Will get my first BMW this week

[eta Epsilon]

Hi,
I will finally get my first BMW this week!
I've spotted a pristine 1986e. 1 owner, 240000km
Almost no rust. However, it has the bottlecaps, well, they can be changed!

My question to you is what front bumper can be installed on a E to give it a sportier look?

Also, I want to drop it a bit. What springs would you recomend?

Ans a last one! Can the interior (seat, door panels...) can be changed with the one from any other trim?

thanks a lot!

Eta

[DR.ZED]

Heh.

Exactly the same thing I did end of October. I am nearly complete with my interior swap. Went from a dirty tan (no offense to previous owner) to dark blue.

My car is an 85 325e. I've done an enormous amount of things since getting it end of Oct. Dash, seats, carpet, accel cable and pedal, clutch and brake pads on pedals, motormounts, waterpump, clutch fan, shifter (still working on that), antenna repair, door latch and door lock cylinder and a lot more.

Here is my bumper. Its an 86 IS piece.

[T.Dot_E30]

get an 89+ plastic bumper + newer style valence + iS lip to finish it off nicely.

All stock parts and looks really clean when done right.

[eta Epsilon]

Thanks for the advice guys.
Now I have to look for the list of items you just said around Montreal...

If you know who might have some of these items...let me know!

[everlast]

Note that plastic bumpers don't fit the older rear body style without modification to the bumper.. A straight swap to euro bumpers from the same body style (84 to 87) is awesome but hard to find.

You can also 'tuck' the bumper and optionally paint it black / body color. That can certainly look good!

[simplycars]

take care of the rust first - proper way with new metal and not rust paint (temp fix)

[eta Epsilon]

yes, the first step will be do work on the body.
The good side is that the actual owner had the car repainted 4 or 5 years ago, so it's in pretty good shape.
I found somebody to help me with that.
The bad side is that I don't have a garage, so I will have t wait for spring before I can work on the car.. :-(

[eta Epsilon]

I mean, we have a garage to work on the body, but I can't use it to do the other little things I have to do...

[propr'one]

make sure you follow simplycars direction. Ideally you should be replacing metal. If you are not, you should be sanding away ALL the rust. (Dont just sand the surface of the rust, if you dont get all of it, it will come back).

Of course, covering it with rust paint doesn't hurt, and can help in certain common trouble areas to give an ever greater chance of rust not re-appearing. But the key is really to get rid of as much of it as you can.

[eta Epsilon]

Thanks for the advice, but the person who will help me do work on the body have been doing this for numerous years.
I'll make sure we take care of ALL the rust.

[SamE30e]

Originally Posted by T.Dot_E30

get an 89+ plastic bumper + newer style valence + iS lip to finish it off nicely.

All stock parts and looks really clean when done right.

They don't go on very easily do they? I know they bolt on to the 88, but I don't think about earlier.

[everlast]

Originally Posted by SamE30e

They don't go on very easily do they? I know they bolt on to the 88, but I don't think about earlier.

Correct.

[eta Epsilon]

So.....
Will they fit or not?

[everlast]

Originally Posted by eta Epsilon

So.....
Will they fit or not?

- plastics from 89+ will not fit on the 84-86 body style without considerable work
- the front 87 is unique to that year
- the 88 is the 89+ body shape but with metal bumpers unique to that year (plastics will work fine on an 88)

[eta Epsilon]

ok, so it will not fit my 86...
Do you have any suggestions for a bumper/apron/lip that could be added to my 325e 86 to give it a more aggressive look?