'90 325i Project Log

[8380 Labs]

i've posted progress updates from time to time in the member's ride section, but i finally decided to make a formal project thread to document whatever i happen to be working on at the time.

here's a brief history of my ownership:

when i first brought it home in november of 2008.



after FK/Koni coilover install + control arms/bushings/wheel bearings/sway bar end links replacement summer of 2009.





first stage of BBS RSs in 2009.





trip to the body shop for rust repair + two new fenders and trunk lid summer of 2010.













swapped grey carpet for red in summer of 2010.





second stage of the RSs in the fall of 2010.





RSs sold, replacement wheels - refurb finally in progress for this summer.



added some all-red tails last spring.





installed the smoked smilies that had been in my basement for 3 years.



broke my oil pan, replaced that and the fan clutch + valve adjustment while in there august of 2011.



added a 350mm momo monte carlo wheel november of 2011.



sold black vinyl sport seats for cardinal leather in need of some work this past february.



that gets things pretty much current, minus maintenance and a bunch of little things here and there that i did along the way that i either didn't take pics of or aren't worth mentioning.

[8380 Labs]

by and large the new seats are in nice condition, barring the 2 driver's side upper bolsters.



the upper seat back is also pretty dry and cracked.



all the door panels are in very nice shape, and all the other aspects of the seats are complete and just in need of a little clean up/restoration.

i was lucky enough to stumble across a thread jparkr made recently showing the pro3 car he and some buddies were putting together. the car originally had a cardinal interior that was pretty much trashed, except for the covers that i needed. he was nice enough to remove the covers and send them to me...thanks again man. ;)





i bought two 16oz bottles of leatherique (rejuvination oil and prestine clean) to try my hand at cleaning the seats up and softening the leather. i've done a bunch of research and from what i've seen, this is the best system on the market.

as you can see, the covers aren't perfect - but they're way better than what i had, and i think the leatherique should go a long way towards bringing them back to life.

my goal here isn't a 100pt. show car, it's to have a nicely sorted driver. that includes some wear and tear in certain places. i happen to think nicely worn, fully intact older leather seats look, feel and smell pretty cool.

i've done 2 applications with the leatherique so far on most of the interior and used about half the bottle. some areas are really sucking the oil up, so i figure i'll probably end up using the whole bottle before it's all said and done. i'll also be swapping the newer covers onto the driver's seat once everything else is ready to go (including swapping in new shocks for the seat back return mechanisms).

[evandael]

8380 labs? I almost bought your coil overs for my MKV (fk silverlines won out in the end).. You should look into e30 products, the MKV coils look pretty quality for the price!


E30 looks sweet, man, tell me about those FKs.. lowness, ride quality, price?

:up:

[8380 Labs]

8380 labs? I almost bought your coil overs for my MKV (fk silverlines won out in the end).. You should look into e30 products, the MKV coils look pretty quality for the price!


E30 looks sweet, man, tell me about those FKs.. lowness, ride quality, price?

:up:

Thanks, yeah were pretty pleased with the mk5 coilovers. We just added a mk2/3 kit this year as well. E30 stuff is definitely in the works.

Really happy with the FKs on my E30, I got them when ecs tuning first made them available so I got a really nice deal. You do have to send them stock front cores, but after that was done I paid less than $1k for them. They retail for around $1200 now I believe.

The ride is extremely nice, I have the dampening adjustable versions. In the pic above with the silver 16" RSs there's about an inch of threads left in front and the rears are the whole way down with the bottom lock ring on the perches removed. Super nice setup, I'd highly recommend them.

[Vivek]

Red carpet looks nice on a black interior. Definitely taking note of that for the future.

[freeride53]

This car is wonderful

[8380 Labs]

had some sunny and warm weather yesterday so i tried to maximize the opportunity. the leatherique instructions indicate heat will open the pores of the leather and allow the rejuvinating oil to penetrate more effectively...so i gave everything another coat and wrapped it up in plastic bags and set it in the sun for a few hours.



i'm going to let this stuff work its magic for another couple days, then hit it with the cleaner/conditioner and see how it turned out.

one way or another, it's next stop is into the car. i'm sure it would benefit for more treatment, but i'll do that this summer when it's warm and will be easier/more effective.

[8380 Labs]

around 5 days after the initial treatment with the rejuvinating oil, i hit the seats with the final stages - prestine clean (cleaner and conditioner) and then a wipe down, followed by some buffing.

despite the fact that ambient temps weren't quite warm enough for the treatments to be as effective as when you're able to get the seats really warm, the results were as advertised.

the leather is much softer and more supple (although some areas need more treatment - i'll go over them again this summer), and a lot cleaner as well. the prestine clean left a really nice, even matte finish. the seats look much closer to new, including the cracking areas which were lessened considerably.

rear seat bottom


closeup - much less dry and scaly than when we started


passenger seat


closeup - nice, even finish evident here


while i was in there i replaced the dead seat back shocks, so they now return to the upright position while adjusting them.

once i was done everything i cleaned up the bases and tracks, and will be scuffing and hitting the bases with a little black paint before i put them back in. i still need to replace the covers on the drivers seat back, i need to grab some hog ring pliers before i do that though...

[BoxDriver86]

Thanks for posting this. First, I am in the exact same process refinishing my cardinal interior. Secondly, I have been wondering what you were up to...since the last (I saw at least) was you posting the new wheels.

Looking forward to the end result.

[8380 Labs]

what products are you using?

i'd be interested to see some pics of your seats and process - i'm new to this but it's pretty interesting, i've enjoyed the project.

[BoxDriver86]

what products are you using?

i'd be interested to see some pics of your seats and process - i'm new to this but it's pretty interesting, i've enjoyed the project.

Leatherique, same as you. The seat I am scavenging the panels from was really nasty so I'm a long way from done but I'll shoot you some pics when I get a chance to upload them.

[8380 Labs]

i spent some time finishing up the seats over the last few days, here are some cell phone shots from the heat of battle:

replacing the seat back shocks.


taking the bolster and seat back covers off and replacing them.






the finished product.


where we started, pre-cleaning/restoration.


it's not a 100% restoration - the foam was a little chewed up, so the fabric fit a bit loose at first.

but i punched some new holes in the covers so i could get them cinched up a bit tighter, and that did the trick nicely. the replacement covers are worn at a similar rate as the rest of the driver's seat, so it matches very nicely.

overall, i'm super stoked. i'm bringing the car back on wednesday from winter storage, so i'll have some better pics of the interior in place by the end of the week.

[csermonet47]

I really like your car and will be interested to see where it goes. Subd!

[thowes24]

Sub'd! The cardinal interior looks awesome!

[Pantless Spency]

great progress! can't wait to see the turbines mounted they look SEXY