Australian BMW 325is (Sport) E30

Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:14 am

Simon13 wrote: I'm guessing the aussie climate is hard on the paint and leather but kind in terms of rust and horrible rotton crusty bits.

And plastics. BMW plastics just plain die.

Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:17 am

Wally, that car is a total credit to you. Job well done. Kudos!

Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:29 am

Once again thanks guys

.. Yeah the sun does have its effect on leather after 20 years down here, as you can see it was previously in a pretty bad state. But full credit to the re-trimmer..did an awesome job which I was extremely pleased with. But as you say, its a fair compromise when we don't have to worry about rust on many e30's in Australia. And yes, the car was stripped for a complete body respray, except for the engine which stayed in the whole time, being a pretty clean engine bay as it is..

Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:55 pm

damn mine looks abit like yours before you started

Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:13 pm

Hahaa, it wasn't very happy at that stage. It was just screaming for some form of resurrection to its original beauty

Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:33 pm

Wow, thats some restoration. may i ask how much you spent on the retrim and respray. its dolphin grey right? im wanting to get mine restored aswell

Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:07 am

Yeah not too sure on the respray sorry, my old man got a friend to do it.
Yeah its original Delphin Grey Metallic, my favourite colour on Tech II e30's.
The re-trim costed about $1000 (AU) for two front seats.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:24 am

wow mate, great improvement! that original state was just plain sad.
Great to see another aussie E30 enthusiast. Wishin mine was a 325is lucky bugger.
how was the dash when ya got it? any cracks?
great resto and best of luck.
If you were closer i would organise a cruze or something.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:36 am

Hahaa cheers dude.. Urs looks sweet too man.. Yeah us Aussie e30 boys gotta stick together hey

Yeah dash was in absolutely perfect condition when the car arrived, which is almost unheard of on these cars, so I was pretty lucky i didn't have to go and do a search for a clean one, then buy a new dash. Im assuming it was the one thing the PO looked after in the entire car hahaa

Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:48 am

lol if you can call it looked after... those before pics were just sad.
He might have had a grannie matt on the dash, to protect from UV.
WISH MY PO's HAD A GRANNIE MATT TO BEGIN WITH

You keepin the steering wheel as is? or you in the hunt for a Tech II wheel like me.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:54 am

Yeah not too sure bout the tech 2 wheels.. Might pinch one if they come along being more desirable and all but i like the small, sporty look of the Tech 1, so i have no plans to change atm. Tech 2 looks a tad fat i rekn.. What's that kit you got on urs? Is it a keeper?

Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:36 am

Tech 1:

Tech 2:

Personally, I prefer the tech 2s ~ so much so I bought one.

Great on the track, too.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:12 am

Yeah i rekn they're a good little upgrade for the sake of having one.. What'd you pick that up for Ade?

Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:23 am

Here's mine after I gave it a bit of a clean:

And fitted:

I paid $275 for mine and I reckon that to be a pretty good price.

I've seen tech 1s go for $200-250 + and tech 2s for $400 +

Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:39 am

Gah... we're to find one!!! i want one bad!!!
& wallya1
yea my kit will be a keeper as they're sooo rare now, It's a Full orginal BBS kit.
they don't make them anymore, which sucks. im gonna get some foggies in there soon

Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:08 am

Fair enuf Levie, sounds good! Very nice interior Ade

Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:28 am

Keep that kit, Levie. Don't see many BBS kits around.

Cheers, Wally. I'm slowly doing bits and pieces to the interior to resurrect it a little. It's a tad tired. Needs new carpet and a retrimmed passenger seat now ~ everything else isn't too bad. The dash cracks....unless I can find the funds for a brand new dash, well, they'll stay. I call them "character". LOL!

Please keep us posted on your car ~ fantastic project!