The Full Banana

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

I am back in business! After letting the e21 go and acquiring a Ducati in its place, it was time to let the Ducati go for something I really wanted. 
Say hello to my new to me 1999 Z3 Coupe! Comfortably parked along with the touring.

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

Good to know. I've debated whether or not I want to go down the dark road of engine/tune modifications on this car. I'm probably picking up an e30 vert in the next week, so I'm trying to avoid other unnecessary expenses for a bit.

Good to know. I've debated whether or not I want to go down the dark road of engine/tune modifications on this car. I'm probably picking up an e30 vert in the next week, so I'm trying to avoid other unnecessary expenses for a bit.

Good to know. I've debated whether or not I want to go down the dark road of engine/tune modifications on this car. I'm probably picking up an e30 vert in the next week, so I'm trying to avoid other unnecessary expenses for a bit.

Finally got around to replacing shocks and struts on my daily, and threw some H&R sport springs while I was at it. Ride height is pretty ideal now. 
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this car here, but it’s a 2011 535xi sport that I picked up a year and a half ago. 

Finally got around to replacing shocks and struts on my daily, and threw some H&R sport springs while I was at it. Ride height is pretty ideal now. 
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this car here, but it’s a 2011 535xi sport that I picked up a year and a half ago. 

Finally got around to replacing shocks and struts on my daily, and threw some H&R sport springs while I was at it. Ride height is pretty ideal now. 
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this car here, but it’s a 2011 535xi sport that I picked up a year and a half ago. 

Finally got around to replacing shocks and struts on my daily, and threw some H&R sport springs while I was at it. Ride height is pretty ideal now. 
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this car here, but it’s a 2011 535xi sport that I picked up a year and a half ago. 

Finally got around to replacing shocks and struts on my daily, and threw some H&R sport springs while I was at it. Ride height is pretty ideal now. 
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this car here, but it’s a 2011 535xi sport that I picked up a year and a half ago. 

Finally got around to replacing shocks and struts on my daily, and threw some H&R sport springs while I was at it. Ride height is pretty ideal now. 
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this car here, but it’s a 2011 535xi sport that I picked up a year and a half ago. 

happened to find the moon out last night

This middle german 'style' building seemed appropriate. Fachwerkhäuser! 

Milwaukee buildings are displaying red white and blue colors as a display of hope that we will get through this pandemic. 



city lights

white on white


 

Alright. Moving right along. The whole car has 1500. The hood, trunk, and sunroof panel have 2000. 


it’s pretty cool that even though these are super hazy straight on, at an angle you can start to see the gloss coming back and the reflection get cleaner. 
 



Discovered that someone has messed with the sunroof panel in the past. The front most screw was missing on the driver side and the front most screw on the passenger side was nearly stripped. If you’re going to go in and start something - finish it. 

Next up is to wetsand it and then do a cut and polish. Going to order a setup from Chemical Guys. There are some really good spots, and there are some spots where the clear feels a little dusty - assuming it’s overspray. 

Got a terribly unpleasant surprise when sanding the hood. It had a small rust bubble on it that I didn't think much of when I picked it up because the rest of the hood was in very good shape. Started sanding it at the front corner and noticed some filler. Worked my way up and kept finding more and more of it. 

The extent of the filler. 


Surprise dent in the front corner.

This is where the rust bubble was. 

See how the hood has degraded here. 

Unfortunately my hood is in worse shape. Lots of large dents and a couple "creases" that I wouldn't be able to fix. Plus the corner of my hood is very messed up from the deer. Didn't have any other choice at this point but to fill it back in and smooth it out. In the end it will be fine for now. I think I will eventually try to find a new hood that is rust free. 

And the car is mostly blocked. I just have to do the bumpers and the roof. I have a gallon of Eastwood's Contour Polyester Primer which has a high build quality. Their website refers to it as liquid body filler. But it's good for spraying on bare metal, filler, existing finishes, etc. And the base coat can go directly on to this primer. It was important for me to do this in as few of steps as possible. 
 

Psh, non-insulated crimps with high-quality adhesive lined heat shrink over the crimps is the way to go. Insulated connectors are for the birds. Nice work, Gabe! Looks great.
Raychem heatshrink 4 lyfe
 
OEM++

Who ended up with this? Thank you for being just far enough away for me to not end up with another project haha.

i'd agree except: