1991 Mtech Build

[brutus87]

I want some Hartge wheels too!
Sweet car OP.

[reelizmpro]

There is no plastic coding peg for 325i's though. Only 84-85 318i and 325e in the US. It's got that early SI board too. What car did the cluster come from? What ever happened with that M3?

[MR 325]

Holy shit Jim, NICE!

Worse case scenario you can swap those cluster parts in to a newer one that uses a coding chip.

[OBryan562]

very nice! i like

[IronmanE30]

Awesome project. Did you get the fabric from ejohnson over at e30tech? I just bought 17's for my MTII, and I'm afraid they'll look to small. I really wish I could've gotten 18's. Your wheels look great, they just look tiny on MT's:

Yes but I found him here: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...t=mtech+fabric and he was very nice to deal with. Personally I think that 17's are the perfect size for the E30 but I try to keep an open mind on anything done to these cars. I think that the 18's are only offered in 5 lug and would be perfect for the E34 M5.

reelizmpro There is no plastic coding peg for 325i's though. Only 84-85 318i and 325e in the US. It's got that early SI board too. What car did the cluster come from? What ever happened with that M3?

Hi Berry, Here are some additional pictures of the back of the cluster.






As for the M3 there have been two that I looked at lately, a silver and a red one. The silver one is getting the S50 removed and I may buy the rolling chassis if it sells for the right price and the red one's owner has never contacted me back. So, I am still looking for the "Great" deal on one but the M3 fund is quickly getting spent on Mtech parts right now.;)

MR 325 Holy shit Jim, NICE!

Worse case scenario you can swap those cluster parts in to a newer one that uses a coding chip.

Thanks Matt, That's what I was thinking. There is nothing special about the housing, I want to do a little more research to make sure that everything is compatible with the later model SI board and coding chip. I have not messed with swapping cluster parts around much other than changing the fuel gauge from early to late model so it would read correctly.

Jean Nice! I like the Hartge bits! The cluster should have a coding plug in the back, early clusters have them too.

Thanks Jean, Any advise would be appresheated, I have not done much with trying to get early model clusters to work in the late model cars.


And, thanks to the others that commented.

Cheers,

Jim

[MR 325]

Hmm it says 320i which means it could actually be from a 6 cylinder car. I'd plug it in and see if the tach does a backflip.

[IronmanE30]

I was shocked when I saw how long it has been since I updated this thread. I have installed a few of the parts, here are some pictures of the progress.

First off I got the Hartge rims installed. In the background you can see the other car that has taken up some of my time lately. I had to put a staggered set of Hartge wheels on that car too. Hartge has truly become an addiction for me.



On to the interior, we installed the Mtech door sills.



Pulled out the old dash



Installed the replacement dash, Hartge cluster, Hartge gauge pod, Euro fog light swithch, Euro clock and heated seat switches.



Then a quick shampoo to the carpets and that's it for now. I have ordered two more yards of Mtech fabric so I would have enough to do the seats and door cards. Now it's back to saving nickels again for the upholstery shop.

We will be adding Kamac camber plates and see if we can get the H&R race springs to work, add the Hartge strut bar and valve cover. We still have the 2.7 to build but most of the parts have been collected except for the snail. :D

Cheers,

Jim

[el bimmer]

Sweet!!!!, was the dash a pain in the butt to take off?

[IronmanE30]

Well they come off easier than they go back on but it is not that hard if you take your time. ha ha

[MR 325]

Some great updates Jim, I love all of the new goodies.

[sayed ali]

Great build :)

[IronmanE30]

Thanks for the comments guys!

When we took the car for the test drive yesterday and the water temp gauge did not work. After hitting a few bumps it started working just fine. Go figure... ;)

I still have to figure out why the horn does not work with the new steering wheel and why the fog lights are not working with the new switch but I should get that sorted out over the weekend. I also have to get use to the speedometer reading in Kilometers. It's a little weird going 100 when you are cruising down the road. :D

Cheers,

Jim

[ohthejosh]

I am jealous of that clean, untorn, and minty carpet :( I want nice carpet.

[ZM Blue Devil]

Looking good Jim, I assume the car is an airbag car... did you double up on the spacers with the non airbag steering wheel? That might be horn issue, also is your turn cancel working?

[IronmanE30]

I am jealous of that clean, untorn, and minty carpet :( I want nice carpet.

We have one for you if you need it out of a 1990 325is that we are parting out.

Looking good Jim, I assume the car is an airbag car... did you double up on the spacers with the non airbag steering wheel? That might be horn issue, also is your turn cancel working?

Thanks Levent for finding us the Hartge parts! Yes, the car is an airbag car and yes we used spacers/washers. The turn signals return works. When we installed it with the stock spacer the wheel rubbed slightly on the plastic steering column surround so we added one thick washer to make that go away. Now there is a larger gap at the base of the steering wheel hub than I want so I am going to go back in and use a thinner washer to reduce the gap. While I am there I will run a test on the wiring to make sure we are still getting juice to the horn. Hopefully it will be an easy fix.

Cheers,

Jim