Project finished - 'MY22' 318is - bare metal, nut and bolt restoration

[mike.bmw]

The BBS LM198s look absolutely amazing. I like the black caps much better than the red caps.

BBS E50s would be equally amazing as the LMs.

I think 16" BBS RS003s, which would offer a bit more sidewall than the LMs and E50s, might be perfect.

You really can't go wrong with any of those 3 choices though.

Keep up the great work. I love this thread!

[econti]

I think the LMs are about perfect to be honest.

[Pootis]

Great update. I thought up some other wheels to consider. Work VS-XX, Work CR01, Work Meisters (if you want to get crazy), or one of my favorite wheels CCW Classics full polish. Just some thoughts I had.

[Staszek]

Those are sweet!!

[2mAn]

I am not convinced they are the right wheels for the car.



I think they would look better with silver centres and black centre caps.



I think the black caps will make a difference.

Cant help but think some Cinel DTM’s would work. Or some Rotiform BLQ-C or Sixes

Im convinced they ARE the right wheels... wow

[Albie325]

I typically also prefer the look of the BBS RS003's, however since your car is a bit more "modern" looking with the gloss black trim and other little details I think the LM's are also along the lines of a more modern, yet refined look. I think it flows with the rest of the car well, but would love to see pics with some others if for no other reason than pure car porn. Nice work!

[burkey001]

I had to see what it looked like by changing out the centre caps from red to black.
For something so small, I think it makes a huge difference. I think the red and orange was a clash and just didn’t work at all… black caps… not bhed









On a similar note, I confirmed that BBS RC just don’t work for me with an orange car.
Which is funny, cos I think they look GREAT on my black car.


Not hawt




Hawt!




I digress.
Got the front subframe in to mock up fitment of a few things. Have a purple tag in here now. I need to machine up some travel limiters







Treehouse lollypops are just for mock up, I couldn’t find the OE ones I have in a box somewhere.

[mike.bmw]

The glossy black caps match the glossy black window trim. It's subtle, but as you said it makes a big difference. LM198s are "hawt". All. Day. Long. :)

[Pootis]

God this car is awesome

[Vincenze]

Is it the same color?

They say that BMW will offer new carpets and M3 panels.

[burkey001]

Is it the same color?

They say that BMW will offer new carpets and M3 panels.

That’s interesting, I really hope they do make carpet again. Such a huge oversight, surely they can see the market potential

The glossy black caps match the glossy black window trim. It's subtle, but as you said it makes a big difference. LM198s are "hawt". All. Day. Long. :)

Thanks Mike, it’s quite surprising. I think they could look even better with silver centres.

God this car is awesome

🙏🙏 thank you, long way until it’s a car. It is a nice chassis though 😁

[burkey001]

Some minor progress happening. Starting putting in the glass. Got the windscreen in, and really struggled getting the lockstrip in without the lockstrip tool. The new rubber is super right, the gap is only about 5mm and the strip is about 12mm… so… I have ordered the lock strip tool and I am waiting for it to arrive.

I suffered through about an hour and I got about 15cm installed…. I am sure the tool will make life easier. 😂







And in other news…. After a lot of consideration over wheel well colours… I gave in and elected to paint them black. The light wheel well colour just didn’t work well with the bright orange.

So, after the test fit of all the subframe bits, it had to come out again and I masked everything up to start doing the wells.

I chose to use some Teroson RBR2000. Not exclusively because it’s what I could get my hands on, but because it LOOKED like it was going to have the finish I was after. That being, ripply and smooth and kind of glossy. I think it succeeded.



I chose to hard mask the area, as a starting point, and hand painted a few seams and such first…

I not quite sure about the hard mask lines, it’s a bit severe. I might blow in some black from a small gun to fade it a little bit.

I didn’t want to spray this stuff with no masking, because well it would just be messy.












So much easier with a transmission jack!




Lastly, new heat shield arrived



The right hand drive 318is heat shield is NLA, but you can still get the M3 one.
So I got the M3 one.

And I tried it fit it… and I realised it hasn’t got a cutout for the steering column…. Of course… so I ran out of time today but I will go mark the cutout from the original and stamp it out with a die.


Will let this paint dry during the week, hope to get it back together on weekend. Vorshlag camber plates might be here too..

[econti]

Brand new glass always looks so damn good

[Tzantushka]

Sah-weet!

Few comments from us 'mere mortals' in the peanut gallery:

Underbody masking
Black looks great.
When everything is all together and the car is on the ground the wheel wells will blend in and not distract the eye.
The perfectionists would avoid the hard masking as cars would have that fathering/blending/overspray from the factory.
Hard to tell when it's on the ground.

Wheels
Also, been having a think about the wheel options.
Agree the BBS with the black caps are MUCH better.
Traditional style paying homage to the era.

But seeing as you're going with the gloss back trim...
- have you thought about something with a modern twist?

Something with a a machined face aka diamond cut?
- e.g. BBS Design line or some of the M3 series options?

Deal breaker could be a lack 4 lug options without looking to cheap & ricey'

[gnmzl]

First, I want to say the car looks amazing and watching it getting complete is like the best Netflix series imaginable, but better.

Some minor progress happening. Starting putting in the glass. Got the windscreen in, and really struggled getting the lockstrip in without the lockstrip tool. The new rubber is super right, the gap is only about 5mm and the strip is about 12mm… so… I have ordered the lock strip tool and I am waiting for it to arrive.

I suffered through about an hour and I got about 15cm installed…. I am sure the tool will make life easier. 😂

Regarding the above, the seal you put in appears to be a reproduction one from the pictures. If so, my advice is to throw it away and order an OEM one or find an original one in better shape. I've had so much trouble with reproduction seals on two cars, it's just not worth the effort. Once you start putting in the lock strip in, you'll realize about half way that you need to cut it in order to be able to put the rest of it in, the channel is just too narrow. We cracked one windshield during installation because it was just too tight! Also, they tend to shrink way faster and let water in - that happened on a buddy's car after about two years of having it on.
If you really don't want to redo your work, you can use a lock strip from a Lada, which is narrower than the e30 one and has the same finish as the early e30 models, which can obviously be painted black.
As reference.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LADA-2106-2101-Niva-retro-Zhiguli-Jiguli-VAZ-New-CHROME-LOCK-STRIP-/174118569534

But putting Lada stuff on this car seems a bit weird.