325ic Calypso Euro Conversion - Houndstooth & dbilas now, MT1 & MM 3.2 stroker coming

[Stapes]

we were genuinely surprised at how much we love the body color bumpers and shadowline trim. rich color+black is just yum

Great job on the bumper color choice. I Thought the chrome look would had been a better choice but I think it turned out pretty solid. I might seriously consider the same for mine.

How hard was if to find the right paint shop for the job? My only concern is the paint peeling off. Can a chromed bumper be painted over?

[bradnic]

picked up some spare and NLA parts for the electric top conversion. Especially relieved to get the 2 aluminum pieces used in the back of the top compartment to hold the end of the Bowden cables that connect to the lid motor


EDIT: Lol on that rod. It's supposed to have a slight bend in it, not a severe angle like that. My bud Kyle's rod sheared when his top got stuck. This one obviously got severely twisted. The strange thing is that there were no clearly visible stress marks where the bend is.

source of the parts is my local bud with the same color 92 S52 vert. Car was converted to manual top. Not much of the electric bits left. Note the hook extending from the deck lid. Can't be retrofitted without separating the lid skin from the back side. The black plastic trim piece still had a BMW part number sticker on the back side of it


Also picked up the original OEM washer cap I've been hunting for!
Part number is 61-66-1-364-807
]

Many thanks to robrez for pointing me to a bimmerfest thread

installed

[bradnic]

Congrats OP, you're the first cabriolet that gets the c0rbin9 "Ballin' Out of Control" Seal of Approval.

ha thanks man! glad you like the ride

Probably the only cabrio i'd ever own. Car is amazing man.

Damn thanks Brandon. Bring that M30 down to Asheville next month. We can probably meet on the way

I got mixed emotions of the painted bumpers. I just think the chrome bumpers help the paint stand out more.

Yeah I definitely get it. I'm lucky that I had picked up a set of OEM chromes initially and ended up with a horrifically bad chrome job. I ended up picking up an ECS/Polcar front kit, some repro rear chrome from Italy and OEM rear hardware kit, end caps etc., so it left the original set available to paint.

I don't envy e30rapidic... If I only had one set of bumpers I'd probably leave it chrome. As I wrote earlier here I wanted to make sure I can revert back to my last year's setup, which was OEM polished aluminum trim and chrome bumpers. So since some of my original bright trim was scratched I bought new replacement pieces for them and shadowlined the originals. The convertible deck lid trim is new OEM shadowline. You can't tell the difference even up close which is sweet.

Now that I know how to do trim well I can switch the car out completely in a day, working slowly and carefully. That's kinda cool right? Once the mtech1 kit is finished I'll be able to swap that in and out too lol.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Probably the only cabrio i'd ever own. Car is amazing man. I got mixed emotions of the painted bumpers. I just think the chrome bumpers help the paint stand out more.

[c0rbin9]

Congrats OP, you're the first cabriolet that gets the c0rbin9 "Ballin' Out of Control" Seal of Approval.

[bradnic]

Just replaced the pass side window regulator. Very straight forward job, simple to adjust the window height too. Pic explains all - no wonder the window refused to rise all the way and shuddered when it reached the highest spot


Waiting on parts now.. should be trickling in next 2 weeks

[bradnic]

we were genuinely surprised at how much we love the body color bumpers and shadowline trim. rich color+black is just yum


some pics showing the interior color match. having everything matched is just wonderful!



still need to do the kick panels.. they're discernibly lighter.
absolutely love how the leatherique carpet dye application turned out.

[bradnic]

my favorite pic of the car right now

[bradnic]

Andre says he may pull the trigger. then he said he barely had time to wax the vert before The Vintage. so who knows haha

[N2MYE30]

Im digging those painted bumpers!

[bradnic]

Car's back together (without the convertible top) while I wait for the electric top bits to arrive. Wife will get to enjoy it for a couple of weeks before it comes back apart again for a pass side door window regulator replacement, electrical work and OEM radio re-install.

I went ahead and mounted the painted euro bumpers too, even though they're going to get sandblasted and resprayed. My wife and I really wanted to know if we were gonna dig the look. Short answer: yup. As expected the front and lower sides are peeling. Amazing how that horrifically bad chroming job is still haunting me even now. Can't wait to sandblast them and erase that chapter from my life lol.



the color match on the interior is just wonderful. only thing left to do now are the 2 kick panels.

[bradnic]

Heard back on the part orders - most of it is coming from Germany so late next week delivery at the earliest, probably 1st week May. Should have my angled tip Strömung by then too. Gonna be tight but I think I can get this done for Asheville..

My only hangup right now is finding the 4 NLA bits used. part 11 is the most critical since the 2 pieces mount the Bowden top latch cables to the back of the top compartment. Rest of the parts I can replace with non-OEM or potentially already have on the manual top config.

EDIT: found part 11!! 3 to go.

[bradnic]

Shop got busy with insurance work so no MT1 fascias til next week.

not happy with the paint work on these but they're good enough for now.


body shop took some license and basically focused only on the tops of the bumpers, since they figured the mtech1 kit would hide the rest anyway. that's not for them to decide dammit. anyway they only prepped the top so these will have to be done again.

Spoke to the shop about the bumpers and they agreed to respray as long as I get the bumpers sandblasted before dropping them off. They don't have the equipment for that, which is why they only finish prepped the tops. Had I known that we could have avoided the respray.

I'll mount them as is this weekend for a quick look, then get them prepped for repaint.

[bradnic]

Parts in red NLA
Yellow on order
rest I have or can get

also ordering the EM top / tonneau cover

[bradnic]

I have the following parts for the top retrofit

- electric top frame (needs to be stripped and refurbished)
- new oem canvas top (on order)
- top motor and tonneau cover motors with screws, plus a spare tonneau cover motor
- 3 of the brackets
- electric top switch
- complete electric top harness that includes both the control box and the pass side front bracket for the top latch that includes a microswitch.

known missing:
- reinforcement plate for the top motor (has to be welded in)
- right side trunk trim
- 2 Bowden cables
- all mounting clips and screws
- misc brackets and plates
- soft cover for the center bracket
- relay upgrade for the top motors

Also need to find en electric tonneau cover - the retrofit plate that adds the center bracket to a manual top tonneau cover is NLA. Nothing on eBay so will need to hunt craigslist. The center bracket on the electric cover is built in to the deck lid rather than welded on top of it so it looks better anyway

Will update with some pics and graphics when I get a chance

UPDATE: ordered all the missing parts that were still available.
thinking about just buying a new tonneau cover. will need to paint and vinyl wrap to match, but I'd need to do that plus repair and prep with a used part anyway right? Probably a wash