Greetings r3v! Here's my 325is
Just picked my first BMW, an ’89 325is 5-speed in Lachssilber metallic, and I’m pretty excited to get working on it. This will be my first real “project” car, something I can play with on weekends (my daily commuter is a Golf TDI). The car is all original, almost like a time-capsule from the 80’s. The guy who sold it to me was a BMW tech who bought it from a customer who had gotten too old to drive it. The car has around 250,000 miles, but mechanically it’s in pretty good shape. There’s a small leak in the water pump, so I’ll do that and the timing belt shortly. The shift linkage is a little shoddy, so I’ve ordered all the proper bushings as well as the Z3 1.9 short shifter kit from Blunttech.
The front is pretty clean aside from cracked fog light lenses. The BMW roundel emblems also need replacing, both front and back.
Passenger side. The fuel door doesn’t hold shut very well. Probably needs a new spring.
There’s a small bit of rust showing through on the bottom of the passenger door. I’m thinking a respray is in my future.
Now for the “problem-area” that really makes this a project. The car was rear-ended by a lowered Honda, which bent in the lower portion of the tail panel and cracked the bumper trim. The tailpipes held up pretty well considering they punctured the Honda’s radiator. I’ll take the bumper off and figure things out from there. I’ll probably need to cut off the damaged portion and weld in a new piece from a fresh tail panel, although I’m starting to wonder if I can just save myself the trouble and cover it up with a new rear valence. Hmm… doing it the right way or doing it the cheap way?
The rear impact also created a dimple in the drivers-side rear quarter panel. I’m hoping it can be pushed back out without much trouble.
The interior is pretty nice for its age. No cracks in the dash, electronics all work, no stains in the carpet. The front seats could use a little care, but I think they’re definitely salvageable. There are two tiny holes in the driver’s bolster that shouldn’t be too hard to patch. I’ve heard that Leatherique makes some good products to repair cracked and aging leather, so I’m going to look into that.
It’s a 2-door, so the back seats are predictably unused. I'll have to see if I can fix that. ;)
The car is apparently “loaded” with all the options, including the rearview mirror with map lights, which I was told is a coveted item.
Underneath, the cat and muffler were pretty much rusted through, so I’ve got replacements on the way (Cat from Bavauto, Stromung exhaust from Understeer). Otherwise, the underside looks good.
I’m realizing that winter is a horrible time to start a project in Chicago, but it’s too late to go back now. I can’t wait to get started.
The front is pretty clean aside from cracked fog light lenses. The BMW roundel emblems also need replacing, both front and back.
Passenger side. The fuel door doesn’t hold shut very well. Probably needs a new spring.
There’s a small bit of rust showing through on the bottom of the passenger door. I’m thinking a respray is in my future.
Now for the “problem-area” that really makes this a project. The car was rear-ended by a lowered Honda, which bent in the lower portion of the tail panel and cracked the bumper trim. The tailpipes held up pretty well considering they punctured the Honda’s radiator. I’ll take the bumper off and figure things out from there. I’ll probably need to cut off the damaged portion and weld in a new piece from a fresh tail panel, although I’m starting to wonder if I can just save myself the trouble and cover it up with a new rear valence. Hmm… doing it the right way or doing it the cheap way?
The rear impact also created a dimple in the drivers-side rear quarter panel. I’m hoping it can be pushed back out without much trouble.
The interior is pretty nice for its age. No cracks in the dash, electronics all work, no stains in the carpet. The front seats could use a little care, but I think they’re definitely salvageable. There are two tiny holes in the driver’s bolster that shouldn’t be too hard to patch. I’ve heard that Leatherique makes some good products to repair cracked and aging leather, so I’m going to look into that.
It’s a 2-door, so the back seats are predictably unused. I'll have to see if I can fix that. ;)
The car is apparently “loaded” with all the options, including the rearview mirror with map lights, which I was told is a coveted item.
Underneath, the cat and muffler were pretty much rusted through, so I’ve got replacements on the way (Cat from Bavauto, Stromung exhaust from Understeer). Otherwise, the underside looks good.
I’m realizing that winter is a horrible time to start a project in Chicago, but it’s too late to go back now. I can’t wait to get started.
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