Panici's '87 325is E30 - Boosted In Bronze

[Panici]

Rear End Cosmetic Refresh Part 1
June 2019


The rear end cosmetics on my E30 needed some attention.

I took off the rear bumper, hoping to polish it up and repaint the trim. Unfortunately I found some structural damage on the left mount, and needed to source a replacement bumper.

It took some time to find a replacement part, so I drove around for a while bumperless!
I had my own yard party while washing up the E30. (I wanted to clean behind the rear bumper & trim before everything went back together.)
My neighbors must love the look of my project/parts cars parked all over the lawn.


The replacement bumper I bought was heavily pitted, I didn't take any pictures of the "before" state.

While I was down in the USA for work, I bought a Harbor Freight buffer/sander. I hit the bumper with a few 7" 240 grit sanding disks to get through the clear and down to raw aluminum.
Unfortunately I didn't have any finer sanding disks, and there are still some visible scratches in the aluminum.

I did polish the bumper up with some HF black polishing compound, but this wasn't enough to remove all the scratches. I may go back with some finer paper in the future to finish the bumper up properly.

All that said, it still looks heaps better then the old bumper, and most importantly is structurally sound.

I hit the trim with some Duplicolor Bumper Coat while it was all apart.

[Panici]

Adjusting wheel fitment Vol.2
May 2019


Hunting down some front-end noise issues, I replaced my upper strut mounts (top hats).
The passenger side strut threads completely stripped upon disassembly, and I ended up retapping to M12x1.5.

The old mounts were so crushed that I gained a noticeable amount of ride height in the front with the new mounts.
Kind of a letdown after just getting the front to sit nicely with the 5mm spacers.
I decided to drive the car for a week, to see if I could live with the added height in the front.














The extra height in the front bothered me enough that I tore apart both front struts again the following week.
I cut 1/4 coil off of both front H&R Sport springs (these were dead/inactive coils anyways).
While I was in there, I also removed half of the front internal bumpstops in the Bilstein Sport Dampers.

The driver's side damper threads stripped out this time, and I again re-tapped to M12x1.5.
I ended up using an open-ended lug nut as a jam nut for the driver's side, and completely replacing the nut on the passenger side with an open-ended lug nut to maximize thread engagement.

These will hold with loctite to assist, but next time the front struts are apart they will either need to be ground down and re-threaded to M10 or completely replaced.
I'll likely upgrade to Koni SA dampers all around at that point to try and improve ride comfort.


Sorry for no pictures of the final ride height and fitment. The car is filthy and I've been quite busy.
I also swapped my rear spacers from 10mm to 15mm, and I will get some pictures this week if the weather holds.










Oh, I threw on an eBay cone filter. Yes I know this either won't affect power or might even slightly reduce power. My E30 already feels slow with the bigger wheels. I was looking for added induction noise only.
I tweaked the mount a bit after this picture, to reduce stress on the intake boot.






I cut up my spare carpet and made some floor mats for the front seats. I repeated the process on the driver's side.
Helped with NVH a little bit.

[Panici]

Adjusting wheel fitment Vol.1
April 21st 2019


Ordered both a set of 5mm and 10mm spacers with appropriately sized lug bolts from Ethan (8380 Labs).
Excellent customer service from Ethan and great quality spacers.

I put the 5mm spacers up front and 10mm in the rear.
I'm pleased with the front fitment, but the rear still needs some tweaking.


Also, I no longer have water issues in the trunk; I now have full trunk carpet for the first time since owning my E30!

[Panici]

Rust Repair - Driver's side trunk pocket
Feb 2019 - April 2019


I finally tackled the rusty driver's side truck pocket. I repaired the lower section first, and used lessons learned to repair the side hole.
I again used steel from my 325e parts car roof skin for the patch panels :)


Next time I'll be sure to remove all of the undercoating from surrounding material so it doesn't burn off, and buy something smaller for cutting then a Sawzall! I could have also put more heat into the lap weld on the side repair.

Overall it's not my best work, but it's definitely waterproof after seam sealer and multiple coats of brushed-on Rustoleum black paint.


This repair took quite a long time, as I wasn't able to devote much time to working on the car.

Unfortunately my father had surgery, and subsequently passed away on March 16th, 2019. :(
There are so many things in my life that can be linked back to my Dad. He put his family first, and always gave of himself for others. I am thankful for all the things he taught me, and (most relevant to this thread) how he supported and encouraged me to embrace my hobbies and passions.
I couldn't have asked for a better dad.

[gnmzl]

Congrats!
Garage looks great, and the car is gorgeous.

[Panici]

Closing out 2018

I got married to my lovely wife Emily on September 28th, 2018.
We then took a weekend away as a honeymoon, driving the E30 up to a local ski resort.















Stored the E30 with alternate wheels, and tucked the 15" 'weaves with the new tires in the basement. Also ran a 240v heater on low all winter to keep the garage warm. Expensive but worth it to keep the E30 cozy!


For Christmas I bought myself a toolbox, and my Dad bought me some wall cabinets and metal signs/license plates to dress up the garage.

The extra storage and organized tools makes a big difference!

[Panici]

The euroweaves look great, and I LOVE the houndstooth interior. Looking good!

I think they've set the car off nicely as well. Very OEM+ IMO.

Thank you for the kind words : )

[Albie325]

The euroweaves look great, and I LOVE the houndstooth interior. Looking good!

[Panici]

Updated Photoshoot
September 22nd 2018

Went for a lenghty drive on Saturday, and took some great shots of all the new additions.
Those 15" Euroweaves really set the car off nicely!

[Panici]

Lookin’ good!!! How’s the ride difference?

Thank you! : )

Car rides a little firmer with the thinner & sportier compound tires.
Feels better in the corners as well.

I notice the power loss compared to the lighter 14" wheel setup, and the rear axle is certainly less lively when pushed. Feels like it needs more power now.

[Originale30]

15" Euroweaves Finally Mounted!

Lookin’ good!!! How’s the ride difference?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Panici]

15" Euroweaves Finally Mounted!
September 2018


I finally bought a set of tires for my Euroweaves. I bought these wheels for $400 back in March 2016 (Build Thread Post 98).

Dunlop Direzza DZ102 (205/55R15) on 15x7 BBS "Euroweaves" [ET-24].


Currently running without wheel spaces, but will be running 5mm fronts and 10mm rears for spring 2019.

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Interesting shot. 14" basketweaves on the front of the car, 15" iX 'weaves on the rear of the car, and 15" euroweaves piled up after a wash (but before new tires).


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Couple of teaser shots, photoshoot coming up in the next post!






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14" 'weaves vs 15" euroweaves.
Subtle but tasteful improvement IMO.

[Panici]

Broken Driveshaft & Garage Photos
August 2018


I developed a wobble on one of my 14" basketweave's tires (belt starting to separate).
As a stopgap, I swapped in my 15" iX 'weaves (with winter tires) on the rear axle.
Unfortunately these snows were quite sticky in the heat, and I snapped my rear u-joint instead of breaking the tires free as planned!

I managed to find one relatively local, and after a "quick" drive to Penetanguishene (~6 hour round trip) I had a replacement.


Happy to have the E30 repaired, I pulled the toys out of the garage to clean up, and took some group photos!

[Panici]

That motor will need a LOT of love, but if the plan is to turbocharge it, you can kill two birds with one stone as you tear it apart

Absolutely, and that's the plan! :)

[2mAn]

That motor will need a LOT of love, but if the plan is to turbocharge it, you can kill two birds with one stone as you tear it apart