Cirrusblau E30 Cabriolet Project Thread

[Tidy30 38]

Hi guys,

Having posted nothing since the original "photoshoot" thread, I have been finding odd times during the last month to perform some cosmetic upgrades to my E30 cab. Thought I would start as Project thread to keep everyone updated, and myself motivated (although I don't see this becoming an issue!).

I also thought it would be good for me to start a little planning list here, to let the general community know what's coming up for the E30, to offer you the opportunity to berate and commend my tasteful vision. Admittedly, it's primarily for the odd chance you stumble upon something which I may be on the lookout for! I would be very appreciate if something like that happened, but I figured it's better than starting a whole lot of "WTB: Sweet stuff" threads everywhere. If you can offer some comments/leads on the list I would be much obliged!

The list itself (no particular order, a few "long term goals" if you know what I mean):

• Replace the plastic rear window, as it is heavily UV damaged and has a nice "L" split from the constant opening and closing she sees as my daily driver. Fortunately there are no leaks, and it's passed some "controlled" testing I did to determine if it's something of immediate concern.

• Replace the rear chrome bumper. It appears somewhere along the line the rear has bumped into something, slightly bending the chrome bumper allowing water to get into a small section of it. Looking onthe E30 wiki this isn't the greatest news as apparently the PFL bumpers for tourings and cabriolets are different to sedans (longer), and since the tourings didn't come in PFL, the chances of finding another are quite a bit slimmer.

• Reduce the wheel arch gaps. The stock suspension is amazingly comfortable (feels like I am driving a marshmallow made of mild steel) but I would like to lower the cab a bit. This item may be crossed off sometime this week and I've gone and purchased Jordan’s (JC_FVTEC_E30) new H&R sport cupkit, which I am planning on installing sometime during the coming week. Done some quick measurements, and I’m going to have to be slightly more careful going up my driveway, but the rather silly drop should still be fine.

• Find some new wheels. I have been on the lookout recently, trying to find some period mesh wheels (ie BBS RS). Somehow have the idea of gold wheels stuck firmly in my head, but have yet to find any pictures of the cirrusblau and gold combination together. I have found some 16x8 et20 from Street Works in Wellington, but am trying to find something which won’t require me to put spacers in as I have very little desire to entertain the certification process for something so trivial. Ideally I will stumble upon some 16x7, but I am keeping an open mind. Something I have recently found were some gold 15x8 et15 Klutch SL1’s, but some very light research shows the front callipers will need a bit of shaving, which I’m not too keen on either. The 16x8 silver SL1’s may be a potential candidate.

• Complete the rest of the Tech1 collection. You may remember I already have a Tech1 steering wheel, and I recently installed a Tech1 rear spoiler which I got from David (Silver Fox) from these forums as well (see below!). It seems the Tech1 sideskirts will require a bit of modification to fit properly, but I am relatively confident in my composites/bog/painting experience.

• Way down the line: 2.5L upgrade and manual conversion. It’s currently an automatic 320i, which as a daily driver I have found to be absolutely fantastic and smooth. A little more digging on the net has shown the 325i may be slightly better on fuel, but the primary reason for upgrading would be the improved manoeuvrability as she takes a little longer to get going than my other Honda Accord, or even the E220 Merc. The automatic transmission is in pretty good condition, no delays, slipping or weird noises, so I’ll probably switch bother over when it decides to depart one day. I plan on looking after it though, so hopefully it won’t be too much in the near future.

Anyway, I’ll start the project side of things with the first update. I replaced my discoloured windscreen trim with a new one from Chris (etwenty1). The old orange strip has been changed to a much nicer chrome, and it no longer jumps out at you, now blending in with the rest of the car. Had a big grin on my face when none of my friends could tell what had changed when I got it back from the autoglazier (who did an awful job)

Before:

After:

Another addition is the installation of a Tech1 spoiler (seems there are quite a few cabs now with Tech1’s here!). Getting back from David I was so excited I didn’t manage to take any photos of the work in progress, but will make sure I do so in the future. I gave her a good clean, played the rusty-fastener-no-more-hex-easy-out-game on 2 of the 3 screws fastening the panel to the rubber, and proceeded to colour match the panel with the cirrusblau of the rest of the car.

Since the original panel was Mauritius Blue (I think, and some blue paint was on the black rubber itself!) I needed to strip and repaint. I got some colour matched paint in an aerosol spray for $35 (less with a great discount the guy gave me after a good chat), some adhesion promoter and clearcoat and was off. Working 7 days a week I had to paint during non-ideal times (but still warmed up the fluid etc before painting) in some non-ideal locations.

After sanding down the panel the first paint attempt was foiled when multiple sandflies decided to plunge head first into the fresh coat. Just about screamed in frustration as I suddenly remembered I had painted quite a few things in that very spot with similar results, although in the past I only ever did filler painting outside, so the material could still be taken back.

Second attempt was foiled again with the tip of my finger edging too close to the spray nozzle, and a lovely drip of clearcoat the size of the planet smashed itself into the panel just as I finished the last coat. I was going to live with it, but the clearcoat combined with the (dried) metallic paint left quite a visible discolouration, which my OCD did not accept.

Third attempt was a great success. Taking some time off work I did everything properly, swept and wet the floor, heated the spraycans, multiple light coats of paint and clearcoat, leaving the right number of time for each layer to flash off properly. Got myself some 2000 and 2500 grit, and after leaving the clear to cure for a few days, polished off all the orange peel. Actually polished it a little too well! The small amount of orange peel in the rest of the car makes it look slightly out of place when the light hits it at a specific angle.

Anyway, the pictures can be seen below. The boot needs a little adjusting now (had some weights on the spoiler as the RTV cured) but I am very happy with result. Bonus awesomeness is that the spoiler is just at the right height that the 3^rd brake light “sits” along the top edge of the rubber when I look at it sitting in our other cars.

Another photo of the inconspicuous trim:

And finally the view from my desk at work! (Played around with the tilt-shift effect settings)

Cheers!

Edited November 10, 2013 by tidyverty

[Allanw 1071]

Looks nice! I like the last picture - model train diorama carpark . The new chrome makes a massive difference!

I think the 'verts NEED a spoiler. Without, there's something a bit funny about the boot area.

2 things:

1) Add a right front low beam headlight to your list

2) Instead of RTV (if it's actually RTV you used), use urethane adhesive - 2 reasons: some RTV is acid cure and will rot steel away faster than you'd think possible, and RTV is silicone based - hell for getting rid of and painting near. Urethane (or the MS Polymer alternatives) don't cause problems for painting, and are the stuff used to glue windscreens in (it's often sold as windscreen adhesive). Panel shops use plenty of it, but cringe at the paint issue with silicone

[JayCee 26]

Howard, was a pleasure to meet you on Friday. Your car looks super clean in pics but also in person. Im a fan of your interior, and that tech 1 spoiler is painted so damn professionally! I am looking foward to seeing the h&r cup kit in your car and im sure it will make a mass difference to the feel of driving it. Keep us posted mate

[fhall 3]

Nice man! Would love to see the complete tech 1 kit on there. It has brilliant bones, I'm sure you'll make it your own! Keep us posted

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2957]

Loving your work man!! Good to see such enthusiasm for your car - keep it up.

[Tidy30 38]

Update time!

Clearer photos have yet to be processed, but after another semi-mammoth detailing session, I'll give a sneak peek at what has happened since last time before a proper run through.

After spending enough money to bail out the world's banks with Ernst at Bavarian Motorworks (who has done an excellent job so far!) I have recently done the following:

• Tie rod replacement
• Suspension bush replacement
• Filters replaced as well as an engine re-tune (had my valve clearances done last time, needed to retune since)
• Full diff refurbishment (and paint! for someone to look at sometimes!)
• Lowered the car on an H&R Sport Cupkit.

The cupkit is the real visual difference here. I did quite a lot of research on the net beforehand to figure out heights (as my driveway is horrendous! Did not want to condemn the cabrio to outside parking if it couldn't get into the safety of the garage) but the amount of concrete information is rather limited, especially with a non-touring cupkit installed on a cabriolet.

I will have some numbers in the near future, but the kit gave an approximate drop of 3" front, 2.5" rear which was quite a bit more than I had expected, but has turned out exceptionally well. The cabrio even came with a sump guard, so it was meant to be!

Once again, you're probably skipping over this text, distracted by what you see in your peripheral vision:

A massive clean of the bottlecaps was included in the list for the detailing session, and I must say I have actually really taken a liking to the OEM look. Still looking for a set of RS's, but have now thought about considering some super tidy 15" weaves. Gotta find some for a test fitting sometime!

Anyway, will have some more photos and informaiton up. Just got home and couldn't resist posting sometime in the meantime as I've been teasing for quite some time!

[Allanw 1071]

Nice!

Go 15" weaves - They look great!

[JayCee 26]

Shes a beauty mate! I reckon weaves would look so clean on her if you pick up a set of refurbd ones !

[vtgts300kw 90]

Looking good man.

Can I ask you to do me a favour and measure the height of your car from the front and rear wheel arches to the ground?

[Etwenty1 45]

Nice!

Go 15" weaves - They look great!

mmmmmmm http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=663585997

[dubman 39]

looks f'ing awesome.

have you considered punching out the cap logo off your wheel, and painting the centres a different colour? maybe polish the lips also

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

Yes lots of americans doing all sorts of things with bottlecaps these days, recently saw a set that had been made to look like 3pc wheels, very cool. If you are going to keep them, would recommend a 10-15mm spacers maybe even 20mm front and back to bring the offset/wheel out. Stock bottle caps are et35 i think, 15" weaves are et25 or maybe et15, and genuine Hartge/AC Schnitzer/Alpinas are et15

[fhall 3]

Yes lots of americans doing all sorts of things with bottlecaps these days, recently saw a set that had been made to look like 3pc wheels, very cool. If you are going to keep them, would recommend a 10-15mm spacers maybe even 20mm front and back to bring the offset/wheel out. Stock bottle caps are et35 i think, 15" weaves are et25 or maybe et15, and genuine Hartge/AC Schnitzer/Alpinas are et15

Yeah bottlecaps are 35 and they're also only 6 inch wide. Whereas the weaves are 7 inch wide so that's another 10mm either side of centre which means to counter it and make them the same as weaves you would need at least a 20mm spacer. I did this for a while, and I also painted the centres a gray metallic. Ramble I know. Just my 2c

[Tidy30 38]

mmmmmmm http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=663585997

I haven't forgotten you Chris! Already checked your listing again as soon as the thought popped into mind. Whilst temptimg, the lack of caps + powdercoat would mean replacement ones I got would probably need to get colour matched to scratch my OCD itch. Not a dealbreaker, but definitely something I've pondered briefly over.

Looking good man.

Can I ask you to do me a favour and measure the height of your car from the front and rear wheel arches to the ground?

Sure thing, Ernst actually measured the before and after for me, I've yet to speak to him and the get number off him but will let everyone know when I do. Just a heads up though, I may not have time to do for the next 3.5 weeks! Going Stateside for 3 weeks and have the worst week ever at work getting things done before I head over.

looks f'ing awesome.

have you considered punching out the cap logo off your wheel, and painting the centres a different colour? maybe polish the lips also

Definitely! Your 3rd picture is exactly what I am looking for

But really, painting them looks pretty good, but it just jumps out as a slight hack job to me. The centre of the caps is already proportionally large, and painting it a different colour makes it worse. The 3 piece ones are amazing though! Don't know how much they cost, but at a high price I'm sure you could get some other pretty sweet wheels to consider.

I am currently tossing up between 16" gold RS replicas like your 15"s, standard 15" weaves and 15" Zender Turbos (gotta do something while I'm in the States!). Cost is largely similar between the first 2 options, the only barrier against the replicas is the fact I may potentially need to run spacers to clear my struts. Might be a little buried here, and it's hopeful thinking but: will 16x8 et20 fit without spacers?

My friend has RS replicas as well 17x8's (mystery offset, as all other replicas likely to be et20 as well, slightly less likely to be et15) and he doesn't run any spacers at all. I'd really, really like to not go for spacers due to the cert side of things.

Yeah bottlecaps are 35 and they're also only 6 inch wide. Whereas the weaves are 7 inch wide so that's another 10mm either side of centre which means to counter it and make them the same as weaves you would need at least a 20mm spacer. I did this for a while, and I also painted the centres a gray metallic. Ramble I know. Just my 2c

I would definitely like to fill the guards a little more! It looks worse in the photo in my sig, but in real life the rear tyres do look a little silly being tucked in like that.

So yeah, next thing on the list is (headlight first) wheels, and then the search for a Tech1 kit will begin in full swing!

Edited November 17, 2013 by tidyverty

[max 27]

Awesome! I had my eye on that cupkit, pretty ripped I didn't go for it after seeing how your car tuned out. 15" weaves would set it off nicely. Nice work.

[Tidy30 38]

Quick update over my phone:

Got myself some facelift smiley lenses and headlights (no bulbs) that I was hoping to put in as my right bullseye headlight is cracked. My research was lacking, as it turns out the entire housing is interchangeable between PFL and FL (plus light rewiring) NOT the light itself! Then got told you could heat gun the lenses off and swap them over: after a little learning it seems that was also a pretty dumb idea, as the "smiley" part of it is created mostly by the cutout in the reflector (which isn't interchangeable), not the glass lens itself.

While I had the lights out and already cleaned, I went and decided to scratch my project itch by taking care of the faded and chipped chrome trim around each headlight. Behold! Hopefully you can't notice it too much, (i can, and think it looks a world of difference) but I colourmatched and clearcoated the trim to the magnificence of the Cirrusblau! Think these subtle bits really make the car look clean and tidy.

Edited January 5, 2014 by tidyverty

[Tidy30 38]

Just a quick teaser from the long weekend. Will have a short write up when I get home!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[bmw335i 16]

Going to look good bud. Welcome to tech 1

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

Projector styles are cross compatible, whether they are smiley euro/NZ spec ones or the Japanese spec ones you have on your car in those pictures. I put smileys on my Jap spec 320i years ago and i KNOW i didnt have the entire housing because i imported the smileys. this was before i met Ray and before Brent and Jon had set up thier shops.

having said that, (and i could be wrong) but im pretty sure projector headlights never came in the prefacelifts, so someone may have swapped them on your car at some stage in the past already, and possibly modified the housing to make it fit??

as far as the lense swap goes, you might be meaning me as i did tell you the lenses are cross compatible. they are. the smiley part is as you correctly say not part of the lense.

[Tidy30 38]

Thanks for your response Andy. Here are pictures if today's activities but I've got some questions for you on these projectors!

So here is what I thought was true about these "smileys": I thought they were facelift lights. I thought the only difference between facelift and prefacelift lights were the light units and plugs, that if you got the entire headlight/high beam assembly the 3 mounting points were identical and all you needed was a quick rewire for the looms to be compatible.

My old lights were the bullseye, projector ones. Which I thought meant the previous owner converted the lights from prefacelift to facelift already. This is the case given the non OEM modifications I have seen in the headlight plug.

Here's where I'm stumped. Aren't all smileys then facelift only? ie. Same mounting points on the light housing? The first pair I bought from marquis here looked like this (left), as we can see the 3 points it has are certainly not compatible with the current projector light housing.

When I initially realized this I thought my projectors must have somehow been prefacelift, then i realized the lenses do not actually fit and swap over, as the locating tabs which sit proud on the side on the lens differs between my lights, so you'd have to cut new slots in the light housing. Not too keen to do that, I then went and bought some entire assemblies from etwenty1 here as well.

I was a little surprised when I opened the package and saw that the whole smiley assemblies I got from etwenty1 were identical to my projectors, here's a picture of everyone together. From left to right, my bullseye's, etwenty1s entire assemblies, marquis's standalone headlights:

I thought marquis had sold me some Smileys for some other model of BMW until I saw the chrome rings etwenty1 gave. (He was super good and obliged me asking for the best condition rings from his stockpile). Somehow the locating slot on the rings he gave me were square, like the ones in marquis's mystery bulbs, while my original bullseye (and actually the whole assemblies he sent me) had long slots for the locating feature. Surely this meant the lights marquis sold were actually for e30s.. Here's another picture showing the different slots, with my current long-slot cirrusblau painted ones and the new square-slot chrome ones:

Can anyone shed some light on this? (Sorry) it seems pretty clear now there are 2 types if Smiley's, whilst I originally thought there was only 1 type.

I've now got an extra pair of bullseye's and smiley bulbs which I'm looking to sell and clear, but have no idea what to tell people as they were not what I thought!

Cheers!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Tidy30 38]

Also, here is something a little silly. The tech1 I purchased on a whim. I knew it was lower and protruded more, but now I've hit a slightly sticky predicament due to the supremely steep driveway that stands between my garage and the outside world of sun, rain and bird crap.

Option 1: keep the brand new H&R sport cupkit I just put in, which I absolutely love as the matched shortened struts and springs are unbelievably/surprisingly comfortable (I've sat in some H&R/bilsteins etc, much harsher ride). She also looks amazing with the kit as well, not quite slammed and lower than what I see around the place. I'll also have to sell my tech1 kit, but will get to park in the garage.

Option 2: take out and sell the suspension, put factory set back in. Sand, paint, clear and install the tech1 kit. Look like a king. Park in the garage, but with a huge wheel gap again.

Option 3: put the kit on, keep the suspension on, leave my relatively immaculate convertible to brave the harsh climes of the North Shore and Mangere, pretty much road-linish the front tech1 away after a while... Look like some, nutty cuckoo super-king (anyone get the reference?)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Edited February 2, 2014 by tidyverty

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

thats news to me,

I know E30 are different to E34/E34, and are not cross compatible. I will be surprised to learn if there is a difference in facelift smileys/elipsoids.

Im guessing the difference (if there is) will be in the automatic height adjuster which im sure your car wont have, though almost all facelifts do have that.

stand by, i am going to go and have a look at my E30 and my E34 for you, ill take some pics if i find anything worth sharing

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

thats news to me,

I know E30 are different to E34/E34, and are not cross compatible. I will be surprised to learn if there is a difference in facelift smileys/elipsoids.

Im guessing the difference (if there is) will be in the automatic height adjuster which im sure your car wont have, though almost all facelifts do have that.

stand by, i am going to go and have a look at my E30 and my E34 for you, ill take some pics if i find anything worth sharing

Ok just had a look, the ones Marquis sent you are (as far as i can tell) not E30 projectors, and looking at my E34 parts car, they look very very similar to the ones on that with the much longer mounting tabs, so possibly from one of those. E34 and E32 headlight clusters are the same across both chassis and all grill types.

But looks like you now have smileys installed on your cab so whats the problem now???

and keep the car low, add tech1 kit, apply planks of wood to driveway to bridge the gap, drive out on an angle or something. My Touring is 65mm off the ground currently, and if i drive out my driveway (looking like a clown probably, haters gon hate LOL) on a wierd angle i can make it not scrape.

Low is a lifestyle or something like that anyways.

[Jibs05 86]

Hey man its looking good! Very clean, compared to my... well... yeh. Btw Ive got e34 smilies on my e30.

[JayCee 26]

Keep springs and tech 1 dude will look lovely or... get airbags bro no drive way Is impossible then hehehe