Henna Red 323i

[Ollie_bwoii]

To make the plastic trim part on that parcel shelf with blind work you would have to change to the later style seat belts that do not mount to the C pillar. That said if you did that you would be left with holes in your headlining.

You'll see exactly what I mean when you come to fit the shelf. I would be really interested to know what you end up doing, as I have this dilema in my chromie.

[kdevitt]

I'll take plenty of photos when I get to that bit! Hopefully I don't have to resort to using sellotape and superglue (my wife can always tell a mod isn't going well when the superglue gets whipped out )

[Ollie_bwoii]

That would be great. Mine bugs the c**p out of me.

[kdevitt]

Collected today! A lot more to do with it - will be taking it back to have some of the panel gaps fixed up

[Chris-W]

Looking good Ken, brings back a fair few memories.

[BMJG]

This is just looking so nice can't wait to see it finished. If picture had been taken with car 15 to 20 foot backwards would have been in the sunlight and bet that would look the nuts

[kdevitt]

So after a nice relaxing weekend, it was time to get stuck in...

First step was to try and tidy up this mess slightly







Some of the parts were junk - and went in the bin. Everything else got thrown in the garden so I could sort it out - don't think my arch liner should have been sitting in there though.



So first things first - the rubber door seals hadn't been put back on so I tackled them first.

They basically just clip into place, small mallet came in handy too. Well lump hammer more like.





Next up was the doors. They weren't aligned correctly at all - you can see the gap narrowing towards the bottom of the door. Fixing this involved rehanging the door, and aligned the lock catch. Its fair to say this took quite a while, and wouldn't have been finished without the help of my mate.



This is the lock catch - thankfully I had the other E30 there to compare with. As an FYI - I accidentally changed the camera setting, so some of these are in arty B&W!



And voila - one perfectly aligned door



Next up was the passenger side door - only slightly off







Once again there was quite a bit of playing around involved, still needs some work as it stands as its not perfect.

Managed to collect a few bits from the dealer yesterday too -



Good bit of this was trim for the fuel lid -

Put in the new rubber trunk section, and a new fuel lid - didn't like the old chrome one!



Added the trim piece for around the locking pin as well -



Managed to improve the gap on the front wing / bonnet too. None of the bolts on the wing were tightened at all - could remove them all by hand. You can see the gap widening as it approaches the headlight area. My mate held the wing in while I tightened the nuts, and its much improved!



And last up for the day - some stickers!



This is for the rear bumper -

Before



After



Thats all for today - was baltic out, and I'm down with a bad cold

[bss325i]

Looks like its coming along nicely but i gotta ask, why didnt they body shop line thn panels up?

Just chucking them on was risky as it may have chipped the paint!

[Ollie_bwoii]

The 323i is looking stunning. I am liking the Tec1 kit more and more now.

Took a picture today to show you what I was blabbering on about, with the parcel shelf.

[kdevitt]

Looks like its coming along nicely but i gotta ask, why didnt they body shop line thn panels up?

Just chucking them on was risky as it may have chipped the paint!

They were just chucked on alright - I'm not exactly impressed. Had the feeling it wouldn't be finished when I was collecting it, but having been sat with them for close to 6 months I figured I'd at least be able to get most of the issues sorted.

[kdevitt]

The 323i is looking stunning. I am liking the Tec1 kit more and more now.

Took a picture today to show you what I was blabbering on about, with the parcel shelf.

Had a brief look at my own earlier, so immediately knew what you meant! Thinking of new rear belts and trim at the moment

[bss325i]

Looks like its coming along nicely but i gotta ask, why didnt they body shop line thn panels up?

Just chucking them on was risky as it may have chipped the paint!

They were just chucked on alright - I'm not exactly impressed. Had the feeling it wouldn't be finished when I was collecting it, but having been sat with them for close to 6 months I figured I'd at least be able to get most of the issues sorted.

6 months! Was it an in between jobs job?

[kdevitt]

Looks like its coming along nicely but i gotta ask, why didnt they body shop line thn panels up?

Just chucking them on was risky as it may have chipped the paint!

They were just chucked on alright - I'm not exactly impressed. Had the feeling it wouldn't be finished when I was collecting it, but having been sat with them for close to 6 months I figured I'd at least be able to get most of the issues sorted.

6 months! Was it an in between jobs job?

Yep it was. The painting was finished back in November, a full day at the alignment and other bits would have had it perfect. No excuses for my arch liner being missing, or the central locking solenoids being disconnected etc!

[kdevitt]

Managed to do some of the interior today -

So heres the blank canvas -



One trim panel in



And then in with the seats. Serious pain to get in. The bench is a different design to the one which came out - it bolted in, but this is the newer type which 'clips' in. Anyone ever come up with a neat way to do this properly?





While I had the bench out I changed the fuel level sender (again). The new one I'd bought just wouldn't sit right, and petrol had started seeping out. I used the working one from my 320i and all is good.

In slightly more annoying news - the rear headliner wasn't stretched correctly when the glass went back in, so it'll need to be fixed up. Not a great photo, but you can just about see where its loose.

[Ollie_bwoii]

Great progress, But the cabby rear headrests look oh so wrong, they should be piped headrests not stiched.

[kdevitt]

Great progress, But the cabby rear headrests look oh so wrong, they should be piped headrests not stiched.

Are they cabby rear headrests? Didn't even notice a difference! They were on the interior when I bought it.

[Ollie_bwoii]

Compare them to your front headrests and you will notice the differences.

[kdevitt]

The postman was kind today - so it meant I could stick the centre console back in.

Picked up this centre armrest on eBay - it was unused, and hence in excellent condition.









Thankfully - I also picked up an unused centre console on eBay a long time ago





I didn't take any photos of the install - its a case of bolt, screw, drill, bolt , curse, drill again etc.

Its actually quite handy - it slides on its mount, so can clear the handbrake.





Also got the door cards back on - had gotten vinyl doorcards, but they had different fittings in them, and I wasn't in the mood of stripping the door and all doorcards down. So I put the original ones back in - will probably have the retrimmed in the motorsport style (leather inserts) at some stage.



Have a few trim covers that need to go back in under the bonnet. Opened it up and my rad was just sitting loose -



Not sure there is clearance for the bonnet to shut if I just use a bolt and nut, so left it as is until I find out what exactly to use.

Anyway - took a photo before I packed up for the night. It was late and dark - and it was probably the first time I've ever taken my camera off fully auto

[crazy1]

looks stunning Ken,keep up the good work, don't throw any more E30 bits in the bin

[hennabm]

The rad is fixed to the front panel with one M6 nut and bolt with a couple of large body washers.
See below

[kdevitt]

The rad is fixed to the front panel with one M6 nut and bolt with a couple of large body washers.
See below

That excellent - cheers!

[kdevitt]

Opened the boot today and it was full of water (and ice!). I was imagining having to spend quite a while tracking down the source of the leak - but thankfully it was straightforward enough.

For some reason, the rear lights hadn't been bolted back in:



That was the worst nut - but they were all loose. Managed to get all the water out of the boot and dry out the lights, so hopefully it'll be the last of the leaks.

Also managed to clean and condition the interior. Really looks great now - but you'll have to take my word for it, have no photos, will wash the car and grab some tomorrow.

[hennabm]

Did they put on the seals/spacers where the rear bumper side bits bolt through into the wheel arches.

Without those holes sealed the water will pour through into each side well of the boot.

[kdevitt]

Did they put on the seals/spacers where the rear bumper side bits bolt through into the wheel arches.

Without those holes sealed the water will pour through into each side well of the boot.

Haven't checked! That can be my job for tomorrow.

[kdevitt]

Got the car washed today - not that it was overly dirty. A piece of the sunroof hadn't been put back in though, so the water just pissed right through into the cabin. Will need to get that sorted.

Anyhoo - am happy with how its looking:

[billcarr182]

I was going to bid on that armrest! It went quite cheep I thought so I kicked myself for missing the end of the auction. Glad it's gone to a good (stunning - actually) home.

[kdevitt]

I was going to bid on that armrest! It went quite cheep I thought so I kicked myself for missing the end of the auction. Glad it's gone to a good (stunning - actually) home.

I'd actually put in a top bid of £85 on it and left it. Arrived home from the pub and saw there was two mins left and it was at £90. Put in a top bid of £95 and ended up getting it for £92.50! Was dead chuffed

At the very least, it made me abandon my plans of shoehorning an E46 console and armrest in

[Blitz]

Stunning. Is it on standard 323i suspension?

[kdevitt]

Stunning. Is it on standard 323i suspension?

Yes - totally standard at the moment. Handling is...interesting. Will be sticking in a Bilstein B8 kit soon enough.

[kdevitt]

Few updates - bought new wheels from Adit on here (gent to deal with!). They were in good condition, but there were a few marks, so made sense to have them refurbed while I still had the use of the original wheels. The tyres didn't have too much life left in them, so managed to get some ones sourced locally and he was able to remove the old tyres before I dropped them into the lads for a refurb.



Fairly certain the wheels were sprayed before - there were some points which had bubbled, and I sanded them down myself - you can see primer there as well though!





Ordered new centre caps from C3BMW to go on them - the old caps had seen better days!



There were one or two roundels stuck onto each one - they'd been replaced before. Used a blade to try and get them off, but they didn't budge. Stuck them in boiling water and the glue softened up very quickly.



Cleaned up all the gunk and stuck on the fresh badges -



Popped them onto the new wheels - they just clip in -



Also finally straightened up the reg surrounds that were on it - they were crooked for ages. And threw on the German plates of course! Quite like them - might change my mind at some stage.





Managed to get the car washed too - not that it was too dirty, but wanted to try out the Dodo Juice Orange crush.

[Dezzy]

That's fooking sexy that mate.

[E30BeemerLad]

Daaaaamn!

[kdevitt]

Haven't posted many updates lately - have been doing loads of crappy small jobs. Had the timing belt and a few other bits done. Also adjusted the front seat frames to let them bolt in properly, and got new seat belt latches into it - had no idea pre-facelift were different to facelift!

Anyway - had a set of H&R springs put on at the weekend - they're meant to drop it 35mm, but its dropped a lot more than that!

Took delivery of the gearbox for it as well, so will hopefully get the autobox out before I'm grey and old. (older! )

[Royalratch]

Love this car. I'm seriously after anything Henna Red!

[DanThe]

That looks the tits