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Instrument Panel Mods

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After successfully putting some life back in the bimmers carpets, the itch to tinker is still there, so I am thinking of sprucing up the instrument cluster.

I got the ide of painting the needles a different colour (like red) from one of the cars in TBMW's E30 special, and as it would be an absolutely simple mod, I was just wondering what people think.

Would you recolour yours? If yes what colour? I am considering red as orange is dated, and yellow would almost ruin it I think - too much rice?

It also got me thinking about the instrument faces themselves - I can get replacement faces in white, silver and one or too other colours, but without seeing them in a car am unsure - what do you all think?

Cheers.

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tim (bumpstop325) has replaced his speedo and tacho faces with white face ones - looks pimp, i like em. I think you should do white faces with red needles.

As for orange - its not dated - my 95 325 still uses orange for its dash lighting and every other bimmer i have looked at has too - therefore i conclude its not dated, its just one of those quirks that make BMWs massive.

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Na, na, I mean painted orange needles. I reckon the orange lighting is the shizzle. Mine is orange on low and almost red on high intensity. Love Audis bright red. But during the day orange needles??? Anyway, thanks heaps for the comments, I reckon white faces with red needles is prob the answer but still keen for other opinions.

Tim, you got an photos I could look at? Where did you get them from - I am looking at importing from the UK as I haven't seen any in NZ (mainly I think because I don't know where to look).

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I think the white on red looks sh*t hot of black interior cars ...

here is a pic of one .. don't ask me where to get it from tho cause i don't know ..

post-8-1104661087.jpg

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I was reading in Autotrader that you can get flamed backs in the instrument part, ill try find it again and post a scan, i'm sure it was only for Holdens' though :(

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Cheers man, i know the place you mean. I'll give them a call on Monday - they are around 70 pounds in the UK, so I would be looking at well over $200 to go that way - way too much for that kind of mod.

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Sorry, But i couldn't find that flamed back thing. It'd look abit bling bling though, do ya reckon?

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Andy - yeah, cool idea.

BMPOWER - not sure if I am cool enough for those :P

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Ive seen a website somewhere where you can get all sorts of colours and designs...I think you could even send in pictures to have your own design.

Ill see if I can find it.

[EDIT]

Not quite as I remembered it but the guy is still trading on ebay....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ssPageName=WDVW

Im with Aliluya on this one, black interior, red needles on a white dial looks the dogs bollocks.

Cheers

Martyn

Edited by martyyn

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Those look cool - I like the check light being replaced with the ///M logo - very cool.

OK, I think I have made the decision to go white dials. Will think some more about the needles, and will let everyone know how things are progressing - don't hold your breath may take a month or so to find the right dials.

Cheers.

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I just learnt something very interesting regarding the red needles Alpinas have.

In the old days, and Im talking E34's and E32's here, they used normal needles and simply painted them red with a thin brush !

If you look closely enough you can still see the lines of the brush and in the very early days it was not uncommon for them to fade or even look like they had been coloured in with a felt tip pen !!!!

Not what you would expect when paying a small fortune for an Alpina.

Cheers

Martyn

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Cheap buggers!, oh well, thats what I was gonna do - good old modelling paint!!! :D

Edited by bravomikewhiskey

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Anyone got a pic of some E36 needles I can copy?

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yeah, whit dials I think. Yellow or red with white trim, or just red were discussed in my head, but I think they all look too over the top.

So, now I need to find where to buy them for a not ridiculous price.

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Thanks Andrew - cool, but I'm not getting that excited. Will make an effort to go and see some in the flesh before I make a decision.

Just finished a few minor fix-ups in the electrics dept, just need to finish the sounds off and I'll be getting onto painting the current needles. Will post an update when they are done. Then I have a cunning wheel mod in mind for an old set of bottlecaps. Will start a new thread if I can suss out how to do it.....

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That would be giving the game away now wouldn't it...

but it seems you have taken my well-placed bait .....

You'll have to wait and see.

Edited by bravomikewhiskey

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