Time for a do-over - 12/88 Diamantschwarz M3

[travis816]

Beautiful car, Its a Keeper!

[e30austin]

a sign of things to come... NOS Evolution II pistons.

[moatilliatta]

What cams you going for? :)

[e30austin]

What cams you going for? :)

undecided at the moment. leaning towards 284/276 Schricks or have my spare set of stock 2.3 cams modified to Evolution II specs. trying to decide what would be the best option, since i'm leaving the 46mm throttles and 48mm exhaust manifold.

[e30austin]

Friday, the 23rd, marked two years of ownership. here are a few pictures i had taken of it, a while back. cheers.

[Northern]

Damn that is a beautiful example

[e30austin]

Damn that is a beautiful example

thanks - legitimately, the most fun i've ever had, on four wheels.

[moatilliatta]

She's a keeper. Looking forward to more updates!

[e30austin]

She's a keeper. Looking forward to more updates!

hoping i have time to re-do the interior (finally installing all the cardinal interior bits i've had), and put a stereo in it, this winter. time will tell, i guess... haha

[Panici]

That rolling shot is a stunner!

Red interior / black exterior is going to look ace.

[MasukBMW]

Car reminds me of Mariano's old car. Wonder what ever happened to that. Great work!

[e30austin]

Car reminds me of Mariano's old car. Wonder what ever happened to that. Great work!

to the best of my knowledge, he still owns it and drives it somewhat regularly. i hope he never sells! one of my favorite e30s.

[MasukBMW]

to the best of my knowledge, he still owns it and drives it somewhat regularly. i hope he never sells! one of my favorite e30s.

Thats nice to hear. So many great examples back in the day - back when Startecs were $250!. Always wonder what became of some of those. Take care,

[e30austin]

hoping i have time to re-do the interior (finally installing all the cardinal interior bits i've had), and put a stereo in it, this winter. time will tell, i guess... haha

update: i started this project last night. maybe i'll have it finished in a year.

[e30austin]

it didn't take a year, but i finished the stereo. went with:

Blaupunkt Bremen reissue head unit
Alpine component 5.25" speakers in factory premium sound housings
Alpine 5-channel amplifier
10" Lukebox w/ JL W7 woofer

sounds awesome, couldn't be happier. didn't ever realize how much shorter the dimensions of the e30m3 trunk compartment were, due to the design of the rear window, so the box isn't a great fit, but it'll do the job.

also, installed the cardinal red door panels, speakers, seats and a few other pieces. the seats in the car, are the same ones that came with the car, when i bought it. the shade of the seats and door panels don't match. i need to order some dye and redo them, one of these weekends where i have lots of excess spare time.

since my last post, i stumbled upon a pair of NOS Sport Evo fenders, NOS Evo II shift knob (leather + illuminated, dogleg), and a NOS Evo flywheel. more junk to collect for my eventual restoration.

really hoping i can pull the engine and reseal it some day. trying to resist the urge to build a 2.5, since it's all apart. i have a feeling it'll end up happening; knowing how i do things these days, i can't justify doing this project twice.

a few pictures for your viewing pleasure....







my last client build, before closing my shop, was an s52 conversion, in this insanely nice '89 325is, fitted with an M-Technic II kit and lots of cool parts. former owner was a member here. few shots of the two together:




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