New black touring - up for sale sadly

[toby]

dips/bump - what's the knack?

dips recommended getting hold of a 325i sport black front roof panel (the bit with the visors in) to sit over the front of the headlining as they do on 325i sports.

I think - sorry for being so blunt but - that's a horrid bodge. Dips managed to recover one in faux suede without doing that I believe.

[dips346]

I think - sorry for being so blunt but - that's a horrid bodge. Dips managed to recover one in faux suede without doing that I believe.

yes i did ,i have done 3 now but 2 more with the sport front and it looks so much better as you get a better look and black sunvisors
each set up is different and i guess its down to taste

[toby]

Get some pictures up then you crafty guru!

You can fit black sun visors anyway without the extra front bit?!

[Bump]

dips/bump - what's the knack?

dips recommended getting hold of a 325i sport black front roof panel (the bit with the visors in) to sit over the front of the headlining as they do on 325i sports.

I think - sorry for being so blunt but - that's a horrid bodge. Dips managed to recover one in faux suede without doing that I believe.

I had a look in my mate's sport and while it is strictly speaking a bodge, it shouldn't look like one as it's factory on sports.

still, we'll see. must say I'd never noticed the roof panel on sports before so I reckon it'll work for me.

I think I'd be a lot less happy with the creases I'm sure I'd be left with without a panel.

cheers

[robbo86]

I have no trouble taking things apart, its the putting back together I struggle with

That is the story of my life. In particular with my m42 conversion.

[Bump]

Did a bit more work on the car this weekend. Apologies for crap pics but all I have is a phone.

It's now got a 318is spoiler on it, and I finally got it registered and now have some pressed alloy UK plates from Dubmeister to replace the Guernsey plates. Shame they had to go really, I think cars with black and silver plates on look great:




I also picked up the drivers seat from Cass Bro who were replacing some piping on the upper bolster. Used to look like this:



They've done a good job, remembered I had some liquid leather so started cleaning the leather. Just a start, and will apply some scuffmaster to colour the faded leather then condition it, but it looks much better already:




And while I was in South London I drove past C3 BMW so stopped in and sorted out my ol' dirty nob problem with a nice shiny replacement. Feels lovely in the hand etc etc:



Waiting on a carpet before I do all the interior all in one go, but the dash is now, er, freshly showered and ready to go in:



Got to sort some fabric for the headlining next..

[toby]

Did cass brothers have any headlining trim?

[Bump]

Did cass brothers have any headlining trim?

Didn't ask actually, will get some faux seude from a fabric shop I imagine.

[Bump]

As above picked up some faux suede from a fabric shop I happend to go past this morning.

Really pleased as it was exactly the sort of finish I was after and was only £20 for 3 metres.

A trial glue on one corner where there's a compound curve was all that was required to reveal that if I try and do it it will look completely shit.

And that was the easy bit at the back

So, I'm determined to do this myself so will go back to the shop and buy some fabric with some stretch in it to avoid my roof looking like:




He did have some stretchy black velvet stuff but I'm slightly paranoid my car will end up looking like an edwardian whorehouse.

[robbo86]

but I'm slightly paranoid my car will end up looking like an edwardian whorehouse.

No it won't. Its a BMW after all so a tarts boudiour would be more apt.

[Bump]

Picked up some stretchier fabric this morning and thought I'd have another go at the headlining while listening to the footy.

Guy in the shop said this spray would be perfect for the job.



On reading the label it says "This product should not be used for constructional purposes such as non supported headlinings in vehicles and boats"

Perfect then

Top tip is if you overspray this sort of contact adhesive onto the fabric, get some lighter fluid on a sponge and dab it on to dissolve glue. Gets it off cleanly without ruining your fabric.

The recommended way to approach a headlining is to work from the centre out to the edges.

So as you can see I started from a corner:



It isn't too difficult once you get going on some sections and but on others fiddly isn't really a strong enough word to describe the fiddlyness of this job. F*******fiddly is still at the lower end of the awkward spectrum.

But after a couple of hours I got it into this shape:



Very happy with it. Managed to get it flat and smooth all over.

However, the section in front of the sunroof would require me starting all over again to get it right. I am considering it, but it's an afternoons work and buying fabric again..and no guarantee i would do it perfect even then.

Starting from a corner was daft. If anyone is ever going to attempt this then starting front and centre, then working backwards is the only way fabric'll stretch out and lay the length of the roof correctly.

So, I think I will be placing a sport front panel over the front section to keep it all looking neat. This will require cutting the touring headlining front section out so the sport panel can bolt in and sit ok.

I need to spray the front panel black to match the headlining as the charcoal on black looks a bit crap as it is:



Oh yeah will have to dye the roof handles and boot hinges black too won't I.

Getting there slowly..

[konfuzion]

Picked up some stretchier fabric this morning and thought I'd have another go at the headlining while listening to the footy.

[ snip images etc ]

Getting there slowly..

Top man!

I was about to stick a post on here asking for another headlining as I've re-glued mine once too often and at one point, was as saggy as yours was by the looks of things (was obscuring half the rear window). Seeing your attempts here and having a spare headlining sitting in my lockup... I think I might just go the route of getting some fabric and attempting to retrim it myself rather than trying to find another 2nd-hand one that might all fall down within 6 months etc

Interested in seeing it all once it's completed and you have it back up in place



Regards,

Ian


PS: What fabric are you using?

[Bump]

PS: What fabric are you using?

It's just some stuff from a fabric shop. Sort of half suede half velvet look to it. I guess any shop will have stuff like it. About 25 quid.

Important thing is you can stretch it a little bit that means you can pull and glue it round all the curves.

Gd luck with yours, I think it's hassle but worth doing as a black headlining will look nicer than the shabby grey beigey thing that was in mine before.

[E30Gheko]

Wow what a thoroughly enjoyable thread! I'll be keeping an eye on this one me thinks! Top work.

Looks like a very nice car too!

[daimlerman]

Well done with that headlining! I just swapped in a better one in my project,the difficult bit was getting the sunroof out and back properly.
Hope you were able to clean off all the old glue,did you just scrape it off or did you use a solvent?
Have you put any foam between the new fabric and the tray?

[Bump]

Hope you were able to clean off all the old glue,did you just scrape it off or did you use a solvent?
Have you put any foam between the new fabric and the tray?

No I haven't cleaned the glue off the the roof of the car itself in the sun roof area yet if that's what you mean. More fun to come..

And I did not put foam between the fabric and the tray no. If you're going to tell me I really should have done please don't! Well, go on then before I do more to it.

As I understand it the foam lining is to absorb any condensation and add a bit of soundproofing? Will I have problems without it?

[Bump]

So, this afternoon I thought I'd do the sunroof panel while I had my enthusiasm for the headlining:



Started stripping it:



Then realised I just couldn't be nobbed with it so I'll come back to that!



Had a look at my engine bay and very clear it hadn't ever been cleaned:











Thought I'd give it a bit of a superficial clean and see how much crap I could get off with these and a couple of brushes:



I didn't spend that long on it really, just a liberal coating of gunk on the rocker cover worked in for a bit and then the autoglym stuff sprayed on everything else and jiggled about with a paintbrush.

Left it on for a bit then went down to the garage to use the pressure washer. After taking no precautions for the electrics whatsoever this is how it came up:









Not exactly Detailing World going on there but you don't open the bonnet and find a greasey compost heap inside anymore. Pleased to say the car started no problem after me jetwashing everything, got some funny looks in the garage..I was careful not to spray the battery though.

Good stuff those degreaser products, for about an hours work I'm pleased with that. Will spend a bit more time on the engine in future and do it properly.

cheers

[konfuzion]

It's just some stuff from a fabric shop. Sort of half suede half velvet look to it. I guess any shop will have stuff like it. About 25 quid.

Important thing is you can stretch it a little bit that means you can pull and glue it round all the curves.

Gd luck with yours, I think it's hassle but worth doing as a black headlining will look nicer than the shabby grey beigey thing that was in mine before.

Sweet. There's a nice little fabric place just down the road from my better half's.. I'll have to have a gander there.

It's a job I've put off for a while as it's always seemed like a royal PITA, but it neesd to be done and looking at yours, putting in some effort could certainly made a big difference.

Mine currently has the beige soft material (although the spare one I have has a kinda perforated beige vinyl material) but I think black would look really nice



Regards,

Ian

[daimlerman]

Hope you were able to clean off all the old glue,did you just scrape it off or did you use a solvent?
Have you put any foam between the new fabric and the tray?

No I haven't cleaned the glue off the the roof of the car itself in the sun roof area yet if that's what you mean. More fun to come..

And I did not put foam between the fabric and the tray no. If you're going to tell me I really should have done please don't! Well, go on then before I do more to it.

As I understand it the foam lining is to absorb any condensation and add a bit of soundproofing? Will I have problems without it?

You have me concerned now!
I was refering to the old glue left on the tray,if you failed to remove this then your work is in vain,as the new glue will not stay stuck to the old glue for very long....
I reckon that the foam is for accident protection as much as for sound deadening/condensation absorbing,that tray with just a bit of fabric will make a mess of one's bald spot....
Did you drill out the rivets to remove the lid liner? How will you re-fit same? I chickened out and left the lid liner in!

[Bump]

You have me concerned now!
I was refering to the old glue left on the tray,if you failed to remove this then your work is in vain,as the new glue will not stay stuck to the old glue for very long....

I 100% cleaned all the glue off. I'm slightly embrassed to say that I went for my usual cleaning technique of sticking it in the shower, attacking it with a wire brush and hot water

I reckon that the foam is for accident protection as much as for sound deadening/condensation absorbing,that tray with just a bit of fabric will make a mess of one's bald spot....

I already have my own personal headlining issues so it's all a bit too late for me to worry about!

Did you drill out the rivets to remove the lid liner? How will you re-fit same? I chickened out and left the lid liner in!

Do you mean the two rivets either side of the sunroof panel in this pic that attach to the two arms?



If so that's one of the reasons I went and de-greased the engine. I'm weighing up the options. Best to get a rivet gun and re-do it so the fabric can lay underneath but haven't seen anything suitable as yet.

[daimlerman]

Phew!
Glad you got the old glue off! I have been fiddling about for two years,now,replacing the headlining in my boat,it's a bit like painting the Forth Bridge...get the last panel in place and the first one falls down...
E30's are much easier to play with

[triggerhappy21]

Great thread. Can see alot of this coming in handy for me in the near future.

Love how most of the work is carried out in various locations around your house. Waiting for a photo of an M50 on your kitchen worktop.

Keep up the good work.

[Bump]

Great thread. Can see alot of this coming in handy for me in the near future.

Love how most of the work is carried out in various locations around your house. Waiting for a photo of an M50 on your kitchen worktop.

Keep up the good work.

Cheers, keeping a record for my own satisfaction but hope something is of use to someone along the way. Enjoyed and learned a lot from reading other people's threads.

As for working in the flat, I've got no choice as got no garage. I am benefitting from a recently departed girlfriend so it's up to me if I want an m50 in the kitchen now.

Come to think of it, can m50s cook?

[robbo86]

Come to think of it, can m50s cook

Dont connect a radiator and it will make short work of a head gasket!

[djk]

Come to think of it, can m50s cook

Dont connect a radiator and it will make short work of a head gasket!

Mmm.. they look like they might taste of biscuits, good enough...

Good thread, frankly I'm just envious of your low mileage touring!

[Bump]

I've been away working a lot and my enthusiasm for putting the headlining back in the car wasn't high, but I'd set my self a deadline of getting the headlining in by June 16th (start of fishing season). So, I'd been slowly getting all the little jobs done i.e. putting off doing it

I wanted to change the sport front panel colour from charcoal to black to match the headlining fabric and I also needed to paint the metal interior trim bits. I used this dye and paint:



The vinyl dye worked really well in the spray booth aka my kitchen:





I think I'll get some more of the vinyl dye and do the dashboard I am going to swap in so the whole interior is black. The dye is great stuff, it permeates the vinyl itself so nothing to flake off like a paint treatment would. You spray it on in thin layers to build up the colour density.

Next I had the scary task of cutting the headlining so that the sport front panel could sit correctly over the touring headlining:



I am using a ready covered sport front panel as it is a good finish with all the complex curves at the front of the headlining.

Here you can see the bit I chopped out next to the sport panel going in. I measured this very carefully so that the sport panel clamps the main headlining panel down firmly:



Then yesterday I couldn't find anything else to do except try and fit the thing.

I got the headlining in this far..



..and then sweated and struggled with it for about 2 hours trying to get the little tags that secure it to the roof of the car lined up. I was basically trying to push the headlining panel into place whilst crouching in the boot and balancing the whole thing on my head, while time after time one side would go in and the other wouldn't, then it would slot in but the other side would slip out and I'd have to try very hard not to kick the whole thing down the street and pretend I actually wanted a stipped out road racer look all along.

Anyway, it was f****** annoying. So annoying that various old ladies walking past even offered their help.

It really is a two man job but eventually I fluked the panel tags into place and then quickly screwed in the roof handles so it wasn't going anywhere.

At this point I went out and got drunk.

Today I woke up hungover early and recovered the sunroof inner panel:





Then fiddled about screwing in the sport panel, re-fittting all the trim and doing all the really fiddly bits where the headlining fabric meets the sunroof.

This bit in particular:



I found to be quite sharp:



And now I'm at the point where it's all back together, it looks great (will take pics with a flash camera and post soon), I've put a newly painted sunroof back on to replace the only bit of rust on the car - but I cannot get the sunroof to shut with the fabric inner panel in place

I've taken it off about 3 times and can't work out why it won't go..the whole thing has really tried my patience so taking a breather and waiting for inspiration..

My advice is if anyone will accept money to do this job - pay them!

[skipunda]

stuff of heroes

[daimlerman]

Well done,I feel your pain,all I did was to swap in a better liner!
Regarding your problem with the sunroof panel,my first thoughts are that the levers that pick up the back of the trim panel are not doing so...or that your fabric is just too thick to allow it to work...
That plastic paint looks to be good stuff,you have achieved a good finish there.

[Bump]

Regarding your problem with the sunroof panel,my first thoughts are that the levers that pick up the back of the trim panel are not doing so...or that your fabric is just too thick to allow it to work...

cheers for the advice, I thought it could be that too so went and had another go.

swapped the panel round for an original one to check if it was the fabric thickness and it does exactly the same so something isn't right. I might have to read the destruction manual.

went for a little drive now everything is back together and it's nice and solid, no rattles at all.

but I spend two days working on the car and how does it repay me? obc fades out and an indicator bulb blows..

thank you car

[StuBeeDoo]

I've just been reading this as my headlining's going to need doing sometime soon.
I take my hat off to you Bump!

But, having read the thread I'm going to get my local trimmer to do mine.

[toby]

Regarding your problem with the sunroof panel,my first thoughts are that the levers that pick up the back of the trim panel are not doing so...

Yes I was thinking it could be those.

To get it back on - I slid the trim panel into the void where the sunroof retracts to, far enough for it to get past the rear lever connections, then pull the sunroof panel forwards towards the front of the car while holding the rear of the trim panel upwards so it engages with those levers. Then push inn the clips at the front.

You can then close the sunroof and tilt it to check the rear is on properly.

Hope that makes sense and is of some help.

Courageous work!

[Bump]

To get it back on - I slid the trim panel into the void where the sunroof retracts to, far enough for it to get past the rear lever connections, then pull the sunroof panel forwards towards the front of the car while holding the rear of the trim panel upwards so it engages with those levers. Then push inn the clips at the front.

You can then close the sunroof and tilt it to check the rear is on properly.

Hope that makes sense and is of some help.

it does make sense and thank you.

I think there is some other issue as without any inner panel on the roof does not close properly. the wind deflector at the front doesn't pull down quite enough for the sunroof panel to slip over it and shut. all the levers appear correctly fitted, just the clearances aren't quite right

does anyone know how to remove (so I can replace) the two black plastic side bar/strips that the 3 torx screws secure the sunroof panel to please? one snapped at the back. I have another set that Ant kindly gave me, just couldn't see how to release them.

please do not tell me I have to take the headlining out again

cheers for any help

[Bump]

I haven't been on here for a while as I got my car back together (to a fashion) for the start of the fishing season in June and then basically started driving up and down the m4 every weekend.

So here's a bit of a running report:

I do 100 motorway miles in it most weekends and it just feels as though it's beginning to loosen up a little bit now. As it spent all it's life in Guernsey til I got it, it hadn't really gone over about 40mph, but the engine is great in it - on 72k now I think.

What's gone wrong?

Nothing. Had a puncture and that's been it. Oh actually the OBC display faded to nothing so that needs replacing.

I destroyed the nicely painted 318 is front lip spoiler I fitted one weekend going round a corner into a London pothole, which pulled it off, and then 4 or 5 cars ran over the spoiler afterwards for good measure to finish the job. Ho hum.. standard spoiler back on now

It hardly gets used midweek and starts perfectly. Oil light came on after 3 months so topped it up, I have to put petrol in it (far more economical than my last 328i), top up the washer fluid but really that's it I'm pleased to say.

It comfortably sits doing 90mph on the motorway and in future I would like to change the lsd diff ratio in order to drop the revs and raise the speed for motorway journeys. Doing 100 at 3500 rpm rather than 90ish at 4000rpm would be my preference for noise levels and economy.

Jobs up next:

I'm just getting hold of a new carpet for it and will swap over the cracked dashboard and intend to do the following jobs while I'm at it:

Fix flickering temp gauge while dash is out
Get interior lights working again
Replace OBC display panel with a new one
Install new Alpine CD head unit
Replace front speakers, wire in new
Remove rear speakers, replace panels with ones that don't have big holes in
Swap steering wheel over for the new one I have sitting in a box
Get inner sunroof panel re-fitted inside so the bloody sunroof will still close and not shred my fingers in process.

Still love the lines and quietly chuffed I own a car I really like driving, is practical for what I want, great engine note, great to drive and I'm really enjoying owning it. Part of that down to this forum which has given me the confidence to mess about with it so cheers all.

Finally, I am quite excited that I have at last ordered some new Toyo Proxes for it to replace the rock hard rubber on there currently

[RotE30]

Lets see some photos of this headlining then! nice report, made me laugh - i must do mine soon!

[oomz1975]

Lets see some photos of this headlining then! nice report, made me laugh - i must do mine soon!

Lets see this new headlining, mine is being held in place with 8 staples.