OEM+ Sterling Silver 1990 325is

[Zeemz]

very nice, where are you find a new gearbox ? how much you pay ?

I spoke with Dan from http://diffsonline.com. Dan was super helpful and after talking with him about what a full rebuild cost he asked if I had checked with BMW. He actually pulled up prices online of remanufactured units and told me it would be cheaper to go that route unless I was going to customize the build.

I called Levent and he discovered instead of re-manufactured units there were 3 new old stock units still at BMW in Germany. I decided to pull the trigger and he ordered one for me.

Im afraid to ask how much a NOS G260 cost ya... Car looks absolutely amazing though. Enjoy it!

Posted this in another thread about rebuilds:

Some rebuilds ran $3500-$4000 and some where only around $1750. Why the big difference? I was told that the ones on the cheaper side are more "inspect and refresh" and are not truly full rebuilds.

If I could have found a decent used one with around 100K miles I would have rolled the dice on that. When I tried to find one everyone who replied to my search were trying to sell me units with over 200K or one pulled from a parts car that they had no idea about running condition.

Some people will think I am crazy, but I ended up buying a NOS unit from BMW for around $3100. It was a little more than the "refreshed units" and it was cheaper that the full rebuilds. Also it also came with a two year warranty from BMW. I am also planning on either rebuilding the M20 down the line or building a stroked M20 and what better to mate it to than a brand new trans.

However for what I spent on a new unit you can roll the dice on quite a few used units.

[Zeemz]

Very nice! Lets hear the Ireland Engineering exhaust!

I really like the IE exhaust. Nice OEM appearance, stainless steel, and a nicer deeper tone than stock but not too loud.

But with the Stromung GB openned up, I decided I wanted something a little more aggressive and ordered one. I will try to get a video before the Stromung goes on! :devil:

[E30beemer]

Love your car! So clean.

[c0rbin9]

For some reason I thought this was a FS thread at first.

Car looks great! In for exhaust clip video. Driving would be cool too.

[Zeemz]

For some reason I thought this was a FS thread at first.

Not for a long time if ever!

[Zeemz]

New BBS Caps just arrived for the final touch on refinishing the wheels.

[pilotskillse30]

Beauty

[c0rbin9]

Your car almost has me liking sideskirts, and I'm a die-hard stock-body guy. Must be doing something right...

[c0rbin9]

OMG, just read through the thread - you had somebody fix the pinch welds?! I've been wondering about that since I got my car, as mine are mangled to shit. I'm very interested to hear about how they were fixed. Were you pleased with the final results?

[Zeemz]

Your car almost has me liking sideskirts, and I'm a die-hard stock-body guy. Must be doing something right...

Can't go wrong with OEM skirts, especially on a 325is or 318is, or someone rocking a painted IS lip.

Without the skirts I always thought the IS lip sits too low compared to the rest of the car because of the black rockers. To me painted OEM skirts helps overcome this issue. I am not a fan of leaving the front lip black, but understand why some do to flow with the black rockers and lower black portion of the rear valance.

At some point I will have my rear lower valance painted all silver.

[Zeemz]

OMG, just read through the thread - you had somebody fix the pinch welds?! I've been wondering about that since I got my car, as mine are mangled to shit. I'm very interested to hear about how they were fixed. Were you pleased with the final results?

Pretty much this was a result of shops jacking the car up by the hand jack points and other spots along the pinch welds with floor jacks or lifts over the years.

It wasn't something I really wanted to do, but I figured I spent money to have a clean West Coast car shipped out East I wanted to make sure rust wouldn't be an issue down the line. The body guy said it was just surface rust at this point and I could wait a couple years, but it would likely be a much more extensive repair if I waited.

I don't have any after shots. I will try to get some next time I am under the car. Here is one of the spots that had been messed up.

[c0rbin9]

Makes sense with the black rockers - my car has been repainted and the rockers are body color, which has a similar visual "balancing" effect to side skirts.

[c0rbin9]

Thanks for the picture of the pinch welds. If they were able to straighten that out, I'd be pleasantly surprised, as that's pretty much just what mine look like. Any idea what technique they used? I've heard of people using pliers or hammer and dolly.

The problem for me is that without side skirts the pinch welds are actually visible from certain angles. And they look much nicer if they are ruler straight.

[Zeemz]

Thanks for the picture of the pinch welds. If they were able to straighten that out, I'd be pleasantly surprised, as that's pretty much just what mine look like. Any idea what technique they used?

Not sure how they did it, but they did a great job.

[Zeemz]

Stromung exhaust just arrived. It is going on tomorrow!