IronJoe's back in an e30... 1989 M3!

[IronJoe]

wow where did you find the Startecs new?

they're being made again. I've seen a couple ads in IG - I think Garagistic is a dealer?

Correct, these are brand new made from Startec, not New Old Stock. A few retailers are gouging insane prices for these but I bought mine from Schmiedmann for a very reasonable price. In the end I got a brand new set of lights for cheaper than many of the used cracked ones I see going up for sale. Are they as pink as I'd like them? No. But I'm still considering it a win.

[IronJoe]

The next project I decided to tackle was the condition of the front end. The bumper had been repainted in the past, along with the Evo II chin spoiler. The paint had cracked in several spots and it looked like a corner of the chin spoiler had been bumped at one point, leaving some nasty spiderweb cracks.

I pulled the front bumper and disassembled everything:

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I don't have a lot of photos for this part, but I sanded and primed the bumper, lip, and what they call the "carrier" (it isn't a carrier, it's the little strip of metal between the bumper and grills. This appeared to be original paint on the carrier and it was badly pitted from 35 years of road use.

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I then applied three coats of Zinnoberrot base coat, then 4 coats of 2k clear via my HVLP gun.

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At this time I decided to add smoked crosshair smileys:
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I reassembled the bumper, bolted the lip back on, and it was ready to reinstall:
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Back on, with bumper tape installed.
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Yes, I also added cheap matte black kidneys. Not sure how we feel about it yet :)
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And one last shot, with a teaser of the NEW new wheels!
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I did a lot of work to get the 16" style 5s where I wanted them, but at the end of the day they just weren't aggressive enough for my vision of the car. I decided I needed to step up to 17s. I agonized over what to put on the car as it seems the BBS RS has been done to death. Yes it looks great, but also I felt the need to stand out a bit more. I ended up building 17x8.5 front, 17x9.5 rear custom wheels. I'm not quite ready to reveal them just yet as the car is currently undergoing another modification that fits with the "theme" and they go together.


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[av8drvr]

Looks excellent, well done. Do you mind sharing the specs on your compressor/gun
(Iwata?)/paint choices? Thanks.

[IronJoe]

Looks excellent, well done. Do you mind sharing the specs on your compressor/gun
(Iwata?)/paint choices? Thanks.

Hey sure thing. I use an Iwata Kiwami 4 HVLP gun, 1.3mm tip. It works great for both base and clear, just different settings for each. I also use a dedicated primer gun, a cheap Harbor Freight hvlp with a 2.0mm tip for shooting high solids 2k primer. My current compressor currently is a cheaper Harbor Freight unit that I replaced my old reliable with when it died. It sucks and spews more moisture into the lines than I've every experienced before. Bottom line, don't cheap out on an air compressor or else you will be sorry like I am!

[2mAn]

What a beautiful colored M3. I wouldnt want one in any other color.

[IronJoe]

What a beautiful colored M3. I wouldnt want one in any other color.

Thank you. Update incoming to disappoint everyone

[IronJoe]

Time for a small update!

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In my last update I painted the front bumper, sideskirts, and Evo 2 lip in preparation for a full color change vinyl wrap. I had teased new wheels but I wanted to wait until the color change was done to reveal everything, then of course things got delayed and I forgot to post here.

Now's a good time to plug my IG where I do actually remember to post on occasion: https://instagram.com/adamantium_steele

A while back I had the idea for a BMW M1-inspired E30 M3. Those who know me know I have a history with the M1, I have been trying to get my hands on one for the better part of a decade, and I almost succeeded a few years back. It slipped through my fingers so I decided to build an E30 M3 inspired by the iconic BMW supercar. This would require two very specific things: the right color, and the right wheels.

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My favorite look of the BMW M1 is the Inka Orange production car - yes the procar is stunning but I love the simply look of the road-going version. Inka Orange was available on a few BMW models in this era, I found a reasonable facsimile in 3M 2080 Burnt Orange Ultra Gloss. I reached out to Wrapwurks in Portland, OR and we struck a sponsorship deal. More on this later.

The second piece of the puzzle was wheels. I have always been in love with the classic Campagnolo M1 wheel, and it just so happens that Livery Wheel had designed a modern three-piece forged tribute to this wheel years ago. In fact, many have seen and lusted over Larry's E30 M3 with this exact setup and I knew it was the perfect fit for this build.

There was only one problem: Livery Wheel was basically defunct. The last car they had done wheels for was A$AP Rocky's 190E DTM tribute car in 2021, and they weren't producing anything anymore. After months of internet sleuthing, I finally got a reply from Larry (the co-founder of Livery Wheels). He had sold his set to Igor from CATuned a few years back. There were only two sets of these wheels left in the world, one sold in the UK to an E12 M535i, and another set of faces completely brand new, unbuilt. This set of faces was Larry's personal set he'd kept. After some honest conversations and me laying my heart out on the table, Larry agreed to entrust his personal set to me for this very special build.

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I set out to build the wheels myself and ordered lips and barrels identical to Larry's spec. I had them mounted on Yokohama tires and they looked amazing.

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I held off on revealing the wheels for a couple reasons. 1) my vision wasn't yet complete, and 2) at this point it just looked like Larry's E30 M3. But here are some photos I took at the time:
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[e30austin]

<3

[IronJoe]

Now, I know a lot of BMW enthusiasts aren't crazy about non-factory color changes. And a lot of you are probably looking at that last photo and thinking, "just stop here dude". But that wasn't the vision. My last E30 was very much a by-the-book build and I wanted to do a lot of the non-factory things I didn't get a chance to do last time. Modifying an E30 M3 is sort of a slippery slope, and I never let myself go down that road in the past...


Once the wheels were on, I drove the car down to TheLab521 in Portland, OR. Wrapwurks had agreed to sponsored the full color change and once I arrived we quickly went to work dismantling the car. Everything that was easy to unbolt came off to reduce the number of seams.

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In between this I had business travel and a few other things come up and they had prioritized a few other jobs in my absence. So when I finally went down to pick up the car, it wasn't ready. The main body was done but the bumpers, wing, and mirrors still needed to be completed. I ended up staying the day with the team and I installed pieces as they wrapped them up. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun, I was able to learn a lot about vinyl wrapping that ended up coming in handy later.

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With the bumpers done and the car back down on the ground, we added one of the finishing touches: a windshield banner. I always wanted one, but never had a car wild enough to pull off the look. I took a gamble on this but it payed off 100% IMHO.

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With the mirrors completed and back on the car, we shot a little content and then I headed home.

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I was really happy with the car at this stage, but there was more to do before its full reveal at the E30 Picnic.

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[IronJoe]

Happy with most of the exterior cosmetics, I moved to another section of the build: the engine bay. I always pride myself on a nice clean bay, but there were a few glaring items to address here. Since the engine rebuild, this car has had a red valve cover, plenum, and Sparco strut bar. Now that the exterior color of the car was orange, it clashed horribly.

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I went to work by stripping off the old powdercoating and to refinish with the Evo 2 livery - my absolute favorite for an S14.

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Once I got the painting project done, I had to address another aspect under the hood. The engine bay was still Zinno Red, and boy did it look bad. I came up with the crazy idea to vinyl wrap the engine bay to match, so I ordered some more 3M 2080 Gloss Burnt Orange and started experimenting. Luckily the factory seams and lines in things like the shock towers and inner fenders helped disguise some of my more "creative" aspects of the wrap job. My goal was originally just to do the shock towers but they came out so well, I just kept going.

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Getting close now, just need to tackle the core support. To do this I pulled the hood which allowed me to wrap the underside of the hood as well.
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I think it looks cool with the hood off.
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Wrapping the hood was an actual pain. There's a reason that you don't see many people do this
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And done.
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[2mAn]

Now's a good time to plug my IG where I do actually remember to post on occasion: https://instagram.com/adamantium_steele

define "Occasion "

[Panici]

Damn did that orange really change the vibe!

You are far more patient then I.
Can't even apply a sticker without frustration, forget about wrapping an engine bay.


Also, that rear 3/4 shot (where you're on the brakes) is at the exact same angle as one of my orange E36 328i.
Seeing them side by side really shows how much better an E30 looks over an E36 IMO.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/199478653@N07/53852348990/

[reelizmpro]

Wow, good job Joe. I've been wanting to redo my valve cover and plenum in the Evo 2 livery for years but never got around to it. Did you use a high temp wrinkle paint + clear gloss? Thanks.

[IronJoe]

Damn did that orange really change the vibe!

You are far more patient then I.
Can't even apply a sticker without frustration, forget about wrapping an engine bay.


Also, that rear 3/4 shot (where you're on the brakes) is at the exact same angle as one of my orange E36 328i.
Seeing them side by side really shows how much better an E30 looks over an E36 IMO.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/199478...7/53852348990/

BMWs look great in orange! No denying it.

Wow, good job Joe. I've been wanting to redo my valve cover and plenum in the Evo 2 livery for years but never got around to it. Did you use a high temp wrinkle paint + clear gloss? Thanks.

I used a high temp engine enamel w/ceramic, not a wrinkle paint specifically. Also I decided against the clearcoat as many reviews suggested it yellows too much. The white has yellowed a little bit but I don't mind, it actually gives it a "lived in" feel. A few people asked me if I had done an Evo 2 engine swap because it looked so legit

I was very meticulous about choosing the colors as a lot of folks match the newer M colors, where I wanted that nice orangey-red and a real purple (not two different shades of blue).

[Panici]

I was very meticulous about choosing the colors as a lot of folks match the newer M colors, where I wanted that nice orangey-red and a real purple (not two different shades of blue).

I noticed this, glad it was a conscious choice.
Older M cars should have the real purple as it's period correct!