My tech 2 325i Sport. 25 years old today 25.10.14

[SHAKEELE30]

barry you re-trimming them to leather, if so what leather you going to use... oh but thats not going to be OEM then

[Blitz]

Just a little update.

I picked up a mint shafer (slate grey) carpet from Theo325 to replace my light grey one, will post some pics when its been wet vac'd.

Also as some of you may know, Steve (e30topless) bought my black sport leather seats as i'm replacing them with recaro highbacks, which will be retrimmed.

Just need a bit of spare time to start the A/C retrofit.

I guess it will look similar to oguz327 interior.

[bss325i]

Blitz, yes it will look similat to Oz's interior but new.

Shakeel, finding original black leather highback in any condition is pretty much impossible let alone mint enough ones to be good enough for my car so the only way i will get what i want (black leather highbacks) is by retrimming. Now as many people know, retimming seats to look OEM is very hard and generally retrimms stick out like a sore thumb and are very easy to spot.

I have been speaking to James (jlb) and Steve (e30topless) about the people who did James's retrim and have decided to uses them as they are by far the best i have seen in terms of matching the OEM standard of stitching and fit. I hope James doesn't mind me using his pic but this is the standard i want, in black though.

[GC318]

Barry, your a legend, if I can only do a quater of what you have done to my Touring i'll be a happy man

[Kos]

did the stitching patern on e30 high backs differ to the high backs in the e30 m3's?

the horizontal lines/sections seem too close together on them grey ones compared to other original ones i have seen. they look similar to early e24 ones they way they have been stitched.
how will you be trimming the rear bench , it never looks right with horizontal stitching unless its an M3 rear bench

ps trimmers, who are you using ?

i could have pointed you in the directon of some very good trimmers near me

[bss325i]

Kos, i've had three sets of E30 highbacks in their original trim and all have had the horizontal stitching close together, look at the car in the link below for example.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C115006/

I will be using an M3 bench.

The trimmers i will be using are the ones that done the grey ones in the pic above, they are based up north.

[jlb]

did the stitching patern on e30 high backs differ to the high backs in the e30 m3's?

the horizontal lines/sections seem too close together on them grey ones compared to other original ones i have seen. they look similar to early e24 ones they way they have been stitched.
how will you be trimming the rear bench , it never looks right with horizontal stitching unless its an M3 rear bench

ps trimmers, who are you using ?

i could have pointed you in the directon of some very good trimmers near me

Yeah stitch pattern is right...i made sure they used the originals for a template...which were e30 out of a C2. It does somehow look closer in leather though.

[bss325i]

Some more pics

[Kos]

it just could be where the leather is new.

i'm trying to recall what oguz ones look like and pacerpetes

M3 bench will be nice touch, you adjusting the stiching on that to match ?

so, the e24 highbacks have the same stich pattern then, just some of them have smaller kidney bolsters like the e21's

[bss325i]

Oz's ones are the same and no the rear bench will be stiched as per OEM.

What highbacks has pacer got?

[Kos]

black leather with door cards (real deal leather door cards)

from an e30 m3 btw

[/// KAMI]

This turned up today!

Just the rear one to come now!

Is there rear not going to be mtec2 bumper?

[bss325i]

Is there rear not going to be mtec2 bumper?

Yes the rear is still going to be tech 2 and so is the upper part of the front.

It will look like this when fitted,

[SHAKEELE30]

barry that link for classic cars, looking at the interior, the front ones have horizontal stitching, yet the rear have vertical, surely bmw cant of used 2 different styles of stitching on the same interior....

[SHAKEELE30]

that red one does look very nice tho

[e30topless]

tech 2 with pina front is superb I love it ,

[bss325i]

barry that link for classic cars, looking at the interior, the front ones have horizontal stitching, yet the rear have vertical, surely bmw cant of used 2 different styles of stitching on the same interior....

Thats exactly what BMW did unless it was an M3.

My very first E30 had highbacks and a rear seat with vertical stitching.

[Kos]

bmw were a bit odd at times

[SHAKEELE30]

cant be that odd to do 2 different styles of stitching in one car tho..

[/// KAMI]

Get The Highcacks retrimmed in red leather......

[bmwsport]

barry that link for classic cars, looking at the interior, the front ones have horizontal stitching, yet the rear have vertical, surely bmw cant of used 2 different styles of stitching on the same interior....

Thats exactly what BMW did unless it was an M3.

My very first E30 had highbacks and a rear seat with vertical stitching.

BMW most likely just replaced the front seats with matching cloth highbacks and left the standard rear bench in (with vertical stitching)... This was probably the poverty spec option for highbacks in the standard E30 but maybe there was the option to get a matching (horizontal stitched) rear bench?

Back in the day money talked with BMW as everything was an option (stereo blanking plate anyone? ), so the more £££ you spent the better the spec, Hence the M3 got matching horizontal stitched interior as standard.

As you can see the above Alpina Highback interior has a matching rear bench (in the same cloth ) and i also recall the diddler having a custom black leather interior with horizontal stitching and red piping in his Alpina kitted moredoor.

[/// KAMI]

How much do BMW Do the front Alpina splitter for?

[bss325i]

BMW most likely just replaced the front seats with matching cloth highbacks and left the standard rear bench in (with vertical stitching)... This was probably the poverty spec option for highbacks in the standard E30 but maybe there was the option to get a matching (horizontal stitched) rear bench?

BMW wouldn't have replaced any seats, they would have been put in at the factory. There was no option to have horizontal stitching on E30 saloons or tourings and the only E30s that had horizontal stitching were M3's and cabrio's with leather, cabrios with cloth had vertical stitching.

Alpina E30's with alpina striped highbacks had horizontal stitching on the rear seats to match the front but this was only due to the seats being retrimmed at Buchloe when the Alpinas were built from new cars.

Back in the day money talked with BMW as everything was an option (stereo blanking plate anyone? ), so the more £££ you spent the better the spec, Hence the M3 got matching horizontal stitched interior as standard.

Other than special edtion models, M3's had a much more basic spec than most other E30's. Pretty much everything was an option, electric windows, central locking, sunroof etc. The horizontal stitching has nothing to do with spec, its just the way they were

As you can see the above Alpina Highback interior has a matching rear bench (in the same cloth ) and i also recall the diddler having a custom black leather interior with horizontal stitching and red piping in his Alpina kitted moredoor.

As i said above, the whole interior was retrimed by alpina, hence the horizontal stitching on the rear bench.

Pauls moredoor interior was a one off interior ordered by the original owner when new but it was subcontracted by Sytners to a local upholsterers, so not factory.

[Felix79]

Baz are you going to spec the car like a 2.7 or are you going for the look? Also are you going to stripe it or keep it all black?

[bss325i]

Baz are you going to spec the car like a 2.7 or are you going for the look? Also are you going to stripe it or keep it all black?

Engine as is for now.

No stripes.

[/// KAMI]

How much was the front splitter as i am interested in getting one....

[Felix79]

Baz are you going to spec the car like a 2.7 or are you going for the look? Also are you going to stripe it or keep it all black?

Engine as is for now.

No stripes.

It's going to be a stunner regardless and at least you know it's going to be fitted better than the work experince monkies they normally got at Sytners

Out of a matter intrest mate , does the face list spoiler have the air pipes going from the air scoops like it does on my one? I have two big air channels that fit to the air scoops which force air on the front break area ( this is why when it was damaged in the attempted theift I was reliaved they didn't break these channels )

How much was the front splitter as i am interested in getting one....

About £300+

[Royalratch]

Barry - sterling work as ever with your deviant OEM ways.

But I feel I must speak up. I love your Sport as is and a fine Sport is a rare thing. I know all your work will be reversible but...

Rear M3 bench - no.
Recaro's - they were an option I guess but I wouldn't.
Head Unit - cool but a step too far, will be poor SQ by today's standards and there are units out there that look as 'correct.' It's good to have in the bag tho.

All that trouble to go original in fanatical detail but then Alpina valance and M3 rear bench - seems confused.


Retrims.

Original Recaro's did not have indented centre stitching it seems and the grey retrimmed set do. Also, any decent trimmer will do good work but if you want it to look E30 there are a few things to watch out for. Firstly, the leather seems very tightly wrapped on E30's and so make sure they do that and also suggest they use a thinner underlay to help achieve that look. If you look at E36/E46 leather it's quite soft and baggy by comparison. Secondly, no retrim will look OEM just because its new and we're all used to seeing the tough shiny vinyl look of E30 leather. Back in the day, it would have looked matt and new as a retrim does today but will only start to look original after a few years, it gets creased a little and buffed up. Lastly, E30's use a leather similar to Nappa in that it has no grain or fake grain stamped into the hide to mask imperfections - which is why it looks like vinyl. So hide choice important. Don't do leather door cards they NEVER look right. Vinyl door cards are the way to go - plus will save you £300+ in trimming lol!

What it really looks like is you're after a mint Alpina to go [with] your Sport rather than merged into your Sport.

But it's your car bla bla bla....

[Simon13]

/\ me and Trevor have been saying this to him for a long time! Leave the pina bits off

Barry sell me the spoilers for me 2 door/tourer!

[SHAKEELE30]

thats probably why he doesnt listen to you guys, cos he thinks you just want his alpina bits off him

[/// KAMI]

To be fair that sport is a very good example so even if it has the m3 bench and alpina spoiler still worth top dollar imho.....

[SHAKEELE30]

and easily taken apart to replace to original.... but it does make his e30 look goood tho, especially the alpina front spoiler

[Royalratch]

Barry.

This would look as good if not better and have infinitely better sound AND Aux in.

Plus it was a genuine option on E30's looks awesome and widely available on German and US ebay at around £120-160.
BMW Bavaria Business CD made by Blaupunkt


BMW ETK Link


This is what I was going to get except I need my tech - I may get one to hold onto for my next E30.

[B7]

Blaupunkt New York all the way. There are ways and means to getting good sound quality even from a unit as old as that.

That bavaria looks way too modern IMO. CD's had only just come into play when Barrys Sport was produced.

My brother bought a brand new e34 525 in August 88 (on the "F") and specced it to the hilt except he asked them to leave the blanking plate in the place of the head unit. That car had the first ever CD head unit I fitted, a pioneer single disc with TS1700's in the rear shelf and custom fits in the front. Not seen one for absolutely years the same as that one. But I remember is was fortunes and not that great either. It was however a damn sight cheaper than Chandlers of Worthing wanted for a dealer fit unit!!

[Royalratch]

Conversely, that Blaunpunkt looks like it's missing a few glass vacuum tubes and a cranking handle. It's ancient and looks thus even if it is original.

The Business CD is a factory option with correct amber lighting and looks awesome in the dash, the buttons being of closer design style to E30 switches.