Question for the e30 folks

[RawrImAMonster]

I'm considering an e30 project car at some point in the future and I'd like help to get a good start on my research. Ultimate goal would be a s50 or s52 swap and restore what needs to be restored.

I think I've mostly narrowed it down to what I like, but it would help to know the specifics. This particular car is a 1989 325is.



What I would like to know is are there any particular options or body kits that you can see on this car? I love the way it looks and I would want one that looks very similar to this. The problem is when I google 1989 325is, a lot of them don't look very similar to this one. Is it just that half of them have mismatched pieces from years of people messing with them, or does this one have a certain set of options to make it look like it does?

I'm mostly just talking about the body panels. I don't particularly care about the wheels.

[Sully]

I'm no expert by any means but that kinda looks like the M body pieces, doesn't it? At least the bumper. It also has an M in the grill so the owner probably put other m pieces on it, like the M bumper.

[SlimKlim]

That particular one looks like a Alpina car, but it could also just be modified by the owner because he has an M badge stuck in the grille. Looks like the M-tech front valence, painted body moldings, painted rockers and some aftermarket spoiler giving it that look.

This is a stock one:

[RawrImAMonster]

I'm no expert by any means but that kinda looks like the M body pieces, doesn't it? At least the bumper. It also has an M in the grill so the owner probably put other m pieces on it, like the M bumper.

The M3's? They're more flared out from what I can tell. Or is there another M body kit? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I've found what I like, I just need to know what it is :lol:

That particular one looks like a Alpina car, but it could also just be modified by the owner because he has an M badge stuck in the grille. Looks like the M-tech front valence, painted body moldings, painted rockers and some aftermarket spoiler giving it that look.

Looks like you're right about the M-tech front valence. It's called M-tech 2 based on some quick googling. What about the side skirts on the one I posted? They don't look like the ones on the stock one you posted.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Hey man i know this red one in town thats really nice. All it needs is an S52

[CaptainHenreh]

I want to say Alpina like Joey but it doesn't match with the other kits i see on the internets, which "flare out" in a way that those do not. It could well be just body matched skirts, since they are typically black:

[RawrImAMonster]

Hey man i know this red one in town thats really nice. All it needs is an S52

If I get one, I'm about 95% set on grey. Also, this would be a next year kind of thing. I tend to do months of research before I decide on a car.

[*insertusernamehere*]

.

Isn't that like a euro body kit thing that kinda hard to get over here? No?

[SlimKlim]

The M3's? They're more flared out from what I can tell. Or is there another M body kit? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I've found what I like, I just need to know what it is :lol:

What about the side skirts on the one I posted? They don't look like the ones on the stock one you posted.

No that bumper is stock to the "is" models, it was like the M-sport package of it's day. The M badge was slapped on by the owner at some point. It looks like they also took the splitter off the bumper making it look a little different.

The side skirts could be these: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=223658 or they could have just painted the rocker like Rex said, it's hard to tell from the photo.

This is a pretty much totally stock gray 325is, that's the car you'd hope to find when you were ready to actually start shopping. Unmolested.

[RawrImAMonster]

I don't think its the stock skirts. If you look at the one I posted, the side skirts seem to set much more flush with the front bumper than the stock ones.

Here's another:

[*insertusernamehere*]

Looks like the M-tech front valence, painted body moldings, painted rockers and some aftermarket spoiler giving it that look.

Mhm <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-1987-BMW-3-Series-E30-2DR-Duraflex-M-Tech-Body-Kit-4-Piece-/151469073570?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item234442a4a2&vxp=mtr">http://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-1987-BMW-3 ... a2&vxp=mtr</a><!-- m --> looks like this is the same thing too <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-1987-BMW-3-Series-E30-Duraflex-M-Tech-Rear-Bumper-Body-Kit-/251706731933?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a9ae3ed9d&vxp=mtr">http://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-1987-BMW-3 ... 9d&vxp=mtr</a><!-- m -->

I'm pretty sure the rockers are apart of this M Tech kit thing

[SlimKlim]

Yeah I think matthew is right, I'm just not sure why so many of the "is" cars don't have them. Maybe it was another box you had to check when they were selling them new?

[Goodspeed]

Looks like a pic of the same exact car is in the 2nd ebay link posted

[RawrImAMonster]

Yeah looks like that's it. Thanks for helping guys. I'm sure I'll have more questions along the way, but this at least gets me to a starting point.

[Beej]

That's a factory M-technic 2 car. We never had them in the US on coupes, but verts could either be "M-technic appearance" or "true M-technic"...the latter of which had a cool M-tricolor interior that by now universally is worn and looks awful. OEM kits fit well, but require drill and brackets that (at least, back when I was in the scene) are NLA. Aftermarket ones don't. The color looks like Delphin Grey.

There were 3 body styles (these are for hardtops, verts were slightly different):
1) 84-87. Higher rear arches, metal bumpers, smaller front and rear valences. iS gets a huge front valence and rear lip spoiler.
2) 88. Lower rear arches, metal bumpers, deeper front and rear valences, bigger taillights. iS gets a deeper front lip and same rear lip spoiler.
3) 89+. Same body as 88, but plastic bumpers.

89-90 got "ellipsoid headlights, and 90+ have (shitty) driver airbags. Kinda worth mentioning that in 91, "iS" got dropped (except for 318's) for a "sport" package which was basically the same thing as an iS (limited slip, etc) but with what are now pretty rare (and good looking) side skirts.

I know way too much about these things and would hate for it to go to waste. Fire away.

[Beej]

Fuck it, it's Friday.

1984-85


1985-86 (slightly different/more forward front valence)


1987 iS/eS (iS has 2 additional center openings for oil cooler in front valence, eS doesn't):


1988


1988 iX (iX have these different/unique sideskirts/fender flares), also note 88+ taillights


1989 325iS


1991 325i Sport (sideskirts)


1991 Vert M-technic appearance


1991 Vert M-technic


And that doesn't get into euro bumpers, M-technic 1 (pre-facelift), M-technic 2 (post-facelift), Alpina/Hartge/etc (which like, forget about it, especially in the US), little shit like window trim/"shadowline"...

Some are easy to retrofit, some aren't. Here's my '84 with facelift bits (all bolt on except for the rear valence, which was a total hack job), and my '90 iS with painted rockers/rear valence.

84, with 88+ front/rear valence, 89+ bumpers, and iS spoilers.


90, with body painted rockers/rear valence...and an S50, if you're interested in swaps.

[RawrImAMonster]

Yeah 89+ with the M tech 2 body kit is what I would be shooting for appearance wise. And you nailed it on the color. What wheels did you have on the 84?

I'll be coming to you with questions if I end up getting one of these I'm sure. :thumbup:

[BLINGMW]

1988 iX (iX have these different/unique sideskirts/fender flares)

If I were me and looking for something to swap, I think the IX fenders and sideskirts were the coolest

[Beej]

Good luck! I'd be willing to bet that there are maybe a handful or so M-tech 2 hardtops in the states. I dunno if the vert kit will bolt onto a coupe body (verts had deeper rocker panels, so different mounting points?)...but back in the heyday, trying to ship OEM bits over from Euroland was all the rage. I love M-tech 2 stuff and used to fantasize about it, but somehow prefer the simplicity of iS stuff these days - a clean one is still a stunner in person.

On the '84, those were 17" BBS RX's. They had the consistency of a warm stick of butter, but they were damn pretty.

If you dig the grey, check out Lachssilber aka Salmon Silver. Lighter grey, but more metallic or whatever and a little more "dynamic" depending on lighting.

[RawrImAMonster]

Looks like the OEM M-tech stuff is the only kit that fits decently and it is hard to find and at least $1500+