Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[mike.bmw]

Last Saturday I attended a BMW CCA National Capital Chapter DIY event hosted at Bimmer Werks in Beltsville, MD. A very fun event. I was able to use one of their lifts and power bleeders to flush the fluid on my M Sport brakes. I hit some snow and ice on the way there, but nothing major. Article forthcoming. :)

[mike.bmw]

Very nice!
I had the chance to get a 318is locally about 7 years ago but missed it. I ended up with an 1991 355iC. We share the same colors and the same wheels. (Before you swapped the BBS)
I think I will replicate that suspension setup soon.

Nice looking vert! Just make sure you get the convertible specific springs, else you will have a saggy rear.

We had our first real snow this winter. Barely anything, but it made for a nice backdrop:

DSC_0491 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Avery and I made it out to Katie's Cars and Coffee yesterday morning. Great to catch up with folks and I met some new people as well. 9 E30s parked in a row at one point! It's hard to get a clear/clean shot though as the weather was nice so the place was PACKED.

DSC_0487 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Seems like traffic has died down here quite a bit. I've just been enjoying driving mine and taking photos, so that's what I've been posting.

[M_3_X]

Very nice build!
I had the chance to get a 318is locally about 7 years ago but missed it. I ended up with an 1991 325iC. We share the same colors and the same wheels. (Before you swapped the BBS)
I think I will replicate that suspension setup soon.

[mike.bmw]

Well, the 240 "classic" 5 speed wagon went over my budget (ebay auction). I'm keeping an eye out for another, though I don't expect to find one anytime soon. In the meantime, here's a row of E30s from this morning!

DSC_0469 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0482 copy by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

Don't do it. E30 Wagon instead.

Hmmm, a fair point. I still have a soft spot for 240 wagons though. Always wanted a manual 240 wagon. A manual e30 wagon would be pretty great as well.

[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. :-)