Another BMW: 1987 all over again!

[Pro Stock John]

That gen M3 has gone way up in price, I know of a roller that's been sitting a while, guy knows what he has.

On my secret list of cars I've wanted is a IX version of that gen 3 series. Those are 4WD.

[JRSully]

Switching veh's.. since were in the 80's. Brother has an 81 Triumph TR8 Conv and this thing is a rip, 5 spd all aluminum V8 (old Buick motor molds bought by Rover/Leland) now I want one. People look at this thing and cant understand where the V8 rumble is coming from. These too are climbing in $$ now

[A12pilot]

When I got the car, it had already had a bunch of work done and that included some lowering springs and such. Stance is good, but those 14" weaves had to go.

My vision for the look I wanted was the 333i. BMW made these for the South African market and they had Alpina and MTech attributes. I also wanted to update the exterior yet wanted to keep the "diving board" US bumpers. So step one, all new brakes all around followed by replica Alpina 16" wheels. I think this is how it's supposed to look!











Wanting a more aero look, I added an MTech and Alpina style skirts along with an MTech style rear spoiler. So of course, I had to now redo the paint.

I wasn't about to break the car down (this is an 87 BMW.... not a Ferrari/ Hemi/ COPO) so some strategic masking was in order. I added flex agents where needed, but I wanted the bumpers monotone with the paint. Today I just shot the DBC followed by DCU2021. Perfect? Nah. But way better than it was. A couple small sags, one or two bugs, but those will be fixed with the wetsanding.

Later next week I'll mask off and paint the trim black then reinstall the new emblems, grille, and fog lights. I might add Alpina stripes to it, or an MTech stripe. Not sure just yet.

More to come!

Cheers
Dave

[67since67]

Memory lane here....

This charming '87 325i was my late wife's summer driver. Solid, fun car, but WOT best described as "gaining momentum".

Dave, your suspension and wheel mods only make this one better!

[dykstra]

Originally Posted by 67since67

Memory lane here....

This charming '87 325i was my late wife's summer driver. Solid, fun car, but WOT best described as "gaining momentum".

Dave, your suspension and wheel mods only make this one better!

Love the license plate Bill!!

[A12pilot]

Oh, wow! Very cool Bill. Good description and glad it was a pleasant memory! Common thing is to swap in a later big six, but we’ll see if I decide to go down that road. Right now, it runs great just the way it is! Plus, I’m joining the BMW Classic Car Club on a tour this fall and going in this, so it needs to be road worthy by then

Cheers
Dave

[69Z11Pacer396]

Low mileage one here in $40k range with a few hours left..: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...ign=2024-02-28

[markinnaples]

I love your E30 Dave. I have had an '85 325es 4 door in Cinnabar Red and black with the awesome dash computer that gave you all of the pertinent information that you needed. So far ahead of its time in my opinion. I also had an '89 325 that was maroon and black. I loved the tucked bumpers on the '89 more than the diving boards on the earlier ones. I've seen guys take the earlier bumpers and "deflate" them to fit them closer to the body, but not much give if you get into an accident.

Your paint looks great as well. Love that you fixed the kidneys in the grill so that they're back to being silver/polished as they got a little lost in black.

They're like 350 Chevy's that never stop running.

[A12pilot]

Thanks guys. Latest update with the blacked out trim, Alpina inspired details, and a few new exterior emblems and such.





These things are a lot of fun. Easy to work on. Although some aftermarket parts are junk just like the rest of the aftermarket world in relation to our other cars. Only thing I’m fighting right now is a noon-fitting sunroof seal. It’s so tight it won’t let the sunroof move. I removed it, and the roof works perfectly. The aftermarket one is way too tight so I’ll have to come up with an alternate solution. It’s mainly a dust shield. Inside of the sunroof is nice and clean with no rust.

Cheers
Dave