My e30 325i sport project

[Nath325i]

I've had my sport since Novemeber but took me a while to find a decent sized lock up. I Finally got round to start stripping the interior out today and locating all the tin worm lol. Heres what i got so far





here are some pics of the car as it is before today


first off the battery tray, not as bad as i thought


spare wheel well. Again was expecting worse just a crack in the middle and some surface rust


passenger floor. This is wat was underneath the big bung in the middle :shifty:


transmission tunnel from drivers side you can actually see the exhaust through the hole lol


Up by the inner arch under the dash on the drivers side. This one will be fun to repair


another one iof the front of the passenger footwell, mostly surface rust here


Drivers floor base. A section needs replacing here due to various bits of tim worm


o/s/r inner arch


n/s/r inner arch


a quick view inside the car


a collection of bits around and on the car lol



Well got plenty to be getting on with so far.Next port of call is finish removing the headlining and remove the body kit to find last bits of rust. After some diggin I found out it is actually a Tech 1 woth a tech 2 kit fitted so i will need to modify the rear bumper to fit a bit better.

Other plans for the car is;

Strip car, treat rust, underseal and hammerite the inside

remove engine and gearbox, egine runs fine but still gonna do a set of shells, rings, head gasket kit and timing belt. ALso would like to fit a fast road cam and a 6-1 manifold while its out.
I need to change clutch and nosiy gearbox release bearing

tidy up and repair bumpers and get rear bumper to fit better. My car has an mtech 2 kit but is actually an m tech 1 sport rear bumper needs modifying as the arches are different between pre and post facelift

repalce shocks and springs, the kit that i bought it with is way too low and the rear wheels sit at such a camber the outer edge doesnt really touch the road lol. Also replaced the worn lower arms as bushes and balljoints are worn.

source another fuel tank as the one on it nicly bent

overhaul the LSD if i can get a set of bearings for it as its sarted to whine

replace shagged interior panels and get front seats retrimmed and source a new dash and roof lining

get the wheels refurbed and get some decent tyres on it

get an exterior respray

I'm sure there will be something else along the way as there always is

[eko]

As its not a genuine sport would it not be more cost effective to just source a nice post facelift shell and transfer all the best bits over?

[Jhonno]

It isn't a Tech 1.. Unless it has had a whole new rear panel...

[jbh]

As its not a genuine sport would it not be more cost effective to just source a nice post facelift shell and transfer all the best bits over?

that would be my thoughts on it Tony id also get one a proper sport colour

[jbh]

It isn't a Tech 1.. Unless it has had a whole new rear panel...

it isint a tech2 either

[r8orde]

i dont thinks its a sport either. its a later one but just with the m tech 2 kit fitted. Would deff be better to reshell than waste money on this one

[Nath325i]

As it goes it has had a new rear panel at some point. It's also a sport on the log book.

[jbh]

Vehicle Registration Mark C14WES
MakeBMWModel 325 I SPORT
Transmission & fuel type PETROL
Body Type 2 DOOR SALOON
Colour GREEN


its registered as a sport... think i remember this car on ebay.. has it had a colour change ?

[ImysE30]

Where did you buy it from?

[Jhonno]

It has facelift rear arches so deffo not a Tech 1

[jbh]

its first registered 14 08 1987 so should be on an f reg which would make it a tech2 so its got a private plate just the colour is throwing me as its not a sport colour

[Nath325i]

Ok my misunderstanding i thought they changed on 88. Yeah it has been registered as having a colour change aswell mate and yeah it came with that private plate.

[leeparkes]

Where did you buy it from?

Birmingham

Joking aside i quite like the colour!
best of luck with it

[jbh]

Ok my misunderstanding i thought they changed on 88. Yeah it has been registered as having a colour change aswell mate and yeah it came with that private plate.

sorry my mistake your right.. it should be a tech 1 on an E plate... im a year in front there thinking it was an f mines was first registered on 04 09 1987 and its a tech1 on an E .... as stated though yours has the tech2 style arches

[Nath325i]

sorry my mistake your right.. it should be a tech 1 on an E plate... im a year in front there thinking it was an f mines was first registered on 04 09 1987 and its a tech1 on an E .... as stated though yours has the tech2 style arches[/quote]

Ok cheers. Whats the difference between the pre and post arches? cause the rear bumper does slightly protrude in past them so i assumed it has the earlier arches

[jbh]

tech1

your car

[Nath325i]

I see thanks mate, guess the rear bumper shocks need replacing aswell then

[jbh]

I see thanks mate, guess the rear bumper shocks need replacing aswell then

i wouldnt be worried about the rear bumper shocks...

[Nath325i]

I sense people think im wasting my time on this lol

[m4xos]

all depends if your good at resto work and how much you paid for her!

[Nath325i]

Fortunatly i can do it myself bar a respray lol will see how things go

[SUMPCRACKER]

It looks like you have a tec 1 logbook/ID and an ex dolphin grey tec 2 car.

I would check the vin no's as its possible that you have a borrowed tec 2 car,which has been given a sport ID (which is the wrong year for the car.)
It is also common to re paint a borrowed car to hide distigtive marks...(hence respray)
And the private plate throws people..

No offence and I hope its not the case.
But it did come from birmingham

[SUMPCRACKER]

And when I say check it ,I mean feel the back of the scuttle and all around the edges,and in the aera of the number
Not the actual number,as im sure it will match the logbook either way.
The back of the scuttle should be smooth,if you can feel and edges/weld then my suspicions are confirmed and you have a problem.

As I said before,I hope this is not the case.

[initial_g]

wow first one ive seen in that colour and it looks stunning... also makes me think should i have gone down the route of mtec2 and plush leather..

[Jindmahi]

Nath325i I do really believe this is the car we are talking about! Good luck

[bss325i]

It looks like you have a tec 1 logbook/ID and an ex dolphin grey tec 2 car.

I would check the vin no's as its possible that you have a borrowed tec 2 car,which has been given a sport ID (which is the wrong year for the car.)
It is also common to re paint a borrowed car to hide distigtive marks...(hence respray)
And the private plate throws people..

No offence and I hope its not the case.
But it did come from birmingham

That sounds about right to me. If it says it was registered on 14 8 87 then that will be for a prefacelift car. Tech2 sports didn't come out till 88 on the F.

Sounds like a ringer to me.

[Jindmahi]

This car was in performance bmw september/october 98..Its not a ringer..it had a later spec 88 conversion, lights and rear quarter panels all done by B Autos in Leed, it had a five page spread was a very nice motor.....

[Nath325i]

Thanks for that mate trying to source a copy of that issue as i type this lol. Phoned up the DVLA aswell to get the original reg it is def the one that was in that mag by the reg you gave me

[bss325i]

Why someone would go to all that trouble to change a tech 1 sport into a molested tech 2 wannabe is beyond me. Unless it was a rusty car and needed quarters and a rear panel,its pointless and will have devalued the all ready lower value of a tech one. They should have just put pre facelift panels back on it but hey ho each to their own. I hope you got it cheap!

[jbh]

Why someone would go to all that trouble to change a tech 1 sport into a molested tech 2 wannabe is beyond me. Unless it was a rusty car and needed quarters and a rear panel,its pointless and will have devalued the all ready lower value of a tech one. They should have just put pre facelift panels back on it but hey ho each to their own. I hope you got it cheap!

aren't the inner arches different as well? would be a hell of a lot of work wouldn't it have been cheaper buying a tech2 sport....

[SUMPCRACKER]

Hmmm. So they put inner,outer pannels and a rear one. And a tec 2 kit.
That is a lot of work,would be easier to just re shell it with a later car.
I think nath should try and find a pre facelift shell and put his parts and ID on it rather than weling up all that.
(even if the early shell needed work,the car would be worth more.)

[jbh]

Hmmm. So they put inner,outer pannels and a rear one. And a tec 2 kit.
That is a lot of work,would be easier to just re shell it with a later car.
I think nath should try and find a pre facelift shell and put his parts and ID on it rather than weling up all that.
(even if the early shell needed work,the car would be worth more.)

thing i don't understand is they did all that work but yet its got the rust issues it has

[SUMPCRACKER]

Yes,those inners look original dont they.
I still think its a dinger.

[Jhonno]

thing i don't understand is they did all that work but yet its got the rust issues it has

The work done, probably caused the rust issues!!

[Jindmahi]

Maybe chaps who every wanted the conversion had the money to do it! The garage also had the skill to carry the conversion.. The rust is on the inside because "maybe just a guess" the car was sprayed on the outside perhaps????? and is it possible that this whole conversion was done around 1996-7.....at that time tech 2 was the "in thing" or newish...unlike today in 2009????? maybe the guy liked the early high compression engine from the tech 1???? or could it be that some one hit it from the back and it was cheap to source parts from the later spec who knows...the guy had a full ice custom leather install...was a motor...but this old bmw seems to have rattled your cages a little