Been lurking for a while so thought it about time I did a bit of a write up on the e30 project I’ve been working on over the winter months.
Purchased the car about 18 months ago for my father....a lifelong BMW nut like me! (he’d got a bit of bad news on the health front so wanted to get him something to take his mind off things a little!)
Here’s basically how it looked shortly after picking it up after a good clean...54k miles, full history file from new etc etc. Appreciate Baurs seem to be a bit of a ”˜Marmite E30’ but I love em which is all that matters I suppose!
The car started life in South Africa as an Ice White 1986 325i Baur (however, officially not called Baurs in SA hence the lack of badges on the door posts ”“ I’m told something to do with Baur shipping body shells direct to the SA factory for assembly there?)
Spec from factory as follows ”“
Ӣ Factory fit Tech 1 kit (with heck spoiler)
Ӣ Bottle tops
Ӣ Air-con
Ӣ LSD
Ӣ Tech 1 steering wheel
Ӣ Indigo blue comfort leather
Ӣ 6 button OBC
Ӣ Sport suspension
Ӣ Sump guard
Ӣ Larger tool kit in boot
The old man used it as his daily up until August this year only covering a few thousand miles. During the time he had it we did a fair few small jobs ”“ brakes lines, new shocks and springs, a set of 15”a BBS, timing belt & water-pump, most of the suspension bushings, new screen etc etc. He then decided he wanted something a little more modern again at which point I decided to take it off his hands.
I took the car over in August last year and toyed with the idea of selling it but quickly realised it was worth feck all in the current market/current condition so I decided (knowing it was essentially a solid/good example) I was going to keep it and get it into the sort of condition I wanted it in! I have access to a great mechanic/bodyshop here in Dublin who agreed to let me work on the car at the weekends/evenings with a view to getting it to a point where he could take over for the bodywork it needed (at the same time at keeping costs down). Here's a few pics the day I drove it up to the bodyshop ”“
The stripping began over the next few weeks and revealed a bit of the usual 26 year old 'e30 brown nastiness’ I'd already decided that the only part of the tech 1 kit I was keep was the front spoiler. IMHO body kits look naff on anything other than proper sport...
Here’s how it stacked up ”“ the passenger wing was completely gone at the bottom behind the side-skirt, drivers sill was, as expected, a little crusty behind the sill (but not too bad). Floor pan behind the accelerator pedal was, let’s just say....assisting the air-con a little! The front panel was gone at the drivers side, drivers door rusting from the inside....so that, thankfully, was about the extent of the bad news ”“ which, in fairness, I was fully expecting. Good news was that ”“ all inner arches, rear wings, passenger floor, boot pockets, scuttle, bulk-head were all good.
Here’s a few more pics as the work began on the sills, floor etc...
PICS aren’t great but here hopefully you can see the job done on the sills ”“ just freshly stone-chipped -
The bonnet, boot lid, doors (driver’s new), replacement genuine wings, replacement genuine front panel, and tech 1 spoiler freshly coated in original BMW (SA) Ice White -
The engine bay prepped and primed ”“
Wheels stripped and refurbed -
Some of the new/refurbed bits I bought ”“
Arch liners ”“
Smiley headlights ”“
Freshly (and properly re-trimmed) Indigo blue sports leather (bought from a zoner)
BTB2 manifold with full Magnex SS system (bought from a zoner...my Xmas pressie to myself!)
Various Refurbed/replacement trim pieces ”“
Masked up and sprayed just out of the oven!
Who's the gimp!
car.
That said, I agreed a price with my body shop for all the work so it's not like I'm paying him extra if it takes a little more time to reassemble. Also, I know all his work is 100% so if he chips paint etc he'll fix it, he'll even be painting the wing bolts etc freshly to make sure everything is tip top!
it wekk be updated with info and suggestions then we'll finalise the date and location as soon as we nail it down, hope to have a great show this year to celebrate 30yrs of the E30 
