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Alright, so bare with me on this first post. Photo quality will be all over the place and I have a lot of catching up to do. After this initial post things should be a lot more consistent, and photos will be higher quality!
So here's my 1998 BMW 318ti, factory 5 speed manual in Ascotgrun. The compact chassis is pretty much the bastard child of the E36 family. For those not familiar with it, it has an E36 front end, and an E30 rear subframe, along with some other oddities (like the dash and hatchback). For the most part, I don't think this car gets the love it deserves. They're a lot of fun, and crazy practical. I suppose the rear view is an acquired taste, but ultimately I think it's a nice looking car.
I picked up this one relatively cheap as a daily driver. Previous owner had taken pretty good care of it, but it found its way to Arizona from Minnesota. The result is some rust patches forming on the drivers side quarter and rear panels. It was also sitting on Raceland suspension when I bought it. No bueno, really not a fan of their stuff. "But it's cheaaap", you might say. No, fuck you, it's garbage. (I really don't like Raceland as you'll see)
This is how it looked when I picked it up. No grille, Style 2 wheels, and some other minor flaws. But it did have an M3 front bumper, color matched side skirts, and working A/C (a first for me).
After bringing it up to mechanical spec (brakes, oil, etc.) I took care of the tint. Shop did a pretty poor job to be honest, and I'll likely have it redone within the year. But at least it was no longer a fish bowl.
I found a cheap grille on Amazon, thought it would be better then nothing. Really hoping to find a stock chrome grille however. That's on the list to-do.
The radio was taken care of. The install was initially spot on, but I took it back to get some other work done and they messed up the trim ring and it won't sit right now. Still need to get that fixed.
At first I told myself I wasn't going to do anything to this car that it didn't absolutely need. But we all knew that wasn't going to last. I had some M3 Vaders in my E30, which weren't seeing much use. So I ripped them out and dropped them in the ti just to see how it looked. Ended up leaving them there permanently. Despite the weight they are my favorite BMW seats. Mine happen to have suede inserts, and were mint (until the audio shop destroyed the leg bolster on the passenger seat).
So that's how it sat. I thought I was really done at this point, I wanted to focus on my E30. But some friends and I decided we were going to Bimmerfest this year, and I knew the E30 wouldn't be even close to ready for that. So I decided to go crazy with the ti.
The first thing I ended up doing was installing some Rally lights. I bought them off a friend whose awesome Jetta was totaled by an asshole who hydrolocked it. So a little bit of his car lives on in my ti. Turned out to be a relatively easy install, although the LED switch inside the car gave us some trouble.
I then decided the Style 2 wheels weren't doing it for me. So I bought a set of my favorite OEM wheels ever, Style 5s (BBS RC090). Wrapped them in a 205/40/17 Falken and slapped them on. Definitely needs some spacing out, but that'll happen after what's to come. That brings us up to date for the most part.
So here's the plans before Bimmerfest. Sort the awful suspension, fix the crack-whore fitment, and put on some pieces that I have really wanted. So far I have ordered and recieved my full Condor Speed Shop solid mount kit. Dog approved I guess.
Aaaand quality pictures from here on out. I wasn't ever planning on doing a build thread, so most of it was iPhone quality stuff.
Yesterday I picked up some Sedan M3 mirrors off a car being parted out. They were covered in black plastidip so I tried peeling it off. One went ok, but the other was caked on. I soaked them in Goo Gone, and wiped off the crap.
They cleaned up pretty nice. They are Boston Green underneath, which is nice but not the color I need. I ordered a can of color matched paint, so they will be sprayed to match the car before they go on.
I also picked up a Euro steering wheel. Got it at a pretty good price, although the leather is a little worn. The only thing that was bugging me was the chrome trim ring, so I plastidipped that black. I figure now that I know how to remove the stuff well, I can always reverse it if I change my mind.
And that's actually 100% up to date. The current plan is after a massive meet next weekend, the car will go up on jackstands, in my friend's garage, to get some major work done. New bushings, E30 diff, new clutch and some other small things. I'll be replacing the awful, horrible, no good, I-****-these-so-much Racelands with some CAtuned Coilovers. I have a set on my E30 and love them. I'll get the steering wheel rewrapped, and fix some interior bits that need doing. Beyond that, fix the fitment and enjoy the car.
Sorry for the massive first post, but that's about 6-7 months of ownership covered at once. More to come soon!
So here's my 1998 BMW 318ti, factory 5 speed manual in Ascotgrun. The compact chassis is pretty much the bastard child of the E36 family. For those not familiar with it, it has an E36 front end, and an E30 rear subframe, along with some other oddities (like the dash and hatchback). For the most part, I don't think this car gets the love it deserves. They're a lot of fun, and crazy practical. I suppose the rear view is an acquired taste, but ultimately I think it's a nice looking car.
I picked up this one relatively cheap as a daily driver. Previous owner had taken pretty good care of it, but it found its way to Arizona from Minnesota. The result is some rust patches forming on the drivers side quarter and rear panels. It was also sitting on Raceland suspension when I bought it. No bueno, really not a fan of their stuff. "But it's cheaaap", you might say. No, fuck you, it's garbage. (I really don't like Raceland as you'll see)
This is how it looked when I picked it up. No grille, Style 2 wheels, and some other minor flaws. But it did have an M3 front bumper, color matched side skirts, and working A/C (a first for me).
After bringing it up to mechanical spec (brakes, oil, etc.) I took care of the tint. Shop did a pretty poor job to be honest, and I'll likely have it redone within the year. But at least it was no longer a fish bowl.
I found a cheap grille on Amazon, thought it would be better then nothing. Really hoping to find a stock chrome grille however. That's on the list to-do.
The radio was taken care of. The install was initially spot on, but I took it back to get some other work done and they messed up the trim ring and it won't sit right now. Still need to get that fixed.
At first I told myself I wasn't going to do anything to this car that it didn't absolutely need. But we all knew that wasn't going to last. I had some M3 Vaders in my E30, which weren't seeing much use. So I ripped them out and dropped them in the ti just to see how it looked. Ended up leaving them there permanently. Despite the weight they are my favorite BMW seats. Mine happen to have suede inserts, and were mint (until the audio shop destroyed the leg bolster on the passenger seat).
So that's how it sat. I thought I was really done at this point, I wanted to focus on my E30. But some friends and I decided we were going to Bimmerfest this year, and I knew the E30 wouldn't be even close to ready for that. So I decided to go crazy with the ti.
The first thing I ended up doing was installing some Rally lights. I bought them off a friend whose awesome Jetta was totaled by an asshole who hydrolocked it. So a little bit of his car lives on in my ti. Turned out to be a relatively easy install, although the LED switch inside the car gave us some trouble.
I then decided the Style 2 wheels weren't doing it for me. So I bought a set of my favorite OEM wheels ever, Style 5s (BBS RC090). Wrapped them in a 205/40/17 Falken and slapped them on. Definitely needs some spacing out, but that'll happen after what's to come. That brings us up to date for the most part.
So here's the plans before Bimmerfest. Sort the awful suspension, fix the crack-whore fitment, and put on some pieces that I have really wanted. So far I have ordered and recieved my full Condor Speed Shop solid mount kit. Dog approved I guess.
Aaaand quality pictures from here on out. I wasn't ever planning on doing a build thread, so most of it was iPhone quality stuff.
Yesterday I picked up some Sedan M3 mirrors off a car being parted out. They were covered in black plastidip so I tried peeling it off. One went ok, but the other was caked on. I soaked them in Goo Gone, and wiped off the crap.
They cleaned up pretty nice. They are Boston Green underneath, which is nice but not the color I need. I ordered a can of color matched paint, so they will be sprayed to match the car before they go on.
I also picked up a Euro steering wheel. Got it at a pretty good price, although the leather is a little worn. The only thing that was bugging me was the chrome trim ring, so I plastidipped that black. I figure now that I know how to remove the stuff well, I can always reverse it if I change my mind.
And that's actually 100% up to date. The current plan is after a massive meet next weekend, the car will go up on jackstands, in my friend's garage, to get some major work done. New bushings, E30 diff, new clutch and some other small things. I'll be replacing the awful, horrible, no good, I-****-these-so-much Racelands with some CAtuned Coilovers. I have a set on my E30 and love them. I'll get the steering wheel rewrapped, and fix some interior bits that need doing. Beyond that, fix the fitment and enjoy the car.
Sorry for the massive first post, but that's about 6-7 months of ownership covered at once. More to come soon!
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