My 1992 318is, I guess you could call it a build thread
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Got a lot more done over the last few days. The side skirts are solidly on the car and not going anywhere. I got everything put back together and I'm very pleased with it
While I was waiting for the glue to cure I decided to polish the exhaust tip. I don't have a before picture but it was all black and rusty before, here it is all shined up:
I decided to try and tackle my trashed door panels and instead of trying to repair the current ones again, I decided to make my own based on some I have seen over on bimmerforums
I started with a 2x4 foot piece of 1/4" mdf board and traced the outline of the old door panel onto it
I then used this shape and kept trimming it until I got a shape that fit nicely and how I wanted it. I had to cut a hole for the window motor as it stuck out too far for the panel to cover it.
I had a bunch of the suede I used for the headliner left over so I wrapped the door panels in that fabric. I bought some simple handles from the hardware store as well as some self tapping screws that I painted black and affixed the panels to the doors. All in all I am very happy with how they came out. Everything lines up perfectly and they are rock solid.
(I added the handle seen here on the drivers side after I took that picture)
Let me know what you think! I was tempted to get nylon straps to close the doors but I decided that was a little much. I will be ordering some nice tweeters in the near future to mount on the doors to finish everything off
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I love this build. Clean and done right the first time.
Make me some of those door cards, I'll pay you
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I love this build. Clean and done right the first time.
Make me some of those door cards, I'll pay you
Thanks! And I'd think about it actually, assuming the doors are set up the same between years I could make a template or something (for a coupe) and then making more sets would be fairly straightforward
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Thanks! And I'd think about it actually, assuming the doors are set up the same between years I could make a template or something (for a coupe) and then making more sets would be fairly straightforward
If anyone knows the answer to this... mine is a '96. I don't see why they would be different.
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All coupe door panels are the same.
Awesome. After having a number of things not line up on my car because it is a '92 I can never be too sure anymore.
The reason I ask is because I have seen people do these without needing to cut the hole for the window motors. I just figured mine stuck out farther, but I guess they just bent the panel around them or something (which I wouldn't do, I feel like that could cause problems). On mine, the board is 1/4" thick and then the motor sticks out maybe another 1/4", the MDF is surprisingly rigid for the size of the panel so bending it around would be a pain
On another note, should I paint/plastidip the handles black? I feel like they stick out (in a bad way) because they are a brushed silver right now
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Awesome. After having a number of things not line up on my car because it is a '92 I can never be too sure anymore.
The reason I ask is because I have seen people do these without needing to cut the hole for the window motors. I just figured mine stuck out farther, but I guess they just bent the panel around them or something (which I wouldn't do, I feel like that could cause problems). On mine, the board is 1/4" thick and then the motor sticks out maybe another 1/4", the MDF is surprisingly rigid for the size of the panel so bending it around would be a pain
On another note, should I paint/plastidip the handles black? I feel like they stick out (in a bad way) because they are a brushed silver right now
I vote Plastidip them black.
How much would you want for just the wood template?
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I vote Plastidip them black.
How much would you want for just the wood template?
I'm thinking the same thing.
And I'd rather not make a template out of wood since its pretty time consuming to cut, but I could make one out of a heavy cardboard or foam-core board, that way you could make a set of panels out of any material you'd like. It would be pretty sweet to see them made out of aluminum or something. And I have no idea what I would want for a template, PM me an offer and we can go from there
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Minor update, I haven't done anything to the car in a few weeks but I finally did some things I've wanted to do for a while today since I had a few hours free. I installed an auxiliary audio input to my head-unit and also polished my headlights again as they were getting pretty foggy and nasty.
For the audio input, the car already had an XM radio reciever installed under the glovebox and I found that the connection to that could be modified a bit to accommodate a 3.5mm stereo jack. I picked up a few little adapters since I couldn't find the proper adapter I was looking for and ended up with this
I then routed the cable under the center console to the ash tray between the driver and passenger seats
I am always finding reminders if how nasty this car was before I got it, that is all dog hair. When I bought the car, the entire interior was covered in it.
I left enough wire to be able to hold my phone when it is plugged in yet little enough that I could tuck it into the compartment in the ash tray and hide it when I wasn't using it. All in all it is pretty stealthy and works perfectly.
I used some auto polishing compound and a microfiber pad to buff the headlights. Here is a before and after, I tried to show the difference in how well it worked
Before:
After:
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very nice.
this thing is clean!
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someone said:
very nice.
this thing is clean!
someone said:
How did I miss this build thread? Loving it!
Thanks guys! The pictures definitely hide some things but its certainly coming along nicely in my opinion. I can't wait to lower it but unfortunately that's probably a long way off still haha
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Ok, so a really good friend of mine who has been on the fence about selling his e30 is finally selling it. The car is in really nice shape with next to no rust and a ton of maintenance done to it. The only problem is...I'd most likely need to sell the e36 to buy it as I could never afford two bimmers. What do you guys think I should do? I really love this car and don't want to sell it (I've also got way more money in it that I should), but I've always lusted after an e30 and this one is almost too nice to pass up, especially for what he wants for it.
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Ok, so a really good friend of mine who has been on the fence about selling his e30 is finally selling it. The car is in really nice shape with next to no rust and a ton of maintenance done to it. The only problem is...I'd most likely need to sell the e36 to buy it as I could never afford two bimmers. What do you guys think I should do? I really love this car and don't want to sell it (I've also got way more money in it that I should), but I've always lusted after an e30 and this one is almost too nice to pass up, especially for what he wants for it.
Well at $1300, I am practically giving it away, but I am just glad it will be going to a good home.
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Well at $1300, I am practically giving it away, but I am just glad it will be going to a good home.
Haha different car, its a white 1991 318is slick top that spent most of its life in Florida so it's basically rust free.
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Haha different car, its a white 1991 318is slick top that spent most of its life in Florida so it's basically rust free.
so we aren't friends then
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so we aren't friends then
Nobody said we weren't friends!
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When you put the plastic skirts on do the jacking holes line up with the ones in the body? I have a 94 and might put some on. Just curious because bavauto sells some plastic skirts but warns that the holes will not line up.
They do, mine lined up perfectly. I don't know why they told you otherwise. The post 95 cars that came with the skirts from the factory are the same underneath, they just have holes drilled into the body to mount the skirts. My skirts are OEM so there might be a difference if the bavauto ones are aftermarket so I would ask why they say that
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