Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[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?

[PieterVN]

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 look phenomenal! Keep up the great parenting

[mike.bmw]

Happy New Year everyone! Not much new with the E30 aside from a few fun drives with the family. As I've mentioned before, it's also a great car for viewing holiday light displays as the visibility out of the car is fantastic. Also, I'm quite glad I replaced the heater core and heater valve. Not only does the heat work much better than before, but the faint smell of coolant is now totally gone. I never did find evidence of it leaking on the carpet or inside the HVAC unit, but it must have been weeping somewhere.

January-February issue of der Bayerische
The January-February issue of der Bayerische magazine has been released. I'm especially excited about this issue because it contains Avery's first article! After we attended the Fall Foliage Tour a few months ago (a 270+ mile drive through some of VA's best roads), she came home and said she wanted to write about her experience and share the photos she took with my old Pentax K-x. Aside from some spelling and punctuation corrections, she wrote this completely by herself. I couldn't be more proud!
The complete issue is available here: https://www.nccbmwcca.org/db/

Jan_Feb_21_dB_Mercury_web_v2_2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Jan_Feb_21_dB_Mercury_web_v2_21 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

This issue also contains an article I wrote about one of our R3V member's fantastic 318is restoration! He put a ton of time and energy into this car and it really shows.

Photos of 2020
I started having more fun with photography in 2020. I'll continue that in 2021. Here are some of my favorites from 2020. These all have fun stories to go along with them, whether it be a parts run, meeting up with a friend, taking the family out for a road trip, or attending a car event.

In no particular order:

DSC_0527 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0831 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0815 (1) by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0783 (1) by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0714 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0811 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0744 (1) by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0773 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0735 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0845 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0783 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0835 (1)-edited by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0914 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0508 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

IMG_20201103_191209_419 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

F31 Brake Pad Replacement
The rear brake pads on the F31 were almost at the backing plates. The kids helped me swap them out. The M Sport brakes make this quick and easy. Pull some pins, remove old pads, insert new pads.

DSC_0705 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Goals for 2021
- I'd like to finally order an upholstery kit to recover my driver's seat bolsters.
- Track days! Hopefully 2 or 3.
- The Vintage - last year would've been my first time, but, well, yeah.
- More Driving Tours.
- Flush all the fluids, maintenance, repairs. Maybe rear subframe bushings and RTABs.

[econti]

Good man. Always shits me when people have missing/poorly adjusted head rests.

[mike.bmw]

Rear Headrest Install

Recently my daughter moved from her full car seat to a backless booster. The first time we went out for a drive with her new booster seat I realized there was nothing behind her head, which wouldn't be great if we got into an accident. I posted in the wanted section for a set of headrests and brackets. Within a day, Replicam3cabrio sent me a message and said he had the parts I needed: brackets, grommets, hardware, and natur perforated vinyl headrests. We worked out a deal and they arrived in the mail today. The headrests are pefect - no stains, rips, or blemishes.

Installation took about 90 minutes. This website was very helpful: http://zoso.no-ip.org/318i-rseat-headrests.html

Parts:

20201213_131126 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Here's where I started:

20201204_102323 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

I removed the rear seat and tool a peek behind the seat back. I've removed everything and cleaned these areas before, so I didn't find anything interesting this time.

20201210_135325 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

The workshop was a little crowded today:

20201213_131433 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

The seats come with the necessary frame and channels in the foam, but no brackets:

20201213_131441 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Install the bracket, use a long screwdriver and mark where you need to cut a hole:

20201213_132323 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Make some cuts, test fit the headrest:

20201213_132623 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20201213_132753 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Remove the headrest and brackets to install the grommets, then reinstall the brackets:

20201213_141448 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Rinse and repeat on the other side. Slide the headrests in, stand back, admire your work.

20201213_141756 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20201213_141726 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20201213_141737 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Install everything in the car.

20201213_143102 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

And then cover up your nice seats with kids' car seats.

20201213_143733 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20201213_144635 by mike.bevels, on Flickr