Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[mike.bmw]

E30 Photo Shoots

I think it was sometime early in 2020 that I connected with a local E30 via Instagram. We don't live far from each other, but despite regularly driving our E30s, we never saw each other around town. This past weekend we decided to meet up for some photos on a VERY cold morning. This also gave me an opportunity to play around with my new (to me) Nikon 35mm 1.8 lens, though I didn't have a CPL filter in the correct size for this lens at the time.

Here are some shots of my 318is alongside Douglas' (dhlerner) stunning 325i cirrus blau sedan (2mAn 's favorite), equipped with H&R Sport spring, Konis, EWW BBS RS wheels, a manual swap, a fresh interior, and more! Super cool car for sure.

CPL filter rotated to see through the windshield:
DSC_0769 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

CPL filter rotated to reduce reflections on the fender and side panels:
DSC_0774 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0715 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0798 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0814 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0808 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0733 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

Have shortened bump stops, will travel (suspension)

TLDR; I'm dumb and I should've trimmed my front bump stops two years ago when I installed my current suspension setup.

Looking back through this thread, it was November of 2018 when I overhauled my suspension. New springs, shocks, hardware, mounts, and bump stops. The H&R OE Sport Springs (key being "OE") are supposed to have a stock-ish ride height. The BMW bump stops weren't available at the time, so I ordered a set of KYB SB105 bump stops and bellows to fit my Bilstein B4 fronts. I installed everything and all was well. The ride was much improved over the garbage "Stagg" setup the previous owner had installed.

After thousands of miles, long tours with NCC BMW CCA, and multiple track days I realized the front suspension didn't have much compression travel. Well, after some measurements and investigation, the KYB bump stops were much too tall. The bump stops were being engaged/contacted with very little travel. So I trimmed an inch off and the ride is now greatly improved. I'll probably order a better suited, correctly sized set of bump stops whenever I get around to taking the front suspension apart again. For now, trimming them has done the trick.

Removed:
20210120_162631 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

What's left:
20210121_162630 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[AlpinStar]

Mike - thanks for the info on the steering wheel swap process! Sorry if I missed the part about the spacer earlier in your thread. Looking forward to doing the swap myself.

And great photos, as always! Nice sunsets/sunrises.

[mike.bmw]

Hey mike.bmw , random quick question for ya : I ordered a Sports steering wheel very similar to yours. I was wondering, when you installed yours, did you use a spacer? I wasn't sure how it'd fit on a car that currently has an airbag steering wheel. Thanks!

Hey AlpinStar !

Here are some tips for installation:
- Disconnect the battery! :-). This will prevent the airbag from discharging as well as allow you to unplug the SRS system under the dash if you don't want the SRS fault light on.
- For airbag equipped cars you will need an additional spacer (part # 32311120260). Installation looks like this -> existing spacer, steering wheel, additional spacer, washer, nut.
- For airbag equipped cars you will need to pull the white, spring loaded plastic peg out. I used vice grips to clamp down on the white peg and gave it a good pull. Save this if you want to revert back to stock.
- To pull the existing steering wheel put your key in the ignition in the accessory position. This will disable the steering wheel lock/tab allowing you to pull the wheel.
- If you remove the lower knee pad under the steering wheel and disconnect the 3 connectors going to the orange box (the SRS module), you will not have a blinking SRS light. Also, this method prevents any faults from being stored in the SRS (because it's unplugged). If you reinstall the airbag wheel at some point you'll just need to reconnect the whole system before hooking up the battery again. Yes, there's an SRS reset procedure.

Hope this helps!

And just because, some random photos I've taken recently...

DSC_0724 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0779 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

One my daughter took...

IMGP7661 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

And one I took of the wagon...

DSC_0834 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[AlpinStar]

Hey mike.bmw , random quick question for ya : I ordered a Sports steering wheel very similar to yours. I was wondering, when you installed yours, did you use a spacer? I wasn't sure how it'd fit on a car that currently has an airbag steering wheel. Thanks!

[mike.bmw]

Great picture Mike, I really like this one! Great with the reflection of the windows.
Adding the rear headrests is a nice addition to the car as well

Thanks! I'm hoping that in 2021 I'll start having the opportunity to photograph new/other cars at some new/other locations. I've been following your touring build and the steering rack and subframe work is fantastic!

[D.Martijn]

Great picture Mike, I really like this one! Great with the reflection of the windows.
Adding the rear headrests is a nice addition to the car as well

DSC_0783 (1) by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

Mike: just wanted to add to the chorus thanking you for all the hard work you've put into this thread. I just picked up a '91 318is that's a near-clone of yours, which I'll be starting a build thread on shortly. I already did one mod with yours as inspiration (the thicker rear spring pads), and I also have the same steering wheel you ultimately installed on the way as well. Anyway, thanks again, and keep up the good work!

Thanks! It's always nice to hear this thread has been useful for others. I saw the build thread you just started and it looks like you're already off to an excellent start. I look forward to following along!

[AlpinStar]

Mike: just wanted to add to the chorus thanking you for all the hard work you've put into this thread. I just picked up a '91 318is that's a near-clone of yours, which I'll be starting a build thread on shortly. I already did one mod with yours as inspiration (the thicker rear spring pads), and I also have the same steering wheel you ultimately installed on the way as well. Anyway, thanks again, and keep up the good work!

[mike.bmw]

I love those shots with yours and the red car! Looks like something from a magazine cover.

Thanks! I was happy how those turned out. That's actually the 318is I wrote an article about, which can be read here: https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derB...ndex.php#/p/18

[Codym42]

I love those shots with yours and the red car! Looks like something from a magazine cover.

[mike.bmw]

Sweet car and freaking awesome photography!

Thanks, Jordan!

[Jordan]

Sweet car and freaking awesome photography!

[mike.bmw]

Those are some beautiful pictures Mike! You must be very proud of you daughter.
It's needless to say that it is not self-evident for a young girl to write up such a nice article about her experience from this event.
Also the pictures she took looks phenomenal! Keep up the great parenting

Thanks. Very proud! And I'll hang onto this for her so that when she's in high school I can remind her she used to like spending time with me. ;-)

Those headrest are a great solution to « hide » the child seat! I have 2 child seat on my e30 and it look hideous from the back hahaha ! I had to tint the backglass to hide it !

your car is so clean !
love your picture , is this phone pics or Kodak pics?

Yeah, the child seats are large and obtrusive. In a few years they'll both be in boosters, so no more large car seats. In regard to the photos, I took most of them with my Nikon DS5600, though sometimes I'm lazy and just use my phone for photos of things when I'm working on the car.

[Iloveboost]

Those headrest are a great solution to « hide » the child seat! I have 2 child seat on my e30 and it look hideous from the back hahaha ! I had to tint the backglass to hide it !

your car is so clean !
love your picture , is this phone pics or Kodak pics?