My 320i..

[Z3I]

That alternator looks nice and shiny! Where did you get it from, and how much?

[Mitchen]

That alternator looks nice and shiny! Where did you get it from, and how much?

Euros.. haggled them down to £200.. with a £84 refund when you give them back you're old busted one

[Z3I]

That alternator looks nice and shiny! Where did you get it from, and how much?

Euros.. haggled them down to £200.. with a £84 refund when you give them back you're old busted one

I checked Euro earlier, they were £206 with the old unit, but their photo didn't show a Bosch although it says Bosch on the banner. And it also says reconditioned, yours looks brand spanking new?

[Mitchen]

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_3 ... fa6&000012

Reconditioned will essentially mean brand new.. it would have been completely refurbed by Bosch and most parts replaced etc.

I had to pick it up from the store, didn't have time to wait for delivery. I phoned them, checked availability, asked if they would honour my voucher codes etc. he asked me how much it was with discounts on the website and didn't seem to have time to double check I wasn't lying.. So I embellished the truth somewhat.

[BenHar]

£157 from CP4LESS

http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4l/c/B ... b97&000012

Ben

[jimbom30cab]

Good update and nice work.

Let me know when you plan to get the sunroof cables done, i need mine doing also and you never know we may get a good deal with two jobs ??

Cheers

[Mitchen]

£157 from CP4LESS

http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4l/c/B ... b97&000012

Ben

Yeah but check how much the surcharge is on top of that.. works out the same if not more.

Good update and nice work.

Let me know when you plan to get the sunroof cables done, i need mine doing also and you never know we may get a good deal with two jobs ??

Cheers

Good shout jim I'll keep you posted.

[BenHar]

£157 from CP4LESS

Yeah but check how much the surcharge is on top of that.. works out the same if not more.

Ah, sorry, I thought you meant £200 plus the surcharge.

Ben

[jimbom30cab]

Still my favouite zone car. Wish there were more updates, can’t get enough !!

[Mitchen]

Still my favouite zone car. Wish there were more updates, can’t get enough !!

Thanks Jim.. Just saw this. Don't worry more updates are round the corner

[bss325i]

Why have you bought a riffle but?

[ElReyes]

Respect.

[steve_k]

Why have you bought a riffle but?

he might have the rest of it & be getting ready to "go postal"

[Mr-Lachs]

Your car is absolutely stunning, just delectable Nicely done.

[Mitchen]

Ok so I've done so much since my last post and haven't been taking many photos, so this is going to be a bit of struggle to cover everything, but I'll give it a crack!

I've been having water ingress issues in my boot since I've owned the car.. during a water test copious amounts of rot were found on the rear panel, near the lock mechanism and around the top of the panel. I could have cut and weld patches, but I've never been one to do things half hearted!

Got a new panel from BMW for a couple of hundred pounds and off to the body shop it went.. where it then stayed for what seemed to be months and months.. partly because body shops are mostly owned by cunts who don't understand the concept of customer service.

I digress, it finally came back and looked like this












I was reasonably happy with the results..

Anyway back to the water ingress.. Turns out the main culprit for my drivers side discharge was this little bad boy being all torn up..








This is on the petrol flap area and is basically what holds the actuator rod in place. It's an absolute bastard to line up, and believe it or not these little grommets cost £50, and I believe are on back order now.

I continued to accumulate parts, to the extent where I was pretty much waking up to a brake servo in my face. Here's a snap of when i was just starting with my collection. It got a hell of a lot worse.



Finally decided not be a pauper harassing Pacer for an under dash panel, and got a new one..



I also found my grail period speakers!






..and one of the rarest of E30 antiquities.



Then with more money than sense. I decided to tackle the intake system with an overhaul.. A brand new AFM, idle control value, a blasted throttle body, and repainted airbox.









More blasted parts



I then had an immense day on Sunday, of replacing the sunroof tray from Jim.. although it wasn't a new one, I will be looking to replace with new one day in the future.. Also managed to diagnose my noisy non working sunroof mechanism with a busted relay.. which i fitted today.

We then started my front end rebuild with one of Magpies northern subframes, new control arms (which i painted as they only come supplied with primer on them), and new control arm bushes.





I've got loads more parts to fit and things to do.. but I think I'm all E30'd out for now, it's been a long winter and I just wanna enjoy the ol' git for now.

[viz007]

Looks fantastic. Loving the speakers

[Mitchen]

Looks fantastic. Loving the speakers

Thanks mate, they were an extremely hard find.

[bss325i]

Who painted those arms.....?

[Mitchen]

Who painted those arms.....?

I supervised. Same thing

[rix313]

So satisfying having all those new and reconditioned bits to fit

[Mitchen]

It is! Just done a bit more work. But as always there's more to be done!

[DanThe]

Epic update even though I missed it first time round, those speakers are perverse!!!!

Love the replica M3 wishbones

[bss325i]

Love the replica M3 wishbones

They were in grey primer (before satin black paint) in that pic, not painted silver.

[Mitchen]

The longest winter ever! Roll on the sunny days!!

[jimbom30cab]

I was thinking the same mate....

Any updates on your car ??

Post some pics anyway, give us something nice to look at.

[Mitchen]

I was thinking the same mate....

Any updates on your car ??

Post some pics anyway, give us something nice to look at.

It's been locked away for what seems like an eternity!.. (since last October).

Don't worry I'll innundate you come April

[StuB]

Wow! Just read the whole thread, some serious attention to detail. Lovely car and an inspiration to get on with mine!

[Mitchen]

Wow! Just read the whole thread, some serious attention to detail. Lovely car and an inspiration to get on with mine!

Thanks dude

[Mitchen]

I've not updated this thread in a couple of years.. but seeing as the sites had a bit of a revival, I thought I'd give my build thread one as well... Not too much has happened, but I'll run through what I have done.

About a year or so ago, I woke up one morning and with the glimmer of the sun, I noticed an abnormality with the bonnet.. when I got closer I realised it was a rust bubble

So queue a new bonnet.. with the standard damage that seems to come with original panels from BMW these days.

This was painted and as always I replaced the associated parts that came with the job.

[Mitchen]

I then decided to do the North Coast Route 500 tour through Scotland.. so knew I had to get a few things done before I set off, starting with some fresh rubber.

The lads down at BMR performance then carried out some service work, along with some new shiny bits... so I ended up like this and ready to go..

The trip was well worth it, the car didn't miss a beat, travelling hundreds upon hundreds of miles all the way from London up to John O'Groats, and back. The scenery was breathtaking and the Highland roads were perfect for E30's.

[Mitchen]

The car has then been in storage since September in a place that doubles as a body shop.. so this past week they've finally found the time to deal with the OS scuttle panel bubbles that have been annoying me for a year or so.

And that's your lot until probably May, when I'll take it out and start using it again!!

[Foe]

Nice

[Mitchen]

So I haven’t been on here for a few years.. and I hadn’t even seen my E30 since 2019 as it’s been in storage but I thought it was time to enjoy it this summer and also give it a bit of a birthday.

I paid my astronomical storage bill and got it MOT’d. Passed with no advisories

I had a good look around the car. As it’s forecast to rain for the next few weeks I put it back in storage again.. and I’m planning to do a load of work when we actually get a run of nice weather.

In the mean time I ordered a new front valance from BMW and got it bag sealed. It’s about to be painted. I’ll be fitting that with a view to a full front end refresh. I’ll try and document as much as poss..

[steve_k]

nice to see you back buddy, looking forward to some uodates.

[rix313]

Great to see you still have the car. Really enjoyed catching up and realising how much was still available in 2016 from BMW.

This cracked me up

Got a new panel from BMW for a couple of hundred pounds and off to the body shop it went.. where it then stayed for what seemed to be months and months.. partly because body shops are mostly owned by cunts who don't understand the concept of customer service.