The 5 Year Restoration - E30 M3 Reborn

[CurrusDei]

Two Years In... M3 Build Thread...Now in Paint!

This just in from the body shop....










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[CurrusDei]

Read back a few posts and the link is there


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[thmpr464]

Where did you get the decals/stickers from? I plan to restore my M3 in a few years and it will be fully torn apart.

[CurrusDei]

If you aren't in a hurry, have the space, and want it to be perfect - dismantling is the way to go. If I do other cars in the future that need paint - they're coming apart. I've cleaned enough overspray off wires and other parts here to never want to respray a car with components onboard.

There was a point where I went from rolling restoration to total tear down-having all the components out and on the work bench makes such a difference in working on them. Take the wiring for instance. I can unwrap, clean, then rewrap all wires easily-which would be an impossible task with them running all through the car.


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[SteveJ]

I just wish you were a ~little~ further along.......so I could ask you if one detail or another was "worth it"........before I undertake the same detail on my car.

At least you found the bottom of the slippery slope for dismantling the body for paint. EVERYTHING came out. I'm sort of digging in my heels before that point. Trying to justify it.

[CurrusDei]

You think you guys are blue. I drive past the body shop every day on my way to/from work. Getting steady updates as well. I'm learning that paint work is all about the foreplay and then the final act happens quickly.

Trim and accessories are primed - moving on to prepping and priming the engine bay and the trunk (i got a bit aggressive with the cleaning and some of the paint came off in the spare tire well - getting that resolved.

[bradnic]

The buildup in this thread for paint has my balls blue.

X1000000000 lol. Lots of suffering balls out there haha

Solder and heat shrink is the way to go!
Two things to watch- stagger those cuts so when you re-wrap there is less of a bulge in the harness.
Also, be mindful of where the splices are in relation to turns and bends in the harness. The solder will wick a bit causing a stiff spot in the wire.

Excellent advice here

[jhaurimn]

The buildup in this thread for paint has my balls blue.

[SteveJ]

Solder and heat shrink is the way to go!
Two things to watch- stagger those cuts so when you re-wrap there is less of a bulge in the harness.
Also, be mindful of where the splices are in relation to turns and bends in the harness. The solder will wick a bit causing a stiff spot in the wire.

[CurrusDei]

Two Years In... M3 Build Thread...Now in Paint!

Haha! I put a red LED in the old one. Pretty easy. I thought about trying to incorporate a laser pointer into it-would be sweet at meetings, etc. but I don't think I'll be carrying this key on a regular basis.

The wiring harness is still coming along.

Reattached the trunk open/close sensor. P.O.'s fix didn't hold up- wonder why??



Yeh just strip and twist at different lengths then tape it all together. What could go wrong?

Now, my turn...







This high temp heat shrink is excellent stuff. I like solder and shrink with this even better than the heat shrink crimps I used on my stereo.


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[SteveJ]

Insane! Such a good build and recorded nicely! Wish I had done the same for my car... - Phil

I plan on just photoshopping all the pics to my car color and VIN. Nobody will be the wiser.

Gotta love that '80s technology on that "hi tech " key light option. But hey, that's what we did in he days of phonograph records and before LED technology.

[greyis89]

Insane! Such a good build and recorded nicely! Wish I had done the same for my car with swap and turbo build, oh well :/

You said it was going to be a long read the other day at the shop, so I've been catching up slowly in between calls and stuff the past couple of days haha! Can't wait to see this done, and I'm sure the project has been fun. Glad to have been able to help just in the little ways with some parts :)

When it's done, mandatory photos at the new MMW shop! - Phil

[CurrusDei]

Thanks Steve! I love the Henna. Great color. If I did another one I'd love a Henna.

Electrical system is coming along. In the meantime I'm gathering suspension and other components. It's annoying that the front OEM shock inserts are NLA. Might see if mine are ok to keep using (I have new rears already)...

Anyways here's a fun minor mod in keeping with my focus on details.

The key.



It's ok as keys go, but I felt it was a little dull for such a great car. OEM parts fortunately have a nice solution.

I had to buy two key light inserts...





But on the other side they look like this...




To pieces...




And back together, merging the cool sides into one





I'll get a new key cut eventually. This guys just going to be sitting on a shelf for a while anyways. But I'm very happy with the look.


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[SteveJ]

Twin sons of different mothers

I've been off the boards for a couple of years since my jobs changed, but I just stumbled upon your thread.

First off, I am impressed with what you have attempted. You should have a lot of pride in your abilities (and your skills in documenting this).

Second, thank you for the detailed documentation. I have been on the fence about how far down to gut the car prior to paint. Since reading here, I do think a dash and heater box pull is on the menu.

I'm doing about the same things to my M3 but on the West coast, and over the span of...oh...a decade or so. Then again, I bought my Henna red car in 1990 with only 28k on the clock. I then racked up 200k more VERY fun miles. (Smiles during a commute? Yes, in an M3.) It's been paid for for many years and I have been amassing parts for an eventual rebuild.

I didn't photo document as well as you, however I did tag, bag, & label the Sheet out of all the parts I removed from the car. It's funny, you call it a rabbit hole you keep going deeper into. I call it a slippery slope, and I'm wearing teflon shorts, and my friends keep spraying it down with silicone lube. When the hell am I going to hit bottom?

My updates/recent progress:
The seats are finally at the trimmer having the new leather kit installed. BMW sure does use some abrasive leather. Part of my deal was the seats had to be comfy for my wife. It might not be totally original, but Nappa leather sure feels A LOT better.

The 5 wheels came back from the wheel shop. Powder coat in a -correct- Wurth-looking silver. I disassembled the center caps and had the metal portion done at the same time so they would all match. The plastic center was lightly sanded and sprayed w/ Wurth silver and clear. New roundel stickers added another ring to the tree that are the center caps.

Valve cover and intake are back from powder coat. Black krinkle is -slightly- more coarse than the original, but it looks WAY better than the peeling, discolored mess it was before. I don't think I will polish the lettering at all. It cleaned up from the bead blasting and looks good. I think the polished letters would just be too much flash when I am going for a bone-stock look.

The big problem is what stopped me dead in my tracks a few years ago. The heater core or the cowl leaked and ended up pooling in the passenger footwell. As I pulled the heatsheild/insulation from underneath, I could see the carpet up above. There was no metal floor...at least at that spot. Strip everything out, wire wheel the area, and have a 9 inch by 3 inch highway speed inspection hole. Or Flintstone brakes, if you will. I have a clean donor panel out of a surprisingly clean e30 cabrio. Hopefully,someone with more skill than I can fix this...correctly.

Thanks again for the great thread. I'll be re-reading and amassing more parts now.

[CurrusDei]

More from the body shop...






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