Back in an e30 after 10 years - 318is

[mike.bmw]

Looking GREAT! Long live the 318is.

[2mAn]

Looks good! How long did paint take/ was it expensive? I hate dealing with cosmetics and having fresh paint is always something I have heard was a nightmare

[MrBurgundy]

Damn that turned out well. Painting the iS lip is ballzy

[Il Duce]

Looking GREAT! Long live the 318is.

Thank you! I'm a big fan of your white car. (and the rest of your fleet too haha)

Looks good! How long did paint take/ was it expensive? I hate dealing with cosmetics and having fresh paint is always something I have heard was a nightmare

It took 2 weeks and was just shy of $2k. I shared this on reddit too, but believe it or not it was a Maaco. I was skeptical initially but a buddy had a car done there, and they literally had pictures of e30s they'd painted in their office. I went in to see how much it'd be to just paint the front end... ended up being cheaper to just paint the entire car because they were running a promo. Thought about it for a few weeks and pulled the trigger. At the end of the day the car is a driver and I know it'd take an insane amount of work/money to get "perfect" and that's not what I'm after. I just wanted it to look as good as it drives after all the maintenance/repairs I've done. Feels good man.

Damn that turned out well. Painting the iS lip is ballzy

Yeah lol. I've always wanted a color matched iS lip and it was included in the price anyway. It's not an OEM lip - I couldn't justify $700 or whatever the hell those things cost now. It's one of those eBay knockoffs but I can't complain about the fitment for the $60 or whatever it was 4 years ago.

[Northern]

$2k is wild for that outcome

[Il Duce]

$2k is wild for that outcome

It's far from perfect, but I'm very happy overall. There's a 4 year warranty on the paint and they messed up a little part on the front fender. The paint has to dry for a month or so but they're going to fix it.

[Northern]

Even better then if it has warranty. Sounds like a steal for how it looks in the pics.

[Il Duce]

I finally got my coilovers dialed in, really happy with how it looks and drives now. I was on tired old H&R springs and godknowshowold shocks. I'm lucky to have some pretty great roads by me, but I still installed a skid plate just in case. Next up on the list is a quicker steering rack and a few minor cosmetic things.









Also adjusted my hood because it was always a little off and bugged the crap outta me:




Long live e30s.

[ehrawn]

I finally got my coilovers dialed in

which dampers are you using with your coilovers?

[2mAn]

...but have you swapped out the M42 yet...?

[MrBurgundy]

looks really good and glad to see the painted lip is still... painted

Imagine if those dirty germans gave us early rear wheel arches on late models

mfers

I added some rake to mine to cope

[Il Duce]

which dampers are you using with your coilovers?

The shortened Koni Sports Low from GC: 8641-1198 with GC camber plates. The struts I had sent up to GC for them to shorten 1.5", weld and sandblast.

...but have you swapped out the M42 yet...?

REEEEEE. I really hope the new version of Leno's law passes but I'm not optimistic and not even sure if it applies to me/us at all. I do love the M42 (thanks for the new flair lol) but making power with it in CA doesn't make sense and having a "smog guy" these days is increasingly rare. DASC is bucket list stuff - ITBs are delicious but expensive and finicky - that or just going B48 someday... for now I'll just keep getting gapped by minivans left and right in the straights.

looks really good and glad to see the painted lip is still... painted

Imagine if those dirty germans gave us early rear wheel arches on late models

mfers

I added some rake to mine to cope

Thanks man! Amen on the late model arches. Early models sit so damn nice.