Newbie 325i Diamond Schwartz Tourer - New smoked lights!

[SamE30]

Hellooo

Been on here a while now researching whilst looking for my Virginal E30!


Went to look at a tourer last night that I had seen listed on Ebay.

Armed with a list of things to look out for, courtesy of some E30zone members the car myself and a mechanic friend of mine drove down to Crawley to have a look at the car.

Unfortunately was dark but we went to a forecourt for a better inspection...

Were pleasantly suprised by what we saw and despite this being the 1st one I have properly been to say I BOUGHT IT!

On the face of it the cars seems very clean and straight and appears to have had a cared for past.

Car is :-

1988
325i Touring
DiamondSchwartz
144,000miles

Options :-

All important LSD
Black comfort Leather
BBs aloys
Towbar

and it came with the origional options list from the dealer!

Came with plenty of receipts including a recent cambelt and some nice pictures of the car from way back in 1993!!

Curiously the car didnt come with electric windows in the back or front although does have an electric sunroof!?

The car also feature the nice little check panel up top but unfortunately not the computer...... I want to fit one though so if anyone has got one going let me know!

Love the way it drives... my first E30 and 1st BMW... pulls like a train and feels really tight and solid.

Anyway enough talking here are the pics.

Let me know what you think

Plus if you have any suggestions.

Will be wanting to lower the car at some point but nmothing too drastic.
Think im gonna paint grille black as well this arvo!



















The Car Way Back in 1993!!!!!!!!

[GDBN]

Looks lovely ...
I'm going to look at a lachs silver tourer fromm 88 on Saturday.

G

[delboy75]

nise one mate,i've got an is,but just bought a white tourer to play wiv,,,good shell,interior is bit of a mess.....

thats a real nice one you've got there

[SamE30]

Cheers

Got bored of just looking at it this afternoon so gave the grille a lick of paint.... seems a shame to do it to such an origional looking car but i think it looks a lot better!

[Cotty]

Looks really good.

I did the same thing and bought the first car I looked at. tourned out ok hope yours does as well

[zaust]

nice one fella...

[munky30]

lower it, smoke the front and back lights.. and indicators.. put it on some black wheels..

Oh hangon I'm talking about my car not yours.

Looks lovely.. I'm jealous, lower it.

[tristan325]

Looks really tidy, well done.

[Gortour]

Looks lovely. Well done mate.
Very surprised there's no elec windows, but apart from that, you have a very nice spec.
Welcome to E30 ownership.

[Morat]

Nice car, I'm jealous!
Also, you've answered my nagging question over whether I should have two smileys or two non-smileys on MY E reg touring, since I've got one of each at the moment

[SamE30]

Just ordered some clear indicators and am gonna attempt to DIY some smoked lights today!!

[oakey]

very clean looking tourer. one of the cleanest original examples ive seen

[Greeny]

That's certainly a clean looking car. Very nice. I'm thinking of gretting a tourer as an every day car so I can get the cabby fully sorted and keep the mileage down.

[Gouki]

seems a decent car from the pics, prefer the chrome grill!

[toby]

Nice one Sam looks like you chose well.

First thing to do is important. It's the rust trap on the tailgate.
The rear screen lower rubber has shrunk and will let water into the groove where it sits rotting the metal.
Check that there isn't rust in there already. If there is and it isn't too bad you can treat it. I had to replace the whole tailgate on mine.

Replace the strip under the rear screen with a new one from the dealer (£6ish) clean out the groove with some degreaser (watch the paintwork) and seal it the new strip with black mastic in a tube canister thing from a plumber's merchants. Do it now dude!

Check the whole car, especially the boot for leaks now. Sunroof drain pipes properly located (on the plastic outlet on the inside of the rear wings) and that the rear light seals are not letting in water etc. Also does the washer jet work or has the washer jet button become a stealth rust button?

[SamE30]

- Cheers Toby ... I noticed the gap in the seal the other day and i guessed thats where they rust from... will go down to dealers tommorow and pick up a new one! Cheers for the Pm as well!!

- Gouki - I might refer back to the chrome, depends what smoked lights + clear repeaters look like.


Spent the best part of the day having a go at DIY' ing some smoked headlights.....

Using the guide in the articles section I got cracking making a cross thingy for the full beam lights.... couldnt really find much around the house and eventually used a retro oil can I had on a shelf to cut the shapes out. Not ideal as is a bit flimsy but thought id see how it goes

Next was removing the headlights.... once out i decided that i wasnt going to keep the wipers as i dont know if they work ( never checked ) and are essentially a bit pointless, so unbolted the motors from the unit.

Got cracking with my mums hairdresser to start with to heat up the lights but wasnt getting hot enough..... found the hot air gun at the back of the shed and used that and eventually after about two hours of trying different things i got the lenses off and sprayed the bits etc..... unfortunately in the process i managed to melt & mash up the plastic surround that clips over the backing plate and lenses so I couldnt get the metal rings back on properly once I had done.

I also only stuck my cross thingy with a standard glue gun as did not have any high temp glue hopefully it will be ok ... will have to keep checking it I guess....

Bit of a bodge really .. not especially happy wioth how it went but results look OK... will have a go on the other one tommorow which should be easier as I know what im doing now........

Anyway enoough rabble here's some pics...



The oil can used to make the cross thingy



Tried the hairdryer....not succesful



Got it off eventually




Doesnt look too bad



SPOT THE DIFFERENCE!!!

[toby]

Looks alright. Get stuck in. Maybe new headlight surround rings needed now without the lugs for the wipers. Or just unscrew the lugs and repaint the rings. I used to like my headlight wash system but it packed up and I took it off and never repaired it.

[xaa954]

nice headlight project!

can you guide me where to get the pattern on how to make the "cross thingy" for the high beam?

been wanting to do this to my headlights as well!

any info would help!

thanks!

[Giggz]

BAM!!! Lovely clean tourer mate. Hope you get it looking and running just the way you want it. These cars are great fun.

[toby]

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... hhella.htm
in case you hadn't seen it, but still no pattern.

[SamE30]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/Hella.pdf

Here is the template I used

BAM!!! Lovely clean tourer mate. Hope you get it looking and running just the way you want it. These cars are great fun.

Cheers dude, theres a few niggling things that are annoying me.... sounds a bit tappety so am gonna do the valve clearances on the weekend.
Slight oil leak as well but have yet to discover where from and a few other bits.

To be honest im not going to piss about with it too much..... only doing the lights because I was bored.

a set of clears on the front and a subtle drop (maybe 40mm) and thats it for now.

[xaa954]

thanks toby, but I can't seem to access that page!

SamE30, thanks for the template! Just have a few more important things to do with the car then I can proceed with the headlight project! I'll post pics when I'm done!

By the way, can you post pics of your touring with both headlights smoked?

Maybe you'd also consider putting on a pair of eyebrows on your car...

Thanks again!

[toby]

xaa954 it's under the articles link above

[SamE30]

Smoked the other headlight unit today...

Was a lot easier and quicker doing the second one as I knew what I was doing.
Am pretty pleased with the results to be honest for a first effort.....


What you reckon?

[ollieVR]

yes sam, really liking the smoked look. Keeping everything dark and stealthy looking. Does this mean you'll be able to keep up with VR6's now?

[Gortour]

Those smoked lights look brilliant mate. Love it.
Have you taken the car out at night again yet? Does the smoking detract from the brightness of the headlights much, if at all?

[SamE30]

As far as im aware the lights are still 100% efficient.............. I am however pretty sure i have knocked the headlight alignment out slightly........ Anyone know how to check this?? drawing a cross on a wall in front of you is ringing a bell....cant think why though!!

[riklusby]

Lovely looking car m8, looks a damn site better than mine as i first bought it .........

Going to do the headlights on mine soon too !!

[aceraf]

Looking good... love the lights, and you've done a better job on the grill than i did

Car is looking very good with the stealth look....what's next???

[xstream]

will be doing mine very soon thanks for the guide

[SamE30]

Not sure whats next really, lowered the car last weekend on some -35mm springs...

Am planning to DIY red tint the rear lights later today or tommorow plus i still need to do the valve clearances and Top mounts at some point!

I dont know after that, am a bit skint but as with my last car the modifying bug has hit me.

To be honest i had always planned to keep it nice and origional looking..........Nice set of dished BBS or similar would still bein keeping though!