'88 325i Touring #001 resto - 03/2012 rimz porn

[capri_rob]

As some as you know the bronzit turd has failed its last MOT thanks to the ravages of tin-worm so I have taken the decision to break it and start again with a better shell.

So please welcome my new project :

Bought from a very nice chap up in Macclesfield via the Zone For Sale section.

Pics first :












Usual "rottweiler spec" Comfort drivers seat

Rare "glovebox delete" option


Period Blaupunkt stereo - lights up and emits a high pitched scream when you turn it on


Bus wheel - will be replaced shortly with my Tech 1


Standard issue saggy headlining


Wheoever has owned it in the past must have had a gravel drive as there is shedloads in the engine bay


Mucky but runs alright



Perfect scuttles


Donk. That alarm is going shortly.


Bullseye headlamps - dont think the wash wipe works - shocker.


Not sure if this bust wire is for the ABS sensor or the pad wear sensor - either way both lights on on the dash so I'll replace it and see what happens


Factory fit tweeters I reckon - never had an E30 with these before.



Poor old turd


Stainless mo-fo will be going on if I can make it fit

I have a list of jobs 3 pages of A4 long so far

Most urgent are handbrake adjustment and heater blower motor

The fuel filler pipe has had it - I'm hoping the one on the bronzit is better otherwise that will be expensive.

[capri_rob]

In terms of the cars history I've been assisted by bss325i and Andyboy ( Legends - thanks again guys ) to discover that not only is this a very early Touring - it may actually be the first RHD Touring in the UK.

Originally registered to BMW HQ in Bracknell, built in Week 6 Feb '88 and noted on the build sheet as a "Pre production car". Touring production did not start officially until March '88.

Andyboy has very kindly contacted people at BMW AG and we are just waiting to find out if it is what I think it is. The chassis number ending in 001 was what prompted the investigation.

It needs a lot of work - but almost all of it is mechanical/trim/bolt on stuff. I've had a good poke around it this afternoon and it was very nice not to find any significant crunchy bits - especially the arches and jacking points.

[Blitz]

An E reg touring. Thats very early.

[Felix79]

Looking forward to the final prodcut

[Andyboy]

It is the first ever RHD Touring - no doubts.

320i Touring production didn't begin until June 1988 in RHD and the 318i arrived in 1989.

[DanThe]

This will be worth minting up properly

[leeparkes]

Nice purchase

[Simon13]

lucky car then isn't it ending up on here and someone finally buying it! After a rather long forsale add.

Barry phoned me wetting his knickers over this!

[capri_rob]

It is the first ever RHD Touring - no doubts.

I "worked" from home today - managed to last until lunchtime before I had to go outside and have a proper look round it.

Need to concentrate on stripping the bronzit quick to clear my garage space

[B7]

It'll be a high comp bad boy as well.

Whats the plans rob. Got to lose those keep fit windows surely?

[DanThe]

Window looms/motors FTW
I have some nice seats in that pattern

[The_Diddler]

Nice, 001 as well, quite a find, look forward to the project beginning.

You gonna keep as factory Rob?

[Simon13]

the 88 tourings don't really rot, like most E30's. I'd be very surprised if it needed a mig welding marathon. That will have the 6E2 donk? 9.4 CR iirc. The recently found medium comp engine as they say. I'd keep it keep fit. Its a bit special this, mint it up as is, 325's on bottletops are hilarious! They feel proper hairy when pressing on dry or wet.

I've just looked PYF was an early one May 88 built.

[DanThe]

Probably would be better to keep it as factory spec as possible, retain the heritage

[capri_rob]

There are loads of jobs to do on it to get it as I want it.

It will remain largely standard, but with as many correct period options as I can find and retro-fit.

Apart from the very obvious deep clean inside and out the list of service jobs so far includes :

Complete engine service - all fluids & filters
Cambelt, tensioner & water pump
replace metal coolant pipe that runs across front of engine ( looks like its about to let go )
Blast through oil spraybar and re-set valve clearances

I will be fitting the Tech 1 wheel, BBS, Stainless exhaust and full rear beam/trailing arms from the chrome turd

Braided brake hoses all round

Get absolutely every electrical item on the car working - currently inop are various dash illumination, radio, electric roof, rear wash wipe and sort the pad warning light a & ABS light

Find & fit non-rusty diamond schwartz sunroof panel

Fit new front struts, top mounts & other bushes as necessary ( will be transferred from the chromie )

New fuel filler neck, handbrake adustment & get the blower motor working are all urgent jobs.

I have a replacement cover for the seat base so when I'm feeling brave I will attempt to strip the knackered one and replace it
In the meantime I will be keeping an eye out for some cloth sport seats in the correct cloth

New trim clips throughout for door/boot trims etc

Central locking completely inop - needs investigating

May retrofit electric windows later - want to get everything working as BMW intended first.

Dan tell me more about the seats you have

In the meantime I need to find proper fair buyers for the quality morsels from the bronzit turd in order to fund this project

[Simon13]

If it needs welding you'll find it in the inner arch when you swap the fuel filler out. Can almost 100% garantee a small here somewhere. All starts from the welded on brackets at factory is my theory.

I'd love to titivate this to health.

[capri_rob]

If it needs welding you'll find it in the inner arch when you swap the fuel filler out. Can almost 100% garantee a small here somewhere. All starts from the welded on brackets at factory is my theory.

I'd love to titivate this to health.

Underneath all seems OK - jacking points & inner and outer arches all OK.

Its had a repair patch in the usual spot on the rear valance under the towing eye and needs the other corner repairing as well but apart from that it seems very solid.

I'm gonna try and make a really good job of it - hopefully stripping the bronze one myself will give me a really good idea of how everything should fit together

[The_Diddler]

Rob

Have you seen this thread, £90 or offers for a 2 door cloth sports seats interior, drivers seat isnt too bad, you may have enough material from the two interiors to retrim, just a thought.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... highlight=

Sad about the bronzit i had a soft spot for this chariot RIP

Epic find with the tourer thou

[Simon13]

you won't find it until you start stripping! Get the plasctic arch liner off which covers the fuel breather system and filler neck. The bracket at the top which holds this on grots. Shitty place to go.

Then the 10mm bolt which holds the fuel filler to the inner arch. This bracket grots. Get the side trim off to look from the inside also.

[Alex]

Certainly one worth having if its the first.

Needs plenty of tlc but i'am sure you will give it that

never seen a touring with keep fit windows before

the handbrake could do with some minor adjustment

[david106]

I've got an 325i touring on an e plate aswell and your right about the rot.
I've had it over 4 years and its been outside all that time and the bodywork still looks the same as when i bought it

[capri_rob]

@ Paul - yes spotted it but Croydon is feckin miles away and In the interest of not getting carried away with the spending I've got to realise some cash from the bronzit parts first - as soon as I've got a positive bank balance I'll start sourcing stuff. If its still around in a couple of weeks I might be tempted to have a road trip to get it. Re-trimming the seats isn't something I know how to do so could be interesting !

@ Simon - will probably have a proper look at this area over the weekend - as soon as I have some cash I will source a better filler neck and go from there - thanks for the heads-up

[capri_rob]

the handbrake could do with some minor adjustment

You're not kidding - it passed the MOT last year but has done very little mileage since - the MOT tester must have been feeling very generous - or just ignored it - there is no way it would have passed like that at my usual place. Also it failed and then was passed on the ABS lamp being on - it still is and that wiring says to me it hasn't worked for ages - another MOT tester "look the other way"

Never mind - its all fixable

[bss325i]

As we suspected the first RHD touring!

+1 for having a good poke around the rear arches. Jack it up, remove wheels, and all the parts in the O/S/R wheel arch and clean/wax oil everything!

[capri_rob]

As we suspected the first RHD touring!

+1 for having a good poke around the rear arches. Jack it up, remove wheels, and all the parts in the O/S/R wheel arch and clean/wax oil everything!

Cheers again for your input Baz - much appreciated

Will be doing an extensive photo record as I work my way through the car - looking forward to getting started but really need to get the bronzit stripped and shell gone so I can get it in the garage

[bss325i]

As we suspected the first RHD touring!

+1 for having a good poke around the rear arches. Jack it up, remove wheels, and all the parts in the O/S/R wheel arch and clean/wax oil everything!

Cheers again for your input Baz - much appreciated

Will be doing an extensive photo record as I work my way through the car - looking forward to getting started but really need to get the bronzit stripped and shell gone so I can get it in the garage

No worries Rob.

To say i was moist when it became apparent what the car is, is an understatement.

Sad but true!

As Simon said, good that this historical E30 has ended up with a forum member and is going to be nursed back to fine heath!

I'm also in the camp of keeping as close to OEM spec as possible and just ad some bolt on morsels so it can be reverted back to stock quickly and easily. If it were mine i would keep the manual windows as this is not easily reversible.
Go for the 15" BBS, tech 1 wheel and sport seats as these can be unbolted and swapped back in under an hour but you must keep a set of the original stuff to pop back on if the need arises, say for example at a show, mag feature, dealer launch/BMW joy day etc.
A period Blaupunkt head unit can be found with patience.

You've got the right idea so far, work through the issues to get it sorted and in fine fettle then go for a few morsels.

Look forward to the progress with this one!

And i don't even like tourings that much!

[capri_rob]

The manual windows don't really bother me - I quite like them for some reason

I'd already decided to keep the bottletops, bus wheel and front seats for refitting if necessary in the future - I certainly won't be fitting anything that can't be undone !

Working towards a magazine feature would be great - thats a good way off though

[pacerpete]

Good find ! While you are in the digging/poking mood, be sure to remove the side skirts and the front wheel arch liners. Paying particular attention to the area at the top where the flitch meets the bulkhead and the bottom of the A posts, after you have removed the 2KG of mud from behind the splashguards !

I will be very suprised if you don't find any "issues" whilst checking these areas ,but better now than a year or so down the line

[THEHOOD]

Nice find, good luck bringing it back up to its former glory. will keep an eye on this thread, always nice to see a good touring.

[e30topless]

How cool is that !!
I almost rang the previous owner of this to buy it for a fragfest in the hope of winning the LSD Lottery! ,
very glad I didn't because I would never had checked the numbers !

well done a very good find and to have a number 1 car is awesome
a nice bit of E30 history right there !

[ImysE30]

Great purchase Rob, look forward to the updates

[Kedge]

I was thinking the same as Steve and had been checking back on the forsale add quite a bit.

Well done on the purchase in the first place but then to check the number and findout it is what it is, awesome

[capri_rob]

Finding out the numbers was kind of an accident.

Before I went to view it I ran a HPi check on it just for peace of mind and it all came back clear - apart from a plate change - didn't think anything more of it.

Then after I'd put a deposit on it I sent an email to Cotswold to get the build data and it started to get interesting

I hadn't picked up the significance of the 001 chassis number until it came through on the build sheet that the car was a "pre production car" built a month before production actually started !

A quick PM to Barry really started things moving and then Andyboy confirmed things

I just wanted an E30 without rust issues - hadn't bargained on getting a little piece of E30 history

[town325i]

Cant wait to get to work on this one. Rob there is going to be lots of while your there jobs you know so get your credit card ready for a battering

[mrjonchandler]

I've got an 325i touring on an e plate aswell and your right about the rot.
I've had it over 4 years and its been outside all that time and the bodywork still looks the same as when i bought it

Me too, i read that touring models were made in a different factory from saloons and as a result of different build procedures and climate were far less prone to rust. I've got a '93 tourer and it's true, they just seem more hardy. Tough old things eh!
I'm chuffed for you Rob, cool motor.
Cheers,
Jon