Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[ATL_E30]

Someone convince me to NOT buy a 1993 Volvo 245 Classic with factory 5 speed. 178k miles. 1 minor accident. Some hail damage. Supposedly rust free. About 3000 miles away so I'd need to ship it. I'd be keeping the E30, so that's not a factor.

Don't do it. E30 Wagon instead.

[mike.bmw]

Someone convince me to NOT buy a 1993 Volvo 245 Classic with factory 5 speed. 178k miles. 1 minor accident. Some hail damage. Supposedly rust free. About 3000 miles away so I'd need to ship it. I'd be keeping the E30, so that's not a factor.

[2mAn]

Haha, we'll see. I've jokingly said that I can start a build thread (by proxy) based on the updates and photos I'm getting. ;-)

I look forward to COTM of the month every month. Super cool element of R3V. Does the January COTM have something to do with "scary" aluminum? :-)

Last night I took my wife and kids out to look at Christmas lights. We took the E30. The kids are able to see so well out of the E30 in their car seats, whereas they can barely see out the windows in our other cars due to the higher belt-lines. They get a great viewing experience from the back seat of the E30. The weather was in the high 40s, it ,clear, and I really enjoyed hearing the OOOs and AHHHs from the back seat as we saw some really incredible light displays. No photos of it, but a truly memorable experience that I really enjoyed.

Ive had to do that with both of my friends who have E30s. Ones in the Car classifieds and I keep bumping it for him, while the other has more technical threads than updates to his build thread haha...

I've decided that before I lose the contact to that car, I might as well feature it, especially since January was available.

I hope my E30 sedan hangs around long enough to have the same memories that you're having with yours... thats awesome.

[mike.bmw]

I think you need to OUT this person.

Im running out of cars for Car of the Month! too many are "mid-build" but Im watching and waiting... like a HAWK. Im particularly excited about the next COTM lol

Haha, we'll see. I've jokingly said that I can start a build thread (by proxy) based on the updates and photos I'm getting. ;-)

I look forward to COTM of the month every month. Super cool element of R3V. Does the January COTM have something to do with "scary" aluminum? :-)

Last night I took my wife and kids out to look at Christmas lights. We took the E30. The kids are able to see so well out of the E30 in their car seats, whereas they can barely see out the windows in our other cars due to the higher belt-lines. They get a great viewing experience from the back seat of the E30. The weather was in the high 40s, it was clear, and I really enjoyed hearing the OOOs and AHHHs from the back seat as we saw some really incredible light displays. No photos of it, but a truly memorable experience that I really enjoyed.

[2mAn]

E30 Slicktop Build Thread

In other news, one of the other R3V members (you know who you are) has been sending me photos of his epic '91 318is slicktop build. The car has gone through a significant transformation in only a few weeks and I've enjoyed a constant stream of updates and photos. I hoping this prompts him to start up a thread at some point because I'm sure everyone would enjoy seeing it. Do it. :-)

I think you need to OUT this person.

Im running out of cars for Car of the Month! too many are "mid-build" but Im watching and waiting... like a HAWK. Im particularly excited about the next COTM lol

[mike.bmw]

Thanks all! I managed to get out for some photos this morning. I'm happy with how they turned out.

DSC_0486 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_04941 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0456 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0521 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0533 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mjweimer]

Those low profile center caps are very nice. Such a small detail but a real impact on the look of the wheels - well done.


MJ

[jeenyus]

God is in the details.

[Albie325]

As mike.bmw stated to *anonymous*, do it! We need more quality build threads!

The lower profile BBS caps look great, it always amazes me how such small details like this make such a huge difference aesthetically. The unknowing eye would never notice the difference unless you point it out but now that the before and after are shown, the after looks significantly better (not that the before was anything to sneeze at)

[mike.bmw]

Hi all, it's been about a month and I have some updates. I do something with the car daily, but I've tried to show some restraint from posting all the time. Anyway....

Second Article Published in NCC's BMW CCA magazine, der Bayerische

I had my second article published in NCC's BMW CCA magazine, der Bayerische. I really enjoy attending the events and writing, so I may make this a habit. This happens to be the last print edition of der Bayerische, but the online issues will continue to be published. You can see the online issue of my latest article here, which features some rides of other R3Vlimited members: https://db.nccbmwcca.org/2020/2020_0102.pdf

2020_0102_db_1 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

2020_0102_db_2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Ehrlich Wheel Works 1/3 Height BBS RS Hex Caps

While I like the standard BBS RS hex caps, I think the lower profile hex caps look far better. Plus a couple of my stock hex caps had seen better days so I wanted to replace them. I reached out to Paul at Ehrlich Wheel Works for a set of his 1/3 height hex caps. It's the perfect height. He suggested I pair them with a set of gold BBS logo caps. The polished EWW hexes pair well with my RS001s polished lips. The gold BBS logos go nicely with the gold RS001 faces. Paul is a pleasure to work with and does fantastic work. I'll get out this weekend for a proper photo shoot, but I couldn't resist installing these today and taking some photos in the garage.

Stock vs 1/3 height EWW hexes:

DSC_0497 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0499 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Stock hex cap:

DSC_0503 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

EWW 1/3 height hex cap:

DSC_0510 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Stock:

DSC_0505 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

EWW 1/3 height:

DSC_0507 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

SIde shot with EWW 1/3 height hex caps:

DSC_0514 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Katie's Cars and Coffee

I ran into a few of the local E30 guys at Katie's Cars and Coffee. While I got a bunch of photos that day, I liked this one best. The light reflecting off the cars was coming from a new Porsche 911 GT3 backing into a parking spot opposite the E30s.

DSC_0446 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

E30 Slicktop Build Thread

In other news, one of the other R3V members (you know who you are) has been sending me photos of his epic '91 318is slicktop build. The car has gone through a significant transformation in only a few weeks and I've enjoyed a constant stream of updates and photos. I hoping this prompts him to start up a thread at some point because I'm sure everyone would enjoy seeing it. Do it. :-)

[mike.bmw]

Thanks, Albie! While I do think a lowered E30 looks great, I prefer my current setup for what I use it for and how I drive. Another benefit is that my low profile jack can reach the front cross member without having to drive on ramps first. :)

It's always a bonus when they want to come help work on something in the garage (and have the attention span for it)!

[Albie325]

My car looks like a crossover compared to the rest (and I'm about 1" lower than stock on H&R OE Sport Springs).

Seriously. At least your IS lip isn't sweating every time you pull into a driveway. I really think your ride height suits the new rims well, the gold really looks awesome. The new sig pic is looking minty.

I looked into the H4/H1 upgrade awhile ago, definitely seems like a nice clean upgrade. Funny, I was out in the garage today getting my smiley's wired up, looks like we're on the same page

Love that you always get the kiddos involved, will be a nice memory for them. Keep it up bud!

[mike.bmw]

I found some time for some photos a few weeks ago. I liked these:

DSC_0742 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0775 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0786 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0755 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0799 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

I went to a local Cars and Coffee with my daughter. There weren't many other cars there, but there was a fanastic E30 turnout. Good group of guys and I enjoyed catching up with them. My car looks like a crossover compared to the rest (and I'm about 1" lower than stock on H&R OE Sport Springs).

DSC_0465 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0447 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Let there be light!

A while back, fresh_TD informed me about upgrading the sealed beam lights to H4s. I wish I had listened to him a couple years ago because WOW. What a great upgrade. I ended up going with the H4/H1 kit from here: http://classicgarage.com/53hehekit.html . That kit includes the housings, the bulbs, and the wiring needed to make this a plug-and-play affair. Also, thanks @jgerock for the photos of the back of your lights. It helped with the cap and wiring placement.

My daughter, Avery, expressed interest in helping. This was my son's first time using "real" tools on the car. I'm socked I let him near the car with a sharp screwdriver, but we all had fun and they learned a thing or two.

20191125_161332 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20191125_164600 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Sealed beams:

20191125_151049 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

H4s and H1s:

20191125_162137 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Additional wiring for the H1s:

20191125_153701 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Swapped out the 7.5 fuses for 10s. (Slots 1 and 2 in the fuse panel, which is in the manual).

20191125_154423 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Driver's side H4/H1. Passenger side sealed beams:

20191125_154546 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Upgrade complete. H4 lows:

20191125_192322 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

H4 lows and H1 highs:

20191125_192346 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

After a quick test drive in the dark, Avery wanted a photo:

20191125_191703 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

This evening I came across a flickr photo album of the BMW CCA NCC HPDE I attended in September. The photographer, Jaclyn Heck, frequently writes for the BMW CCA NCC magazine and takes excellent photographs. Here are some of the E30:

48738828983_ebaf759527_o by mike.bevels, on Flickr

48739177836_9de1f232e1_o by mike.bevels, on Flickr

48739015383_e19bb4e287_o by mike.bevels, on Flickr

48739363332_68ab61c498_o by mike.bevels, on Flickr

48739198071_28d0d3eba6_o by mike.bevels, on Flickr

48738821688_bf75fa789d_o by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[dmanb2b]

Looking great Mike!