1991 318i Convertible Interior Restore

[singlezero]

This my my first E30. I loved these cars growing up, but I couldn't afford one when they were new. I'm not looking to have a show car, just a really presentable summer car to enjoy.

I bought the car on the 1st February 2013 and after spending a few months getting her mechanically sound (and a lot more besides), I thought I'd sacrifice driving her during this summer to get the interior how I would like.


Before...
The usual smelly, damp carpet with holes and tears, cracked dash in multiple places but not the worst in the world for 22 years old.





During...






Carpet...
As the old one had a few rips and tears in it, I thought I'd get a nice thick-pile. This one was acquired from a zoner; 26 years old, but in pretty good nick if you could look past the dirt and a bit of damp.
This took three whole days with a Rug Doctor (30+ hours of repeated washing), then 2 weeks of sitting on moisture crystals until completely bone dry.






Dashboard...
I ended up buying a couple because I wasn't happy with the condition of the ones that turned up. Once I was happy, I then stripped and re-sprayed it.



Plastics...
Stripped and re-sprayed (before/after)
















After...













The refurbed Tech II 370mm steering wheel has made a huge difference to how she drives; love it! The seats have a little wear around the bolsters closest the doors which I hope to address when some become available, otherwise that's pretty much it for the interior.

The new wings, bumpers, re-spray etc should be done within the next few weeks to get her ready for summer 2014!

[jimbom30cab]

Proper, proper nice job that, it looks fantastic

I did the same on my cab about 2 years ago in the middle of the summer, it was nice work and very rewarding to see the transformation

What product did you use to spray the cards and dash with ?

Nice one

[TPS]

Wow, thats amazing

[timmzey]

Edited for privacy

[singlezero]

Proper, proper nice job that, it looks fantastic

I did the same on my cab about 2 years ago in the middle of the summer, it was nice work and very rewarding to see the transformation

What product did you use to spray the cards and dash with ?

Nice one

Thanks for that Jim, any pictures of your cab?

The dash, glovebox, undertray, centre console and anything originally grey were all done in VHT Vinyl Dye: Charcoal Grey Satin.

The hand-brake surround, rear door cards and anything black were done with VHT Vinyl Dye: Satin Black.

All done in very light coats and built up gradually after multiple washes in trisodium phosphate and all kinds of degreasers.

[pac1982]

that looks great mate, i had my cabby up for sale recently but was having second thoughts about selling it, this thread has more or less made me decide to keep it and get it looking nice

[jimbom30cab]

Super work mate

I've not got any interior pics but the restoration pics are here:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&start=25

and here:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=228266

[singlezero]

Wow, thats amazing

Looks great.

Got start on my Cab interior soon. It will take me at least 3 days just to dry my carpet out

Thanks fellas!

I left my carpet out for days in 30 celcius and it felt bone dry. I put it in the garage to fit the following day, only to find the moisture had merely hidden in the sponge underneath and it came back to the surface when laid down again. These things are impossible to get dry!
After much head scratching, I had an idea to wrap some Kontrol Krystals (dehumidifying crystals) in towels and leave it under the carpet for a few days (changing the towel and crystals every day); it came out absolutely bone dry. Invest a couple of quid on these and it'll be bone dry in no time and you may not even have to take the carpet out!

[singlezero]

Looks fantastic, try some Gliptone Liquid Leather on the seats and bolsters as long as they haven't worn through they should freshen up.

Excellent, I'll give that a try. Thanks!

[singlezero]

that looks great mate, i had my cabby up for sale recently but was having second thoughts about selling it, this thread has more or less made me decide to keep it and get it looking nice

Glad to hear it!

[polsta]

great work, the VHT vinyl dye stuff, ive never seen done before, how does it last ?? got a link where to buy some ? ive got some spare bits id like to give this a test on

carpet drying- i left my carpet to dry for weeks in a spare bedroom with the odd move about, gave mine a real good clean in the carden with buckets of shampoo and hose, came up great

but i do love a nice interior, ive spent a lot of time on both my e30s getting the interior nice as possible-new trim bits and new ash trays and always sourcing better, makes such a nice difference to a car when its a real nice interior, and not filled with rubbish and crap and crisp packets and god knows what

[jimbom30cab]

It was easy to dry my carpet, after leaving it in the sun for a day i fitted it and simply left the roof down with the car in the garage during the summer

[singlezero]

Super work mate

I've not got any interior pics but the restoration pics are here:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&start=25

and here:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=228266

WOW! Your cab is on another level; amazing work!

[polsta]

theres always more tho- ive got refurbished seat runners, seat belt holders (lower metal bar) and various other bits been bead blasted and powder coated, and some brand new trim bits from bmw, you can/should also remove your door seals and give them a real good clean and soak in warm soapy water, a scub, and then a hoover when dry, then autoglym vinyl and rubber care, and clean your door shuts - will further improve the interior !!

[singlezero]

great work, the VHT vinyl dye stuff, ive never seen done before, how does it last ?? got a link where to buy some ? ive got some spare bits id like to give this a test on

carpet drying- i left my carpet to dry for weeks in a spare bedroom with the odd move about, gave mine a real good clean in the carden with buckets of shampoo and hose, came up great

but i do love a nice interior, ive spent a lot of time on both my e30s getting the interior nice as possible-new trim bits and new ash trays and always sourcing better, makes such a nice difference to a car when its a real nice interior, and not filled with rubbish and crap and crisp packets and god knows what

After reading anything and everything I could find on the net, the apparent key to getting a decent, lasting job was (as always) prepation, preparation, preparation! The vast majority of the time was spent cleaning and degreasing everything, then when I had finished, I did it all again. It's only been 5 months since I did it, but it's still mint and I've no reason to think it won't last for a long time yet.

VHT spray can be sourced on ebay.

[polsta]

awsome, love threads like this , did you not take more pics ? ie the steps ? what did you de grease and prep with ? has it retained an original like look and feel ? cant be scratched/rubbed/flaked away or anything ?

[Gert_8]

Great work. That VHT stuff really makes a difference

[singlezero]

awsome, love threads like this , did you not take more pics ? ie the steps ? what did you de grease and prep with ? has it retained an original like look and feel ? cant be scratched/rubbed/flaked away or anything ?

I'll do my best to show the steps on the undertray.

*WEAR GLOVES/EYE PROTECTION*

1) Remove all fixings (I was about to complete that when I took this). For the material at the rear, just peel off and re-attach later with carpet glue spray (I forgot when stripping so just dried it out).



2) Mix 20g of Trisodium Phosphate per litre of hot/warm water and scrub thoroughly. When dry do again with red scotchbrite and rinse with water.

3) In the unlikely event I missed anything, I went over it again with another degreaser (Gunk Natural) with a green kitchen pad.

4) Once dry, I gave it a quick mist of Meguiars Final Inspection using a microfibre cloth to remove any final traces of residue (it should look like this at this stage).



5) After another hour of drying, I then used VHT Vinyl Dye: Charcoal Grey to spray 5 (approx) light coats, with around 20 minutes in between each coat.

6) Leave it in the garage for 2 weeks to dry thoroughly.

7) The surface will be a little rough from the build up of dye, so get some Meguiars Quick Interior Detailer and work a microfibre cloth over the surace to take off any excess.

8 ) Protect the surface with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care.



I did pretty much the same with all of the interior parts (I didn't do the front door cards; they shine up easily). Depending on the part, some lose more paint/dye than others when treated with trisodium phosphate. I showed the undertray because it has the most visible results at each stage for the camera.

As for original looks and feel, the grey is slightly lighter, but looks nice. The black looks great full stop. You'll notice when you look closely that the handbrake surround is black and not the same as the centre console; I like the contrast (see pics). As for feel, I'd say it's not as smooth as the original, but if you take your time and do everything carefully (rubbing down after 2 weeks) it comes up really nice and is hardly noticeable.

No flaking to speak of and to my horror I inadvertently scraped my garage door on one of the rear door cards and all I had to do was wipe it down with a cloth, so looks pretty hard-wearing.

[singlezero]

Great work. That VHT stuff really makes a difference

Thanks Gert! I never get bored of the profile pic when I see your posts lol

[j4gz]

Looking really good well impressed with the results looks like I need to take some time and effort on mine mine is covered in dust and I don't wanna drove the dam thing. By the way how much was it to re trim the steering wheel ? And where from pls as I would like to get mine done at some stage

[singlezero]

Looking really good well impressed with the results looks like I need to take some time and effort on mine mine is covered in dust and I don't wanna drove the dam thing. By the way how much was it to re trim the steering wheel ? And where from pls as I would like to get mine done at some stage

Thanks! I bought the wheel freshly re-trimmed; I believe it was done in Lithuania. I've hunted around for the guys details as I remember he was a zoner, but I can't find them anywhere.

[Gert_8]

Great work. That VHT stuff really makes a difference

Thanks Gert! I never get bored of the profile pic when I see your posts lol

thanks. I know Andy Murray's mum has a special place in everyone's hearts

[Fastroad]

Great pictures, the parts look like new. Would like to know what processes you used to prep the parts to get the desired finish.

Also any particular reason you did the handbrake surround a different colour to the rest of the console?

[singlezero]

Great pictures, the parts look like new. Would like to know what processes you used to prep the parts to get the desired finish.

Also any particular reason you did the handbrake surround a different colour to the rest of the console?

Thanks. Just scroll up, I've written up pretty much everything I did. I did the handbrake surround in black as when I looked closely it was originally black and the centre console, dash etc grey (though the black was lighter/more faded and the grey was darker). There's just more contrast due to the grey being slightly lighter and everything being that much 'fresher' now.

[Fastroad]

a‘a I should have refreshed before posting

[polsta]

thats a great write up/instruction, excellent work youve done there, im compelled to give this a go on some spare bits and see how it goes

[singlezero]

thats a great write up/instruction, excellent work youve done there, im compelled to give this a go on some spare bits and see how it goes

No probs, give it a go! I was a little apprehensive as even when I had sprayed most of it I wasn't sure whether I'd like it when it was all back together (I love to see E30's as standard as possible and didn't want it looking odd). I'm well pleased I did.

[fixedwheelnut]

Bumping this so it is easier to find for me
Turns out I work with Singlezero and he told me about his write up on interior renovation, it's well worth a read

[Tzantushka]

Impressive work here - never seen this thread before.

[martauto]

Impressive work here - never seen this thread before.

Same here, lovely work

Mart.