F31 B3 #155

[MattOz]

As some of you have figured out, I bought #155 a week ago. The car caused a bit of a stir as the colour combo of Glacier Silver over Oyster leather is a bit marmite! More on that later.

The one and only owner was a pleasure to chat to and although there are a few things that I need/want to sort out, the pros more than outweighed the cons and a deal was done.

The drive home was absolutely fantastic, despite the usual heavy traffic on the M25. The car behaved impeccably and I was slightly smitten.

As ever, there was cleaning to be done! Pics below and probably in subsequent posts, show the work done so far. I reckon I’ve spent 11 hours on it and haven’t touched the bodywork, apart from the odd stone chip and scratch touch up

Under the bonnet was the first port of call and a thorough cleanse, degrease and rinse was done. Much better. The wheels were removed in turn and all arches cleaned and disc bells scrubbed etc. All 4 alloys had previously been refurbished and then kerbed again. They’ll need doing properly sometime soon. The previous refurb had lacquered in brake dust, so I spend quite a lot of time with my de-nibbing tool removing the overspray. I then polished each barrel before they went back on the car. Exhaust tips were polished and finally the car was washed and finished with a layer of Gyeon Wet Coat.

Some before and after shots for you.

[MattOz]

Photos obviously not in the order I atrached them in as they never get uploaded properly!

[Jules Sunleu]

Nice work chap

[Frosty]

I wish I had the dedication to do what you do on your cars Matt. Looks great waiting to hear the thoughts on the move to Benzine!

[ScooBeeFive]

Fantastic Matt! And exactly what I expected from you!!

Looking forward to the further updates.

[D3orbust]

You’ve done a man’s job sir

[JCC]

Cracking car - I love the colour combination of the silver and light interior - lots of work gone into this already! May I ask how you have cleaned the wheel hubs?

[MattOz]

Cracking car - I love the colour combination of the silver and light interior - lots of work gone into this already! May I ask how you have cleaned the wheel hubs?

For the hubs, I used a brass brush and a brown scouring pad from Halfords. Then polished with Belgom Alu to finish.

[MattOz]

Next steps will be changing the steering wheel buttons for paddles, replacing the damaged foglight, new front pads and getting the alignment checked. Busy times!

[ScooBeeFive]

Next steps will be changing the steering wheel buttons for paddles......

I remember you did this on your previous car. I'm really not keen on the Alpina buttons either - the paddles are much easier to use. Are there many options when changing? I like the CNC alloy ones on the newer Alpinas but suspect they won't fit F Series cars?

[MattOz]

I remember you did this on your previous car. I'm really not keen on the Alpina buttons either - the paddles are much easier to use. Are there many options when changing? I like the CNC alloy ones on the newer Alpinas but suspect they won't fit F Series cars?

I’m just using the standard F3* paddles from an Ebay purchased steering wheel. Same as I did on my D3.

[MattOz]

Paddles fitted today, along with replacing a broken front fog light and new wiper blades all round. Hope to get time at the weekend to replace the front brake pads. Definitely feel like I’m getting there.

[Bob]

Looking great Matt. Can’t wait for future updates.

What’s happening/happened to the D3? I imagine a few folk might be interested in that beauty.

[MattOz]

Looking great Matt. Can’t wait for future updates.

What’s happening/happened to the D3? I imagine a few folk might be interested in that beauty.

Thanks Bob. The D3 went back in Feb. It’s taken me some tome to find a replacement.

[MikeR]