E30 Zone

So an update after several months happy ownership.

Amazing weather this year means that I've used it loads.

In October it went to A-Tech for a full service, cam belt and fluid change - after being in Portugal for so many winters I wanted to make sure it had at least the right antifreeze.

Very happy with how it came back - transformed the way the car ran - it was like it was always in sport mode in comparison with before!

Then got new badges front and rear from Chris Warburton and replaced the broken rear ashtray.

After that I had the top of the rear seat repaired, and the drivers bolster panel repaired as well and the leather reconnolised - what a difference that made!

Cleaned the rear window with some renovo window cleaner - came up lovely.

Next upgrade was Infinity Kappa 52.9i speakers for the rear - didn't get round to buying front ones which I'm pleased about now as they weren't such an easy fit as people said! The left one I managed to get in but the right one I gave up on. I'm going to look for something with a lower mounting depth and also less of a raised tweeter unit - the covers never sat properly so I've taken them out for the time being and they'll be ebayed. Might go for a set of pioneers TS-H something at the front and something that will fit properly at the back - I'm not really looking for anything bassy or too loud - just something that will be clear (and isn't blown like the fronts!).

I use the car to go to work quite a bit (10 mile trundle into Aldgate) and was reasonably troubled by the 17-18 to the gallon I kept getting so got the blue sensor changed at Crossways garage just to make sure that wasn't an issue.

Got a nice wind deflector off a nice guy in Yorkshire who had a spare one for his chromie 325i - works a treat.

With the summer months approaching I was a little worried by it getting a little too warm for my liking so took it back to Crossways this week and got thermostat, temp sensor and fan switch changed - sits like a dream in the middle now and such a joy to drive.

Ordered some new sun visors and grey headrests to arrive from Boyd which I'll fit in the next month or so.

Today got a replacement centre cap badge and ordered a new AFP boot from the dealer (thanks zaust).

Tomorrow I say goodbye to the car for around a month as it goes to a friend of the family who's a bodywork technician at a dealer who does a bit of private work in the background. All of the signs of it's time in Portugal will be removed (the annoying dents and scratches and crease dents in both doors) also I'll get the rear bumper sorted where mrs Jas didn't stop in time while parking.

Next jobs when it comes back:

Get the roof stitched so that it folds a bit better
Sort out the hood closing issue
Speaker upgrade front and rear
Rear headrest installation
Replace the rear exhaust box (if it looks a bit manky now it will look dire after the paint is sorted)

Then at some point the big one - dashboard replacement!

Things I'm considering:

Mild speedtouch chip
Replacement springs and dampers / bushes - only a mild drop though - around the same as the standard M-Tech suspension would give but I'm not decided on that.

Anyway - some pics of it before it goes away in the meantime.























This one I got to fit...


This one didn't fit quite so well...


Temperature sitting lovely!


And the A/C works!



So does the cruise control!


Sunvisors due to be replaced shortly...


Obligatory foglights on shot...


Hood needs restitching and the bar putting back on...


Crimp trick on the tensioner strap made quite a difference...


Not sure if this bar is fitted the right way round - it rubs against the rubber strip round the horseshoe - not sure if this is something to do with why it doesn't sit right after it's down


It goes down fairly well on its own after a quick fold





But doesn't lock down straight - any suggestions welcome


Thanks mrs Jas!

That's a nice looking car,
Appears standard but very well kept,
(With the depth of field, some of the shots almost appearred to be a model !)
Keep the updates coming,

Looks good,just a thought,though....your handbrake lever looks to be bending upwards in the interior shots,I had problems like that,it got so bad that the ratchet would not always engage,I discovered that the lever had developed a stress crack at the point,below to gaiter and out of sight,where the lever changes from being round to being flat.May be an idea to have a quick look at yours.
S/H replacement from a zone trader will only be £10 or so,and they just bolt in.

Nice, the photo's make the car look like a toy?.
Can anyone else see that,or do my eyes need testing?.

the reason your horseshoe wont lock down is that the bit that pulls the catches closed which sits behind the teardrop shaped horseshoe raising lever is not fitted properly. This needs putting on in the correct way so that as the little lever turns it catches the mechanism behind turning it which pulls the wires and closes the catches

daimlerman wrote:Looks good,just a thought,though....your handbrake lever looks to be bending upwards in the interior shots,I had problems like that,it got so bad that the ratchet would not always engage,I discovered that the lever had developed a stress crack at the point,below to gaiter and out of sight,where the lever changes from being round to being flat.May be an idea to have a quick look at yours.
S/H replacement from a zone trader will only be £10 or so,and they just bolt in.

Thanks for that - not noticed it before but I'll add it to my list when I get it back and check it.

gazm3 wrote:Nice, the photo's make the car look like a toy?.
Can anyone else see that,or do my eyes need testing?.

It kind of is a toy - I just left the camera on program last night as the light was fading so it went for a large apeture.

Daily driver is this - this does 15-20k a year but the E30 puts a bigger grin on my face.

ben9040 wrote:the reason your horseshoe wont lock down is that the bit that pulls the catches closed which sits behind the teardrop shaped horseshoe raising lever is not fitted properly. This needs putting on in the correct way so that as the little lever turns it catches the mechanism behind turning it which pulls the wires and closes the catches

Thanks - updated a separate thread on this and DaveD has said similar. The horseshoe is coming off during the respray work so I'll get a new one of these before it's fitted back as DaveD also says there's a sleeve missing which stops grease getting on the hood.

Thanks all for the comments.

John

Looks strangely familiar.

Mine had/will have black interior though.

I have a knock on my rear bumper very similar to yours

now let see who's will become the twin

at least you have enjoyed the sun mine is off road at the mo

p.s working a/c

Mine's getting resprayed so I'm not enjoying it at the moment either!

Picked up the replacement rear bumper trim from BMW today so dropping that off to my bodywork guy at the weekend hopefully.

Should get it back by mid-July - it's going to feel like a very long month!

Saw the car this afternoon - can't wait to get it back.

54 dents all round had to be removed prior to this stage of prep.

2 weeks or so before I get it back - can't wait!

You must drive this to the pod.

looks good .. whats the crimp trick on the tensioners ?

red50x wrote:looks good .. whats the crimp trick on the tensioners ?

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

Quite a good thread on roof issues.

oomz1975 wrote:You must drive this to the pod.

If I'm free and I've got it back and working then I'll try to make it.

Is there a cut off date for tickets?

Just pay on the gate mate

Just realised that I'm working in Antwerp that weekend so won't be able to make it

Didn't quite get it back in time for the summer. The guy went on holiday for a month then came back but works in the trade so has had a busy time with september and hasn't had time to get the car finished. It's painted now but unfortunately for me he's a perfectionist and is completing all the black work - grill / rear number plate surround / mirrors, etc. Apparently the number of dents removed went up to 70 from 54.

Got new side trim from BMW and badges and exhaust trim to finish it off. As well as a new plate for it when it gets back and I MOT and tax it.

So here's the latest pics that I've got. Think it's still around 2-3 weeks before I get it back but it will most definitely be worth it in the end.

For all those concerned about me putting it under a car cover immediately after it was painted, not to worry. It was painted a month ago so by the time I get it back the paint should hopefully have had time to cure properly.

























In the meantime have said goodbye to the company 5 series and now have a C Class sport as the daily driver but I'm so looking forward to getting the cabby back!

Looking good!

Looks very good! My only recommendation is that you had to remove the front window to paint the columns. Would you put pictures on the mounting of the mteh. I would like to see how it attaches to the car. I would like to see how the threshold is fixed to the car.


Excuse me for my bad English

Looks lovely...

Dont put it under a car cover.... Cause more damage than good.... they still let in water and condensation and a car stays wet longer than it would than without one... Also they scratch the paintwork, especially when its windy....

They only work well indoors as dust sheets

Thanks for the comments.

Would you put pictures on the mounting of the mteh.

If you mean MTEC then it's not got an MTEC - it's just a standard 325i.

In terms of the car cover, I don't have that much choice unfortunately - the alternative is having it covered in tree crap or pigeon or bird shit. It's going to be around 2 months after the painting was done before it goes under cover though.

What re-stiching was done to the roof and how much?

Not had it done yet but the bar that goes along the crease as it folds has come off and needs to be stitched on to make it crease properly. The roof has to come off to do this and I'm being quoted around 150-200 for it to be done. Quite a bit of cash so if anyone has any other people they know in and around London / Kent then I'd be interested in their recommendation.

Fantastic thread, a stunning and very lucky car to be so well looked after

coming out nice mate

So having waived goodbye to it at the start of June, hoping it would be back in late July it took a little longer than originally planned!

Got a teaser photo last weekend before the bumper trim got put back on and picked it up today. Had to drive it straight to Kwik Fit for it's MOT so I'd be legal on the way back. A fantastic drive with the roof back cruising on the M25 from thurrock - fitted my AFP boot before I set off which sorted out the lumpy running a treat - I'm sure that wouldn't have helped the emissions during the test.

Anyway, glad to say that it passed, I'm away all next week so it will get tax for April 1st - can't wait for that.

Then things for the summer:

Wheel refurb
Speaker replacement
Bluetooth fitment
Replacement dash

Car is minty mint - not sure if the pictures really can show it - light was fading and Mrs JAS has hidden the proper camera so took these on my Galaxy note.

Anyway, here are the pics!







No more parking on the drive for the company car anymore, this space is now taken!

Looks sweeet

So finally bit the bullet and changed the rear box.

Wanted the original shadowline tips so had to go with an original BMW back box - ouch! (don't tell Mrs Jas).

No pic but also got the heatshields changed as well - the old ones were there in spirit only.

Exhaust before



Exhaust after



Heat shields before



Also bought a new rod for the horseshoe mechanism on the folding roof. Had tried adjusting the bars as some people had advised but it made little difference. Will have a look at the roof this weekend and also try to see if the lever is bent that engages the bowden cables to lock down the horseshoe.

Elsewhere the new dashboard has been sourced and has arrived but not had a chance to look at it due to travel.

The experiment with the car cover didn't last long it worked quite well but was reasonably impractical. Found a garage nearby and it's much happier away in the dry!

Next big job will be the dashboard replacement and will also change the front speakers at the same time for some Alpine SPG 13CS and install a blaupunkt bluetooth unit that I've got from elsewhere.

Hood stitching and wheel refurb at some point in the future.

So with a good weekend's worth of weather I decided to bite the bullet and start the dash swap.

Checked out the replacement dash which looked ok on the top - a little faded but most likely would clean up well.

Used the how to guide which had some differences with it being left hand drive and there are obviously some differences.

For starters, it's an arseache of a job. You guys who can remove these in 2 hours have a lot more skills than I do.

Secondly - how the f*ck did they make these in the factory. Did they get people in with mutant fingers?

Anyway, time for some pix. Took them at each stage so I won't bore you with the detail as it was mainly for my reference for reinstallation.

Found an amp!



Was thinking about installing a small amplifier just to run the front speakers but decided against it in the end. Looking at it the phono leads were just coiled up and it looks like someone's been snipping cables to bypass it when another stereo got installed. Can't remember the radio that was in it when I bought it as I swapped it into my old car but I think that this now goes on the todo list when I install the Alpine components that I've bought.

Need a new underdash panel.



Replaced the foam gasket as people recommended.



So 3 1/2 hours after starting:



Then doublechecked the fittings on the new dash and transferred some cable clips from the underside of the vent ducts and saw this.



Gutted and annoyed with myself. Didn't check it properly before I started - concentrated on the top. I'm not sure if it will show if I install it or not but given how complicated it is to install I'm not doing this twice.

Seller described it as not having any cracks, said it wasn't mint but I'd have thought would have mentioned a big lump missing out of it.

Should have looked at it when it arrived but work's been pretty busy and I've been out of the country a lot so never got round to it.

So got it back together enough to drive. Installed a couple of the brackets for the ECU to keep everything away from the pedals and put it back in the garage.

Need to find a proper decent dash and then set aside a weekend to put it back together again. Might have a look at the amplifier in the meantime while it's all apart as well.

If anyone's got a mint dashboard (i.e. no cracks, nothing broken and no big lumps out of it) for a 91J cabby then let me know!

Nice job

Time hasn't allowed much progress unfortunately but managed to get something done yesterday.

Got a new dash from Shaz325isport which doesn't have any lumps missing this time . Need to give it a little clean and remove some of the extra trim that I don't need from it.

Was interested to see if the amplifier still worked. Turned out it was working all the time - power and amp switching was still active. All that had been disconnected were the phono cables and speaker wires chopped through - FFS. I guess the new radio that someone put in didn't have an amp out.



Anyway did a little test and it worked fine! Changed over the door speakers for a set of Alpine components that I bought earlier this year - haven't changed the tweeters yet. Wired in the passenger side with the alpine crossover in the space under the speaker in the door panel, sticking it to the panel with some pads - plenty of room under there. On the drivers side there's something in the same place already so decided to wait until the dash is back in before I put the crossover somewhere.

Pulled out around 3m spare cable from the passenger side speaker - I'm not perfect in this but I've no idea what they thought they were keeping the spare cable for!

Temporarily connected the radio in and the sound is a revalation. A complete improvement over before and to be honest probably all that I'm bothered about. The bass coming out of the speakers when driven reasonably well is more than good enough for me and the bias towards the front of the car is more of what I was looking for as well.

For anyone interested, setup is now:

Front

Pioneer GM-620 2 channel amplifier
Alpine SPG 13-CS 5.25" component speakers (around £80)

Rear
Alpine SXE 1325S 5.25" coaxial speakers (£20 from Halfords on special offer )

Next job is to fit the tweeters in the oem housing but I'll either do that after the dash is in or leave the nokias in place but I'm not sure if they're working correctly. Need to get my ears cleaned out and then listen again!

So, after the last update I've been working on it a couple of hours each weekend as time and travel have allowed.

Got Mrs Jas to help with positioning the dash itself which was traumatic for both.

Top tip - when refitting the dashboard, don't leave 6 weeks in between taking it out and putting it back in unless you like memory games and answering the question "which way up did this bracket go?"

Anyway, followed the dashboard swap wiki in reverse which kind of works except it's written for a left hand drive car so some of the build is different.

Bit by bit rebuilt it in roughly the reverse order.



Got the underside of the drivers side rebuilt one weekend.




Then heater and centre of the dash the next but couldn't remember how to put the passenger side back.



Lots of studying of this picture from when I took it out.



Almost as soon as I'd packed up for the day I'd worked out in my head what I needed to do but wouldn't have any time for a week to do anything.

Anyway, took the day off while the sun was shining.

Eventually worked it out - incredibly fiddly and had to release the left hand bolts before I could get the brackets to line up and also accommodate whatever gadget it was that sits on top of this.

Left hand side done and radio in!



Centre console in and tidied up - it's all done at last!





Not quite the 7 hours that some had said nor the 14 that I'd read about.

Took it for a drive down to the M25 - realigned the steering wheel and torqued it before I went on the motorway

Thank f*ck for that - never again.

Nice work mate!

Am just about to take my dash out for the first time too

Cool project and yeah those camera angles definitely make it seem like its a diecaste lol.

How much was the respray if you dont mind me asking?

Well done Jas!

Tanveer wrote:Cool project and yeah those camera angles definitely make it seem like its a diecaste lol.

How much was the respray if you dont mind me asking?

Cheers - can't say really how much it was as done by a friend of the family - I got a great deal on it though.