e30 325i Sport M-Tech1
Discussion
Lovely car and great story, OP. An M-Tech Sport 1 is certainly a rare thing now. IIRC the body kit on the Sport 1 was made by Zender? Always looked a bit sharper then the Sport 2 to my eyes, more in keeping with the rest of the E30 design.
When I had my standard 2 door 325i 20 years ago I picked up an original '86 brochure. The standard wheels for the Sport were 14" BBS cross spokes, with 15" as an option, but I don't think I've ever seen one running 14's.
I echo what others have said about the slow steering, I think it was 4.5 turns lock to lock, on my non PAS car. Combined with an open diff and a 21 year old's lead foot I scared myself s*hitless trying to catch a 3rd gear 5000 rpm slide, fishtailing up the wrong side of the road for 100 yards. Definitely more driver than car error though!
Enjoy it, it will get under your skin.
When I had my standard 2 door 325i 20 years ago I picked up an original '86 brochure. The standard wheels for the Sport were 14" BBS cross spokes, with 15" as an option, but I don't think I've ever seen one running 14's.
I echo what others have said about the slow steering, I think it was 4.5 turns lock to lock, on my non PAS car. Combined with an open diff and a 21 year old's lead foot I scared myself s*hitless trying to catch a 3rd gear 5000 rpm slide, fishtailing up the wrong side of the road for 100 yards. Definitely more driver than car error though!
Enjoy it, it will get under your skin.
I’m loving life with the e30. A bad run of terrible weather in Norfolk has meant that I haven’t had the chance to take it out quite as much as I would have liked.
Every time I head into the garage and pull back the cover is an event however and I’ve been really enjoying the ownership experience. The car has run faultlessly since the refresh. I’ve noticed a couple of things that I’ll have to address, but hardly big issues - one being a split brake fluid bottle cap, and the missing front m-badge.
I’ve been able to test the enormous boot as well, with a trip to Corby for some camping with a few university mates. Two up, the boot is enormous and swallowed a four man tent, 4 chairs, a Roccbox pizza oven and gas, various assorted camping items and a truck load of beer. I was impressed. We even managed navigating Cambs to Corby on a 1992 road atlas for nostalgia.
The car also ticked over 46000 on the trip.
I’d succeeded in entering the car in the Reepham classic car show, but I had an offer from my Uncle that I couldn’t refuse. He was on holiday but offered me the keys to his pride and joy, a car my wife and I had used as our wedding car 6 years ago. He was keen to lend it to me for the weekend as Holkham Hall was hosting an Aston Martin Owners Club concours event. They’re a stone throw from us, so we hatched a plan to get the car up here for the weekend, sorted the insurance (terrifying) and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to roll around in a DB6 Mk2 for the weekend, so sadly the e30 debut at a show was postponed.
Concours events are funny old things, but there was some seriously precious metal there, including a gorgeous DB4 GT racer continuation. The DB6 mk2 is one of only 200 odd cars made and feels older than its 1971 production year, but I suspect sadly that perhaps some of the maintenance has been done on a shoestring, as my uncle paid £30k for the car, 20 or so years ago and hadn’t anticipated the extraordinary running costs these now attract. Lovely machine, turns heads like anything, but it’s only worth what it is if you sell it, and they cost a lot to look after....
The only slight embarrassment was when we threw in an on the day entry into the concours, only to come second out of 2 cars when a bloke turned up having driven all the way from London in a DB MkIII....
Still, can’t complain about pretending to then be my uncle when collecting a prize, and he can now say his car came second in a concours event.
My mother-in-law has popped over to catch up with us and the kids for a week and is staying for a funeral so when the weather brightened up I couldn’t resist taking her for a quick blast out in the e30 for old times sakes. She’d last been out in the car when it went over to France in 2003 when they drove it down to Toulouse from Nottingham over a couple of days. She hadn’t seen it run or start since then, so I was fab to show her the car and give it a proper run out. The trip was faultless other than a tiny patch of oil on the garage floor, and a coolant light that showed for a moment prior to then disappearing when I turned the car off and on again.
Perfect day for a drive. Crisp, dry and sunny.
Plans for the car?
NC500 trip in July is in the early planning stages, so any advice is welcome. After that, I’m keen to take my wife over to Champagne and the Vosges and perhaps down to the Italian lakes and some of the Swiss passes, but given babysitting is at a premium, this might have to wait a year or two.
Every time I head into the garage and pull back the cover is an event however and I’ve been really enjoying the ownership experience. The car has run faultlessly since the refresh. I’ve noticed a couple of things that I’ll have to address, but hardly big issues - one being a split brake fluid bottle cap, and the missing front m-badge.
I’ve been able to test the enormous boot as well, with a trip to Corby for some camping with a few university mates. Two up, the boot is enormous and swallowed a four man tent, 4 chairs, a Roccbox pizza oven and gas, various assorted camping items and a truck load of beer. I was impressed. We even managed navigating Cambs to Corby on a 1992 road atlas for nostalgia.
The car also ticked over 46000 on the trip.
I’d succeeded in entering the car in the Reepham classic car show, but I had an offer from my Uncle that I couldn’t refuse. He was on holiday but offered me the keys to his pride and joy, a car my wife and I had used as our wedding car 6 years ago. He was keen to lend it to me for the weekend as Holkham Hall was hosting an Aston Martin Owners Club concours event. They’re a stone throw from us, so we hatched a plan to get the car up here for the weekend, sorted the insurance (terrifying) and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to roll around in a DB6 Mk2 for the weekend, so sadly the e30 debut at a show was postponed.
Concours events are funny old things, but there was some seriously precious metal there, including a gorgeous DB4 GT racer continuation. The DB6 mk2 is one of only 200 odd cars made and feels older than its 1971 production year, but I suspect sadly that perhaps some of the maintenance has been done on a shoestring, as my uncle paid £30k for the car, 20 or so years ago and hadn’t anticipated the extraordinary running costs these now attract. Lovely machine, turns heads like anything, but it’s only worth what it is if you sell it, and they cost a lot to look after....
The only slight embarrassment was when we threw in an on the day entry into the concours, only to come second out of 2 cars when a bloke turned up having driven all the way from London in a DB MkIII....
Still, can’t complain about pretending to then be my uncle when collecting a prize, and he can now say his car came second in a concours event.
My mother-in-law has popped over to catch up with us and the kids for a week and is staying for a funeral so when the weather brightened up I couldn’t resist taking her for a quick blast out in the e30 for old times sakes. She’d last been out in the car when it went over to France in 2003 when they drove it down to Toulouse from Nottingham over a couple of days. She hadn’t seen it run or start since then, so I was fab to show her the car and give it a proper run out. The trip was faultless other than a tiny patch of oil on the garage floor, and a coolant light that showed for a moment prior to then disappearing when I turned the car off and on again.
Perfect day for a drive. Crisp, dry and sunny.
Plans for the car?
NC500 trip in July is in the early planning stages, so any advice is welcome. After that, I’m keen to take my wife over to Champagne and the Vosges and perhaps down to the Italian lakes and some of the Swiss passes, but given babysitting is at a premium, this might have to wait a year or two.
Brilliant, really glad you are enjoying the ownership experience after a few hiccups. In E30 circles those hiccups, although frustrating, are minor compared to what some find during a recommissioning 
It's great to see it being used, looked after properly these really are durable cars, I've been using my low mileage touring as a daily for a few years now with no issues. ( also rot free but had a degree of recommissioning ....and a few hiccups!)
Enjoy in good health what is now a rare find, I don't imagine there are many other nice tech 1 sports out there waiting to be discovered. I had an identical one to yours many years ago, nice it was not!
It's great to see it being used, looked after properly these really are durable cars, I've been using my low mileage touring as a daily for a few years now with no issues. ( also rot free but had a degree of recommissioning ....and a few hiccups!)
Enjoy in good health what is now a rare find, I don't imagine there are many other nice tech 1 sports out there waiting to be discovered. I had an identical one to yours many years ago, nice it was not!
As discussed earlier in the thread the car didn’t have M badges on the front and rear from the factory, here’s one:
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1167570
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1167570
helix402 said:
As discussed earlier in the thread the car didn’t have M badges on the front and rear from the factory, here’s one:
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1167570
Good point. And seeing that the original spec specifies the delete for the model specificiation, i'm inclined to remove the 'm' boot badge now. https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1167570
Started the car and ran her up to temp today, was going to take it out but The discovery of mouse damage in my daily scuppered the chances. My Golf now has 4 mouse traps in it. b
ds ate into my new upholstery.
However, while having a poke about the other day I’d discovered a split cap for the clutch fluid, a quick replacement was ordered and had arrived so I fitted that today.
Engine bay is pretty good but a job for when I have an hour or two without the kids will be to tidy and clean and budget detail the engine bay.
I love this car. It’s odd as at heart I’m a massive Subaru fan and would have thought that with time I’d find it hard not to swap this out for a mint Impreza P1, but I can’t see that happening now. I love the fact that at 50mph you can really enjoy it, and the golf is ballistic in comparison, but soooo numb and almost too easy to extract it’s performance from. As a package it’s better than the GB270 wagon I had and loved, but it’s a much superior car overall. Lesson is that even with long journeys, kids are now banned from eating in the car.
ds ate into my new upholstery. However, while having a poke about the other day I’d discovered a split cap for the clutch fluid, a quick replacement was ordered and had arrived so I fitted that today.
Engine bay is pretty good but a job for when I have an hour or two without the kids will be to tidy and clean and budget detail the engine bay.
I love this car. It’s odd as at heart I’m a massive Subaru fan and would have thought that with time I’d find it hard not to swap this out for a mint Impreza P1, but I can’t see that happening now. I love the fact that at 50mph you can really enjoy it, and the golf is ballistic in comparison, but soooo numb and almost too easy to extract it’s performance from. As a package it’s better than the GB270 wagon I had and loved, but it’s a much superior car overall. Lesson is that even with long journeys, kids are now banned from eating in the car.
POORCARDEALER said:
Mint ultra low mileage H reg 325 Sport just done £51K at NEC auction
Unbelievable figures when you consider the fees. I think that car had done 6000miles as it was featured in the latest ‘Harry’s Garage’. A Sierra Cosworth with 7000 recently sold for £80k at an auction in Kings Lynn and shows that there is still a market for these sorts of vehicles. I can’t see them going much higher and I feel that the bubble is about to pop.
Edited by Tri_Doc on Sunday 10th November 07:49
Success in the daily.
Caught these two last night, one in the boot and one in the trap under the drivers seat.
4 more traps coming soon, so will continue to bait the golf this week and see if I can catch anymore. I’ve put a trap near the e30 just in case, but don’t want to draw them to the car unnecessarily.
Damn mice.
Caught these two last night, one in the boot and one in the trap under the drivers seat.
4 more traps coming soon, so will continue to bait the golf this week and see if I can catch anymore. I’ve put a trap near the e30 just in case, but don’t want to draw them to the car unnecessarily.
Damn mice.
Foul weather has prevented many trips. A chance at a night away from the kids at the fabulous Morston Hall dictated that we take the BMW as it was a special occasion and only local. The roads are rank at the moment but I was keen to take the old girl.
Ran nicely. Coolant light reappeared. Levels appear ok. A quick browse of the forums would suggest this is either a stuck float or faulty sensor. I’ll explore this more over this coming week. Might need to take it out for a drive on the greesy roads to test the handling a little more.
Ran nicely. Coolant light reappeared. Levels appear ok. A quick browse of the forums would suggest this is either a stuck float or faulty sensor. I’ll explore this more over this coming week. Might need to take it out for a drive on the greesy roads to test the handling a little more.
Tri_Doc said:
Might need to take it out for a drive on the greesy roads to test the handling a little more.
Be careful with that! Mine was super sketchy in the wet. Standard suspension was a bit soft so there would be a very long or kind of 2 stage weight transfer with corners that would really unsettle the car, had to catch it quite quick too.Was nice and progressively slidey in the dry but a snappy git in the wet.
Its been a while since I updated the thread, mainly because the car didn't get used over winter last year and then running into 2020 we all know what happened. Having said that, I used the car to commute a bit during lockdown, taking the coast road to work as it was utterly deserted and the A149 coast road between Wells-Next-The-Sea and Kelling has some lovely sections to it that can really be enjoyed in the absence of holiday maker traffic and caravans.
The car has been running flawlessly since getting it back on the road.
I sent it in to BMP Conversions again to have a check over after 1 year, and to refresh the MOT. I then got the call, it had failed on a couple of items:
1) perished bake hoses
2) perished front lower wishbone bushes
This is when the decisions started. Cold facts were that I don't own any axle stands and only one jack that is on its way out. I don't own a bush pulling tool or a bush pressing tool. I also was keen to use the car this summer and not spent an eternity on it, doing the job myself, and knowing that to fully replace all the bushes is an axle off job, I felt that might be a little beyone my mechanical skill set (i'm ok on discs/pads and simple servicing jobs like oil/filters etc, but i'm learning, and the e30 is clearly a car that lends itself well to this). Also taking into account that the labour charges to do two of the bushes was nearly enough to justify doing the rest of them at the same time and not having to go back for a second round of work, thats when the job escalated a little....
So bushes on the e30 are as follows:
Essentially a job for a couple of fresh bushes turned into a total underside refresh. All bushes except number 31 (gear link). We then also replaced the brake lines and rust proofed the rest of the lines.
Just as it was about to go for geometry, we found that a previous workshop had taken some mole grips and an acetylene torch to the track rod ends in the last geometry adjustment and they were looking less than happy, so they got replaced as well. Then the bush in the steering rack was replaced, as the refreshed bushes exposed the old item in there. I've kept the original steering rack, as a popular upgrade is the Z3 rack to reduce the steering turns from 4 and a bit to 2 and a bit lock to lock. I can see why, the slow steering is still an issue, but i'm not keen to change this as its so obviously not in keeping with originality.
The bushes are another interesting area. Only after giving the go ahead for the bushes did I become aware that there was a 'heritage' collection rather than the regular purple road bushes for the car. Retrospectively I'd have probably gone for these, but hopefully that isn't something i'll regret in the future.
Collection day was sweet. There were some lovely items tucked away at the workshop:
The driving experience is transformed. Much more engaging, much less wallow and the car feels much improved on the boat-like disconnected feel that had been there previously. There is no notiable harshness to any of the ride, rather an improved sense of road control and the whole event has been a huge success in my eyes. I'm thrilled with the results.
I left the car out in our carport area overnight as I was planning a morning trip in it, to find the local pigeons had enjoyed a walk on the paintwork.
One of the three guilty pigeons has subsequently been dispatched with my air rifle and enjoyed as kievs - breasted, stuffed with garlic/herb philidelphia, dredged in breadcrumbs and fried. I must admit I prefer my regular recipe of soy, honey, chilli and garlic.
Anyway, good excuse to clean the car:
And a week holiday (Seville was 39 degrees but we figured we can wait until things have settled a little more) at home meant I could use the car for nursery duties and enjoy some local roads.
So. happy times indeed.
I'm thoroughly enjoying the ownership experience. I've got a couple more planned jobs.
1) blaupunkt bremen installation and replace the original speakers with some slightly improved modern items, but without the jazzy colours that replacement units often come with.
2) diff rebuilt (its whining/wurring away) in a year or two
3) Find some original exhaust trim - the chrome exhaust tips are missing and i'd love to find some originals as they're no longer available from BMW. I'd rather not go aftermarked for that.
The car has been running flawlessly since getting it back on the road.
I sent it in to BMP Conversions again to have a check over after 1 year, and to refresh the MOT. I then got the call, it had failed on a couple of items:
1) perished bake hoses
2) perished front lower wishbone bushes
This is when the decisions started. Cold facts were that I don't own any axle stands and only one jack that is on its way out. I don't own a bush pulling tool or a bush pressing tool. I also was keen to use the car this summer and not spent an eternity on it, doing the job myself, and knowing that to fully replace all the bushes is an axle off job, I felt that might be a little beyone my mechanical skill set (i'm ok on discs/pads and simple servicing jobs like oil/filters etc, but i'm learning, and the e30 is clearly a car that lends itself well to this). Also taking into account that the labour charges to do two of the bushes was nearly enough to justify doing the rest of them at the same time and not having to go back for a second round of work, thats when the job escalated a little....
So bushes on the e30 are as follows:
Essentially a job for a couple of fresh bushes turned into a total underside refresh. All bushes except number 31 (gear link). We then also replaced the brake lines and rust proofed the rest of the lines.
Just as it was about to go for geometry, we found that a previous workshop had taken some mole grips and an acetylene torch to the track rod ends in the last geometry adjustment and they were looking less than happy, so they got replaced as well. Then the bush in the steering rack was replaced, as the refreshed bushes exposed the old item in there. I've kept the original steering rack, as a popular upgrade is the Z3 rack to reduce the steering turns from 4 and a bit to 2 and a bit lock to lock. I can see why, the slow steering is still an issue, but i'm not keen to change this as its so obviously not in keeping with originality.
The bushes are another interesting area. Only after giving the go ahead for the bushes did I become aware that there was a 'heritage' collection rather than the regular purple road bushes for the car. Retrospectively I'd have probably gone for these, but hopefully that isn't something i'll regret in the future.
Collection day was sweet. There were some lovely items tucked away at the workshop:
The driving experience is transformed. Much more engaging, much less wallow and the car feels much improved on the boat-like disconnected feel that had been there previously. There is no notiable harshness to any of the ride, rather an improved sense of road control and the whole event has been a huge success in my eyes. I'm thrilled with the results.
I left the car out in our carport area overnight as I was planning a morning trip in it, to find the local pigeons had enjoyed a walk on the paintwork.
One of the three guilty pigeons has subsequently been dispatched with my air rifle and enjoyed as kievs - breasted, stuffed with garlic/herb philidelphia, dredged in breadcrumbs and fried. I must admit I prefer my regular recipe of soy, honey, chilli and garlic.
Anyway, good excuse to clean the car:
And a week holiday (Seville was 39 degrees but we figured we can wait until things have settled a little more) at home meant I could use the car for nursery duties and enjoy some local roads.
So. happy times indeed.
I'm thoroughly enjoying the ownership experience. I've got a couple more planned jobs.
1) blaupunkt bremen installation and replace the original speakers with some slightly improved modern items, but without the jazzy colours that replacement units often come with.
2) diff rebuilt (its whining/wurring away) in a year or two
3) Find some original exhaust trim - the chrome exhaust tips are missing and i'd love to find some originals as they're no longer available from BMW. I'd rather not go aftermarked for that.
Update time.
There are only a few jobs left that I want to sort on this car before I think it's back to being as good as it can be. One is the differential - it needs a rebuild - its driving ok but making a lot of noise and needs doing. Trouble is its an expensive job and as such will have to wait.
The other big thing that was bugging me about the car was the terrible 90's headunit/cassette player and multi-CD changer that was fitted. Obviously not original, and fitted at a time where equiliser lights were everything and having a huge amp/6x9 set up in the boot was all the rage.
Sadly the sound quality from the system was shocking and it looks awful so I thought it was time for a change. I've been monitoring the blaupunkt bremen SQR 46 DAB units since their release, waiting for them to drop in price. Once they crept into budget, I pulled the trigger and ordered some speakers that from a popular car audio site that the website suggested would fit in the original spaces.
Starting with the rear speakers, the originals were totally shot - the cones having disintegrated. Likely the cause of the terrible sound.
After removing these simply enough, I fitted the new speakers and to my disappointment, the new tweeter set-up within the cone was protruding, so stopping me re-fitting the old original speaker covers. I fitted the newer speaker cover the units came with, but it had quite a nasty aftermarket vibe and given that my Maxpower days are well and truly behind me, I removed them and returned them.
Next, the head unit. As you can see, the Sony unit was clashing badly with the original dash.
So I removed it.
Then came the hard part.
The new system comes with aerials for DAB radio and a microphone to work the handsfree. I didn't want to drill any holes so I had to remove the glovebox and trim behind it to access the back of the dash, in order to route the DAB aerial from the back of the headunit, under the dash and up into the rear of the dashboard on the passenger side, so that I could connect it to the DAB aerial supplied with the kit.
After using my wifes tiny hands to help route the aerial through the corner of the dash trim up to the glass, I promptly snapped off the end of the DAB aerial trying to fit it to the back of the new headunit. 3hours after starting the job, I was left with a broken DAB aerial and 4 speakers that didn't fit the car.
I called quits on the job and decided to have another go another day. I ordered 4 replacement JBL speakers that sat flush, some 5mm neoprene sheets (more on this later) and a replacement aerial. All delivered quickly in time for my next fitting window.
New speakers.
I used the original speaker covers to guide the cutting of the 5mm neoprene sheets. Cutting out just enough to give a subtle enough lift to the cover to hold it off the new speakers - the originals are sunken into their mountings and I wasn't easily able to find some new aftermarked speakers that would do the same.
The new speakers with their spacers fitted easily onto the rear parcel shelf retaining the original appearance I was so keen to keep.
I am really pleased with the results.
The front speakers went in very easily - just 3 trim clips under the steering wheel and one trim screw on the drivers side, and one screw and two clips on the glove box side to remove the footwell trim, removing and refitting the new speakers using all existing wiring (sorry no pictures). I'm still unsure why BMW fitted the front speakers by your ankles.
Then, I double checked the wiring at the back of the head unit, ran the microphone for the hands free under the driver side dash trim and out underneath the edge of the steering wheel and attached it to the front panel behind the indicator stalk (very subtle and nicely tucked out of the way - also fully removable) and then attached the replacement DAB aerial to the windscreen, before routing the cable back along the original route, taking 1/4 of the time to do it second time around, then fitting to the headunit. The windscreen mounted DAB aerial is the only real part of the whole new system i'd prefer not to have or be visible, but the excellent quality of sound from it, plus the ablity to find excellent digital radiostations more than makes up for the visual downsides. This is a serious system with brilliant modern tech, but keeping OEM looks. I'm thrilled and now the '80's bangers' spotify playlist can be streamed onto it when i'm in the car. Superb.
Aerial.
Finished results. Huge improvement all round. In this final picture you can just see the handsfree microphone above the indicator stalk. I'm happy with that positioning. The great thing is, the whole thing offers modern tech, but with orignal appearance and its all fully removable if needs be. Its the final piece in the puzzle for letting me persuade the wife to use the car for some roadtrips when the world opens up again.
It may only be a few wires or screws, but there is something very satisfying about completing this job, something i've wanted to do since getting the car.
There are only a few jobs left that I want to sort on this car before I think it's back to being as good as it can be. One is the differential - it needs a rebuild - its driving ok but making a lot of noise and needs doing. Trouble is its an expensive job and as such will have to wait.
The other big thing that was bugging me about the car was the terrible 90's headunit/cassette player and multi-CD changer that was fitted. Obviously not original, and fitted at a time where equiliser lights were everything and having a huge amp/6x9 set up in the boot was all the rage.
Sadly the sound quality from the system was shocking and it looks awful so I thought it was time for a change. I've been monitoring the blaupunkt bremen SQR 46 DAB units since their release, waiting for them to drop in price. Once they crept into budget, I pulled the trigger and ordered some speakers that from a popular car audio site that the website suggested would fit in the original spaces.
Starting with the rear speakers, the originals were totally shot - the cones having disintegrated. Likely the cause of the terrible sound.
After removing these simply enough, I fitted the new speakers and to my disappointment, the new tweeter set-up within the cone was protruding, so stopping me re-fitting the old original speaker covers. I fitted the newer speaker cover the units came with, but it had quite a nasty aftermarket vibe and given that my Maxpower days are well and truly behind me, I removed them and returned them.
Next, the head unit. As you can see, the Sony unit was clashing badly with the original dash.
So I removed it.
Then came the hard part.
The new system comes with aerials for DAB radio and a microphone to work the handsfree. I didn't want to drill any holes so I had to remove the glovebox and trim behind it to access the back of the dash, in order to route the DAB aerial from the back of the headunit, under the dash and up into the rear of the dashboard on the passenger side, so that I could connect it to the DAB aerial supplied with the kit.
After using my wifes tiny hands to help route the aerial through the corner of the dash trim up to the glass, I promptly snapped off the end of the DAB aerial trying to fit it to the back of the new headunit. 3hours after starting the job, I was left with a broken DAB aerial and 4 speakers that didn't fit the car.
I called quits on the job and decided to have another go another day. I ordered 4 replacement JBL speakers that sat flush, some 5mm neoprene sheets (more on this later) and a replacement aerial. All delivered quickly in time for my next fitting window.
New speakers.
I used the original speaker covers to guide the cutting of the 5mm neoprene sheets. Cutting out just enough to give a subtle enough lift to the cover to hold it off the new speakers - the originals are sunken into their mountings and I wasn't easily able to find some new aftermarked speakers that would do the same.
The new speakers with their spacers fitted easily onto the rear parcel shelf retaining the original appearance I was so keen to keep.
I am really pleased with the results.
The front speakers went in very easily - just 3 trim clips under the steering wheel and one trim screw on the drivers side, and one screw and two clips on the glove box side to remove the footwell trim, removing and refitting the new speakers using all existing wiring (sorry no pictures). I'm still unsure why BMW fitted the front speakers by your ankles.
Then, I double checked the wiring at the back of the head unit, ran the microphone for the hands free under the driver side dash trim and out underneath the edge of the steering wheel and attached it to the front panel behind the indicator stalk (very subtle and nicely tucked out of the way - also fully removable) and then attached the replacement DAB aerial to the windscreen, before routing the cable back along the original route, taking 1/4 of the time to do it second time around, then fitting to the headunit. The windscreen mounted DAB aerial is the only real part of the whole new system i'd prefer not to have or be visible, but the excellent quality of sound from it, plus the ablity to find excellent digital radiostations more than makes up for the visual downsides. This is a serious system with brilliant modern tech, but keeping OEM looks. I'm thrilled and now the '80's bangers' spotify playlist can be streamed onto it when i'm in the car. Superb.
Aerial.
Finished results. Huge improvement all round. In this final picture you can just see the handsfree microphone above the indicator stalk. I'm happy with that positioning. The great thing is, the whole thing offers modern tech, but with orignal appearance and its all fully removable if needs be. Its the final piece in the puzzle for letting me persuade the wife to use the car for some roadtrips when the world opens up again.
It may only be a few wires or screws, but there is something very satisfying about completing this job, something i've wanted to do since getting the car.
Good work. I’m even more envious than I was before.
Seeing that head unit and those Pioneer speaker grills, really takes me back to my youth.
When these were new, the stereos were dealer fit cost options. The cars arrived with blanking plates in the dash and there was a display unit in the showroom from which you could choose your radio.
Seeing that head unit and those Pioneer speaker grills, really takes me back to my youth.
When these were new, the stereos were dealer fit cost options. The cars arrived with blanking plates in the dash and there was a display unit in the showroom from which you could choose your radio.
What a lovely car! My dad bought one new in 1986 (D960 something I think) and the first thing we did was go on a trip to Southern France. It caused a real stir at the ferry terminal! I agree with previous posts that the S1 is the sweet spot. Very pleased that your love for the E30 is growing!
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