Red 318is - Adelaide SA. Round 2!

[Hooffenstein HD]

Up close you can tell it wasn't done by a pro. There a couple of "run marks". But looking at the car "normally" you can't tell... and the polish work today has made it come up a treat!

Looks nice and clean but I definitely agree that the colour matched bumper trim is horrible. Will look great once it's black.

[RH9]

Very clean E30 mate :) . . what are you plans for it?

[JC-E30]

Immediate plans:
16" wheels
Tint
Car Alarm
Power Steering Service
Suspension upgrade (hopefully)

Soonish plans
Chip
Black kidney grills and black eye brows
Smoked Headlights, indicators and tail lights
brake upgrade

Later plans (2 - 3 yrs)
Either Turbo the M42 or drop an M3 motor
Carbon Fibre bonnet and boot

[JC-E30]

Any suggestions on a safe way to remove the paint from the impact strips? It is pealing away already - thankfully due to the amature paint job on it. The parts that are exposed in black look alright.. so if i can slowly chip away the entire strip (i see another weekend being spent on it) then it should be ok..

[bmwandhonda]

Ooooh please don't put those cheap black eyebrows on and please don't put black kidneys on. Not a fan of them. I did the black kidney thing when I first got my coupe as well and then found the light and put the factory kidneys back on. Just my opinion though.

Also try your best to not fall into the world of replica wheels :)

[JC-E30]

hehe... each to their own.. They may not all be on together. Black kidneys will be on, with smoked headlights.. but may be too much with the eyebrows. I just think the red cars need something to make them look a little more aggressive. Not a fan of eyebrows on any other car though.

I'm not down with replicas either... too heavy. I don't think it is as bad looks wise if they aren't pretending to be BBS... ie they actually have a different logo.

Too many replicas going around. I need a lightish wheel with dish, 16". I like the beyern mesh but they are 17's.

[Hooffenstein HD]

Any suggestions on a safe way to remove the paint from the impact strips? It is pealing away already - thankfully due to the amature paint job on it. The parts that are exposed in black look alright.. so if i can slowly chip away the entire strip (i see another weekend being spent on it) then it should be ok..

Maybe try some paint thinner on a rag. When I got my first E30 the entire front valance had been spray bombed black but some thinners on a rag and a bit of elbow grease got it all off nicely.

[JC-E30]

Nice.. i was thinking something like that. Was worried it might damage the black on the plastic though. But if it worked for you! Otherwise i chip it all off with my finger nails! (Nnnoooo)

My lip spoiler is missing actually, gotta find one of them too!

[Hooffenstein HD]

Was worried it might damage the black on the plastic though.

I am not too sure about that. I cleaned one of my impact strips with thinners once. It took the surface off and revealed nice, black plastic underneath. It might damage the strips but if you keep it consistent you should come out with a clean looking impact strip.

Not sure if it will work for you though, or make your impact strips look cloudy and faded so do so at your own risk. I take no responsibility for damaged bumpers/trim.

[JC-E30]

hehe! I can't imagine it would damage the strip.. just the colour of the black. I was picturing it smearing all milky like.

[JC-E30]

So this morning was fun... On my way to get get window tint and an alarm installed, and my rear right wheel bearing ceased up... Steering shaked like crazy and oncr i pulled over i couldn't move. I thought i heard a light metallic sound from the gearbox...

Had my BMW mechanic replace the wheel bearing on Wednesday, so must be something they did. Lookd like they will fix it up and pay for the tow though..

[JC-E30]

All fixed. Turns out it was a pin from the handbrake that came loose when they were doing the wheel bearing. No charges to me. They paid for the tow aswell. Phew!!

[JC-E30]

So I just ordered some wheels finally! Man it is mind rattling trying to decide!!

Ended up ordering XXR 531's 16 x 8 with et20 offset in Hyper Silver with the polished lip. Tyres will be 205/45.

I'm thinking after a year or so of powder coating the middle white :-)

Also have it rebooked to get my alarm/remote central locking and tint done on the 22nd Feb.

Things I still need to do...

Rack Ends/Tie Rod ends
Engine Mounts
Couple of minor leaks
Rear suspension bush

Also still need to get those impact strips black again. Haven't had the time to sit down and try getting the paint off myself, which I will try before going out and just buying new ones.

Can't wait to get the wheels on and the rack end/tie rod ends done. Getting BM Wise to do those, they are putting E36 M3 Tie Rod ends in. Apparently they always put them on E30's now.

Will show some pics once the wheels are on!

[Massimo]

I am excited to see this in real life if it looks the shiz I might get some as well.

[JC-E30]

It took me a long time to decide on them. I have a feeling my car will look a little bit goober for a little while, until I get lowered!

The need for the wheel purchase was more of safety, due to that buldge in the tyre I got that was rubbing on the front right strut. Plus having et40 offset isn't ideal!

Just made sense to get some rims while I had some spare cash from the purchase of the car!