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

[Tzantushka]

Thanks, i think i will keep as is. Really like your restoration too. Good to see you're in Vic too. BMWCCV or BMWDCM?

Good - I think all the under body purists can relax now

I'm with BMWCCV - occasionally attend a few C&C and members nights - but not hardcore active.

[Gus]

Wow, just read this front to back - ultra impressive!

I really like your ideas for the interior - giving me some inspiration for re-doing the blue leather in mine.

For the bumper seals - is that an M3 part that fits non-M's? Guessing it was done for aero? Haven't seen those before.

Jordan, great tip on the washer fluid cap - that's been bothering me for some time.

[burkey001]

Wow, just read this front to back - ultra impressive!

I really like your ideas for the interior - giving me some inspiration for re-doing the blue leather in mine.

For the bumper seals - is that an M3 part that fits non-M's? Guessing it was done for aero? Haven't seen those before.

Jordan, great tip on the washer fluid cap - that's been bothering me for some time.

Hi,

Got a few more interior pics for you now. The bumper seals and hood seals are from the Sport Evo M3. I haven't installed any of that yet because I am waiting on a final clear coat flatten in a few spots, a full detail and then extensive PPF application. I know PPF is going to kill a little gloss but I intent this car to be a driver and I don't want stone chips. Or, I'd like to minimise stone chips.

I’ve got some seats back!

Happy days

Pretty pleased with how they turned out, they are pretty close to what I was hoping.

The Spinneybeck Copenhagen leather feels superb. It is a full aniline, veg tanned natural grained leather and it feels very supple and quite special. So far beyond BMW Dakota leather its almost comical. Colour code is CO2211. The Warwick fabric (Rupert London Clay) feels very comfy to sit on.
Originally wanted full fabric seats, but the Rupert print is end of run and I could only get enough for inserts… so that’s how that rolls.

Rear seats to start in a few weeks, door trims after that. Then custom carpet. Then install it all… in the ‘future’
Slow process but this stuff tends to take a long time, so we can handle that.


i need to make some little spacer / trim pieces to take up the gap between the bolster adjusters and the outside of the bolsters. Just a tidiness thing






Recalling a previous post these are Recaro Experts with E30 head rests customised in, because the Recaro head rest is really quite bulky and inelegant.

Had some map pockets added so I can carry my paper-based GPS ;)






It’s not a subtle colour combo, but I am pretty chuffed how it looks together.
Am now considering blue carpet rather than black…





Its nice to see some progress made after a hiatus.


I realised that I installed the fuel tank without installing the fuel tank / brake pad sensor sub harness. I have that on my desk, and as we’re about to hit Stage 4 COVID lock down I will remake this sub harness in Spec 44 wiring and such like I’ve done the rest of the car so far.

[econti]

Come up well, not my choice of combo but it's certainly interesting, great workmanship that's for sure. Who did them?

[burkey001]

Something to post for a change. Absolutely zero progress the past 4 weeks. My state has been in ‘stage 4’ Covid lock down which basically means u cant go more than 5km from your house for anything, and within those 5km you’re only allowed outside for 1 hour a day for exercise or to buy food.

Since I don’t keep cars at home, I have not seen them in almost a month. Last night had crazy heavy downpour and I was legitimately concerned my workshop had flooded, so I went to have a look (it was flooded, but only a small amount) and spend an hour tinkering

Which was much appreciated, cos I have been slightly going a little stir crazy. And, the plating company who was doing my trim and a bunch of other stuff finally finished and delivered their job. So, I wanted to go take a look at that, see how it looks.

Before lockdown I took some wiring tools home and I have been slowly working on replacing more of the chassis wiring. Finished up the fueltank/diff/brake sensor sub loom earlier in the week, so I wanted to go put that in too.

Original loom. Two things that surprise me. 1) the quality of the rubber grommets. They clean up like new, always. 2) the extent of oxidisation in the 30+ year old wiring. I can cut 30cm down from a plug and still see oxidisation and green gunk in with conductors. So that must be fixed


So, like the engine bay lets replace all that well used gear with some fresh goodness. M22759/32 cable, new pins, new plugs, good DR-25 shrink and a little care and attention.
Inside the loom





And finished




Though I am leaving all the sensor ends long so I can trim it to just the right length once I fit to car.




to be terminated

So, onto the plating.

I have been getting a lot of stuff powder coated, but things like bolts etc obviously no good, so I got some done in matte black chrome, as kind of a test. Not too bad. I think the black studs will look pretty good.




I wanted black camber bolts… what can I say :)

Good closeup of the trailing arms too. I had them stripped but I wanted to retain good rust inhibition, so I had them, EDP coated, and then satin powder on top. You can see the difference in finish here



Also got the fuel tank balance pipe plated in matte black, so the fuel tank is finally complete



Was also able to give the subframe plates a whirl too






The main game however is the gloss black chrome window trim.
I am pretty pleased how well it turned out. I was after the modern shadowline look - gloss - given this is a “MY19” build… and I like it



















So, I reckon that looks pretty good.
I have tried many finishes on this trim, from 1k and 2k paint at various levels of sheen and powder. For me, this is the best.

I like (to believe) that chrome will be more durable than paint or powder. When I was fiddling with satin 2k, just handling it changed the gloss level… and you cant polish it… so that was a no go.
This car will be a driver, so need some practical durability.


And that’s probably it until lockdown ends or my workshop floods again!

[Pootis]

The trim looks awesome. While I only think it works on a car like yours with the paint quality/build quality I'm glad you took the risk on it. Definitely will be one of the most unique looking E30's while still being very OEM looking.

[burkey001]

The trim looks awesome. While I only think it works on a car like yours with the paint quality/build quality I'm glad you took the risk on it. Definitely will be one of the most unique looking E30's while still being very OEM looking.

thanks dude, one day i hope it's finished and I can drive it:)

strongly investigating a hyper9 conversion

[Jordan]

Love the gloss black shadowline, I was wanting to do that with the orange wide body car but ended up sticking with satin. Glad to see someone else bit it off and it turned out great!

[burkey001]

Love the gloss black shadowline, I was wanting to do that with the orange wide body car but ended up sticking with satin. Glad to see someone else bit it off and it turned out great!

🙏

[Staszek]

*Snip*

Love the gloss!

[rturbo 930]

Did you really need to quote that entire post just to say you love the gloss? Forum ettiquette...c'mon.

[TeXJ]

^this

[econti]

I was all set on doing my trim OEM and you go and throw a spanner in the works. Thanks. Now I have to decide between them.

[lukeADE335i]

Good to see some more progress Burkey - must be tough with the lockdown still in place in Victoria.

You're going to end up with a concourse winner there for sure

[burkey001]

Good to see some more progress Burkey - must be tough with the lockdown still in place in Victoria.:

Thanks :) lockdown is quite trying, progress is slow.


Have begun to mount up the subframes to check how it all fits, check I have all the bolts I need, check the routing of wiring, soft and hardlines.

First up, checking subframe and such

Ignore the spring perch marks and such… have cleaned them down in prep to paint the wheel wells




Took a few attempts to get the wire harness routed in a way I was happy with





Of course, I remember that the trailing arms have to go on as a single piece
Up on the jack


Have some AST 4210s on it at the moment, I think I am going to switch out the MCS 2 ways from my other car and put them on this one





So, onto clearancing the new brake shields to accommodate bigger brakes. Again, not sure I am going to run these calipers, but I had them handy. Considering running 996 Porsche calipers because I want dust shields on the pistons for rego considerations






And I have decided the wheel wells need to be black… might actually do the whole underbody… TBC


Cleaned up and ready for powdercoating



Test fit the heat shields.



I need to remember what part number these are for BMW… they are Torrington bearings for 60mm coilover springs to prevent coil bind





Aaand finished my hardlines up. Similar routing to OEM, but in my opinion a little neater and tighter.






Lastly I lowered the hoist onto some wheels, to see what it looks like. These are BBS LM198.
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


Previously considering BBS E50, but speaking to BBS they come with no warranty or TUV because they are a race wheel. The lack of TUV might be a rego / insurance issue, so may have to rule them out


That’s all

Bye for now