My '87 325i - Updated 03/02/11 - Time to say goodbye

[capri_rob]

Have been feeding my E30 genuine parts addiction again today
Hopefully this will be the last bits for a while to give my bank balance/credit card time to recover


new genuine brake pipes and clips to attach them to the trailing arms - no cable-ties here


New rear-box hangers all the way from Germany


A few brake bits and cambelt sticker

Hopefully I'll get to drive the turd tomorrow afternoon for the first time in a month

[town325i]

Hopefully I'll get to drive the turd tomorrow afternoon for the first time in a month

Im hoping more of the same to so you can compare how it feels now to how it did feel before the work.

[capri_rob]

After a mammoth effort by town325i yesterday the turd is finally back on 4 wheels and driveable again


N/S Done


O/S done after an emergency purchase of a brake caliper from DanThe after the bastid bleed nipple sheared off on the original one






Gonna get a bucket and sponge over it this morning and then off to the Midlands Meet

[DaveyB]

sweeet mate very nice work!!!

[town325i]

just got to get the brakes master cylinder changed now

[capri_rob]

Took a few pics today as the turd was still relatively clean from Yesterdays meet :

Looks so much better now the suspension is at the proper height




Although there would appear to be at least 2 shades of bronzit paint been used at some point





This ones my favourite

[town325i]

Its looking good now rob. The ride height is just right if you ask me

[dom-1984-320i]

looks spot on!

[capri_rob]

I'm really pleased with how it looks now - I'll be even happier when I get the horrors that are lurking underneath welded up, smoothrited and waxolyed

[town325i]

I used to hate this colour but after seeing this car so much its really grown on me but it only looks right with the chrome bumpers with a nice drop and BBS wheels. Did you find them clips?

[capri_rob]

I used to hate this colour but after seeing this car so much its really grown on me but it only looks right with the chrome bumpers with a nice drop and BBS wheels. Did you find them clips?

Nope they've vanished off the face of the earth - either that or they're on the Cafe carpark still!

May have located a Master Cylinder to fix the brakes - although they did improve after the drive on Sunday - much more bite but the pedal sitll goes down too far for my liking. I think they've just bedded in a bit but will be happier with a new master cylinder on.

[town325i]

it will definatly pick the pedal up with a new master cylinder its the only thing that can be wrong now and then you will have a very good car

[daimlerman]

Took a few pics today as the turd was still relatively clean from Yesterdays meet :

Looks so much better now the suspension is at the proper height




Although there would appear to be at least 2 shades of bronzit paint been used at some point





This ones my favourite

Someone has been up to Cannock Chase,that area looks vaguely familier to me...remember knocking the alignment out on a mini,whilst doing a spot of 'courting' up there!

[capri_rob]

Well its time to start bringing this thread to a close.

My beloved bronzit turd which has been with me since I joined the zone in Feb 08 has failed the MOT on various things - the worst being both front jacking points need replacing as well as repairs to the surrounding floor area.

However the good news is that many of the parts will live on in my new E30 ( new thread due shortly as soon as I have taken some pics ) and there will be a fragfest for the rest.

The main bits that will be available that I believe are the most desirable are :

Full Beige Cloth Sport interior - including door cards, carpet, rear headrests - as per pics earlier in this thread the front seats have NO rips, tears, bolster damage etc - try finding another set !

Jimmy Hill front airdam - This is the correct one for the 325i with the oil cooler cutouts. There are no cracks but a few scratches underneath as you would expect from a spoiler thats been through 24 Years and 135k

Strong Hi Comp 325i engine & good gearbox. Will take a video of it running before its removed, and will come with the emissions printoff from the last MOT ( passed no issues )

I'm keeping the wheels, Tech 1 steering wheel, rear beam/trailing arms etc but pretty much everything else will be removed and for sale.

This is not a F/S thread - just a prelim announcement - if anyone wants first dibs on anything please PM me. A proper FS thread will be compiled as soon as I have pics of everything removed from the car. I will be fair with prices but I am not going to give the stuff away - the money will be used to keep another E30 on the road.

Will be posting some more pics as I uncover the full extent of the rot

[The_Diddler]

Sad day

Bronzit chromies are the shizzle, but when it gets to a certain stage its either full resto time or keep all the morsels and get another turd.

RIP Bronzit.............

[Felix79]

I know how you feel mate. My 'Pina had an epic fail last MOT and in the end my heart won and I got the work done to keep it.

At least the parts will live on with your next project

[capri_rob]

The wheelarches had been pretty rough since I bought it TBH - I didn't realise how bad until we did the work last year and pulled the side carpets back in the boot

I've costed it out loads of times - to put it right ( the bits I know of anyway ) it would need :

Complete rear inner & outer arches ( may even need quarter panels both sides )
2 x Front Wings
N/S Door
Full Respray

Whats that about £3500 to have done properly ? More if new quarter panels were needed and much more when you start digging and find more rot - and doesn't take into account the "crunching" when you wound the sunroof right back

Very sad to see it go but the new one may already be quite special in an OEM homo kind of way , and will be very nice once its morsel'd up.

[ImysE30]

Sorry to hear this Rob, sad day, another chromie off to China

What's the new project?

[capri_rob]

Just started a new thread Imy

[Blitz]

Thats a shame. I do think it is worth doing a resto on this car as its a chromie 325i 2dr.

[B7]

Paint alone would come to 3.5k. I'd say this is a wise choice.

[capri_rob]

It would appear to have had a new rear panel at some point in its life - lots of wax sealant and bumper bolts greased up - the rear bumper has been off the car since it was new definately - and the rear panel is far more solid than the rest of the structure.

When I removed the back bumper the true extent of the wheelarch cancer was revealed - not good

[shaun_89]

Just read through the whole thread. The car is amazing, has definatly inspired me to get into the garage and do some work on my chromie in this cold!

Shame about the cost of the bodywork

[ImysE30]

Get some pic's of the rust up

[capri_rob]

Boot is now completely stripped

Seats & door cards out
Centre console out
Glovebox & underdash panels out
CD Player & Clock out
Steering wheel swapped

Carpet appears to be stuck down in the n/s/f corner where the jacking point "issues" are
I dunno if I can be bothered if I can pull it all up even though I'm curious to see what its like under there.

Hopefully will finish the interior strip today - the dash is staying in the car as its cracked but gonna try and pull everything else out including the headlining to see what the sunroof tray is like
Bonnet, lights, front bumper & jimmy hill will all be off the car by the end of the weekend

Then next weekend will get the rad out & coolant drained, chop out the front panel, engine & box out on the subframe as a job lot, engine bay stripped of ABS pump, relays etc, fuel tank out and rear beam/diff out as a job lot and then just got to arrange someone to collect the shell to be turned into a bronzit toaster

[capri_rob]

Mixed feelings now I've started stripping it.

Some areas are worse than I thought, but some are remarkably good for a chrome turd :


Passenger side inner arch

Tiger seal repair plate FFS

Drivers side inner arch - yet more tiger seal & DanThe reckons chemical metal to hold the breather pipe in place












All that grot, yet the battery tray is solid - what the hell ??




Daylight




Inner arch from inside the car - clearly on its way but not through - still plenty of wax present and inner sills are solid




Bottom of inner arch - holed


Passenger side


Seats out - friggin carpet appears to be stuck down in the corner where the grot is




Looking sorry for itself


Oil cooler pipes appear to be past their best but oil cooler itself is in very good order - think its been replaced at some point.


Just starting to go on the seam under the washer bottle - better than I thought it would be.


At the end of a hard days frag

[Jim320i]

Sad days dude. I loved this car... Was excted when I thought it was going to another zoner, then gutted for you when I heard it was rotted.


Makes me worry about my turd when I see all this hidden rot...

[capri_rob]

In reality it probably was saveable - I haven't found anything yet that I wasn't expecting.

Would still have cost several thousand to do properly though

[Simon13]

its not that bad! whats the roof, scuttle areas like?

[DanThe]

There are a lot worse E30's out there still driving about, to sort this properly your looking at 4 bags minimum, it would make light work of 1k to bodge it through an MOT and make it presentable. Not many want to spend that sort of money on an old 325i

[daimlerman]

There comes a time when decisions have to be made.

IF you could do all the work yourself,in your own time,in your own garage,then perhaps you would have felt differently about this one.
However,that touring you have bought to replace this sorry,rusty turd will prove to have been a sensible buy.

[capri_rob]

its not that bad! whats the roof, scuttle areas like?

Scuttle is immaculate both sides

Bonnet and bootlid are also both A1 - completely rust free.

Front panel is also good - a little surface in a couple of spots but thats all - are these worth anything ? - What are a mint bonnet & bootlid likely to fetch ?

Sunroof panel is OK on the outside but I haven't taken it out yet - it does "crunch" when you wind it right back though leading me to think the sunroof tray is fecked -1 little rust bubble on the roof thats it - won't get chance to get any more off it now until next weekend.

[capri_rob]

There comes a time when decisions have to be made.

IF you could do all the work yourself,in your own time,in your own garage,then perhaps you would have felt differently about this one.
However,that touring you have bought to replace this sorry,rusty turd will prove to have been a sensible buy.

Malc I can't weld and my previous attempts at painting have been godawful - mechanical bits I can find my way through or have had help from town325 & DanThe - bodywork is just beyond my expertise & budget

[capri_rob]

Quick update - if all goes to plan the engine, box, exhaust, tank and complete rear beam will be removed on Saturday and the bronzit remains will be off to pikey-land

Got most of everything else off it but I'm starting to lose the will to live with it now and really want to get my touring in the garage.


Passenger side front jacking point - worse than I first thought


Fookin stupid roof mounted aerial - why the fook BMW didn't wax over where the contact pins dig into the roofskin on the underside beggars belief

Sunroof panel is fooked.

Sunroof tray however is not as bad as I thought - starting to go but all the drain hoses are still attached :









Got to get the carpet and ABS loom & ECU out on Friday, then saturday just the main ECU, battery cable and heavy stuff from underneath and then anything else I can pillage easily before the pikey turns up for the shell. Just got to hope the rain holds off as the heavy stuff will be done on the road outside the house in full-on council style



Nearly there

[capri_rob]

Passenger side front


Drivers side front - previous owners bodgery




Drivers side under seat

Was hoping to get the rest of the bits off it and the shell collected today but got rained off