Picked up my first e30

[Nick_S]

I'm pretty optimistic most of it will come out very well. Probably get cracking on it tomorrow since I need a wheel bearing that won't get started till next week. There are some spots where the paint is faded through edges which I'll try and touch up with paint and wet sand before buffing. Thinking I may just make a "project" thread for this since it may be a bit before it's near my liking.

[Nick_S]

Was going to start working on the paint last night but got sidetracked by a trip to wal-mart and some cheap mistinted paint so I painted my garage wall last night at 10pm, ha.



Got crackin on the paint this morning though. Started on the trunk since aside from the hood, is the worst. I ended up wet sanding the whole trunk and removed the spoiler and badges too. Wet sanded with 2000 grit. Went over it with 3M compound and 3M machine polish. Two passes of each. Was pretty surprised with the results actually.



My polishing pad was tan, ha.


I have more pics on my DSLR but I'll save those for the project thread, here's a teaser for now. So far I've done the trunk and most of the drive side quarter panel. I don't think I'm going to wet sand any of the other panels though, most of them are decent.

Focus was pissed it had to give up it's garage spot for a couple days :nice:


Monday it's getting towed to a friends shop because after I got a muffler, I could hear a nice hum from my front right wheel bearing so his shop is doing that and an alignment. Be on the look out for my project thread for more updates!

[airkhin]

paint looks like its coming out real nice... keep up the good work!

[mikeedler]

save your towing money and do the bearing in your garage. a front wheel bearing is the easiest thing to do on an e30.

looking good so far, my current daily was the same as yours- I need to polish it a few times a year to keep it looking good( the whiteness comes back fairly quick)

I would bet your car was bought new by a U.S. soldier stationed in Germany. We deliver a few a week at the dealer I work at here.

[Nick_S]

paint looks like its coming out real nice... keep up the good work!

Thanks!

save your towing money and do the bearing in your garage. a front wheel bearing is the easiest thing to do on an e30.

looking good so far, my current daily was the same as yours- I need to polish it a few times a year to keep it looking good( the whiteness comes back fairly quick)

I would bet your car was bought new by a U.S. soldier stationed in Germany. We deliver a few a week at the dealer I work at here.

Really? You don't need a press for them? Do you know of any good write ups off hand? I do have AAA gold so I don't pay for the tow and my buddy is giving me a deal on work but if they're that easy I'm sure I can get it myself.

The maintenance log in the car shows the car was in Germany until 96, then was inspected in Georgia, found a reciept for repair from Alabama and has a parking sticker from New Mexico. Doesn't appear to have made it to Ohio till 2 years ago which explains the lack of rust. I usually wax my cars once or twice a month so hopefully that will keep the whiteness from coming back. There are a few spots I had to be careful around because the paint was already faded through the clear coat unfortunately.

Another quick teaser. Have the trunk and both quarters done so far.

[Nick_S]

Well crap. Minor set back. Both front wheel bearings ended up being pretty hosed. So there goes some money I was hoping to spend else where, namely on a new bumper cover. And the front pads are pretty shot. I had planned on buying the brake package from TM next month so to get by for the next month I'm getting some inexpensive Advance Auto pads.

In hindsight a PPI would have been a great idea but the PO wasn't real keen on me taking his car for a couple hours and figuring what I paid, some maintenance repairs are to be expected.

[N2MYE30]

Color sanding is some hard work but the results are amazing. Nice!

[GOLFMISER]

Looks good man, keep hammering