The 5 Year Restoration - E30 M3 Reborn

[BMG]

No problem! are you going to make them? Looks like it shouldnt be too hard - get the right weld stud, make the cut out, weld, shape, plate.

Will give it a go at some point. Have about 20 items in various states of repair awaiting bits etc at the moment.

[CurrusDei]

Many thanks for taking the time to do a detailed drawing of this. :coolphoto:

No problem! are you going to make them? Looks like it shouldnt be too hard - get the right weld stud, make the cut out, weld, shape, plate.

[BMG]

Here you go BMG:

Many thanks for taking the time to do a detailed drawing of this. :coolphoto:

[CurrusDei]

The seats were done by Marietta Auto Trim - they are very far from glossy. Actually contrasts significantly with the door cards.

[M-technik-3]

Who did the seats? They came out very nice, hope they are not to shiny. This was a serious update.

[MukeM3]

Interesting note, my old pedal was weighted, the new one is not. I put on the non-weighted one first, but may swap back to the weighted version.

What was PN for the new pedal? Looks like it 35411156488. Then you get non-weighted 70gr pedal. If you order PN 35412226345, you get 514gr pedal, which is weighted.

I really enjoy seeing this project. This is so astonishing.

[CurrusDei]

Here you go BMG:

Could I ask a cheeky favour the next time you are out in the garage working on your car ?
I'm missing the parts that hold the front bumper indicators ( the ones above the spot lights ) and they are unavailable to buy. I also have my bumper away from home in long term storage during the restoration, so not able to try and mock anything up.
The ETK shows what I guess is a stud on a square plate which slots into the bumper and which the indicator in mounted on 2 rubber mounts.
Next time you are working on the bumper, is it possible you could take measurements of the part and post them here so I can fab something up ?

Sure. Happy to. I'm actually missing one (P.O. had it held in with a regular bolt and stack of washers. My plan was to check local pull-a-part yards on regular E30s as i believe some of them use this part as well. Funny enough - actually have a picture of the part on my desktop...

[CurrusDei]

Epic. Also love how much detail went into the front bumper pieces for airflow and what not. That's all from the Evo stuff?

Yeh all the holes are for evo stuff. The duct that routes air to the oil cooler and the rear-most cover are standard M3 parts.

[jhaurimn]

Seats look great.

[ZekeTheSneak]

Epic. Also love how much detail went into the front bumper pieces for airflow and what not. That's all from the Evo stuff?

[0-60Motorsports]

Loving the attention to details as always.

[CurrusDei]

Hey guys,

Been a while, so here are some new updates. Some little, some big.

Windshield wiper linkage in








Sunroof in – will have to adjust the upholstery panel when I get the electrics powered up









Motor in



Receiver Drier in





Evo air venturi in place







Fuel Injection System Pressure Sensor



Any good ideas on how to re-blacken these? Tried back to black, didn’t work. Whenever I scratch it with my fingernail, it shows black underneath – but that’s not going to get me a uniform texture. Might try some other chemicals on the back. Recommendations welcome.



New wiper nozzle setup. The old lines were brown.



New components vs old. I ended up cleaning up the old elbows (black plastic bits) and reusing them because the old ones were built better and had the BMW roundel on them.



New



In



Hood insulation clean up. I used Folex and shop towels. Gentle dabbing instead of hard scrubbing to minimize the fibers that get loosened and then hair clippers to get rid of the loose fibers that were already there.





How I ran and secured the lines





Replaced busted washer fluid pump connector








New reading lights, handles cleaned up



Got a Bentley manual. Things got a bit more complex between 89 and 07.



Fuel system – filler neck, expansion tank, and breather lines
Old



New vent hose compared to old. Old had dry rot.



New on. Reused the OEM clamps.



Cleaned up the small expansion tank hoses, were in great shape



Did use new hose segments on the ends of the small vent lines and on the top line that goes from the expansion tank to the vent line







Need a few more lines, but the fuel tank has been fully cleaned and painted.



Tired gas pedal bushings, your relief has arrived





Interesting note, my old pedal was weighted, the new one is not. I put on the non-weighted one first, but may swap back to the weighted version.



Two more bushings and one clip. I used my version





Cruise control module back in





Mirrors back on – cleaned up the rubber significantly {all old overspray off, reconditioned the rubber}



Power Steering reservoir mount on



Excited about this one. Heater core and actuator – both from FCP Euro (lifetime warranty)







Insulation on, new actuator



I used this for O-ring lubricant instead of engine oil. Went on well.



All together







Wires set – had to remember where the grey fuse holder went (top of center in pic)



In (had to take the assembly above apart and reassemble in place)





This one was exciting, and nerve wracking, and tedious
Evo 3 Undertray - OEM



Lotsa hardware



Rivets hold on the plastic cover



Tow hook covers on. My old bumper didn’t have the black vent that is in the foreground here – it routes air to the oil cooler. Had to find some plastic rivets to get it in snug, but they worked perfectly. Also have the brake vents installed here









Taped off the areas where I needed to drill. Painters tape helps prevent paint splintering. More on that later




I tried drilling a few holes at the tape locations, but found for me it was best to drill with the undertray in place to ensure fit.



Push rivets hold ion the outside, but I didn’t insert them yet fully. Going to get a protective film on it first.



Good news though, time to drill yet more holes





And more holes – I had to drill into the bumper for the screws going to the cage nuts. AAAND had to tape off for the holes to be drilled for the lip spoiler.





All told, I had to drill 46 holes in my new, freshly painted bumper. Like I said, nerve wracking. The metric drill bits I bought got were great, and definitely broken in by that point.







And then, I put 3 coats of touch-up paint in each of those 46 holes to prevent moisture getting under the paint,




Then the splitter can go in






Then the standard splash guard hooks into the combined unit








Finally. The seats are back. New foam inserts, new leather (not vinyl) covers from GAHH. More pics to come later, but wow. I could never have restored them to this.

[bradnic]

Beyond amazing.
On the black trim on the doors under the windows, you painted, do you think your process would work on chrome? I want my chrome trim on my cabrio black and many parts are NLE it is 70+ per strip, over 700 for all of it.

If I were painting chrome i would make sure to sand very well, use a good primer, and use multiple light coats. No reason I would think for it not to work, but do at your own risk. Find a bad piece of chrome to try first.

Exactly what I did on my vert. link in sig for pics

Just finished prepping the 6 trim pieces I didn't buy in shadowline. After about 6 tries they're just about perfect now :-) also painting the front door window trim and leading edge of the quarter window. Using SEM 39143 Trim Black, which is great stuff but getting everything prepped and painted has taken close to 8 hours. Pics up tomorrow along with a test mount of the painted bumpers.

[IronJoe]

I do have the rubber gaskets. those are still available. I may have to mock something up, but I would much prefer the original thing. I'll have to look around a bit.

Let me know if you find anything. I'd sure like to have originals too. According to RealOEM it looks like they were an M3 only part.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partxref?id=1003-USA-05-1987-E30-BMW-M3&mg=63&sg=10&diagId=63_0157&q=51111932758&series=E30

[parkerbink]

Thanks!