my M52E30

[jrez]

jrez, what rear apron did you use on the car, under the rear bumper? It looks to be the stock apron from a late model car, cut off and fitted to your car. If that's the case, how did you attach it to your car? I've been playing with the idea of doing exactly that for my car for a while now.

I fabbed the lower apron out of sheet metal, after a bunch of pics of a '90 318is. It's attached to the plastic bumper, so it's one piece.

[Bimmerfanatik]

VERY interesting - maybe I'll have my dad cut one or two out of sheet metal - they came out great!

[h0lmes]

I am curious how much labor you put into the plastic bumper retrofit. I have read Jordan's write up and heard how hard he said it was to do, but I have also heard from most other people that it isn't as hard as he says it is. What do you think?

[c0rnfl4k3]

Car looks really nice. I saw on your webpage that you had some pretty extensive rust in the footwell, I have a similar situation and was wondering, what did you use to repair/patch it with?

[Digitalwave]

I am curious how much labor you put into the plastic bumper retrofit. I have read Jordan's write up and heard how hard he said it was to do, but I have also heard from most other people that it isn't as hard as he says it is. What do you think?

I have a feeling Jordan made it seem harder than it is to discourage people from "copying" him. It's by no means easy to fabricate the rear bumper sides the way he did, but its not impossible.

[blunttech]

I have a feeling Jordan made it seem harder than it is to discourage people from "copying" him. It's by no means easy to fabricate the rear bumper sides the way he did, but its not impossible.

THIS IS THE TRUEST STATEMENT IVE READ ON R3V

[Stu]

THIS IS THE TRUEST STATEMENT IVE READ ON R3V

lol

[AndreNY]

now if you only had some nice wheels, that car would be awsome

[Bimmerfanatik]

now if you only had some nice wheels, that car would be awsome

If only you had tires that weren't stretched too far across those rims of yours...or more than one wiper... ;)

just playin man :)

[jrez]

hi again,

The plastic bumper fitting on the front was basically bolt-on, except for two mount holes not quite lining up. Really no problem.

The rear was a slightly different story. The biggest problem being the lack of a recess for the bumper to fit into the fender lip, and the bumper itself being about a 1/2"-3/4" too long in the same area.

I did a lot of trimming and forming(with a heat gun) before I got it to where I thought it looked right, and just like the wheels , I'm happy with how it looks., Overall, it's not a bolt on, but its not rocket science either. Just requires some thinking and patience.

The rust repair was straight, cut rot out, weld new steel in. I kept the surrounding fabric/insulation that was there protected with wet rags. Worked well enough, no burn spots anywhere.

Cheers'

John

[Bill 84 318i]

OEM looking rear valences are by far the best kind.



Nice car. :up:

[h0lmes]

I don't even understand why BMW changed the rear end design, I think the plastic bumpers look better with the early models then the late models.

[KangamangusDriver]

You engine bay looks very clean

[325Projectz]

Without a doubt, the best looking 85' I've ever seen.

[jrez]

Thanks very much for the comments everyone. Considering the quality of the cars posted here, it's very flattering, and encouraging. Makes all the time put into it seem worth it. Well, that and driving it.

Looking at Il Duces and Mike 318is's cars, two thing's came back to haunt me. This car was going to be silver originally, and I was going to do the 5-lug conversion. Black has been a complete pain in the ass to maintain, my first and probably last black car. Silver , I think, is a very attractive color for e30's, and much easier to keep. Kinda kick myself now...

I really like Il Duces car with 5 lug factory wheels on them. And if I build more power, I'll go to bigger brakes, and give myself a reason to convert to 5 lug.

Cheers'


John