Just thought I’d post this awesome E36...

 …because the owner is about to have it repainted and I'd like to preserve its current awesomeness. 

BMW E30: Digital Clock quick LED upgrade

The bulb had blown in my E30’s digital clock, so I decided to repair it with a quick and easy LED upgrade. It’s another bulb load of power taken off my 35 year old dash wiring so can’t hurt. 

The bulb-holder is integral to the working of the lamp, with the metal clips that hold it in place also acting as live/earth contacts. LEDs built into such a holder can be purchased specifically for replacing bulbs like this if you want to go that route, but if you have a bunch of cheap LEDs lying round and don’t want to spend any money then read on.

Simply remove the plastic holder and cut the old bulb away from the two pieces of metal. Solder a cheap yellow or red LED onto the metal contacts in the place where the bulb was attached and bend the LED stalks back on themselves so the diode is pointing the right way, as in pic. A pure-white LED would probably be better, but they use more wattage, will probably require a spend and cheaper dome LEDs work fine anyway.

The bulb for the clock has a resistor built in anyway, so the LED will run fine and not pop without modification, but if you find it is too dim or bright to you can ‘piggy-back’ another resistor across the stock one to raise or lower resistance to suit. A calculator to help work out what resistance you need are easily available online, but trial and error is best if you have a bunch of LEDs / resistors lying round.

You may want to cover the recess at the back of the clock with electrical tape to stop light spilling out.

E21 316: Car sold...

Met up with Jake yesterday and did the deal. He was getting the train down on his own from Newcastle, so asked if we could meet him in Manchester with it to halve his train fare, which was fair does, it's only about 40 miles from us and was a good chance to see if the car was up for the Newcastle run before handing it over... 

Obviously it was and once I'd hit the M56 I was whipping past cars in the middle-lane with my Dad struggling to keep up in his Audi. Apart from getting a bit warm in the cabin, the engine was ticking along beautifully at about 3,400 revs @ 70mph and I did manage a few stints at 80mph @ around 4,000 rpm, but my right foot was quickly subdued at the sight of a steaming Volvo Amazon on the hard-shoulder - the stranded owner grimaced at me as the Bavarian stalwart roared past, but as we got into Manchester the car was just as sedate in the long traffic-light queues and turning a lot of heads! 

After such a charming run into the city-centre, public-transport showed its true colours and there was bedlam with the Trans-Pennine trains and Jake's arrival was delayed by about 40 minutes. After that the switchover went nice and smoothly, the car speaks for itself and I knew he was keen anyway,so we were back on the road home again in about half an hour with no haggling. I threw in the original 13" steel-wheels, the beige rear seats, the short SPAX springs and a few other bits and bobs including the black rear grille-panel. Jake is only 20 and has had a couple of slammed Mk1 Golfs, so he's well into the scene and I can tell the E21 has gone to the right place, where it will be equally coveted and, hopefully, seen out a bit more.

Of all my car projects, this one was by far the most popular. Bye bye little E21, you will be missed.

Last ever fill up. Took it into work up the motorway for a pre-run check and it was flying.  I threw the 16s on for the trip to Manchester and was expecting a bit of steering-wheel wobble with them not being balanced, but above 50mph the wheel became eerily calm and gave the best high-speed ride so far, even with those stretched tyres.

The highest speed (and most fuel in the tank!) since the day I brought it home from Surrey :)

Parked up in Picadilly station car park, where it drew quite a bit of attention. There were 2 parking-attenants in the place and both were suddenly drawn to it like a magnet, which was unnerving at first.

Timeless lines. Probably the only E21 out in the city that day and getting a lot of love from the Mancs.

The E21 shape just has to have deep-dish wheels - it's well worth the effort to get 9Js on the back.

Coombs of Guildford, endorsed by the Queen no less. Old Beemers famously outlive their dealerships, but I'm pleased to see Coombs is now Vines of Guildford, still a BMW specialist.

In the immortal words of Andy L. - "I do love a sticker". 

E21 316: Some Paint-Job Pics...

Gonna take some proper pics when i've finished cleaning and refitting all the trim, but for now here's a few I took in the dark.

E21 316: Re-Spray Update!

I managed to sell the engine and crank to another BMW enthusiast who is keen to do the 2-litre upgrade that I can't stomach on his E30 Baur convertible. Nice. He's picking the engine up tomorrow and the block was still in the boot of my car in the paint-shop, so I decided to pay an impromptu visit after work and see how the car is coming along.

All masked and ready to paint. I wasn't expecting them to do any filler work for the money, but you can see from the 328ci behind that my Beemer is in the right hands. They've sorted out that front wing panel for me and smoothed out even the minute blemishes I was going to leave. Turns out that line of rust from the door bottom was actually a ridge - the whole bottom edge had been pushed in, probably slammed into a high kerb - and they've sorted that out, so I've got to give them props there. Can't wait to see it finished!

** Couple more pics the guys sent me as they wheeled her into the spray booth - today's the day.

E21 316: Re-Spray Day!

With the trim off and loads of extra fettling right up to last night the car went in today for respray. Can't wait. By doing the prep and stripping it down beforehand I saved an absolute packet on the spray job too and it should make turnaround a lot quicker.

E21 316: Re-Spray Strip-Down 3 - Wipers + Washer Nozzle Removal.

A. Washer-Jet Nozzles:

1. Twist and pull the hose off from below the washer-nozzles.

2. The nozzles have a plastic at the base that spreads when they're pushed into the body, so working them out is pretty easy by pressing the flaps in with your finger one at a time.

B. Windscreen Wiper-Arms + Bases:

1. Lift the cap at each wiper-arm base and, using an adjustable-spanner, remove the top-nut and washer.

2. Raise the wiper-arm to an upright position and wiggle it off the spline.

3. Remove the large diameter nut and washer from the base-mount and remove the mount. *The rubber seal will likely be perished and hard to find a replacement, but you can just cut a new one out of sheet-rubber as I did, or I will supply a set for £1.99 inc. postage to mainland UK - see here.

E21 316: Re-Spray Strip Down 2 - Grilles + Lights Removal.

A. Front Grilles, Headlights + Indicators:

1. Disconnect the corner-indicator wiring-plug - the small round light-grey socket in the front corners under the bonnet - and push the indicator-side plug through the hole in the inner-wing it's wire goes through. *When re-fitting, the plug will need to be accessed from inside the wheel-arch to push it back through the hole into the engine-bay.

2. Using a pozi-screwdriver undo the screws located at the top and bottom of each corner-indicator lens and gently prize the lens free of its seal.

3. Remove the larger pozi-drive screws from the top and bottom end, inside the indicator itself and pull the it, along with the wiring-plug, out from the corner-grilles.

4. Remove the two small screws holding down the lower edge of each front-grille, located between the bottom grille-bars. Use a pozi-screwdriver with a pretty fine tip as it's easy to round off the old heads with larger ones.

5. Remove the 2 metal clips from the top edge of the kidney-grilles by gently prizing them forwards and upwards. Tilt the kidney-grilles forward, hold the bottom centre and lift it clear of the plastic clip at the base.

6. Remove the 3 metal clips the top edge of each front-grille and lift the grilles off.

7. Disconnect the main headlight wiring-plug, just behind the headlight in the engine bay. They just pull apart, no clips here, but may be a bit stiff.

8. Using a large pozi-screwdriver, remove the single screw from the bracket on the outer side and the 2 screws from the inner side of each headlight and carefully remove the lamp unit from the body.

B. Rear Grille + Tail-Lights:

1. Remove the 2 pozi-drive screws from the lower corners of the rear centre-grille.

2. Inside the boot, pop off the 2 plastic push-nuts from the studs behind the grille.

3. Remove the two 10mm bolts from the boot-latch, just inside the boot lip at the centre and lift the latch  up through the gap and out of its recess.

4. Using a wide pair of need-nose pliers, or carefully tapping a flat-head screwdriver, unscrew the ring-nut from the back of the boot-lock barrel. The lock should then slid out of the boot-lid and the grille will come free. *Replace the boot-lock and redo the ring-nut, unless you are leaving it off for the re-spray.

5. Remove the six screws from the back of each tail-light unit using an 8mm socket with a few inches reach. The plastic back-covers are what hold the tail-lights against the boot wall, so once they're off the light-units are free so be wary of them dropping out.

E21 316: Re-Spray Strip Down 1 - Bumpers + Ext. Trim Removal.

A. Badges:

Use a slim flat-head screwdriver wrapped in cloth to prize the BMW roundel badges gently from the body, being careful not to dent the rim of their recesses. Move round the badge lifting a millimetre or two at a time to avoid bending the badge or tarnishing the rim. The two studs sit in plastic cups, which will likely stay in the bodywork. Use a flat-head screwdriver to separate them from the surface, but it's best to push them from behind while teasing them out to avoid snapping the ancient plastic-collar.

Do the same for the model-no. badge, but these have 3 studs, to the left, right and centre, so apply pressure here and there's less chance of snapping the delicate joints between numbers.

B. Side Rubbing-Strips:

*Avoid using the 'sliding off' technique used for the E30, as suggested on other forums - the E21's strips have fixed clips at each end.

1. Using a 10mm wrench remove the plastic nuts located just inside the wheel-arch behind the foremost edge of the front-wing strips. Gently peel the front end of the strip away from the wing until it pops clear of the push-clip to the rear.

2. Remove the 10mm plastic-nut located just inside the rear wheel-arch behind the end of the rubbing-strip. Gently peel the rear end of the strip away from the wing until it is clear of the push-clip.

3. Using a 10mm socket with at least 5" of reach, remove the plastic-nut located just inside the rear door edge behind the rubbing-strip and the one located behind the leading-edge of the strip, inside the door-jam next to the hinge. Gently peel the strip off the door from either end until it is clear of the 3 centre push-clips.

* Screw the nuts back onto the trim for safe-keeping.


C. Front + Rear Bumpers:

1. Remove the 13mm bolt from either side of the front-bumper, located just inside the wing and behind the bumper side-strafe about halfway down.

2. Support the bumper and remove the 13mm nut on each of the bumper-brackets than extend out of the front valance, behind the centre area of the bumper. The front bumper should easily come forwards off the car.

3. Remove the two pozi-drive screws holding each no. plate lamp into the rear bumper, pull the lamp down, disconnect the wiring sockets and replace the lamps to the bumper for safe keeping.

4. Remove the 13mm bolt from either side of the rear bumper, located inside the boot just to the rear of each wheel-arch in the storage compartments.

5. Support the bumper and remove the two 13mm nuts from each side of the rear section located inside the back of the boot. The rear bumper should come away easily.

*If one or more of your bumper side-bolts shears the captive nut away from where it's fixed inside the bumper it is possible to prize away the metal that cases the square-nut enough to get a slim 13mm or 1/2" spanner onto it and get a turn. You may still need to cut the bolt off, as we did with the N/S/F one, but the above process is still essential for tightening a new nut back on.

E21 316: Filling the rest of the Dents.

There weren't many more body blemishes to be fair, just a couple down the driver's side you could barely see [invisible on the pics], but worth flatting out for the respray while the bonnet was being done.

The rub down reveals how small these pin dents were and metal had been pushed in slightly over an area of a about 2" round.

Two quick skims of Isopon P38 body-filler and a rub down with 180-grit paper on a flat block, then P600 Wet/Dry - not going mad here.

A coat of filler-primer and it's back to factory-flat. Ok, so you could barely see them in the first place, but at least I know they're gone.

Also needing the merest attention was this tiny patch of rust bubbles on the o/s bonnet corner, worth mentioning because it's the only one I found on the car, where on my 1995 318i I could have pointed out half a dozen without trying. A quick rub and one blob of filler was all it needed.

E21 316: Big bonnet dent filled.

This ding in the bonnet was from a dropped tool by the look of it and this pic doesn't really give an impression of how far the metal was pushed down.

The rub-down showed an area of of about 2" round that needed filling. A nasty drop whatever it was.

It took one big fillet of P38, a lot of rubbing with a flat-block, a quick coat of filler-primer and two quick skims of filler to eliminate pitting.

The final skim was then rubbed well flat with P600 Wet/Dry paper.

This was the worst bit of damage on the 316 and something that everyone noticed - I'm glad it's been put to bed.                        

E21 316: Bubbled Front Wheel Arch + Rotting Valance Repair.

The rear corner of the metal valance had started to rot away and a bit of spray has been done to the lip of the wheel-arch and its all started to bubble and a little rust poking through from behind.

The whole area was rubbed down and the rotted edge of the valance rebuilt in P40 fibreglass filler, then smoothed off. A skim of P30 body-filler then went over the whole arch and a smooth (ish) curve was formed.

Bubbles in the arch filled and primed, ready for the paint shop.

This panel behind the wheel-arch looked repainted too and had yet more bubbles, some of which had rust starting in the middle. A bit of corrosion is also creeping out from under the rubbing-strip and curing it will have to wait for the exterior trim to be removed for the respray.

E21 316: B-Pillar Rebuild.

Small patch on the B-pillar was the only real rust on the whole car. The rub down revealed quite a bit of pitting and a few holes down the left hand side of the pillar.

After a good dose of Finnegan's No.1 Rust-Beater, the bulk of the pillar was made up in P38 filler.

After a couple of skims to eliminate craters the shape of the pillar-base was reformed.

Not a bad job if I do say so myself!