6/83 grey market 323i.. mtech I S50 5-lug

[kronus]

nothing major to report, but I have a probably-working-again cluster. After scrubbing the first attempt to replace the SI board batteries (the board delaminated and was rendered unusable), I got a new SI board and replaced the batteries successfully.

this was a weird transitional year board that went from the long batteries to the short batteries by using a daughter board:









my gf helped me out by replacing the odometer gears, reassembling the cluster and polishing the lens. The typical plastic headlight lens restoration kit you can get at autozone works well for this purpose.

[kronus]

it stays with my Alpina seats..

anyway, since engine-side square C101s are NLA and I don't want to hack up my L-jet harness (maybe someone will need it) I'll be putting a round C101 end on the chassis side of the harness, which will give me an opportunity to run some extra wire for things that didn't come in a square C101.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Gimme that alpina wheel haha. Glad to see this car getting worked on. I need to do same to my car but the laziness is strong with me this winter.

[kronus]

annoyed-at-other-car-so-working-on-this-one updates!

drove this guy around sears for a while to break in the new motor



peeled off and rewrapped the interior harness - it's much nicer to be near now. I also teed the C104 tach wire and ran it out through the firewall so that I can splice it into the C101 and minimize wiring modifications for the S50.





got the dash, windows, new c-pillar covers and seats in








sadly I cocked up the SI board trying to replace the batteries, so no cluster for now. S50 is coming apart in the next few days and the head is going to the shop along with the M50 head out of the black car.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

you'll still need a swear jar

the way this car is going to gether i will need like 7 haha

[kronus]

you'll still need a swear jar

[ThatOneEuroE30]

For the gutter trim, you pretty much have to place it on the rail and fold the entire piece down. Mine was very difficult in a few places, so I grabbed an old t-shirt and some pliers and carefully folded it down using those.

For the quarter windows, get a swear jar. Fuck those things.

Haha thank god my window trims stayed in the quarters I just gotta get it back in.

[kronus]

weird!

I've actually never seen another bottom seat that bolts in like mine.

[2mAn]

Here's four fun differences in really early e30s: the rear seat belts are backwards from later models (middle belt buckle is on passenger side), and have different receivers that are not cross-compatible. The belts are also anchored on the c-pillars rather than just sliding over plastic things on the parcel shelf. The seat bottom bolts in instead of snapping down. Finally, the sheet metal under the parcel shelf is entirely different than any other one I've seen, and does not accept premium speakers unless you mount them backwards..

Thats funny because my 84 has Premium speakers added (the right way), bottom seat has the snap-in pieces but still has the weird seat belt anchoring points on the c-pillar and the strange back panel.. They must've been slowly transitioning things out

[kronus]

For the gutter trim, you pretty much have to place it on the rail and fold the entire piece down. Mine was very difficult in a few places, so I grabbed an old t-shirt and some pliers and carefully folded it down using those.

For the quarter windows, get a swear jar. Fuck those things.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Any tips for putting the trims back on? I've gotta tackle this my self and am dreading it

[kronus]

After a long time avoiding it, I finally got some work done! Namely, put in the mirrors, gutter trim, lower chrome trim, rear quarter windows, door locks door cards, rear window, parcel shelf, 3rd brake light, rear seat and seat belts.







Here's four fun differences in really early e30s: the rear seat belts are backwards from later models (middle belt buckle is on passenger side), and have different receivers that are not cross-compatible. The belts are also anchored on the c-pillars rather than just sliding over plastic things on the parcel shelf. The seat bottom bolts in instead of snapping down. Finally, the sheet metal under the parcel shelf is entirely different than any other one I've seen, and does not accept premium speakers unless you mount them backwards.

Upcoming, putting in the dash, windshield, chrome lockstrips, and starting in on engine bay degreasing. I've got another project going, which is parked next to this one, and I'm aiming to do similar jobs to both cars at the same time, while I have all the tools and remember wtf I'm doing.

[Pantless Spency]

picked this up today, just for you :p





grey market slicktop 528i with most of a M535 swapped into it, last registered in 2006... The interior, bumpers and lights are going to the M5, my friend is getting the dogleg, dirty B34 and S3.46.

heeeeeeey that thing looks familiar!

[kronus]

picnic 2017 woop woop

also I got the rear bumper assembled!

then I tried to put it on and it slipped and scratched the fucking paint. 2 lessons:

- put tape over the paint in places where it can get fucked up
- have a friend help install bulky parts



anyway yeah. I've also now got a motor, a flywheel, a clutch/pp, a driveshaft, a shift linkage, a harness, a 318is wiring cover, and a pile of other crap. the main problem is all this crap is piled around the car, which makes working on it difficult.

[2mAn]

sooooo ,lets drive to the Picnic NEXT year?