My Grey Athletic Shoe | 1989 320i Touring

[Sledgehammer_01]

Thanks for checking out my e30 Touring project!

Here's what it looked like when I bought it on 8/17/2022, dusty and undriven for 6 years:


This is what it looks like now, Fall 2022:



My E30 story began when I bought my high school buddy's 1985 eta with an 885 head (we called the car the Golden Girl), the plan was to slap a turbo on, restore the paint and transform her into an overall bad machine. However, fate chose to pen the next chapter in the story of the golden girl's life, and on August 17th 2022, only five days after getting it back from the shop for a new clutch n stuff we found ourselves in the middle of an unfortunate pile-up on the interstate. RIP


I was devastated, and since I was in the middle of a divorce at the time I knew that for my own sanity I needed a replacement asap. So I made the seemingly rash decision to buy my other high school friend's e30 touring that afternoon! I call her my Grey Athletic Shoe hailing all the way from Germany.

[Northern]

hahaha I love your take on the "hood corner pose"

[2mAn]

That’s the way to bounce back

[Sledgehammer_01]

So I need to update the thread to list the modifications that were done to this car prior to my purchase:

• Engine
  • S52B32
  • Turner Stage 4 Performance Package
    • aFe Euro Cold Air Intake (oiled cotton filter, heat shield, and intake tube)
    • 24lb fuel injectors
    • M50 manifold adapter kit & Manifold
    • Schrick performance camshafts (264/256)
    • TMS Shorty headers
    • TMS Shark Injector performance software
    • Corsa Exhaust
    • The info I find says it's reprogrammed to rev to 7k but mine hits a fuel cut at 8k rpm
    • UUC Engine Skid Plate
• Transmission
  • Z3M ZF 5 Speed
• Rear Diff
  • Limited Slip 4.xx:1 (the ratio is stupidly low, 5th gear at 80mph holds like 4,100rpm)
• Suspension
  • Ground Control E36 on E30 5 Lug Swap Kit
  • Koni Adjustable Race Struts
  • Ground Control Race Caster/Camber Plates
  • UCC Strut Tower Brace
• Electronics
  • Bi-Xeon Headlights with 3d printed housings. Not sure by whom but they are NICE
  • Z3M Gauge Cluster

[Sledgehammer_01]

Got around to installing my stereo.

• Head Unit: Alpine UTE-73BT
• Amplifier: MB Quart NA2-320.4
• Speakers:
  • Tweeters: Dayton Audio ND25FN-4 1" Silk Dome Neodymium with 13 µF Capacitor as a 1st order High Pass Filter
  • Mids: Good ol' factory BMW premiums but plan to upgrade in the future
    • Had to rewire the front speakers as the touring had the grounds shared for the left front & rear and also for the right front and rear. So I ran a new pair of +&- to both front speakers and used the factory wiring for the rear speakers. That way each channel can be tuned individually and correctly
  • Subwoofer: Rockville RWS10CA Slim 1000 Watt 10" Self Powered

I'm really happy with it now, it sounds great, I'm always blown away at what a cheap sub can do for a factory stereo system.


Also printed & installed the cargo cover mounting brackets, yea they are purple right now, but I just wanted to see if they worked before changing the filament in the 3D printer. The file for the brackets can be found here: Touring Dog Net Blind Bracket Holder for BMW vehicles

[Sledgehammer_01]

On order / up next:

• DONE - Cruise Control retrofit: Universal Cruise Control using the factory control stalk
• DONE - BMW ///M logo puddle light retrofit
• Replace Front Koni Shocks
• DONE - Custom proximity keyless entry & lock

Further out on the horizon (spring 2023) is all of the bodywork, I've got a buddy's shop on board to do the rust repair & mitigation, PDR, repair the rear passenger quarter panel, prep, and respray the entire car. I decided against wrapping the car, just figured I should bite the bullet and do it right the first time.

[DEV0 E30]

Great stuff.

On order / up next:
Further out on the horizon (spring 2023) is all of the bodywork, I've got a buddy's shop on board to do the rust repair & mitigation, PDR, repair the rear passenger quarter panel, prep, and respray the entire car. I decided against wrapping the car, just figured I should bite the bullet and do it right the first time.

You made the right choice. My daily luxobarge is wrapped, but it was never a forever solution, and it's a truck. It helps prevent the peeling clearcoat underneath, and it can get scratched and I don't care, but a paintjob will replace the wrap at some point. E30s deserve a quality paintjob. Then maybe PPF afterwards to protect it.

[Sledgehammer_01]

Thanks bud I agree the E30 needs A+ paint.

I stopped at a body/paint shop that is next door to my buddy's import auto shop and talked through my plans with them. They can do everything inhouse so it's a one-stop shop; all the rust repair (including the hatch), PDR, panel repair (from where it got swiped in a grocery store parking lot), paint prep, high-quality layers of color, and many high-quality layers of clear. I'm going to de-trim the car to save them some time. All in I'm expecting it to be between 5-7k based on what they were saying.

As far as the color goes I want to stick with or as close to the stock metallic gray as possible, I might try to go a bit towards Audi's Tornado Gray. It's very close to the sterling silver metallic BMW color, the Audi gray is just a bit more modern looking and should blend well into the jambs and engine bay.

Last night I installed the RFID module for my proximity unlock/lock project.

Here is a basic EWD of how the system will work.

[Sledgehammer_01]

Well, the keyless entry and locking system is in and working.

and here's a couple of videos of it in action
https://youtube.com/shorts/dUBDhrDcU4I?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/8eH8W3yS6nc?feature=share

[Sledgehammer_01]

Some follow-up on the keyless entry & locking, it's so simple you could probably do this on most cars. And the RFID module can be used for so many things.

Links to what I used to make the keyless entry:
$27 | RFID Relay
$16 | 2 Channel Time Delay Relay Module
$11 | Small Project box (to house the 2-channel module)
$6 | SPDT (single pole double throw) 12v relay - I used a mini SRD-12VDC-SL-C because I had it sitting around, but you could use any common automotive 5 pin relay.


And here's the EWD:

[Sledgehammer_01]

Made it to the last cars and coffee this last Sunday and saw a perfect E9.

[Sledgehammer_01]

Was never a big fan of the Mtech 1, the 380mm diameter made it like feel like driving a bus. So here's my new Momo.

[Sledgehammer_01]

Tonight I installed the puddle lights and red LED interior door handle accents (took the idea from my audi). The puddle lights were actually pretty easy, they install inside the door all you have to do is knock out a plastic drain plug and voila you have the perfect-sized hole for the puddle light. My cell phone doesn't do it justice and Im too wiped out to break out the DSLR so this is the best I could do.


Also got the Rostra cruise control installed using a factory stalk.

[Sledgehammer_01]

Some more photos of the puddle light install. And my custom german license plate R 28J89H (Regensburg, 28/jan/1989 historic) basically it's the city the car was built in and its birthdate.

[IncogutheIII]

Amazing Lachsilber Touring! Very jealous of the rear netting haha