RJSimz Sterling Silver 1990 325is

[Albie325]

Wow, the bumper repaint looks awesome, I bet that was super rewarding. Scratches like that drive me nuts and yours came out great. Also, SEM is the shit. Use it on everything, it's idiot-proof

[rjsimeon]

Wow, the bumper repaint looks awesome, I bet that was super rewarding. Scratches like that drive me nuts and yours came out great. Also, SEM is the shit. Use it on everything, it's idiot-proof

Thanks. It was definitely rewarding especially with how great the paint match was. Very surprised with how it came out. Paintscratch also guarantees for it to match and if not, you can ship it back so they could make it right.

Anyone know how the texture of SEM on the trim compares to the plastic texture? Much difference? Could you tell it’s been painted over?


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[Andrew325is]

I just stumbled upon your thread. Incredible find and great story! So much like my story and the cars are almost twinsies. Built 1 week apart! You’re lucky you got home without the timing belt snapping. The work you’ve done looks great. I think it’s best to paint the lower black with a brush to avoid any possibility of overspray, but looks like you masked it well. I used a cotton swab dipped into the cap of the spray paint.

Also, it would be a great idea to replace the odometer gears as a preventative measure. At this age the gears are so soft they will crumble when you touch them.

[e30RS]

Fantastic job on the paint, looks outstanding.

[rjsimeon]

I just stumbled upon your thread. Incredible find and great story! So much like my story and the cars are almost twinsies. Built 1 week apart! You’re lucky you got home without the timing belt snapping. The work you’ve done looks great. I think it’s best to paint the lower black with a brush to avoid any possibility of overspray, but looks like you masked it well. I used a cotton swab dipped into the cap of the spray paint.

Also, it would be a great idea to replace the odometer gears as a preventative measure. At this age the gears are so soft they will crumble when you touch them.

Thanks! I've read through your build and that's where I was inspired to paint the parts myself, so I thank you for giving me the confidence to do it! Built 1 week apart, huh? That's pretty cool. Yeah, I made sure to mask it off with plenty of barrier paper and tape and the SEM can was so easy to control I figured it'd be all good.


I'll definitely get to the odometer gears soon enough. The fuel gauge is intermittent. I'm really just not looking forward to pulling the dash to get to it!

[fresh_TD]

Thanks! I've read through your build and that's where I was inspired to paint the parts myself, so I thank you for giving me the confidence to do it! Built 1 week apart, huh? That's pretty cool. Yeah, I made sure to mask it off with plenty of barrier paper and tape and the SEM can was so easy to control I figured it'd be all good.


I'll definitely get to the odometer gears soon enough. The fuel gauge is intermittent. I'm really just not looking forward to pulling the dash to get to it!

Pulling the dash to replace ODO gears??? Not necessary. You don't even have to take off the steering wheel to remove the cluster.

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[rjsimeon]

Pulling the dash to replace ODO gears??? Not necessary. You don't even have to take off the steering wheel to remove the cluster.

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For some reason I was under the impression that I had to! It might’ve been mike’s page with his 318is where I read that.


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[fresh_TD]

For some reason I was under the impression that I had to! It might’ve been mike’s page with his 318is where I read that.


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Takes about 10 mins to remove cluster, without removing anything else.

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[rjsimeon]

Takes about 10 mins to remove cluster, without removing anything else.

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Boom. Glad to hear that. Maybe I'll get to it sooner than expected. Time to find some gears and put them on order. Thanks.

[fresh_TD]

Boom. Glad to hear that. Maybe I'll get to it sooner than expected. Time to find some gears and put them on order. Thanks.

Didn't know you were in North West FL

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[mike.bmw]

For some reason I was under the impression that I had to! It might’ve been mike’s page with his 318is where I read that.


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Wasn't my page. :)

I have a few posts in my thread about taking the cluster out. Definitely doesn't require removing the dash.

Perhaps you read the post about my dash swap (swapping in a crack free dash), which requires removing the cluster along with many other things.

[rjsimeon]

Wasn't my page. :)

I have a few posts in my thread about taking the cluster out. Definitely doesn't require removing the dash.

Perhaps you read the post about my dash swap (swapping in a crack free dash), which requires removing the cluster along with many other things.

Yeahhh....probably. I'm a dummy.

[Andrew325is]

I'm glad I could inspire! haha The intermittent fuel gauge could just be a loose ground nut on the back. Yeah don't need to remove the dash or steering wheel to take the cluster out. If you do want to take the steering wheel off it's easy though. Just make sure to disconnect the battery and wait 30 minutes before taking the airbag off. Airbag just has 2 T30 Torx screws on the back. Disconnect the plug under the small panel under the steering column first before disconnecting the connector on the back of the airbag. Make sure you don't re-connect the battery before fully reinstalling the airbag. The hard part is removing the trim piece under the cluster (with the 2 thumb screws on the back). It's an unreasonably tight fit. You just have to kind of force it out by pulling on it hard.

[rjsimeon]

I'm glad I could inspire! haha The intermittent fuel gauge could just be a loose ground nut on the back. Yeah don't need to remove the dash or steering wheel to take the cluster out. If you do want to take the steering wheel off it's easy though. Just make sure to disconnect the battery and wait 30 minutes before taking the airbag off. Airbag just has 2 T30 Torx screws on the back. Disconnect the plug under the small panel under the steering column first before disconnecting the connector on the back of the airbag. Make sure you don't re-connect the battery before fully reinstalling the airbag. The hard part is removing the trim piece under the cluster (with the 2 thumb screws on the back). It's an unreasonably tight fit. You just have to kind of force it out by pulling on it hard.

Thanks for the tips. Hopefully that’s all there is to it for the fuel gauge to work properly. “Kind of force it out” probably means I’m going to break something. We’ll see how this goes.


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[jeenyus]

good work!