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

[burkey001]

Minor update. The bright plated clips on the ignition coils were bothering me (too bright) so I gave them a light cut back with some steel wool and a light coat of some black PU paint. Kind of mutes it down a bit more.

This thing is amazing. Loving every detail. Much like the Singer philosophy of ‘Everything Is Important’. I hope to jump into an OE-standard restomod once my current car is done, so this is all very educational and inspirational. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing you enjoying the fruits of your labors soon!

Hey thanks man, while its definitely not close to what Singer do, I do admire their approach. Everything does matter because I am building my interpretation of a ‘new’ E30.

Where'd you get the COP kit from?

I made it from some 6mm 6061 plate I had leftover from some dry sump brackets I made for my other E30. Not too much to it, I can post up centre distances if you need. They are “accurate enough” not down to the nearest micron.


Also have some progress made on carpet. My main man mr trim is here laying down a few edges and seams after measuring many times. Is going to be a multi-piece carpet like an old Porsche because this German Square weave carpet isn’t overly mouldable and a one-piece repro is out of the question.

I would have used a new genuine carpet but they have been NLA in RHD for a long time. Plus, custom is kinda cool.

Don’t pay too close attention to any gaps here, this is just initial layout and fit testing views




That yellow zinc bolt has to go… does my head in. I will probably turn up some little aluminium trim caps for the bolts, have then coated black and retain them with a little internal oring pressure on the hex or something.

Rough view of the blue on blue on orange with a genuine Evo 2 wheel

[Matt@EDC]

This thing is amazing. Loving every detail. Much like the Singer philosophy of ‘Everything Is Important’. I hope to jump into an OE-standard restomod once my current car is done, so this is all very educational and inspirational. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing you enjoying the fruits of your labors soon!

[econti]

Where'd you get the COP kit from?

[burkey001]

Sticking with S52 coils for the time being, they work, let’s get it finished :)

Did some adjustment to get it fitting right.
Made some custom fasteners that locate the same as the OE bolts in the cam valley you have to take out to bolt the coil plate down. Even uses the OEM rubber washer.





Sits in there pretty good. Snug it up and the plate rests on top.

Snug it all up, happy days


Time to paint it and make it blend in a bit

Wrinkle black on the plate to match cam cover

Trying some contrasty orange anodised fasteners… gotta keep it a little custom after all





And that, besides the fact the new fan blower resister doesn’t seem to work, is the engine bay tucked in
Pity I have to pull all that crap off to get at the blower resister… sigh

[Tzantushka]

That's awesome news!

[burkey001]

Coil on plug done. Not bad, bit bulky. Think I will try S54 coils to make it more compact in the hope I can still run the “BMW” plug valley cover

Will paint the plate black if I keep it








And… it starts 😊

[burkey001]

The march towards done continues

Put some ventureshield on the boot floor and got the spare LM mounted. Happy cos now the floor mat wont scratch the paint.




Fitted a throttle cable and fitted off the M3 cowl trim.



Fitted the parcel shelf and discovered it’s really tough to photograph a parcel shelf…. But I think it looks great

Spinneybeck full aniline leather and “German square weave” carpet.









And although the carpet is not done I put the seats in to get a feel for the blue vibe. I like it



On the ground but I don’t think the LM will stay.



Closer!

[econti]

Do yourself a favour and get a powered bleeder, the air powered ones are amazing

[burkey001]

This is awesome. I don't think I'll go to the extent that you're going, but I do want to completely strip my project down and nut and bolt as much as I can and have an extremely well sorted street car! Can't wait to see the fully finished product!

thanks dude.

Sorted the reverse lights, didn't plug it in next to the gear shift.

Starting to bleed the clutch with old friend gravity right now. Need to remember the actual process for bleeding a totally dry circuit. the master is a pain from memory.

[E30auddie]

This is awesome. I don't think I'll go to the extent that you're going, but I do want to completely strip my project down and nut and bolt as much as I can and have an extremely well sorted street car! Can't wait to see the fully finished product!

[burkey001]

I charged up a battery, pulled the spark plugs and did some power up testing.

All the electrics seem to work which is awesome, except my reverse lights but I will have to check on another E30 whether they light up when the car is not running.


I wanted to check the engine and make sure it built oil pressure before I went and did anything else.

I turned it over a few times and kept checking the oil filter to see if it was getting oil in it… nope.
Engine was making a mild clicking sound on turnover and I was getting worried I had done something wrong.

Filled the oil filter housing with oil and just let it sit… i figured that might flow some oil down into the pump to help it prime after being completely dry.

A few 15-20 second cranks later and I noticed I had oil spilled all over the floor…. We have oil flow!

I had the valve cover off so I heard all the hissing going on as the oil galleries filled up and pushed air out. Soon as that happened the ‘click click click’ sound vanished so that may have been a lifter that was a bit dry… so I am pleased about that.


Bled the brakes.

Pretty pumped!

[burkey001]

Getting close to that exciting time

Yes, but no doubt still months off 😁

I love that E36 sideskirt trim, I've never seen that done before.

Thanks dude, a subtle touch and I like when you can repurpose parts from other series. I didn’t want the body kit to rub on the sills because I don’t have an stoneguard there, so thought this would be a nice OE+ way to achieve it.

The TESA tape is more matte than the factory stuff I removed, but I also thought maybe the original tape has gotten more glossy (and certainly more goopy/sticky) with it's old age. The stuff you used looks great too.

I haven’t really pulled much of the OG car apart because I haven’t needed to, and honestly, I don’t want to because it’s so untouched. That tape looks more focussed under the trim panel. Along the side of the engine I think it’s mostly in that rigid plastic loom tubing. But I haven’t closely paid attention to it (it’s not mine, it’s a family members)

Poured in some more coolant here and I have just had a litre of ATE Super Blue arrive in the mail. So will be bleeding brakes and clutch soon as I can get back into it.

Borrowed the catalyst section from a friend so I could bolt up the Supersprint exhaust and check that all the bits bolts up and I have all the parts I need. Pleased to report the Supersprint fit is exceptionally good. 100% OEM bolt up.

Bolting up old catalyst for test (thanks Simon)… don’t worry not using this



This center section carrier is not the same as originally came on the car, subtly different. When you look it up in the ETK there are actually two options, I don’t know why. This one shown has a more rigid fitment because the isolation between the two parts is some very high durometer rubber inserts. The original one uses a pair of 17mm tall elastomer buffers. I bought that one too, but using this because it’s more compact and looks a little neater IMO.


SS fitment is top notch.


Pretty certain I have that exhaust hanger mounted to the subframe attached upside down… waiting on the rubber hanger.




I have room to push the tip in further, will have to wait and see how I feel about the position



It kind of just sits flush with the plastic bumper




Haven’t put the black trim in the bumpers because they still need a wet sand and flatten.


Close! Feels like a car :)

[econti]

Getting close to that exciting time

[Northern]

I love that E36 sideskirt trim, I've never seen that done before.

[Digitalwave]

The TESA tape is more matte than the factory stuff I removed, but I also thought maybe the original tape has gotten more glossy (and certainly more goopy/sticky) with it's old age. The stuff you used looks great too.