** Acme [Akagi] bought a pink estate car - E30 325i project log! **
- Thread starter Akagi
- Start date
What antenna? Its a furry tail buttplug display stand.
TBH I'll probably keep my current wheels until I can afford some nice splitties. Mmmm 
They aren't scene wheels you prized noodle.
Admittedly they do suit an E10 or an E21 better.
@Hyburnate has been helping with the colour situation
I am now torn between the same 5 to 10 colours I was previously torn between.
I am now torn between the same 5 to 10 colours I was previously torn between.
Decided on Mora metallic. "Final answer"
Work is being done by Firefly Speed Shop in Manchester.
Full exterior colour change re-spray including door shuts and inner panels, re-welding rear arch and sill, welding repair to rear panel, sunroof removal (sunroof casette being cut out and binned, sunroof skin being welded into the roof, skimmed, sanded, painted - Similar to this: https://imgur.com/a/gqVgN ), full underside scrub up and undersealing, re-painting all plastic trims in satin black, re-fitting side skirts.
$$$$
Work is being done by Firefly Speed Shop in Manchester.
Full exterior colour change re-spray including door shuts and inner panels, re-welding rear arch and sill, welding repair to rear panel, sunroof removal (sunroof casette being cut out and binned, sunroof skin being welded into the roof, skimmed, sanded, painted - Similar to this: https://imgur.com/a/gqVgN ), full underside scrub up and undersealing, re-painting all plastic trims in satin black, re-fitting side skirts.
$$$$
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Not confirmed 100% yet on the price. He said about £3K but I'd be surprised if I get any change from £4K, and thats with these guys being well known for value:quality.
Getting a comprehensive tally up next week apparently, he has loads of messages and pictures I sent him to sift through.
Also got another LSD... S3.64, genuine E30 M3 diff with 15K miles on it.
After this £4K it would take my total spend to around £9K and the car will be worth about £5K...
But it doesn't bother me that much because I have zero plans to sell, and its insured for 7K and that will be upped to about 10K once this work has been done. Plus I have tonnes of spares still to sell which will take my total spend down by about a grand.
And after this lot I will still have stuff that needs doing... Still got my new front seats to refurb, still got my headliner to re-cover, and all my optional extras sitting in boxes waiting to be fitted...
But hey, to the best of my knowledge it will be the only Mora metallic E30 in the world, and possibly the only E30 325i Touring in any kind of purple in the world. Certainly that I have been able to find online anyway...
Plus with it being a manual, non-sunroof conversion, and soon to be Alpina C2 2.5 spec in the power department, it will be a unique beast.
But it doesn't bother me that much because I have zero plans to sell, and its insured for 7K and that will be upped to about 10K once this work has been done. Plus I have tonnes of spares still to sell which will take my total spend down by about a grand.
And after this lot I will still have stuff that needs doing... Still got my new front seats to refurb, still got my headliner to re-cover, and all my optional extras sitting in boxes waiting to be fitted...
But hey, to the best of my knowledge it will be the only Mora metallic E30 in the world, and possibly the only E30 325i Touring in any kind of purple in the world. Certainly that I have been able to find online anyway...
Plus with it being a manual, non-sunroof conversion, and soon to be Alpina C2 2.5 spec in the power department, it will be a unique beast.
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We shall see. You do seem to get a lot of bang for your buck where these guys are concerned thats for sure. They did a same colour full re-spray on a mates MK6 Celica GT about 3 years ago, cost him £700 and it still looks minty today.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/fireflyspeedshop01/photos/?ref=page_internal
Prices seem to go down the further North you go. Round here near Brighton it was 6K at most places, Manchester way, about 4K or so, Scotland, 3K.
Quoted £3400 - £3600 including removing the sunroof. Which involves removing the sunroof tray by drilling out spot welds and cutting the welded mounting points with a cutting disk, breaking the bond to the roof skin with heat and wire, cleaning it up, tacking some angle steel to the outside of the sunroof on each side, tacking some 4mm TIG wire around the edge of the sunroof where the seal would go, setting it in the hole, welding it up with lots of spot welds to avoid heat distortion, removing the angled steel, grinding the weld flat, treating, skimming, sanding, then prep for paint.
I've also bought a non sunroof headliner board. RIP sunroof.
Asked if they can do my exhaust and brake re-build while they're at it...
I've also bought a non sunroof headliner board. RIP sunroof.
Asked if they can do my exhaust and brake re-build while they're at it...
And after all that it will still need a clutch, central locking still needs fixing, still have the new cooling system and the new head to go on, the new diff to go in, the seats to refurb, etc... When its fully finished it will probably have £10K in it and be worth half that...
Yeahhhhh thats mee. 
Could have got a Tech 2 Sport for 10K.
But how much would one of those have cost me in work over 3 years of ownership? I bet it would have been a few grand.
But hey, custom Mora Metallic Individual E30 325i Touring w' Alpina C2 spec engine and E30 M3 LSD. Sounds pretty awesome to me. Maybe I'll get a "built not bought sticker"
Could have got a Tech 2 Sport for 10K.
But how much would one of those have cost me in work over 3 years of ownership? I bet it would have been a few grand.
But hey, custom Mora Metallic Individual E30 325i Touring w' Alpina C2 spec engine and E30 M3 LSD. Sounds pretty awesome to me. Maybe I'll get a "built not bought sticker"
Nah this will be way cooler than that Skoda and for less than 1/4 of the price...
Another £5K and it could be faster (and much, much scarier...) than that Skoda too.
And someday it will be
Another £5K and it could be faster (and much, much scarier...) than that Skoda too.
And someday it will be
That Skoda is more appealing to me in pretty much every single way I'm afraid
Sounds like you're enjoying this project though!
Different strokes for different folks! The Skoda is more reliable, more refined, no doubt much easier to drive, has more creature comforts etc. I can see why it would have appeal. Hell, it appeals to me! Just in a different way.
I like having an old car. I enjoy fixing its little niggles, the lumpy cold starts, giving the cluster a friendly tap to wake up the temperature gauge, the old car smell, the incredible noise it makes, the fact that it interests people in traffic and at the pumps, allows me to go to car shows and meets and be part of an awesome community of classic BMW owners. I just don't enjoy it looking like arse.
I am enjoying the project and I am stoked! Its basically going from looking like a dog, to being show and shine ready, in one simple (expensive) step.
Could have bought an M3 for 10k and had a good car
Could have bought lots of awesome things for 10K.
And cars don't get much better than an E30 325i, snob.
The slammed it on serious camber with a tail pipe that sticks up and wheels with tires that don't fit!
Close?
Um, I hate to say it........ But I'm buying a MK1 Eunos too. And it won't have serious camber, but it will have wheels that don't fit, and tail pipes that stick up...
Going for the obvious choice of MX-5 for a daily driver, and BMW estate car for the weekends.
Its a Eunos Roadster, its not even technically a Mazda. Just cos it was registered incorrectly when it was imported doesn't mean anything
Technically Eunos is the manufacturer, if we wanted to call it by its correct name it would be "Roadster" because the manufacturer is "Eunos" (a subsidiary of Mazda) and the model is "Roadster".
So calling it a Eunos is like calling a UK one a Mazda.
So we're all wrong. Now what.
So calling it a Eunos is like calling a UK one a Mazda.
So we're all wrong. Now what.
lets just settle on miata..
In the US its actually called a Mazda Miata MX-5, they just drop the "MX-5" part in their lingo and call it a "Miadaaa"
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They aren't "exactly" the same, there are differences in spec etc.
In Japan, it was built, registered, and sold as a "Eunos Roadster" not a "Mazda MX5" - so when it gets imported to the UK, it is still a Eunos Roadster. Yes it may be almost identical, but it isn't identical.
Just like if you import a Toyota Altezza, it doesn't magically become a Lexus IS. Its still a Toyota Altezza.
In Japan, it was built, registered, and sold as a "Eunos Roadster" not a "Mazda MX5" - so when it gets imported to the UK, it is still a Eunos Roadster. Yes it may be almost identical, but it isn't identical.
Just like if you import a Toyota Altezza, it doesn't magically become a Lexus IS. Its still a Toyota Altezza.