1997 328IS Progress Thread - Montreal Blau

[GregBBall123]

Interior

Well got antsy this morning and glued up the new fabric for the A-pillar, just need to trim and glue the top edge tonight and it should be in the car!



Then decided to drive her into work today, feels good to finally be getting some decent weather here in upstate NY.

[GregBBall123]

Interior

Lessons were learned on the pillar cover repair, whatever epoxy I used clearly didnt like the head and softened up once the car sat in the sun yesterday. While driving I noticed the passenger side A-pillar cover falling dawn, pulled it down and this is what I saw.... see the tabs and epoxy still clipped in LOL



So a new way of doing this needed to happen, using an old cover I did some tests and determined the best way would be to melt the replacement tabs to the covers.

So I did this using a torch, vise grips, and a shelf mount that I didnt need. Hold the mount with the vise grips, get it red hot, then melt that plastic where you want to mount it while at the same time melting the replacement tab on the opposite side of the hot mount. Then quickly stick them together and hold it until it cools.

This gave an impressive amount of strength on its own, but I them also used a different epoxy to double up on the strength.

WEAR A RESPIRATOR WHEN DOING THIS!













And BINGO we have pillars back in the car this AM! Will see how this holds, also curious to see how long the C-pillars will last, they were done in a slightly different method.

[GregBBall123]

Cooling System

So on the way home last night I went to turn the heat up in the car, realized I was getting nothing at all. No matter how I adjusted the climate control and the center vent I couldnt get heat from either side of the of the car.

Got home, checked coolant level which was good. Car gets to temp in its usual amount of time and sits dead center on the gauge. Lines to and from the heater valve were not hot, and the solenoids on the valve tested good at 17-18 ohms.

Heat worked fine last year before I put it away for storage, I think that both sides of the valve are frozen shut or the valves are clogged. I know theyre supposed to fail open but I dont think the solenoids failed.

Ordered up a rebuild kit, will pull it, flush the heater core, new coolant, and replace the expansion tank while I'm at it.

Always something!

[GregBBall123]

Beautiful weekend to be driving, have been out enjoying it!

[GregBBall123]

Parts day today, really a parts week some items trickling in throughout. First batch of parts this week was a heater valve rebuild kit, then today was a fun one; brand new glove box vents with new hardware, roundel, and some bumper trims. Also picked up a new gear for the recline motor on my drivers seat because it decided to quit on me the other day...

Love fresh parts from the motherland, also a keen eye will notice what I'm working on for the car...









More coming in on wednesday, have been lazy though and havent ordered my door cards yet, I'll get to it. Otherwise move great miles and continuing to sand down my RGRs to get ready to paint next week some time!

[Charlemango]

Subbing to this thread, I'm curious how your tab solution holds up to summer heat cycling. This job is in my future.

Really enjoying following your work here, car looks great. Its nice to see a non M e36 shine, ive lost love for the 323-328s over the years but i think its mostly because I mostly see clean M's as the years wear on. I used to want a 328i sedan more than anything. Those tires look great on the wheels and give the car a purposeful look.

[GregBBall123]

Subbing to this thread, I'm curious how your tab solution holds up to summer heat cycling. This job is in my future.

Really enjoying following your work here, car looks great. Its nice to see a non M e36 shine, ive lost love for the 323-328s over the years but i think its mostly because I mostly see clean M's as the years wear on. I used to want a 328i sedan more than anything. Those tires look great on the wheels and give the car a purposeful look.

Will keep the thread updated as the summer goes on, it sucks so much how these arent available anymore with them aging so poorly. Also trying my hardest to resist the urge to not put M3 bumpers on it, need to find an RD front lip BAD.

[GregBBall123]

So pretty stoked on this, have managed to piece together a near full PDC kit for the E36!

PDC

So what I found was a module, complete/uncut sensor harness, sensors, full power side wiring harness, and gong wiring plugs as a kit on ebay, shipped in all the way from Latvia. Was the most complete kit I could find that was in good shape, and overall I'm super happy with it. Ill unwrap the sensor harness a re-wrap it with new Tessa tape, the harness even still has the body grommet on it!

From there I was also able to source some brand new rub strips with the PDC sensor mounts. The two corners were direct from BMW, they look to have been on a shelf since at least 2018. The center section was harder to find, a few places would show it as available but it would turn out not to be true, I ended buying the last one on Schmeidmann, also brand new.

I also have on order from BMW the mounting bracket for the module, that took a few weeks to come in but just got notified its on its way to me.

PDC switch is really the only thing left, looking for the version that is simply I/O, I've seen some refer to it as a "service" version. Technically most cars didn't have an on off switch, it was just always on, but I'd like to find one. I plan on wiring it all in, not at the tail light like the manual instructs, but at the gearshift plug when I do my manual swap.










Wheels

Also have all four RGRs sanded and ready for primer, easy job on these wheels witch such a simple design.

[GregBBall123]

Interior

So got a chance to install the new glove box vents last night, makes such a difference in the look of the interior, like new again. Made sure to be extremely careful changing over the locks and installing it all back in, pulled the whole glove box out, got the vents clipped in, and then installed it back as one piece. Happy I glued my door a while back too cause its nice and tight!

Before:



After:

[mck325is]

Did you paint it to match?

[GregBBall123]

Did you paint it to match?

Nope, can still buy it in Grau, I was expecting it to be noticeable but the plastics havent really faded.

edit: just realized your probably asking from the photo I posted when I received it, just bad shadows there

[GregBBall123]

PDC

The little things, my new PDC module bracket arrived, definitely has been sitting on a shelf for a while!

[amancuso]

Love this thread. I did the same with my Montrealblau touring, no thread though. Mine came with the white indicators as a part of the "Exclusive package" which was offered in Germany.

[GregBBall123]

Love this thread. I did the same with my Montrealblau touring, no thread though. Mine came with the white indicators as a part of the "Exclusive package" which was offered in Germany.

Very nice! Factory M bumpers as well?

[amancuso]

Very nice! Factory M bumpers as well?

Thanks. Yes and no. The owner had them installed just three months into ownership. In Germany you have to have everything documented and licensed by TüV. I have all the paperwork documenting the "M paket" from the installing dealership and authorities in Wuppertal. The car also came with every service stamp from new till November 2021 (I bought it in March 2022).

[GregBBall123]

Wheels

Got the RGRs primed last night, will fix any small imperfections still there and hopefully get some color on them tonight. Then I can clear them this weekend. So far very happy with how they're looking, very few remaining imperfections left after filing and sanding.

Still deciding on what color silver to go with that's closest to what it was, not super concerned with it, again this is a temporary finish until I get them PC'd later on.

[GregBBall123]

Wheels

Moderately happy with the results after finishing up painting the RGRs this weekend, more than good enough for the interim until I get them PC'd. Waiting on one last center cap and them I'll be all set!

[amancuso]

They look great.

[GregBBall123]

They look great.

Thanks! They turned out pretty good, good enough for me!

[GregBBall123]

Beautiful drive last night, cruised through some of my favorite spots and enjoyed the weather. The car really is great, need to swap out that auto STAT though.

[GregBBall123]

Wheels

Picked up tires yesterday, these have been getting some great reviews and for the price I figured I would give them a shot! Accelera 651 Sports in 225/45R17, 17s are definitely getting more difficult to find in the right sizes these days. Was also between 225/45 and 235/40, well see how these are.

[E85STI]

I absolutely love this thread. I started down this same restoration path and ran out of money but trying to get things moving again. I especially love the part where you are fabricating and creating your own parts with the lathe.

[scooper]

I love the dedication!

I am working a/c and cooling system fixes at the moment...

[GregBBall123]

I absolutely love this thread. I started down this same restoration path and ran out of money but trying to get things moving again. I especially love the part where you are fabricating and creating your own parts with the lathe.

Isnt that always the battle LOL would love to do it all at once but spreading it out makes it more fun anyway. Half the fun is the hunt for parts! But thank you!

I love the dedication!

I am working a/c and cooling system fixes at the moment...

Thank you!

Wheels

Mounted up my tires last night, no scratches to the fresh paint! We have a full shop with lifts so can do just about everything I need, but we dont have a tire balancer so will need to bring them to get balanced.

[E85STI]

I love the dedication!

I am working a/c and cooling system fixes at the moment...

I finally took the car out for a drive this weekend and realized the A/C doesn't really blow cold. So time to test for leaks and break out the AC vacuum pump kit.