OEM+ Sterling Silver 1990 325is

[Zeemz]

Now that is finally nice enough to bust the car out, some upgrades for 2018.

So just doing my part as a good American to stimulate the economy and just blew my tax return and sent my car off to RRT to have the following done to the car:
Garagistic Powder Coated Adjustable and Reinforced rear sub frame OEM rubber bushings
Garagistic Powder Coated and Reinforced trailing arms with OEM rubber bushing
AC Conversion to R134
IE 22/19mm Adjustable Sways
Stainless Steal brake lines front and rear
Fuel Filter and rubber lines
Diff and brake flush
And some other odds and ends while it was apart

As always the guys at RRT did an awesome job and highly recommend the shop for others in the DC area.

Signed up for the NCC BMWCCA autocross season and a couple HPDEs. I can't wait to put it through the paces. Every single bushing has been replaced since November 2016 with OEM rubber with the exception of the IE sway's poly bushings. All the bushings + sways + new springs + the adjustable rear end the car handles amazingly!

Also looking forward to The Vintage and the Deutsche Marque Concours d'Elegance , so I have a list of small projects to complete myself as part of my Vintage/DMC prep. I wish I had a dedicated garage and I could have taken my time and done some of the bigger jobs listed above over the winter, but it wasn't an option. First on the list was getting rid of those side markers and installing Euro trim.




New rear trim up top, old rear trim on the bottom



All done, despite desperately needing a wash I think it looks awesome. It is very subtle, but makes a huge difference and really cleans up the look.

Can't forget the little things.
Changed the spark plugs - NGK (5077) ZGR5A



When I put the car up for the winter I realized that the battery hadn't been vented so took care of that to keep the rust away!

Other things on my Vintage Prep list that I will be doing over the next few weeks:
M-Tech I spoiler insert was sent off to paint last week, so install soon
Install pedals from Pedalhaus.com
Full interior and exterior detail
Install new air filter and intake boot
Picked up a new washer fluid reservoir to replace the old yellow one
Sent my extra tail lights to Bimmerguy91 to receive the All-Red treatment, picked up some new tail light gaskets to install with them as well

[mike.bmw]

Great update, Zeemz! I've love to take a ride in your car with all those new suspension bits. That might be dangerous for my wallet though. ;D

[Reichart12]

Gorgeous car. I got a RRT shirt a couple years ago from a BMWCCA autocross event. Love supporting them.

[Zeemz]

Gorgeous car. I got a RRT shirt a couple years ago from a BMWCCA autocross event. Love supporting them.

Great update, Zeemz! I've love to take a ride in your car with all those new suspension bits. That might be dangerous for my wallet though. ;D

Thanks guys.

Mike we need to take a drive and switch cars soon. See you at the DMC Sunday.

Fresh from the paint shop. Hope to put it on this weekend or before The Vintage.



After I took the pictures I realized there was a little gap on the left side of the insert and the spoiler. Loosened it up, adjusted it and now fits uniformly.

[Zeemz]

After breaking the car out recently from its winter slumber it was time for a through detail session as well as part of my Vintage prep and to participate in my first Concourse event, the 35th annual Deutsche Marque Concours d'Elegance.

I had a few other small jobs to do as well.


All red tails from Bimmerguy91 - https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho...d.php?t=413441 Better pics below.

After putting on the new Euro trim recently, I couldn't bring myself to throw a front plate back on. So we will see how long before I get a ticket. Ordered and installed some bumper plugs from Garagistic




Took over my friends garage for the weekend for my detail session. Ended up spending 13 hours last Saturday. As clean as I thought it was, after participating in the DMC show, I learned clean is all relative.

New washer reservoir to match the new coolant reservoir installed last year.


Tip, if you order one, just know you need to order a new cap separately.

Finally got around to installing my Pedalhaus pedals I picked up from Guten at the Vintage last year. I really love the look and much more grip when driving.


Another tip, this one thanks to Guten's IG page. The stock black paint was rubbed off under the rubber pads. Paint them before you install the pedals for a cleaner look so you can't see silver in the holes. I recommend drilling first and then painting them. I painted, drilled and then painted again because the template bracket scuffed them up again.


Foam gun never gets old.

Strip wax -wash with dawn, clay, wash and before waxing it was time to install the Mtech I spoiler. I have wanted one since I bought my first E30. After 8 years finally pulled the trigger.


Test fit.


Little pressure to help the adhesive set. Let it sit over night like this. Spoiler still used the stock bolts, but it also uses 3m double sided tape along the front of the insert and stock sticky pads on the sides.

On to waxing/sealing. As I mentioned before I am a big Zaino fan. I put on three coats.


Then spent a few hours on the interior.

A few shots from the show:








Some of you know Mike.BMW on here, he has an amazing Alpine 318is. We had a great time and both placed in the Vintage 80's BMW class. He took 2nd and I took 3rd. It was our first concourse event for both of us. We were excited to place, but also learned that if we want to take first we have lots of detailing things we never thought to detail to win.



Mike I am coming for you next year!

Cleaned up the car, just to hit the track this weekend at my first HPDE event and then off to The Vintage.

[TeXJ]

I want my sterling silver to be like yours!

[mike.bmw]

Awesome update! Your car is really next level inside and out.

DMC was a lot of fun this year and it was great hanging out. I think we were only apart by a few points so it could've gone either way. I'm game for next year! :D

Good luck at the HPDE this weekend! I'm hoping I can make it out to The Vintage one of these years.

[Mfever]

Car looks fantastic! Absolutely love a clean sterling, especially on a set of 003’s! Did you have the lips of your RS done in the brushed finish? How close does it look to the stock machined finish?

[Zeemz]

Car looks fantastic! Absolutely love a clean sterling, especially on a set of 003’s! Did you have the lips of your RS done in the brushed finish? How close does it look to the stock machined finish?

Thanks!

It is close, but not identical, but brushing is much more economical. I didn't get quotes, but have read that some places can charge $150-200 per wheel to re-machine the lips, at 4 times a wheel that can pay for you to have your wheels fully redone and just brush the lips. I am very happy with how they turned out.

I will take a close up picture for you this week.


Before:




After:

[Zeemz]

Awesome update! Your car is really next level inside and out.

DMC was a lot of fun this year and it was great hanging out. I think we were only apart by a few points so it could've gone either way. I'm game for next year! :D

Good luck at the HPDE this weekend! I'm hoping I can make it out to The Vintage one of these years.

Mark you calendar for the Vintage next year!


And hope to see you at the track next month or an NCC Autocross this summer.

[Mfever]

They look great! Would love a closer look! This looks like what im leaning towards!

[CHANTARS]

Definitely one of the E30's that has inspired me for my build!

[Zeemz]

Two weeks ago I attended my first HDPE event at Summit Point that was hosted by the NCC BMWCCA Chapter. Summit Point Raceway's "Main" circuit "is a ten turn, two mile road course that includes a 2900 foot straightaway and 400 feet of elevation change". (Mike I stole your Summit Point Intro! Hopefully we can out there together sometime this season)


It was a two day event with four 20 minute sessions per day and a skid pad session each day. I was nervous, but once I got out there I felt really comfortable. Although I have I just started Autocrossing last year, but I felt it really helped me relax, memorize the turns and pick my lines.

Car did awesome, was very happy with the recent suspension upgrades. It was an amazing time. I definitely got hooked and plan to go out again. Although most cars had more than twice my horsepower, I still got the pass sign from several cars throughout the weekend as the E30 crushed it in the tight turns. I would love some more power to hammer the straights, but focused on really learning how to drive a slow car fast rather than make up for mistakes with big horsepower in the straights.

Here is video of my fastest lap of the weekend, there was a downpour Sunday morning, so the Sunday session had a lot less people and a wide open track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1er6JBvXydg *Audio fixed

I used Track Addict to record the info, and rear facing camera and merged it with my GoPro 6 footage using Race Render on my computer.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the 2 day event.

Probably my favorite picture with the 1M pulling into the pit behind me while on turn 10 on Summit Main.

[stonea]

I don't know how I missed this thread, but you sir are an inspiration

[jdt10768]

Just wondering what points/details put you into 3rd place as opposed to 2nd place in the Concours event? They get pretty picky re: originality?