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Some interior goodies ready to be installed. Kit was sourced from Lithuania. Quality of fabric looks and feels great and stitching looks top notch. Going with all original fabric to the car (0211 anthracite). I assume the shaky frames of the sports seats are going to require a fair bit of work to get feeling nice and solid so not going to be a quick job. Have all new seat struts to install while seat is taken apart. Current state of the seats are pretty bad. I looked into just replacing just the pieces that need doing but ultimately decided to go full kit as the seats would have faded a lot over time so wouldn't match the new fabric.

Bled clutch and brakes, fitted d shaft, heat shield and exhaust. Once you jump in and out a few times...it's quite awrrite. Another feeling altogether sitting in this car. It's like the Ls was meant for a race spek like this.. 3.9 ratio diff in this one, with thicker shafts...last one was 3.15...so ...😳

After 10 months of ownership and fairly constant wrenching on the car I thought I better start a thread to document and discuss the on-going project. Shout out to @Sammo and his thread for the inspiration!! My first car was a Lachssilber 1987 M325i so have always had a soft spot for the Mtech 1 e30’s. Would have been a lot cheaper if I had kept it rather than selling it for $6k back in 2014… crazy how much the market has changed since then. Side note, if anyone has any info on that car I would love to hear where it’s at and how it’s going. Rego was NF9539. Current goal with the car is to use it semi daily / on going project. I have already done a fair bit to the car over the last 10 months which I will list below. The plan is to document as I tick jobs off the list and will also be posting breakdowns of work I have already carried out along with photos. Things completed: Engine / Trans: Cambelt / water pump / tensioner / cam seal / accessory belts / air filter Valve cover gasket / Valve adjustment / spark plugs Engine mounts Oil filter / oil pan gasket New OE fuel lines / filter / pump / fuel regulator Clean and rebuild injectors New OE coolant hoses / coolant reservoir / level sensor / thermostat New OE vacuum lines / intake boot New OE Distributor Rotor / Distributor Cap / spark plug cables New gaskets: intake manifold / throttle body / thermostat housing etc Z3 shifter Manual Transmission Mounts Shifter cup / Washers for Shifter Linkage Derlin rear bushing carier / Derlin shifter bushings Suspension / steering: New Bilstein B8 Sport dampers / Eibach Pro-Kit performance lowering springs Shock housing refurb / hubs / brake pads and rotors Purple tag rack / custom power steering lines New control arms / tie rods / bushings / drop links / sway bar bushings Front subframe stripped and repainted Exterior: Window seals Repaint shadow line trim / grill / plastics Brand new OEM tail lights 15" basketweave refurb: paint stripped / lips cleaned up / repaint Centre caps: paint stripped / repaint (New BMW emblems yet to be stuck on) Interior: New OEM style shift boot New driver door handle / surrounds / sunroof crank Lots of things to come with the car, most notably a full new interior re-upholstery. Have the kit ready to be installed (in all its OEM houndstooth glory)

Way more reliable engine than anything in a mini. Highly recommend replacing the 2x plastic coolant fittings for cheap overheating insurance if not done already - one at the back of head and one under the manifold. p\n 11531709232 & 11531708808. Usually do the PCV\water hose and pcv valve at the same time as its all connected - p\n 11157501567 & 11151743386. Water pump and coolant expansion tank bottle if not done are also good preventative measures, along with the thermostat which are usually bad (run cold) Temp gauge is buffered so you wont be able to tell from that, so you need a scan tool with live data or unlock the instrument cluster to display coolant temperature (google it) Thermostats are usually bad and run cool and DISA valve diaphragms are usually worn causing some power loss. You can get the diaphragms on ebay and its only usually the smaller one that goes bad. O2 sensor for good maintenance. Belt pulley tensioner bearings can get worn over time.

Ha no I think the one I have was actually a gift to my dad back in the late 80s early 90s. It had a base once. Mine actually has a slight chip in it. It was all around the time llardro was a big thing too.