A trip down memory lane...89' 325is + S52 inside!

[gkurey]

Thanks Robbie, glad you enjoyed the read!

Well, it's been awhile and I think I owe a quick update. I've relocated to the San Diego area and am settling into my new surroundings...awesome place for a gear head!! I'll be looking to meet more BMW guys in the area so keep you eyes out for me!

Just before leaving VA, as I mentioned in a previous post, I got hit while parked and the offender didn't leave a note. I got great assistance with my insurance company and got it all fixed up however. Here's the damage:



Not terrible, but I needed a new hood and some lights. I took the opportunity to go with DEPO smilies and jumped back to a chrome grille. Here are the parts:



Did all the repairs myself except for paint because I trust no one, haha. The DEPO lights are much better than I thought they would be...good visibility and decent fit. Not bad for 150 bucks! Another big improvement was the new Nardi steering wheel I posted earlier...I love it! It looks great, feels great, and the light stitching accents the car well.



Once I found out I was moving to CA, I decided I didn't want to risk any damage from the long road trip (VA to CA is about 2700 miles IIRC!) so I opted to get another set of wheels for comfort and just shipped the Equips with my household. I ended up snagging a set of TRM C1s from a guy in town; they are 15x8 with 225/50 Kumhos. I love them wayyyy more then I thought and have yet to put the Work wheels back on...selling the Works to make way for more exciting performance stuff. Here is how the car now sits in my new garage:




I think the current look is the best iteration of my car yet...forgot to mention I also raised it about 1" for the road trip and have yet to bring it back down; roads are little bumpy in spots around SD so I might leave it up there.

Lately I noticed some weird coating on my intake manifold discoloring and flaking; so I went to a pick n' pull in my area and got a clean intake mani for 17 dollars on a 4th of July sale! Here are the results of the swap:

New vs. Old


New intake plenum and also a new AEM filter:


One last thing that I forgot to add a few months ago...I added oil pressure and temp gauges to monitor my low profile oil pan's performance. I got an oil cap that is tapped for the senders, got VDO gauges to match the interior look and illumination, and got various AN fittings to make a clean install. The gauge panel came from jaywood (thanks!!) and was a snap to install, just required some modification of the console and ash tray to have enough room for the gauges and wiring...here are the results:

Oil cap and lines/senders


Test fit on the panel and a modified tray


Installed


Look for a lot more exciting updates...getting a new TIG machine and lots of other goodies to start really making some cool stuff!

Thanks for reading!

[viceversa]

bump for an awesome build. just finished and what a good read! thank you for sharing!

[gkurey]

Some parts I elected to keep rubber due to the fact I daily drive the car...engine mounts and a few bushings are rubber still. I don't track the car enough to go full tilt race-mode! Thanks for the compliments, glad you enjoy the build!

[zumjosh]

Great read and I can see all the quality parts and quality work you've been doing. Well done. I am curious as to why you stuck with the OEM rubber bushings instead of going poly, especially since you are doing auto-x.

[gkurey]

Long time, no update! Someone recently backed into me and crinkled my hood...working on the repairs now. Added a few other goodies I will post soon. Here is one:

[Clean318]

Hey dude, sorry for the late response; I live in the Ghent area. We need to get the weekly meet thing going on...look in the mid-atlantic area forum! And yeah, by all means, I can try n help with whatever you need!

ahhh gotcha i have a friend that lives out there with a lexus gs350 on vossens idk if you've seen him before, but yeah man that would be pretty dope. i need to get my car running first. Kinda changed my mind on what motor i want to go with.

[gkurey]

I'm in Norfolk currently...I'd be down!!

[BMWManiac]

Looks great, are you in Florida or VA? I'll be driving my E30 to Fairfax, VA next month....I have a alpine white/tan interior as well....may need to link up for some quick picks before I head down to Bragg, NC!

[gkurey]

Hey dude, sorry for the late response; I live in the Ghent area. We need to get the weekly meet thing going on...look in the mid-atlantic area forum! And yeah, by all means, I can try n help with whatever you need!

[Clean318]

Nice build man. what part of norfolk do you live in. i'm in va beach. i just picked up my e30 like 2 weeks ago. i'm deff gonna need some help when it comes to swap time. Si'll most likely be hitting you up with questions and all.

[gkurey]

Thanks man! Guess I need to get some pics in here too...

Thread to my new wheel setup: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=305603

[325ix]

Love the wheels, one of my favorites sets of Works.

[gkurey]

^^^Funny you mention that, someone else brought that up as well...unless I get a different valance, I'm inclined to leave it the way it is. Every time I've seen it matched, I personally don't really like it, no idea why! It there is another valance over it, I like the color matching though. Thanks for the compliments!

[dishwab]

Just went through this whole thread, your car is awesome. I love the look of the M-Tech II valance with the stock bumper + IS skirts, it looks great. Have you thought about painting the bottom of the rear valance to match with the side/front?

[gkurey]

Part one of the coming overhaul; some secrets are too good to be kept in the bag! I'll get a better post soon, but for now this will have to suffice...these just came in the mail!





More to follow!