1990 325is Bronzit Beige Metallic

[VBe30]

After searching for around 8-9 Months, I finally popped on a 325is that I deemed worth buying...

5-speed
Bronzit Beige Metallic
Almost Mint Black Leather Interior
Stack of Maintenance receipts going back to 1990
Zero Crack Dash
Minor rust in battery Tray..
IS Lip

So here it is when I purchased on 3/11/2014:










What I've already done:
Painted Floor mats black with Vinyl Carpet Paint (you can see they were disgusting green in a previous pic)
Painted parcel shelf
Clutch Stop
Pulled out interior and used Leather/Vinyl restorer (waiting to put back in until I can steam clean the carpet)

Waiting on Parts:
OBC replacement display
Dark Grey Alcantara Shift boot/Ebrake
ZHP Shift knob
"Bmw Style" remote central unlock kit (from the UK)
Misc Light bulbs to replace burnt out ones

Future Plans:
IS Side Skirts
Coilovers
Rims (haven't decided yet)
Mtech 2 Wheel

Future Future Plans:
Full Alpine paint job (haven't decided which BMW white yet)
S50 or S52 Swap

[VBe30]

Seat Restore

Before:







After:

[VBe30]

Refurbished Parcel Shelft

Before:


After:




I used Duplicolor Flat black Vinyl/Carpet paint. I also used a product called "Wipe New" - restores all plastic back to factory shine.

Funny thing about Wipe New...my old roommate made the instruction manual. My hand and my girlfriends CRV is in the booklet! Great product and based out of Virginia Beach.

[Rdreas]

This thing is fucking clean! Wish I had a plastic bumper car. Keep at it looks like you got a long list of things to get going on!

[E30NJ]

Bronzit love!!

[ButtJuice]

Nice pick up

[ArtFoodBMW]

Bronzit love!!

[VBe30]

Interior Cleanup

I was finally able to get into the car and pull out some stuff to clean. It has been raining for days. Got ahold of a portable carpet cleaner. Not the best but looks way better. I may eventually dye or get new carpet, but not worth the trouble until the respray.

Pics

Carpet Before:


Carpet After:



I used Wipe New again to clean up all the interior pieces.

Console Before:


Console After:


Window Breaker Button Before:


Window Breaker Button After:



Now I'm just waiting on all my replacement bulbs for the interior so I can put it all back together.

[gome123]

Nice work... Sub'd

[getouth]

I like where this is going!

[phenryiv1]

The respray on the parcel shelf turned out great.

[VBe30]

Rust

So how should I fix this rust? I was planning on stripping the paint on the whole rear valence to see how bad it is. I checked the bottom of the battery tray and it seems very solid. Plus my tow hook is broken...thinking about shaving it off completely, but not sure yet. I don't have access to a welder, so I was going to do all the prep work and get someone to weld it up. The metal seems pretty flimsy though... so maybe just cut the rust off and use some bondo? - I'm never done bodywork so I'm lost at this point.





Also, the Previous Previous owner had a "BBS Body kit" on it apparently. The last owner took it off. Looks like it was held on with 3M tape, Screws, and Permatex Black RTV! So i ordered up a Permatex gasket remover. Hopefully it doesn't mess up the paint..but I'd rather have this gunk off. Plus I have a bunch of holes from the kit running down the side. So maybe Ill get those welded up too, or would bondo fix it up fine? I'm leaning toward little spot welds, but again I'm not too knowledgeable about bodywork..Any thoughts?

RTV


Screw Holes

[VBe30]

Update

Below is what I have been doing for the past couple weeks. Still so much to do with so little MONEY..

Finally got all my lights replaced


Did the Alpina Stripe/Red Needles/and Matte Black surround and Rings, replaced ALL the cluster lights with new ones - Didn't come out perfect but I think it looks pretty good. Probably redo it if/when my dash cracks



Put the interior all back together



ZHP shift knob and Gaiterboots shift boot


Leather Ebrake handle and Gaiterboots eBrake Boot


LED Interior Lights w/ George Graves Delay dimmer installed.


Installed e46 style remote unlock - Put the e30 keys into the housings, just need to get them cut.



Removed the Trunk tar - I never actually thought it was going to be that heavy, even after everything I read haha - Going to clean it up and spray it down with the black truck bed liner



Installed Euro grills from Abrams Motorsport - also got the Euro trim license plate surround...but waiting to put that on until I get my rusted tail panel replaced.

Before:


Looking Mean After:



Also put in LED License plate lights with new license plate light brackets.

Next up on the list is to get this rust fixed on the tail panel, battery box, and fill in the previous side skirt holes. I think my car was rear ended before I got it...some sketchy paint work and repair on the rear. I think I'm just going to order a new tail panel from ECS and find someone to weld it in. The metal seems to be pretty flimsy down there with multiple bubbles and rust spots. - Does anyone have a suggestions on where to go in the Hampton Roads VA Area?

Next up on part purchases - Probably going to pick up some Euro Smilies and the Bi-Xenon kit from Morimoto and the retrofit kit from one of the sellers here on R3V - then just basic Maintenance, Oil Change, Plug wires and plugs, Distributor cap and rotor.

Still debating on paint...My number one is Mineral White Metallic (BMW Paint Code A96). Just saw this emoticon too haha -

So until next time...but thanks for all the tips R3Vlimited..this site is awesome.

[Lake]

Wow clean car! Nice work man keep it up

[meanEG]

As for the trim tape, use the adhesive remover and a rubber wheel that goes into a drill.