Well, since I don't know how long the E30 will be my DD this year after turning in the GT2, I got a few restore projects going on for it. Well actually, it might be a while until we buy a house, so the DD period might be quite a while.

1. Lights. I am glad I did the Euro ellipsoid HID conversion. It's a much nicer driving experience at night. But, I should have known that you get what you paid for. I really should have sprung for real OEM Euro ellipsoids and get Xenon bulbs ONLY from Umnitza.

So of course, one of the headlight lenses is cracked, and jerk-nitza wants me to rebuy the entire set of those Depo headlights, and wouldn't just sell me the lense piece. Looking at the realoem.com, it is apparent that I should have spent the money the first time around since BMW does sell the lense cover by itself.

Sigh. Luckily, I scored a pair of brand new oem Euro ellipsoids for the same price as what jerk-nitza wants me to pay for the made in China Depo lights.

2. Seats. Those ghetto aftermarket vinyl seat covers that hold the seat cushions from completely spilling out are on their way out, and reupholstering is too expensive.

As it turns out, the seats that I got outbid on ebay was put on by some shady eBayer, who probably had some guy bid with no intention of buying to jack up the price. So of course, I got a second chance offer. What's even better is the guy wouldn't let me go check out the seats before accepting his second chance offer, even though he's not that far away.

As luck would have it, this local BMW seat rebuilder that's been around for a while happen to have a set for sale with new leather, so I will be getting that.

3. Carpet. 20 year old worn out what used to be red carpet.

It appears that anthracite is still available, which will go great with black seats. Putting this in is pretty easy.

4. Trunk carpet. Disgusting, doggy fur laden from previosu owner that even Dyson couldn't save.

Will be replacing that with OEM rubber mat.

5. The dash could be replaced since it has like, 6 cracks, and the vents won't stay in one place because the dash is severely warped.

I do like the new OEM dash, they use different material than the 20 year old vinyl currently on the car.

The problem is parts and labor it's hard to get out of paying about a grand. And even though my bodyshop client can do it for less, with the additional nicely wired NAV computer and head unit and what not going in the dash, I would rather my mechanic do it and not screw it up.

So that is the one thing that I am waffling about. Though I think second to the "stuffing coming out of the seats," the dash is what bugs the mrs the most about the E30.

Anyway, that's the project for this year on the money pit.

Moral of the story, don't buy Umnitza headlights even if it seems like a good deal. Spend the extra bucks and get OEM Euro ellipsoids.

 

sounds like fun man. good luck with the resto.

 

Don't buy Umnitza anything.

I do a lot of business with a company called GAHH in Burbank. If you need to buy anything for the interior, I highly recommend them.

I kind of don't mind my cracked/cracking dash. Allows me to park the car out in the sun without worrying about putting the windshield shade on. I guess once it gets very bad and the cracks look like giant gaping holes, I'll probably want to get it recovered.

Keep us posted and put up some pics along the way if you get a chance .

 

Yep, lesson learned about jerk-nitza.

Some of my friend brought up a good point. Seeing as though this year BMW moved E30 into archive section, if I want a new dash, I better get my ass in gear and buy one before they become NLA, like the E30 seats.

This will be full OEM restore, is GAHH stuff OEM? I generally buy my BMW parts from Circle BMW, out of state, cheap shipping, no tax, etc.

Oh, and I had to buy red E30 M3 driver and passenger seat belts because they are the only one not NLA at the moment as far as these seat belts are concerned. 20 year old seat belts just isn't very safe. But I think with the black sports seats, the red belts would actually look pretty decent.

I will get some pictures going. I think I am leaning towards replacing the dash. Having to wedge business cards to get the aircon vents to stay in place gets annoying after a while. And the cracks are pretty big.

 

GAHH sources their hides from the OEM suppliers, so it is technically OEM. The quality is excellent and the colors are a perfect match, unless of course your other interior parts are sun-faded (some of mine are, since my interior is navy).

Definitely try to source an OEM dash before they are NLA. My particular dash is NLA (non-leather factory blue dash with the pre-84 small vent openings), I've been looking for a suitable one to buy and keep now for around 6 to 8 months, but haven't had much luck. I found a guy who had a brand-new NOS dash sitting in the Porsche factory box and offered him nearly twice what he paid for it, but he wouldn't sell...ended up dying it black to match the rest of his interior. I'm still sorta bummed over that deal.

 

I am picking these up on Thursday.

New leather, heated seats element added, and ready to rock.

 

Working on this one with my mechanics. roller blind for the rear window would come in pretty handy in the summer time.

 

And a pair of brand new Euro Ellipsoids ready to replace the jerk-nitza POS ellipsoids that they wouldn't sell me a new lense cover.

Euro Ellipsoids with Xenon's!!!

 

How much did you pay for those seats? I've got a 1990 325iX coupe that i use as a winter beater, its got tan comfort seats. I really want some recaro's, but everyone who sells them here wants like 8-900$ for a full interior. I could buy a parts 318is for that cash.

 

Check eBay.

There's a pair of recovered new leather gray recaro's without the heating elements.

You can probably get it for 500.

I paid 8 bills for mine since it was also modded to include heating elements for heated seats.

Recaro's in good conditions are expensive.