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Atlantis Metallic E36 Touring

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FwordM3 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 20 Sep 2012 at 7:40pm

As I am changing my little motor and have finally plucked up the courage to spend some money on it, I thought I'd start this.
As I have said elsewhere there are a few things that I want to change, namely the sound and looks departments.

There are a few rust issues on the passenger door and inner arches - these will all be done before the summer.

In the sound department I have just bought a stainless back box - which is still in the box, I haven't even had a chance to take it out and have a look yet. My mate is coming back from Australia and on the 8th Feb and hopefully he will be able to fit it then.

The wheels are MV2's which i don't like at all - new wheels have been purchased and were delivered on Thursday. They are also still in the box - haven't had a chance to look at them either!!!

I will put a new steering wheel on at some point as i don't like the feel of the HGV style i have at the moment.

I have added new discs and pads all round, engine brace, front corner splitters and mechanically it is sweet (touch wood).

Some more little bits I have in mind but not sure about them yet - I will post pics up as and when the work starts.

This is how the machine looks now.....

A friend and myself put an exhaust on today, it took a good few hours but all went smoothly....

I reversed the car on to some ramps so we could assess all the good, bad and the ugly

This is the exhaust we were fitting, T304 Stainless steel with DTM pipes

These clever Germans - there detail is very good. In this picture you can just make out some rusty bolt heads that we would use, there are 2 different fixing points on the car!?!

The 2 exhausts side by side

We had to extend the thread on the bolts as they were too long - then we cut the bolts down to the correct size as the nuts have washers built in

You can see the difference in thread length needed

The bolts were to hang the exhaust and we needed to work out which holes on the exhaust to use - so we had a trial fitting

The fit was spot on so now to get rid of the DTM rear. I wanted it to look similar to an M3 box so we taped up where to cut and off we went

It was a little rough in places so a bit of fine tuning

File off any burrs and ready to fit...

Job done!!!!

To me the exhaust sounds awesome on full throttle but it is loud in low revs.

 

fitted some LED number plate lights


Pictures from tonight:

Should have turned wheels the other way I know :roll:


I'm posting some up as I think the car is looking pretty good at the moment. Have been putting in some serious effort with this 'detailing' lark and it seems to be paying off....

 

this is the wiper i have on the rear, looks SOOOO much better! :)


Finally got round to opening one of my boxes. Looks and feels BRILLIANT!!! Just what I wanted - will take that stupid 'M' badge off though.

Not the best picture unfortunately....


Storm Gear Knob, and never let it be said gentleman that a smaller knob is no good:
See the size difference

How it looks

Excuse the dirt :oops: All is clean now though after a lovely sunny day :D

A fantastic and worthwhile change, great feel and got a brilliant punch to the face for my troubles when pulling the old one off


I've waited a long time for this and Dips....your a legend!

Just a selection of very basic photos to give you the idea, hope to get some better ones at some point.

Booked in on Saturday morning for allignmemt. Any comments welcome. :thumbs-up:

M3 Diffuser:

M3 mirrors:

As she stands now excuse the quality of the pics.

Raid airbag steering wheel, brilliant to drive with!


Took some randoms today, next on the list is 2 rear tyres (this week), get the lips sorted on the alloys and a very small body mod with some rust removal.





It reallly needs a good detail, should get round to that at some point over Easter


I should really have done this as my first mod but after the car coming soooo far (for me anyway) since I bought it this was getting to be a necessity.
The black grills that were on the car were Chrome ones with black tape  :oops:  :lol: and looked sh!t quite frankly. A little package arrived from Germany this week and fitted them today...

 

As they were  :disgust:

Huge difference!

Giving it a good clean

Both in:

Final pick

All in and gave it a good wax before I put them in to protect the paint. A few rust patches were visible which i will get sorted. Cant stand that flakey brown crap!
As always chuck a comment on there - always appreciated. :thumbs-up:[/


Put on steel pressed plates and must say that they look wicked IMO. Also had to buy a front numberplate plastic surround as the old one was cracked. A few little touches to do before next weekend, hopefully the rain will cease for a few days - here's hoping!

 

Got these from Fes and put them on for gaydon, colour coded BBS centre caps to replace the Gold ones. They look really good in the flesh and compliment the car well I think.





18's Ben and the guy where I got my wheels from set me up with an M3 Allignment which made a huge difference after Dips fitted the Coilovers ( :thumbs-up: ), m3 mirrors ( :thumbs-up: ), rear diffuser ( :thumbs-up: ) and steering wheel ( :thumbs-up: ). I have standard top mounts as the allignment has been spot on.

Cracking picture!


Winter shopping has started early!!!!!!
Afer missing out on another bargain because of some show last Sunday I didn't want to miss these.

I need to pick them up, get them sprayed and fitted but I'm in no rush. Chuffed to bits, genuine m3 side skirts


I should have had this done for Gaydon but for various reasons it didn't happen.

Goodbye fried eggs - they even work. I'll be a mechanic soon... :lol:



MOT tomorrow - bloody hate them. no doubt it will fail on something ridiculous... :x

 

Leaving Players some dude took a picture of my car and Dips sent it to me, well done love it! So thought I'd share...

and thanks Mr. Newton :thumbs-up:

 

"]

All bits for the Feb make over have been bought - I haven't looked forward to work being done on my car this much since I had my 5GTT!!! :D


I have got my car back to it’s final stage before the show season starts…


A lot of points were sorted and many mods taken on. The buying for all of this started way back in September where I discussed the colour of the wheels with Dips. He seemed to think my choice would work well with Atlantis so he set about finding the right shade. This was at the Players show.


The buying list was quite extensive but I knew with clever use of the bay I could collect the parts fairly cheaply.

 
The list was as follows:

Rear Spoiler


M3 rear bumper


Boot struts


330 e46 front brake set up


M3 mesh

before:

Short shift

New head unit to play DVD’s


2 x screens for the headrests


M3 side skirts


BBTB + Manifold + kit


American M3 engine cover


Colour code strut brace ends

 
Inlet air trumpets


Remove bonnet badge


Remove little rust at the front wing and rear sill


Refurb wheels with new bolts, clean the edge and spray


Remove GT corner splitters


Smooth front splitter – paint


Around late February I had pretty much collected all of the above items and spaced out the spending so I was not hit with large bills. The original side skirts I got for £18 and the rear bumper was just over £40. I believe that if you bide your time and keep looking you can create a stand out car for minimal cost (which is the only way I could do it).


The next part was to give the car to Dips for a week and collect it early March – there was a snag however as one of the parts did not fit so another had to be sourced. This coincided with me going skiing in Austria hence why I have only just picked the car up today.

 

The inspiration and thought process for the mods and how I wanted it to look came from 2 cars – one was an e30 and an e36 tourer.

 


I have only given the car a basic wash as it still needs a detail inside and out. I am looking forward to that but have no time at the minute. The pictures give you a good idea but I hope to take some better ones in the next couple of weeks. I have found 3 locations that I want to use but need the car looking its best!!!!

Strut brace ends colour coded:


BBTB


New boot struts:


Shortshift, works a treat!!!!!


New headunit with TV's:



E46 brakes:


M3 rear bumper:


Rear spoiler:


M3 side skirts:


No badge:


Smoothed front splitter:


A good view of the wheel colour and brakes:


A very basic picture after a quick wash:

There are still a few little jobs to do but the main parts are completed.

 

Here are some of the pics from the change over...

Old disk set up

Needed new brakes anyway  :oops:

The reason why the strut brace ends needed spraying:

Changed the FSR ie; hedgehog:

New bolts for the wheels:

Close up:

I did take a half decent picture of the spoiler I think:


And to finish off, 2 pictures that I think have come out quite well after a bit of work:


[/

 

 had a little clean up of the engine bay today, bearing in mind that I didn't spend too long on it and it will need re-doing I think it has come out quite well.

Original:

A bit of this:

and a bit of that:

I think for a 1st attempt not too bad...


A shot of the awesome brakes:

And finished with a coat of Poorboys, as I was applying this my little boy came over and said 'Daddy does that make your car go faster?'
Course it does... :wink:

 

As said, she went on the ramp today to find the rattle that was driving me insane...

Going up ^^^^^^, the ramp is awesome - there are no issues with driving on to it as it sits level with the floor!!!!

Having a prod and a push underneath it was very clear where the issue was.
Whatever they are called they were as loose as a....loose thing. :D

Had them spot welded to put them back in place, so when cruising along our lovely britsh roads I can't hear a rusty tin can going along.

There are a few more issues to sort:
MIA... :(

I luckily found one on e-bay for £20


So that sorts that little issue out and the last one which I put in my previous post.

They don't look good at all, some may say that you can't really notice it but if you're not happy with something  - get it sorted!

So I will buy a rattle can and do the best job I can, but this may take some time I feel.

People seem to have changed the look from the white to Ambers but I have never been a fan. It's all about the 'OEM'  look.
I have sourced a lot of the information for my car and right at the bottom is the reason why my car has the white indi's, because they are OEM.
I think it makes the car a little more modern in appearance as you don't really see ambers on the front anymore.

VIN 
Type 328I (EUR)
E series E36 (3)
Series 3
Type TOUR
Steering RL
Doors 5
Engine M52
Displacement 2.80
Power 142
Drive HECK
Transmission MECH
Colour SONDERLACKIERUNG (490)
Upholstery SONDERPOLSTERUNG (Z1XX)
Prod.date 1997-05-30
 
Options 
 
Code Description (interface) Description (EPC)
S246A LENKSAEULENVERSTELLUNG MECHANISCH Manually adjust. steering column
S255A SPORT-LEDERLENKRAD Sports leather steering wheel
S297A LM RAEDER/STREAMLINE BMW LA wheel,forged wheel/multi-spoke
S314A FRONTSCHEIBENWASCHDUESEN BEHEIZT Door mirror, driver lock, heated
S341A STOSSFAENGER KOMPLETT IN WAGENFARBE Bumpers completely in body colour
S386A DACHRELING Roof railing
S411A FENSTERHEBER,ELEKTRISCH VORN/HINTEN Window lifts,electric,front/rear
S413A GEPAECKRAUMTRENNETZ Luggage compartment net
S428A WARNDREIECK Warning triangle and first aid kit
S431A INNENSPIEGEL,AUTOMATISCH ABBLENDEND Interior mirror with automatic-dip
S441A RAUCHERPAKET Smoker package
S473A ARMAUFLAGE VORN Armrest front
S498A KOPFSTUETZEN IM FOND Headrests mechanically adjustable, rear
S502A SCHEINWERFER-WASCHANLAGE Headlight cleaning system
S508A PARK DISTANCE CONTROL (PDC) Park Distance Control (PDC)
Code Description (interface) Description (EPC)
S528A AUTOMATISCHE UMLUFT CONTROLL (AUC) AUTOMATIC AIR FLOW CONTROL
S534A KLIMAAUTOMATIK Automatic air conditioning
S554A BORDCOMPUTER On-board computer V with remote control
S687A RADIOVORBEREITUNG Radio preparation
S785A WEISSE BLINKLEUCHTEN White direction indicator lights
L812A ENGLAND/IRLAND AUSFUEHRUNG NATIONAL VERSION GREAT BRITAIN
S850A ZUSAETZL. TANKFUELLUNG EXPORT Additional Export tank filling
S863A SERVICE KONTAKT-FLYER EUROPA Dealer List Europe
S880A ENGLISCH / BORDLITERATUR Bordliteratur englisch
S940A SONDERWUNSCH AUSSTATTUNG special equipment BMW Individual
S962A MOTORKENNFELD Engine characteristic curves

Standard equipment 
 
Code Description (interface) Description (EPC)
S214A AUT.STABIL.-CONTROL+TRAKTION(ASC+T) Automatic stability control (ASC+T)
S465A DURCHLADESYSTEM Through-loading system
S497A MITTELARMLEHNE IM FOND Centre armrest, rear
S510A LEUCHTWEITENREGELUNG ABBLENDLICHT Headlight vertical aim control
S520A NEBELSCHEINWERFER Fog lights
S542A CHECK CONTROL Check Control
S853A SPRACHVERSION ENGLISCH Language version, English
 
Individual vehicle data 
 
Text
---- Processing Individual 
Sign "BMW individual" 
 
---- Special Series 
S O N D E R S E R I E G R O S S B R I T A N N I E N 
***************************************************** 
Produktantrag 234, E36/3 
 
0490 Color 
Paintwork "atlantis-metallic" (code 399). 
 
Aussenspiegel, Stoßfänger komplett, Griffleiste und Schweller- 
verkleidungen in Wagenfarbe. 
 
Z1XX Upholstery 
Text
Following items are in leather Montana black (nr. 8 171 304): 
 
Sitze vorne und hinten 
 
Head rests 
 
Keder an Sitzen und Kopfstuetzen in Leder Walknappa atlantis 
(Nr. 2 423 375) 
 
Restliche Innenausstattung wie bei Leder Montana schwarz, 
Schl.Nr. P8SW 
 
0940 Special request 
Turn indicators in white (option 785).

 


"]
I have made a few little tweaks for Gaydon that didn’t cost a lot.
Since the Ace Café show it was suggested that I darken my front indicators as they really stand out in a negative way (see picture above). We talked about the fogs and side repeaters but I thought the indi’s were more a link to the darkened headlights so just went for these.




With getting the wheels coloured gold I had black valve caps so wanted a more colour coded theme and found some for a really good price that (I think) match quite well.
 

I also tried to sort out my wheel nuts with limited success as they look crap again so I will have to spend a little more time on them.



Wanting to get the car looking as good as possible for Gaydon the following needs to be done:
Correct a blemish on the bonnet
Give the roof a whirl with my whirly machine
Blacken the side mouldings
Give the wheels a really good polish
Have a service
MOT time very soon – 23rd August


And these are 2 of the dishes that I did:
Bream with Scallops and beetroot


Duck breast with Pink grapefruit - please excuse the slightly burnt Parmentier potatoes, the thermostat on my oven broke which I didn't know at the time. Quite easy to fix though!!!

 

Not being happy with the paintwork as I find little scratches etc I looked into getting a very low cutting compound that I could get used to.
This is what I used today:

Found it really good and has given the finish I was looking for. The paint is in no way perfect but now I can start understanding what differences in cutting there are.

I did clay the car before hand to see what's what (perfect timing Dips!!! :D)

Not having the Camera with charged batteries I had to use my phone - it is very difficult to show the difference but this is prep work for Gaydon!

Also I like to keep the wheels clean and have been unimpressed with the bottles i have purchased so got what I thought would be a good product.

These are the best bottles I have ever used for sheer quality output without leaks or parts breaking - seriously impressed!!!

All in all quite a productive day...

 

As I said in an earlier post I wanted to clean the bottom of the headlights and the surround as it was looking grubby. To do this properly I had to take the lights out, which meant a bit of DIY – I’m not the best!



There were also a few other jobs I wanted to tackle such as clipping on the driver’s side headlight washer properly as it seemed to be loose.




Another issue was that the passenger side fog light hadn’t been working for a while and it was bugging me. I get really annoyed when things don’t work as they should.


With this in mind and armed with tools I started to disassemble all the parts and found it to be straight forward. I cleaned up the lights and surrounding bodywork, adjusted the headlight washer but for the life of me couldn’t get the fog light to work. Even though I didn’t think the bulb had blown I changed it but no change. I followed the wiring and found the reason:



Got some more tools and put the wires back together fitted the lights back in and…hey presto. It all works.




I also got an E46 handbrake handle as I really wasn’t happy with mine which helped clean the cabin up a little bit.




Another productive day.


Well my MOT runs out today and the earliest I could book is Tuesday, I have checked everything over (as much as possible) and the only things I need to replace are the front wipers.
It would be nice for it to sail through, here's hoping.
Oh and another pic....



MOT sorted, the handbrake cable needed adjusting!!!
A couple of bushes will need changing in the future but I knew that, so all is well with the wagon....or is it...


And this brings the car up to date, will be leaving in the morning for players and then see what I can do over the winter. 

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DJ Syxx View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DJ Syxx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2012 at 12:34am
One of my favourite tourers. Great how this car has changed over the years and has gotten better and better Clap
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FwordM3 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote FwordM3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2012 at 8:28pm
Originally posted by DJ Syxx DJ Syxx wrote:

One of my favourite tourers. Great how this car has changed over the years and has gotten better and better Clap
 
Thanks man, the big work starts....soon - ish???
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DJ Syxx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Sep 2012 at 12:51pm
Originally posted by FwordM3 FwordM3 wrote:

Originally posted by DJ Syxx DJ Syxx wrote:

One of my favourite tourers. Great how this car has changed over the years and has gotten better and better Clap
 
Thanks man, the big work starts....soon - ish???


And that I am very much looking forward to Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dips Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Sep 2012 at 9:06pm
not me lol
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote FwordM3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Sep 2012 at 9:53pm
Originally posted by dips dips wrote:

not me lol
 
Don't be like that...LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ACarmichael Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2012 at 5:27pm
I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is a great looking car. Mind you I don't want to hear of any fisticuffs between you and dips at next years Gaydon Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote FwordM3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2012 at 6:11pm
Originally posted by ACarmichael ACarmichael wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is a great looking car. Mind you I don't want to hear of any fisticuffs between you and dips at next years Gaydon Wink
 
Thank you very much, and there's no danger of that!
 
 
Is there Dips...Beer
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dips Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2012 at 8:14pm
Originally posted by FwordM3 FwordM3 wrote:

Originally posted by ACarmichael ACarmichael wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is a great looking car. Mind you I don't want to hear of any fisticuffs between you and dips at next years Gaydon Wink
 
Thank you very much, and there's no danger of that!
 
 
Is there Dips...Beer


never mate Ouch................LOL

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