Project Lessmeister: 91 318iS Restomod w/ MTech2 and modern drivetrain

[Rouvld]

Where did you get OEM smoked turn signals? Part number?

[Jb325is]

The paint looks to be really well done, hard to find someone that can do a color change that doesn't go way over on time or leave a lot to be desired in some areas. Looking good so far!

I tried to work on my SE30 build last night, first day of work after turning the clocks back but just couldn't get motivated with it being dark so soon. Trying again today!

[TimeMachinE30]

Don't nick the paint when dropping the motor in! Eeeesssh. So clean. Well done.

[badnerd]

This entire build is awesome....truly inspirational!
SUb'd

[Jordan]

Don't nick the paint when dropping the motor in! Eeeesssh. So clean. Well done.

I'm actually planning on lowering the car over the assembled engine/transmission on the subframe. Less chance of damage this way and it saves time fooling with headers etc.

I took my tail lamps into work today to use the pedistal buffer. We use it to polish headlights and I figured I'd give it a shot on the tail lamps. Both were in good shape if not dull from 25yrs of cosmetic abrasion etc.

Fresh polished on the left, original on the right... not bad.

[fresh_TD]

Huge difference!

Sent from my Samsung Note 4

[kingston]

Depending on the day, this thread either makes me get up and work on one of my E30s, or never try again! Great work! Do you use a compound when polishing the tail lights?

The car is going to be so damn epic. Goes without saying...but great work!

[Jordan]

First matter of business tonight was to get the rear bumper mounted. I had already tried last night and found that the euro rear bumper brackets do not fit the US bumper shocks. The Euro ones are not as tall, nor as robust as their US counterparts.

The easiest way around this for me was to pull a rear bumper rebar/brackets/shocks from a parts car at work and put them side by side to see the differences.

Dark gray is euro, beige is US.




As you can see the US brackets are much larger, and the rebar has 2 horrizontal stiffeners. The US bumper rebar also lacks a number of predrilled holes for the MTechnic II rear bumper cover mounting hardware.

I concluded I would just swap the brackets from the US to the Euro. This worked perfectly and I mounted the bumper on the car without a problem.



I also fitted both tail lamps, and the new euro plate filler.




All of this took much longer than planned, so I guess I will mess with the chassis harness tomorrow.

[2mAn]

I look forward to your updates, I just hope that you choose to keep this car after putting all this work into it.

Any ideas on wheels yet, or is that a surprise?

[Jordan]

I would like to keep it, but I really don't have a need for nor a place to keep another car. That and I'd never hear the end of it from my wife.... Hard to justify no matter how I look at it.

Wheels were disclosed earlier in the thread. Ehrlich Wheel Works is building me a set of 16x8 BBS RS.

[george graves]

I would like to keep it, but I really don't have a need for nor a place to keep another car. That and I'd never hear the end of it from my wife.... Hard to justify no matter how I look at it.

Wait, you're already planning on *not* keeping the car?

[2mAn]

I would like to keep it, but I really don't have a need for nor a place to keep another car. That and I'd never hear the end of it from my wife.... Hard to justify no matter how I look at it.

Wheels were disclosed earlier in the thread. Ehrlich Wheel Works is building me a set of 16x8 BBS RS.

Thats right, I remember now. The fill n drill's, should be pretty bitching when done.

but that other thing you said.... Why not sell the E39, this thing will be a brand new car when you're done with it and worlds better than the other car.:hitler:

[Rouvld]

^ I'm curious as well, I'd just keep the car. I find it hard to think you'll break even on what you've put into it.

[Jordan]

Maybe I'll find a way to keep it long term, maybe I won't. We shall see. I grow increasingly more fond of it as I work on it, so who knows. Regardless its not like I'm going to finish it and immediately sell it. I will keep it for several months before its sold on.

Last night I installed the body harness in the car. I got it all laid out into its final position(s) as well but neglected to take a picture of that.



I also got the under dash firewall insulation installed. I would have liked to have this new, but it is NLA. Since its concealed under the dash anyway I settled for a good used one from a donor car.

[Jordan]

Wiring... so much wiring.

This evening I fit the wire harness to its final positions and installed of the OE clips back into place to secure it. While I'm in here I decided it would be the best time to run the 3 pair of RCA cables from the headunit area and new 16ga speaker wire to each corner. I wanted it all run along side the factory wiring for a clean look, even though no one will likely ever see it.







I also put a dozen or so body plugs into place, ran the large 12v cable front to back, and laid out an assortment of bracketry to prepare for the carpet to go back in.