First E30: Snow White

[PumpdUpKicks]

How's it going everyone,
I've been around the forums for a bit just scoping around and learning more and more about my car. I was on the fence about keeping it and was very close to selling, but within the last month I've had a sudden urge to completely restore it.
I bought her in November and she basically sat until about 2 weeks ago, with an occasional drive here and there. Then my wife was nagging at me how I wasted money on it, because we were in the market of buying a house. So at one point I did put the car up for sale, but something in my mind kept telling me to hold on to it.
Details on the car.
1989 BMW 325i, 5 speed, with 136,000 miles on it.
Body was decent, with a bit of rust on the hood, on the rear quarter panels, and spots throughout the rest of the car.
Interior was eh, cracked dash board, dirty carpet (tan too ) missing the panel underneath the steering column, so all those wires are exposed.
Only mods that i know of on the vehicle are 2 in. lowering springs, Vader seats, some after market muffler, and tons of stickers :down:

This was what she looked like when I first purchased



My wife and I finally found a house and best part about it was a garage for Snow White to sleep in.
I did some minor maintenance to it, replaced air filter, oil change, got rid of that lip, took all the stickers off of it, and gave the exterior her much needed TLC.

Now i have lots of questions and with not knowing much about this car, I will be asking all of them in this thread, so please be patient with me, and I thank you all for your help.

[PumpdUpKicks]

So here's some questions.
Can this front bumper be fixed or is it best that I replace it. It is pushed in on the front right side.


Where can i find the panel that goes below the steering column, I've checked rockauto and the websites i've seen on the forums, and can't find anything. And also I am having issues with the instrument panel, I was able to get it all to light up, I drove the hard pretty hard one night and the middle part lights went out (the tach) I replaced the bulbs, checked the wires and all and still can't figure it out, I am able to get the bottom row of lights to work and the turn signal lights.


While replacing all the sidemarker lights, the front left side had no wiring at all, where could it have gone? I checked the engine bay, followed the wires that go to high beam, lows, and fog lights and could not find the sidemarker light.


While reinstalling new HIDs, I've noticed a loud squeak coming from the belts and pulley area, and it only squeaks a bit louder when the lights are on. Any idea what could it be? HIDs requiring a lot of power?


Here's a pic of the engine bay, I gave it a good as I could clean and removed the washer fluid resorvoir.


And lastly I found a pair of steelies that I am going to restore and powdercoat and make them my winter wheels.

[Redfox]

Nice car, what seats are those?

[PumpdUpKicks]

Nice car, what seats are those?

E36 Vader Seats. I actually do not like them, as they are way too big to be inside that cabin. I want the stock seats but can't find anything locally.

[PumpdUpKicks]

Here's a better picture of the seats.

[aPapester]

Hit up a junk yard or find a partout on here for the knee panel, might find some seats too.
Alot of people pull the carpet out, wash it and use vinyl carpet die works pretty well just get floor mats so ir doesnt take so much abuse

[PumpdUpKicks]

Hit up a junk yard or find a partout on here for the knee panel, might find some seats too.
Alot of people pull the carpet out, wash it and use vinyl carpet die works pretty well just get floor mats so ir doesnt take so much abuse

Thanks for the info, I definitely want to dye the carpet.

[Dj Buttchug]

I have a complete knee bolster I could sell you. Nice start. pm me for details if interested

[F34R]

E36 Vader Seats. I actually do not like them, as they are way too big to be inside that cabin. I want the stock seats but can't find anything locally.

1+ I think those seats in the e30 are stupid. Too big and heavy for the e30 cabin. You can bend that valance out, I did on mine and my brother's e30.

Best to remove it and work it back into shape, worth it to try with it on the car. Might just bend back into form easy while attached to the car.

[PumpdUpKicks]

hey guys quick question

my low beam headlights are INOP and i easily spotted the reason


i was searching through rockauto.com and found high temp 9006 bulb

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=599414&cc=1011698

and high temp 9005 bulb

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=599413&cc=1011698

would it matter which one i get, because i am just plugging this into the ballasts

[PumpdUpKicks]

im trying to figure out why the main lights are not working on the instrument panel, i removed it and noticed this red wire disconnected from somewhere, whats it for?

[MrSlacker]

Those wires dont look factory

[PumpdUpKicks]

So i thought i had myself a set of the same steelies, and come to find out, 2 are the same, the other 2 are different. So now instead of buying 2 more steelies, i was considering getting some hubcaps.I know its ghetto, cheap and whatnot, but these will be for my winter tires, and id rather save the money.

I was going to paint both the steelies and these hubcaps all black.
Opinions please.