Bay Area E30S52: No More Slush Box + More Horsepower

[StereoInstaller1]

Just make inserts, like I did for this E34:

[bernzpeed]

Luke, that's exactly I was thinking of doing. I want vinyl on the outside and suede on the inner.

I have tan interior and I want to change that to all black.

[bernzpeed]

how'd u install the studs and more importantly, what kind of studs are those?

[StereoInstaller1]

The studs are normal cheap hardware store bevel head screws, JB welded (carefully) in place, then spot-puttied and sanded smooth.

Material is 1/8" Masonite (tempered hardboard) and wrapped with whatever your seats are covered in (likely available at your local upholstery supply shop) would be dead sexy.

You would want to re-glue whatever covering is on your door now, unless you wanted to re-wrap the whole thing. BMW Vinyl is 100X tougher than pretty much anything sold domestically.

Personally, I would prep and re-dye the outer panel, after re-gluing the inner section.

The other issue I see is the proximity of the door release handle (the thing you pull to get out) to the upper edge of where you would want to put that panel. Building a "recess" to fit the cloth in would be an absolute bitch.

[bernzpeed]

well, mine has tears in the corners which is why i was thinking of recovering it. but maybe I can find a black one and just do the inserts with that.

Thanks for the info... this is so much help.

[Oldemar Gutierrez]

Is this OEM?

[bernzpeed]

uh-ah

[bernzpeed]

The other issue I see is the proximity of the door release handle (the thing you pull to get out) to the upper edge of where you would want to put that panel. Building a "recess" to fit the cloth in would be an absolute bitch.

I was thinking of making that hole larger so it just goes round the trims and fit the cloth as well. So hopefully its sits flush.

[bernzpeed]

How to Wire the E36 Switches to the E30

So I decided I hated the E30 buttons. They are not pleasant to look at and feel to the touch and I have to basically muscle my way to make the window go down... (exaggerating a bit much)

Anyways, I bought a BLUE base E36 power window switch. Found a write up for it and got confused. But after a night's sleep, I decided to tackle it again and everything finally made sense. (4 busted 30A fuses after and 2 trips to RadioShack).



Then decided to do this:



Then figured out the wiring.





I made the hole a little bigger by using my rotary tool but there was one problem. There's a metal frame in there so be careful.



So I used a grinding stone since I couldn't use my cutting wheel for such a narrow space. I would suggest to tape and cover other parts of the car that you are not working on so the dust will not collect on them and clean will be easy. I regret not thinking of it before then.


I encountered another problem



Finally, after figuring out the damn wiring...



For white base, here's the wiring diagram:

E36 White Base #3:

Negative (-) 1 - Brown
Window Down 3 - Black
Window Up 4 - Green
Positive (+) 5 - Red

here is how i wired it to the car:

Pin #: switch -> Car
____________
Pin 1 :Brown -> Both Browns
Pin 3 :Black -> Purple
Pin 4 :Green -> Black
Pin 5 :Red -> Green
Hopefully this helps someone else.

[StereoInstaller1]

So now turns into "Bernzie needs a 5 speed swap" thread?

[bernzpeed]

So now turns into "Bernzie needs a 5 speed swap" thread?

hahaha! as much as i would like to be a sportier driver, and I love manual trannys... thus my miata. i drove a stick all my life and for a change, i would like to maintain my auto... laziness i guess..

but i do however have plans of getting another e30 that is a manual. The time it took my brother to get to my engine swap was enough for me to dissuade from the idea of a tranny swap. (since I barely paid what he normally charges, my car was least of their priority).

i still like to tinker with little things in my car. it's my therapy, lol. i've been toying with the idea of getting one of your boxes but I don't know how the elderly people I take care (i have a senior carehome) of will feel about that...hehehe. they might think they're having a heart attack or something.

the silver E30 iS i bought a few months back was going to be the 5 sp swap project car, but the registration (bought it from a lien sale) was way past due it didn't make sense to register it plus i lost the keys (that's the repercussion of living with people with alzheimer's) idk if the ignition cylinder was swapped (since all the cylinders have different keys) so going to the dealership with the VIN won't help me. So i decided I would just part it out. so i'm putting all the money i'm getting from the parts in my piggy bank (lol) and will eventually buy another one.

when i was into miatas, I had 3 of them for some reason. One was automatic, of course, so my insignificant other can drive it. and the other 2, just to play around. i loved those cars bec. they were so easy to fix and I know a guy who has a junkyard full of miatas so restoring them was easy.

[bernzpeed]

Damn, it seems like the torn up boot in my power steering is starting to cause the power steering squeak. I am almost certain I want to swap it out with a Z3 rack as per GrantLacey11's recommendation.

[bernzpeed]

Seat brackets arrived and another package (my new project). I've installed the brackets to the seats and is just waiting installation. But before that I need to shampoo the carpet. I haven't done that ever since I got the car last December and it is filthy dirty.

[bernzpeed]

First Step in Turning Black

I am loving these seats.





Don't mind the floor mats. They will turn black when my fair godmother come back.

[el bimmer]

Nice Job so far!