Sold!

 

I haven't had a chance to update this blog.  The car was sold in late October.  There was a net $5000 lost for this project.

Fooling around with old car is a good hobby for "rich" people.  I think I need to wait until I become rich to get into this hobby.

This blog will continue to exist.  I will start showing other projects I am working on.  :)

Phase 1: Finished Product

This was the last view before selling the car.

At that moment, I spent roughly $9000 (including the price of the car).  A lot of money was unnecessary if I bought the regular version.  Lesson learned.

E36 318ti is  a very good car.  It's simple and easy to operate.  No fancy electronic stuff.  Easy to fix.  It actually holds value (don't get the California edition). 

It was a sad day seeing the car go, but it was also a relief to me.  The transmission problem scared me a bit.  I still believe having the 2nd transmission fluid change would solve the problem.  The roof was hopeless.  The paint job was really not up to my standard.

Car was sold for $3500.

Finally, I have the driver side door done!

 

After driving this car with no door panel for 3 months, it's really exciting to see the finished product.  It's not perfect (not to my standard), but at this moment, I was glad to see it done.  I would hear less noise from outside.  I could finally lean my arm on the door.......

Replaced both handle bars.  Also got the new speakers from ebay (one withtout broken ring).

Money spent:  $48.01

Total expense: $8078.33

Soldering

How hard is soldering wires?  It's actually quite easy.  Therefore, don't be afraid to do it youself.

I had seen my dear friend done a few times.  I decided to do it this time.  First, checked Youtube.  You could find a lot of "how-to" film clips there.

I got the old wire set from ebay for $28.80.  The previous owner replaced the driver side door with a 1995 model which doesn't have 2 speaker wires.  

Money spent: $28.80

Total expense: $8030.32

Inner clamp

 

Glued those inner clamps with trusted JB weld in the living room.....stink up the whole place....

Driver side door panel

3 weeks.....really?  3 weeks.....  actually, it's more like 4 weeks.

They first spent 1 week, then I got a poor made door back before taking my vacation.  After getting back from the trip, I dropped the door at the shop and told them to fix it.  I guess they were really reluctant to do the job.  I waited another 3 weeks.

Now, I just needed to put the door back.  I had been driving a car without door panel for almost 5 months.

Money spent: $120

Total expense: $8001.52

Installing window channel

Since previous owner replaced the driver side door with junkyard part, he didn't bother to assemble all necessary parts.  In order to install inner door panel, I need to get six clamps and inner window channel cover.

A simple clamp shows how much attention BMW put into its part development.

Still waiting for the door panel from a upholstery near my house.  Throughout this project, I have encountered few bad shops.  This upholstery is one of them.

Money spent: $34.65

Total expense: $7881.52

One last shipment

 

Before deciding to stop this project, I placed an order for few more parts.  Since all these parts were special order parts, I could not return them.

有時真不知道是自己的完美主意做祟......如果一切可以稍為有缺陷, 我可能還會玩下去.

I will install few more parts to the door.

Phase 1 review

This would be my phase 1 review.  Since I got the car and started this blog, I had dumped more money than I should. 

I went to the convertible shop this morning to get a quote for fixing the top.  The quote was 2/3 of the original car purchasing price.  The car was dropped there for a close inspection and detail quote.  There would be 2 options: one is to make it work, and one is to seal the top. 

While seeing the car pulling into the shop, I saw the reflection of the body panel.   I was so disappointed with the work from that cheap body shop.  I guess if I want good work, I need to spend money. 

Conclusion:
- Cheap shop = cheap work.  don't go cheap
- Don't trust Yelp.  If a shop has 5 star review, treat it as 3.5 star.
- If a shop doesn't have any reviewer on Yelp, don't go.


Experience costs time and money.  Maybe it's time for me to cut this project off.

Canvas roof part 1

Previous owner "sold" the "drive" which was used to move the canvas top.

Waited 3 weeks for this part to arrive.  Cost a lot of money.  Got two screws (from Lowe's) instead of getting them from BMW (cost $9).

This was the first time I saw the canvas top open.  So proud of myself, but wait......  I couldn't open it next morning.  I couldn't wait to drive it to upholstery shop, then I found out the top was stuck again.  Only one side was moving.

Money spent: $1.18+$398.95

Total expense: $7846.87

Trying out Bissell

 

I knew the carpet was dirty....look at the black water.  Got this Bissell carpet cleaning unit.  It's fun to see all the dirty water sucking up.   After 2 batch of dirty water, I think the interior smell better now.

Replacing gear selection cover

After year of changing gears, the old gear selection cover was all worn out.  It's hard to see which gear you selected.

After reading the forum, it seem like an easy job to do.  The catch was to play extra attention while pulling out the shift knob.  There would be a chance shift knob hitting your face.  Yes, the shift knob "hit my" face while pulling it out.  I shifted to D, turned off the ignition, pulled the shift knob.  Used a flat head screw to pop the plate.  Removed 2 connectors.

It's an easy job, just need to be careful.  Now, I can clearly see whic gear I am in.

Money spent: $ 43.95

Total expense: $ 7446.74

Wheel alignment

After alignment, the steering wheel can finally stay on the center.  What a difference...  The car tended to want to go to right.

Got to the tire shop around 7:30am....got out around 8:45am. 

Money spent: $49.99

Total expense: $7402.79

Black Grill!!

Make the beater look so mean.....  Got the part from ebay.  There were some extra tabs around the edge.  We just couldn't install the grill with those tabs on.  Finally, we decided to break those off.  The grill slided right in.

Money spent:  $39.97

Total expense: $7352.80

New BMW badges

No more sorry looking BMW badges.  I replaced both front and rear badges.  Needed to pull out the old rubber pieces.  Finally, a true 15 minutes job.  A flat head screw driver can do the job.

Money spent:  $57.70

Totoal expense: $7312.83

Finally....beater is back!

After a long 7.5 weeks, beater was finally back.  New m3 bumper, black top, matte black B pillar.  The door was also fixed. 

Overall, the job is ok.  I think they didn't use any clear coat.  Maybe the car needs more polish.  Considering amount of work they put into it, $2500 is a good price.

Money spent: $2500

Total expense: $7255.13

Super strong adhesive

Probably the best adhesive I have used.  Some clamp structures behind the door panel fell off.  I tried JB weld on two of them.  The result is great.

Wishlist

Don't know when I can get it.......according to current rate, it will be another 2 years.

Car is still in the shop

Still in the shop.  Overall paint job was done.  Front and rear bumpers were installed.  Then..... what's the problem?  That stupid driver side door stop hindge is the problem.  This shop didn't find the part.

Cross my fingers, really hope I can get this car this week.

2nd trip to bodyshop

really wanna check out the progress....finally decided to take a trip there during lunch time.  The car body is done.  They are wet sanding the car.  The roof is already black.

The car has been in the body shop for 3 weeks.  According to the shop owner, I will get it back next week......  Cross my fingers....

Door panel component

What should I do when I can't get the part?  Make one....

There are 10 pieces holding the door panel to the door.  On the driver side door panel, it's missing #6.  BMW dealer doesn't sell the part individually (these 10 pieces are part of door panel).

Made a rhino model...sent it to 3d printer....can't wait to go home and test fit...

Double check~

 

Really worried about the progress, so we woke up early on Saturday and drove to the body shop.  I even thought about different situations in case they hadn't started the job.

When I got there, the car was like this.  All little dents were fixed.  The car body was smooth.  Besides fixing the door, most body panels were done.  What a relief.

I may get the car back later this week or early next week......let's see.

Bodyshop

Ok....ready to spend the big one.....according to the shop, it would take 3 weeks.  It's a weird shop.  They didn't give you any paper work.  The guy wouldn't give you any progress.  According to Yelp, it's a good shop.  Let's see.

Where is the control module?

Really!!  Where is the sunroof control module? 

Before fixing the canvas top, the shop asked me to open the sunroof.  I thought it's a electrical issue.  The real problem was the missing control module.  

Without that module, you can't even open it manually.

Door actuator

When I got this car, I saw few parts laying on center console.  Luckily, I didn't throw them away.  One of the black box was the door actuator.  I spent some time figuring out the location.  Without one hour of time time and luck, I was able install it.  Now I have "central locking".

Replacing front cowl

some expensive clamps

Removing old cowls and installing new one

 

The tough part was to remove the wiper arms.  The previous owner did a sloppy job on replacing the windshield.  I suspected that's the reason the wiper arm is hitting the hood.  I tried to put it back, but the driver side wiper arm is still hitting the hood.  Did some research, and it seem like a commond problem. 

One way to solve the problem is to get a m3 coupe wiper.......I will try it later.

Money spent: $15.52 (clamps) + $37.90 (cowls)

Total expense: $4755.13

Taking the door apart

Very slow progress.  It took me a while to decide whether I wanted to change the interior color.  There were few setbacks.  First, the sunroof module was missing.  Therefore, I needed to get one before chaning the canvas top.

Finally, I decided the color would stay the say to save some money.  I was taking apart both door panels (the driver side was in bad shape).

M3 bumper



biggest bang for the buck.....a $100 m3 bumper

Money spent: $190 ($90 shipping)
Total expense: $4701.71

Finally, hatch can stay open

Finally, rear hatch shocks arrived.  Easy fix...a real 5 minutes job.

Money spent: $69.90
Total expense: $4511.71

Taking apart door panel

I believe the window regulator is bad.  God~  2 screws are missing from the door panel.  The plastic wheel on the window regulator is bad.  Tough to remove the old window regulator beucase it is held by 4 rivets.

need more research......a rivet gun from harbor freight is $99........and it's only the passenger side door....

Removing tinted window

After watching few youtube clips, I believed it's easy to remove the tired looking tinted window.  A five minutes job turned into.......a few hour jobs....

Replacing steering wheel badge

Can't wait to replace the steering wheel badge.  I did not know what the previous owner use the horn.  the old badge was smashed in.  Got this badge from ebay.

Old badge......dented...smashed....

After installation...



Money spent: $4.86
Total expense: $4441.81

Dash installation

After one week of getting materials, fixing plastic trim, getting the stereo cables, it's time to assemble everything.

花了幾個晚上研究，終於完工～～（有小擔心無法恢復原狀）

不只有了音樂，還有USB可外接ipod/iphone，重要的是有了藍芽開車免持，安全多了！

Here is a "before" photo-

"After" photo-

I created this small bluetooth grill.  I did not want to show the after-market mic.

Finally, new stereo and no bad bulb~

Instrument panel bulb

I am probably the first person to remove this instrument panel without removing the steering wheel (my car doesn't have tilted steering wheel).  There were 3 bad 3w bulbs. 

Money spent: $24.68
Total expense: $4436.95