Ash's BMW E30 325i - Restoration
Discussion
Hello all,
I am fairly new here on PH but have been lurking and browsing for a while. An ex work colleague, with a 911 introduced me. I am a heavy user on some other forums, mainly E46zone, E30zone and DetailingWorld There's a link to my thread on E46zone if anyone is interested. That's probably the most detailed.
http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/54043-ashs-325-...
I am a lover of all things cars, it all started when I used to help my dad clean his 5 Series almost every weekend when I was a kid.
I'm 20 and had an E46 but this turned out to be scrap. I then bought this, my 1989 325i E30.
I have had it 18 months now, and was using it daily until August last year. Earlier this year I decided I needed a diesel as I was doing more and more mileage for work and it wasn't fair to be putting this amount of miles on the E30.
After some thought in May, I placed the order for a new BMW F21 120d. This arrived in August and since then the E30 has been in the garage. I have now started to restore it. It needs some hard work and love thrown at it. I'll keep this up to date as I go.
Don't get me wrong the car was in good condition when I bought it, i just want it to be perfect.
Some pictures from the last 18 months coming soon. And i then will update with my progress so far
Cheers
I am fairly new here on PH but have been lurking and browsing for a while. An ex work colleague, with a 911 introduced me. I am a heavy user on some other forums, mainly E46zone, E30zone and DetailingWorld There's a link to my thread on E46zone if anyone is interested. That's probably the most detailed.
http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/54043-ashs-325-...
I am a lover of all things cars, it all started when I used to help my dad clean his 5 Series almost every weekend when I was a kid.
I'm 20 and had an E46 but this turned out to be scrap. I then bought this, my 1989 325i E30.
I have had it 18 months now, and was using it daily until August last year. Earlier this year I decided I needed a diesel as I was doing more and more mileage for work and it wasn't fair to be putting this amount of miles on the E30.
After some thought in May, I placed the order for a new BMW F21 120d. This arrived in August and since then the E30 has been in the garage. I have now started to restore it. It needs some hard work and love thrown at it. I'll keep this up to date as I go.
Don't get me wrong the car was in good condition when I bought it, i just want it to be perfect.
Some pictures from the last 18 months coming soon. And i then will update with my progress so far
Cheers
Edited by ashley95 on Tuesday 5th January 15:14
C70R said:
That's a lovely-looking E30, everything done very tastefully! To the point that you've made me hustle off to EBay in search of one. Great work on ditching the stupid square plates too.
(Cracking looking house and driveway also)
Thanks very much. Get in there quick though, prices are going up and up at the moment!(Cracking looking house and driveway also)
A few months ago I began the process of restoring the car. It was by no means a shabby example to begin with, it just needed some TLC.
The previous owner had resprayed the car, but there was some rust and finishing touches that needed attention. I also wanted to upgrade a load of components, mainly suspension, and have the car as clean as possible including underneath.
I don't have bucket loads of money to throw at the car, but it's not something I want to rush. If I can't afford something It will wait until I can. I won't do things by half.
In preparation for the project, me and my dad extended our garage over the summer. The existing was not worth keeping, so in a weekend we knocked the whole thing down, built a timber framed/clad structure and replaced the roof.
Early Oct -
I got the front of the car up in the air. I decided due to space I would do as much of the front end as possible, then spin the around to do the rear.
I pulled the steering pump out as this needed changing, drained the system, took out the reservoir and hoses off too. Then started cleaning up the brackets and pulley and noticed the pump I had bought from a breakers wasn't the same...
After looking at RealOEM it seems the one I had been sold was actually from an E34. The pressure rating is different and the brackets don't line up with the mounting points.
Annoying!
The previous owner had resprayed the car, but there was some rust and finishing touches that needed attention. I also wanted to upgrade a load of components, mainly suspension, and have the car as clean as possible including underneath.
I don't have bucket loads of money to throw at the car, but it's not something I want to rush. If I can't afford something It will wait until I can. I won't do things by half.
In preparation for the project, me and my dad extended our garage over the summer. The existing was not worth keeping, so in a weekend we knocked the whole thing down, built a timber framed/clad structure and replaced the roof.
Early Oct -
I got the front of the car up in the air. I decided due to space I would do as much of the front end as possible, then spin the around to do the rear.
I pulled the steering pump out as this needed changing, drained the system, took out the reservoir and hoses off too. Then started cleaning up the brackets and pulley and noticed the pump I had bought from a breakers wasn't the same...
After looking at RealOEM it seems the one I had been sold was actually from an E34. The pressure rating is different and the brackets don't line up with the mounting points.
Annoying!
Oct -
Carrying on through October, I removed the steering rack, replaced the track rods & boots, then greased it all up and gave it a clean.
I'm running an E46 Clubsport 'Purple Tag' rack for faster steering with custom made hoses and spacers.
The headlights, bonnet hinge and front grills all came off so I could start removing any surface rust and tidying things up. The hinge was never properly painted so this has been sandblasted and primed ready for paint.
Then off came the anti-roll bar and droplinks. Droplinks have been thrown away and new ones purchased. The bushes are being replaced with polyurethane so these were also thrown.
The brackets and anti-roll bar were also sent off and sandblasted too.
Carrying on through October, I removed the steering rack, replaced the track rods & boots, then greased it all up and gave it a clean.
I'm running an E46 Clubsport 'Purple Tag' rack for faster steering with custom made hoses and spacers.
The headlights, bonnet hinge and front grills all came off so I could start removing any surface rust and tidying things up. The hinge was never properly painted so this has been sandblasted and primed ready for paint.
Then off came the anti-roll bar and droplinks. Droplinks have been thrown away and new ones purchased. The bushes are being replaced with polyurethane so these were also thrown.
The brackets and anti-roll bar were also sent off and sandblasted too.
mark.c said:
Great little thread this, I love E30's and it's nice to see a similarly afflicted owner doing right by a car! I currently have two that fight for attention, my 320is came from a Zone member as it goes.
Is that a cheeky little hole growing on the inner wing ?
Good luck with it
It is, annoyingly! More on that coming...Is that a cheeky little hole growing on the inner wing ?
Good luck with it
Nov -
After some poking and prodding I then found 3 points of rust serious enough to need welding.
I removed the coolant reservoir, washer bottle and hoses and wiring loom back as far as the fuse box.
The two front inner wing corners are a common place to go and shouldn't be to hard to weld. Below the fuse box... not so much.
This is the drivers side, the passenger side has gone in the same place.
The parts that I sent to be sandblasted I have now sprayed up.
After some poking and prodding I then found 3 points of rust serious enough to need welding.
I removed the coolant reservoir, washer bottle and hoses and wiring loom back as far as the fuse box.
The two front inner wing corners are a common place to go and shouldn't be to hard to weld. Below the fuse box... not so much.
This is the drivers side, the passenger side has gone in the same place.
The parts that I sent to be sandblasted I have now sprayed up.
Nov -
Through the rest of November I cut out the rust from the front wing, and the front drivers floor which looks to have had a bad repair at some point in its past so i'm now going to remove the old repair and replace the whole lot.
It turns out that I'm not great at bodywork! But a friend will be helping me do the welding etc so it will look better before we start. :rollseyes:
I've also stripped down more of the front suspension. The whole lot is now off including the front subframe which I sent off to be sandblasted before I then resprayed it.
I am running am E46 Clubsport rack, these need two spacers that fit in between the rack mount points and the subframe. These where fitted above the rack. I have decided to re-fit the rack with the spacers below the rack to give that extra inch of clearance. and because the rack was a pig to fit on the car I have fitted it to the subframe first. hopefully it will go back on the car easy enough this way round.
Things have been on hold during December, lack of funds and time due to Christmas have halted progress.
Through the rest of November I cut out the rust from the front wing, and the front drivers floor which looks to have had a bad repair at some point in its past so i'm now going to remove the old repair and replace the whole lot.
It turns out that I'm not great at bodywork! But a friend will be helping me do the welding etc so it will look better before we start. :rollseyes:
I've also stripped down more of the front suspension. The whole lot is now off including the front subframe which I sent off to be sandblasted before I then resprayed it.
I am running am E46 Clubsport rack, these need two spacers that fit in between the rack mount points and the subframe. These where fitted above the rack. I have decided to re-fit the rack with the spacers below the rack to give that extra inch of clearance. and because the rack was a pig to fit on the car I have fitted it to the subframe first. hopefully it will go back on the car easy enough this way round.
Things have been on hold during December, lack of funds and time due to Christmas have halted progress.
Christmas meant slow progress on the car throughout December, but I have now got some parts and tools together to carry on.
Bought a pair of new lower arms, clutch slave cylinder ( that's going to be fun to fit...), steering pump and new rear lollipops.
Also got some Bilt Hamber rust treatment gel and under-seal, torque wrench, nut splitters and a rotary sander.(I'm hoping I can polishing pads for this?)
I need to get some sheet metal from somewhere to start with the welding as this is whats holding me back at the moment. Luckily a friend has said he would help out with this as I'm a novice! Updates soon! (I hope B))
Jan -
The friend doing the welding came over yesterday to take a look and give me some pointers.
He said i need to do a bit more cutting and prep work. Also where there has been a repair before, on the drivers footwell corner, to cut the repair out and start again. be cleaner and a better job this way. Unfortunately I may be removing the wiring loom sometime soon too... I was hoping I wouldn't need to but i'll need some more room around the fuse box to repair a patch here.
Other than that iv'e got another (that's 4 now) Steering pump which is correct this time, so iv'e cleaned it all up and that's ready to go eventually. The front struts are off and iv'e started stripping them down ready to be cleaned/painted etc
All good fun
Bought a pair of new lower arms, clutch slave cylinder ( that's going to be fun to fit...), steering pump and new rear lollipops.
Also got some Bilt Hamber rust treatment gel and under-seal, torque wrench, nut splitters and a rotary sander.(I'm hoping I can polishing pads for this?)
I need to get some sheet metal from somewhere to start with the welding as this is whats holding me back at the moment. Luckily a friend has said he would help out with this as I'm a novice! Updates soon! (I hope B))
Jan -
The friend doing the welding came over yesterday to take a look and give me some pointers.
He said i need to do a bit more cutting and prep work. Also where there has been a repair before, on the drivers footwell corner, to cut the repair out and start again. be cleaner and a better job this way. Unfortunately I may be removing the wiring loom sometime soon too... I was hoping I wouldn't need to but i'll need some more room around the fuse box to repair a patch here.
Other than that iv'e got another (that's 4 now) Steering pump which is correct this time, so iv'e cleaned it all up and that's ready to go eventually. The front struts are off and iv'e started stripping them down ready to be cleaned/painted etc
All good fun
Spent all day last weekend on the car. Cut out more of the rust, stripped more down and pasted loads of BiltHamber gel over some areas.
Took out the interior to cut the rust out, and wrapped the seats in shrink wrap to keep them clean and that.
I've got the carpet out and the passenger side is wet, and the underside is stained blue..... This shows where the coolant leaks from then
Now on the hunt for some good front wings. Both wings are mostly okay but along the sill is rusted out.
Took out the interior to cut the rust out, and wrapped the seats in shrink wrap to keep them clean and that.
I've got the carpet out and the passenger side is wet, and the underside is stained blue..... This shows where the coolant leaks from then
Now on the hunt for some good front wings. Both wings are mostly okay but along the sill is rusted out.
dbdb said:
What a handsome thing the E30 is - and yours especially! It is in lovely condition. Have a good look for rust at the front of the floorpan in the photo though.
Thank You, hopefully even better by the time it's done!Yes, there's more on that to follow, but I have now cut out that whole front section.
I've spent the weekend just stripping some more bits and prepping more areas for paint or welding. It's slow going, but progress is progress. Sprayed up the oil cooler too. Spent another hour or two on it Monday night, applied a load of gel and spent some time with my new wire brush drill bits to prep some areas for welding. Also got a few more areas sanding and given a coat of primer.
Then Yesterday my Polybushes arrived for the Anti-Roll bar and the Front Lower Rear Wishbone or 'lollipop' bushes. Gone for eccentric M3 ones rather than the standard centred ones.
Then Yesterday my Polybushes arrived for the Anti-Roll bar and the Front Lower Rear Wishbone or 'lollipop' bushes. Gone for eccentric M3 ones rather than the standard centred ones.
Got my ARB polybushes on, and the roll bar installed back on the subframe. Glad I did this before it went back in the car. What a PITA!
Needs a quick spray over where so of the paint has come off but happy days.
Got the 'lollipop' bushes in the newly sprayed brackets/holders. Got them attached to the lower arms and then them onto the subframe. Along with the drop links.The bushes went on fairly easily, I'm surprised. I was expecting them to be a complete PITA
Needs a quick spray over where so of the paint has come off but happy days.
Got the 'lollipop' bushes in the newly sprayed brackets/holders. Got them attached to the lower arms and then them onto the subframe. Along with the drop links.The bushes went on fairly easily, I'm surprised. I was expecting them to be a complete PITA
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