn't be without one. They are a godsent for stuff like this. Even a compact 100 bar Karcher for about £50 is worth having.

Thing is I dont have an outdoor tap. I dont know if a kitchen tap will be sufficient enough for a pressure washer.

[Kedge]

Looking good Barry, must be so satisfying know the shell is so sound.

Very nice. I need to do this but I dont have a pressure washer.

So cheap now Mo. And I woulddn't be without one. They are a godsent for stuff like this. Even a compact 100 bar Karcher for about £50 is worth having.

Thing is I dont have an outdoor tap. I dont know if a kitchen tap will be sufficient enough for a pressure washer.

Will be fine, used to do that when i lived at my brothers. Just had an adapter that fitted over the end of the tap to clip the hose to.

[bss325i]

Mo, you dont need a pressure washer, just a hose and a brush to shift the bigger bits of dirt.

Its getting the ingrained dirt of of the factory underseal. Tooth bushes and nail brushes along with either TFR or a decent brake cleaner.

[goosiegander]

Proper job!

This thread just keeps getting better and better...

[Royalratch]

Equal parts awe and disgust.

All that talk of stripping the underside and all the bits - where's it going to end dude! Live life!

[bss325i]

Its an illness Ratch!

[E30BeemerLad]

Seen you post about taking it back to stock Barry?

Losing the Alpina trinkets?

[bss325i]

You really are on a thread revival tonight eh Lee?

Not exactly back to bone stock although i have had thoughts of going the whole hog and removing all the Alpina'ness.

Basicaly i've decided to remove the scorpion rear box and sebring centre and replace with genuine BMW sections and shadowline tail pipe trims as per OE.

I kept the BTB2 though!

You may have also noticed in the OEM ICE thread that i'm removing my Alpine Sub and amps and the Nakamici head unit in favor of Blapunkt gear.

Will update in a couple of weeks after i find the time to finish it all.

[bss325i]

Update time!

Right, for a while now i've been in two minds weather i like the sound and look of the scorpion exhaust. Well a couple of weeks ago i finally decided to go back to OEM (a direction i have taken with the Audio as well). About 18 months ago, Simon a Trev broke a 2 dr 325i which had a genuine BMW 3 piece exhaust system that was only a year or so old. The key thing was that it was a 3 piece system so this would allow me to retain the BTB six brach Manifold (Every M20 should have one!)

Here is said system as bought with just the centre silencer and rear box that i needed.



I didnt want to bolt the system up as was so after asking about people previous experince, i decided to go with some back VHT paint which incidentally matched the existing matt grey/black finish which it had when made. After some thorough wire wheel action and some degreasing i hung 'em up and set to with the aerosols!

The results





Fitted with new straps,nuts, bolts and olives.



Finished of some new genuine BMW shadow line tail pipe trims.





Now its sounds proper!

This weekend just gone i replaced the rear beam bushes, a job that many will say is one of the worst to do on an E30 but with the right tools and a ramp it can be done very quickly and easily.

When i first got he car back in '06 i didn't have access to a ramp and the rear axle bushes along with a few other jobs needed doing so whilst i went away on holiday for a week i left my car with a well known BMW speciaist to do the bushes and a few other jobs. I supplied the bushes with some cheapies from Euro car parts (little did i know back then!) and approx 20000 miles lated they ended up delaminating and collapsing resulting in the usual movement in the rear axle.

What i did find though as a complete lack of any anti seize copper grease used which along with the over tightening of the alen bolts which bolt through through the sills causing one of them to snap. With the plate removed, some heat got the snapped stud out but if some diligence was taken in the first place, this inconvenience would not have happened!

So called bloody specialists!

As you can see in the pic below, total delamination with a big split in the bush. OEM/Lemforder ones would have lasted 3-4 times as long! Lemforder ones went back in!

[Duke137]

1st time I have seen this thread, don't know where I have been....

Stunning car mate, stunning

[e30topless]

Phat Zaust Bazz,
nothing sounds better than a boysen on these turds,

just noticed you have sneaked a Pina script on the boot !

[B7]

Looking good barry. Glad the exhaust was of use.

But the centre box should be grey mate.

Seriously though. Much better. All that chavvy scorpian wrongness (shakes his head in disbelief).

[B7]

F*ck me! Those rears look like my old conti's!!!!

[pukar]

finally those exhaust tail pipe trims see the light of day!!! looking great buddy! oem exhaust should be mandatory

[bss325i]

Duke, why thank you. Have a read through if you haven't.

Steve, the 'pina script was on the boot all along. I replaced the boot lid last summer as the original was twisted (don't ask me how ) so i replaced it with a diamiond black boot lid from a 4dr B6 3.5 that Pete reshelled 3 years ago.

Trev, i saw that the centre was a silver/grey but i decided to keep it uniform. The finish was mainly to stop it from corroding. I am going to go through the whole underside at some point.

Also regarding the tyres, they are on the ware bars so legal (just) but i have some fresh Continental Sport contact 2's 225/45R16's on order in time for when i tax the car. Bloody 5-6 week back order!

Atul, yes finally got them on, only had them since Nov '09! I've also got a few other items that i bought back then to go on such as new door handles and lock surrounds.

Still haven't fitted the L&C dealer sticker which reminds me, I need a new rear screen!

[csl]

VHT paint which incidentally matched the existing matt grey/black finish which it had when made

That was exactly what i thought upon using the stuff.
The Boysen looks great on the car Barry.I think they sound perfect...........quiet enough when on the motorway but with the right note around town imho.

[Blitz]

Boysen does sound great. I'm looking for a boysen 3 piece centre section if anyone has one.

[leeparkes]

Just caught up with this thread, nice work Barry

[B7]

Trev,
Also regarding the tyres, they are on the ware bars so legal (just) but i have some fresh Continental Sport contact 2's 225/45R16's on order in time for when i tax the car. Bloody 5-6 week back order!

I've gone for Conti 3's this time and I hope the bloody wear rate is better . I barely got 12k out the rears on the 39!

[dimebag_from_hell]

What sort of money for the conti 3's?

Car is looking well with the oem exhaust, I would go the whole hog and put it back to oem.

I think the pina spoiler takes away from just how good a specimen this tech 2 is.

[DanThe]

Less is more

[Royalratch]

Barry I got a set of brand new ContiSport 2's on eBay of all places for around £280ish?

Unless yours are harder to get for the 8" rears...

[dimebag_from_hell]

Barry how much was the new vent pipe cover. Took mine of and its not bad but not great either, so might as well get that changed.

[Blitz]

What sort of money for the conti 3's?

Car is looking well with the oem exhaust, I would go the whole hog and put it back to oem.

I think the pina spoiler takes away from just how good a specimen this tech 2 is.

I disagree. I think it looks better with the Alpina spoilers.

[goosiegander]

What sort of money for the conti 3's?

Car is looking well with the oem exhaust, I would go the whole hog and put it back to oem.

I think the pina spoiler takes away from just how good a specimen this tech 2 is.

I disagree. I think it looks better with the Alpina spoilers.

+1 this is one of my favourite cars on the zone

[bss325i]

Trev, that E39's for you, they munch rear tyres despite brand. The sport contact 2's lasted about 20000 miles on my sport and that included 12 laps of the Ring and a day up the strip at the pod chasing that 15.3 second quarter, which i got on my last run!

Ratch, you're right its because they are a wider size at 225/45R16 which is an odd ball size with limited manufacturers making them.

dimebag, i bought the cover 2 years ago along with lots of other parts. It was about £20 but i think it has, along with most E30 parts prices, gone up!

As for the the Alpina trinkets, well its all a matter of personal opinion. As much as i think a tech 2 boot spoiler looks ok on a tech 2 kitted car, i think the Alpina boot spoiler is far better looking and the front blends in well with the rest of the kit and looks awesome.
I may change it all back to tech 2 stuff including the steering wheel and some 15" BBS at some point but for now they stay.

Once again, thanks for the comments.

There are quite a few truly stunning cars on the zone, some in the making. Its nice that some people hold mine in such regard.

[dimebag_from_hell]

I have noticed bmw parts prices have went toyota style. Do you have the part number by any chance barry?

I have stripped the rear of my car and happily found immaculate inner arch's, I will now give them a waxoil before putting it back together.

I don't have a gun for it unfortunatley, so just intend on heating it up in some hot water and applying it to the inner arch's with a brush. That should be ok shouldn't it barry?

Im having bother removing the fuel vent tank, the bolt is shredded and wont budge and im hesitant to take the grinder in that area to remove it.

[bss325i]

Brushing wax oil on the arch lip is the best method. Good to hear your arches are in good fettle.

Part number for the cover is 16131179011

Plenty of releasing agent, like WD40 etc and some vise grips to remove the vent tank bolt if the 10mm self tapping bolt has rounded off.

[kieran325]

[kieran325]

Whoops, bit late there

[dimebag_from_hell]

Thanks very much barry and kieran.

Tell me this kieran, do you know how much it is at the stealers?

[kieran325]

£31.70.

[dimebag_from_hell]

£31.70.

Thanks kieran.

I always hear of people picking parts up cheaper from bmw because they have traders insurance/in the trade?

Any truth in this?

[kieran325]

I get 15% most of the time, goes up though when I buy E46 parts.

Blag that your a car club member and get 10% or order through the zone.