Tobias01 42 Report post Posted August 4 (edited) 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) Edited August 6 by Tobias01 13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m325i 709 Report post Posted August 4 Quote rather than selling it for $6k back in 2014 I'm with you! Interesting you have 'gone back' - not sure I could do it. Car looks sick. New plates would set it off! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias01 42 Report post Posted August 5 Yup, had my first one when i was 16 so didn't have the money to make it nice so always wanted another one to put some time and effort into. Thanks, original number plate from new. Cool that is has 325 in it. You recon black plates over the white ones? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deedub 26 Report post Posted August 6 (edited) Nice to see you've started a thread. Ride looks slick. Where have you been getting your parts from? Edited August 6 by deedub Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias01 42 Report post Posted August 6 Bulk of initial orders I got from FCP but mainly Schmiedmann as of late. Find their prices a fair bit cheaper and super quick coming from Europe. Quite a few aftermarket options on there so I avoid them and stick with genuine bmw parts. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sammo 2535 Report post Posted August 6 Looks stunning - hope to see it about in one of the spring / summer meets! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deedub 26 Report post Posted August 8 On 8/6/2024 at 10:58 PM, Tobias01 said: Bulk of initial orders I got from FCP but mainly Schmiedmann as of late. Find their prices a fair bit cheaper and super quick coming from Europe. Quite a few aftermarket options on there so I avoid them and stick with genuine bmw parts. Thanks. I noticed quite a few aftermarket parts on Schmiedmann as well. I'll get genuine parts from them and checkout FCP as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1642 Report post Posted August 8 Spareto.com are far better for aftermarket options(and cheaper). Schmiedmann dont have much selection and their aftermarket brands tend to be the lesser ones. 2 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias01 42 Report post Posted August 17 (edited) Car came with 2 sets of wheels, some genuine 16" bbs rs's (which have been sold) and the original 15" basket weaves that I think fit the car perfectly. Only other wheel I would look at are the 16' alpinas but think they are more suited to the mtech 2. The wheels were in pretty rough shape, needing to be stripped back to metal and lips skimmed down and repainted. Powerstrip Industries in Onehunga did a great job at chemically stripping the wheels (for only $65 per wheel) and had the lips cleaned up by Alloy Wheel Repair in Grey Lynn. I painted the wheels myself and they came out better than I could have hoped. I've painted things before but not wheels... let alone basket-weaves. I primed and did 3 coats of base colour and a couple of heavy clear coats. I used VHT wheel paint (i think aluminium colour) and i'm pretty happy with the result. Maybe not quite as bright as original but I haven't compared side by side to a set of originals. Clear coat had plenty of time to cure as I was doing the whole front end servicing of the car at the same time so didn't see any road use for a month or so. Have since bought a 5th matching 15" basketweave that will get the same treatment and used as the spare wheel (as the car didn't come with one) Edited August 17 by Tobias01 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMTHUG 1004 Report post Posted August 19 On 8/17/2024 at 1:22 PM, Tobias01 said: Car came with 2 sets of wheels, some genuine 16" bbs rs's (which have been sold) and the original 15" basket weaves that I think fit the car perfectly. Only other wheel I would look at are the 16' alpinas but think they are more suited to the mtech 2. The wheels were in pretty rough shape, needing to be stripped back to metal and lips skimmed down and repainted. Powerstrip Industries in Onehunga did a great job at chemically stripping the wheels (for only $65 per wheel) and had the lips cleaned up by Alloy Wheel Repair in Grey Lynn. I painted the wheels myself and they came out better than I could have hoped. I've painted things before but not wheels... let alone basket-weaves. I primed and did 3 coats of base colour and a couple of heavy clear coats. I used VHT wheel paint (i think aluminium colour) and i'm pretty happy with the result. Maybe not quite as bright as original but I haven't compared side by side to a set of originals. Clear coat had plenty of time to cure as I was doing the whole front end servicing of the car at the same time so didn't see any road use for a month or so. Have since bought a 5th matching 15" basketweave that will get the same treatment and used as the spare wheel (as the car didn't come with one) Love the thread bud! love the car too! SJ from Apex here she sure is a beauty 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias01 42 Report post Posted August 27 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. 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sammo 2535 Report post Posted August 27 Awesome - will look so good! Shocks in seats will help a bit, but possibly frames could need a little welding - my drivers was sheared in two spots at the base as well as the more common rear tab where it connects the back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neil McCauley 363 Report post Posted August 27 Just seen this, looking awesome! Good OEM+ mod would be changing to FL ellipsoids in the flavour of your choice to replace the sealed beam candles the PFL's got from factory. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias01 42 Report post Posted 21 hours ago (edited) A bit of work I did when I first bought the car. Took the front subframe out and got rid of the surface rust and resprayed. Got new Lemforder control arms and fitted a purple tag while I had the subframe out as well as custom power steering lines from LPSR in Aussie. Running the e46 inner tie rod and Lemforder e36 outer tie rod with the purple rack. While I was in the states I filled up a check in bag with new Bilstein B8 Sport dampers, Eibach Pro-Kit performance lowering springs, new strut mounts and all other front suspension related bits. Had the brake shield and shock housing sandblasted and resprayed, very satisfying job reassembling and installing in the car along with new front wheel hubs. New rear shocks and springs went in at the same time. Old shocks all rounds were trashed, previous owner had installed shocks for the smaller non 325 shock housing... Very happy with the way it feels with the new suspension. Edited 21 hours ago by Tobias01 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1642 Report post Posted 16 hours ago How your rear toe? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Palazzo 464 Report post Posted 16 hours ago On 8/27/2024 at 8:19 PM, Tobias01 said: 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. Is that from the Restauto place on FB/eBay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias01 42 Report post Posted 6 hours ago (edited) Purchased from idautoparts eBay seller. Heres some photos of the exact kit installed in someones car. https://www.reddit.com/r/E30/comments/wjp8la/added_the_rear_seat_with_headrests_and_armrest/ Edited 6 hours ago by Tobias01 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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