[Rich84Ts]

Hey everyone,

Over the last four months or so I've been in the process of rebuilding a 320D '13 plate, for the vast majority of DIY I've used this forum so as a little treat back to you all I thought I'd share the progress to date.

I'll update the post as I go.

So it all started as most rebuilds start out, I was hooked on YouTube rebuild channels and thought "this looks really easy", in some cases I was right, but overall this is a story of jumping in at the deep end.

So after a few months of checking Copart I spotted a wrecked F30 it was based about 350 miles from me. Mistake number 1, I bid on a car unseen. I always wanted a M Performance F30 and if I couldn't have the real thing then I'll rebuild one or rebuild a standard to M-performace look and feel. After a lame bidding war I picked up this beauty for about £4K

[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69018[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69017[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69016[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69020[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69019[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69021[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69022[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69027[/IMG]

So happy with my purchase and with damage primarily listed as "front end" and secondary as "undercarriage" I paid up and made mistake number 2. Opting for cheap recovery instead of professional help.

Long story short the car clearly is a non starter with only 3 'questionable' wheels, after I posted an avert on Shiply I opted for a chap who would transport from Edinburgh to Birmingham for £350, he got here late one night and surprisingly didn't have the tools to get the car off his pickup. Another £350 later and a professional company my car was finally airlifted to my driveway...

[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69028[/IMG]

Now on the drive time for damage report:

Front bumper - smashed
Air condenser - obliterated
Intercooler - missing
Radiator - damaged
Left headlight - smashed
Fog lights - missing
Wheels - all caved in / flat
Bonnet - dented
Windscreen - smashed
Left front quarter - dented
Steering rack - smashed
Front axle carrier - bent
Oil sump - smashed off
Transmission oil pan - cracked
Suspension all round - bent
Control arms front - bent
Front left brake line - severed
Air bags - all deployed inc dash
Seatbelts - restraint activated
Under body paneling - all cracked or missing
Front left wheel arch - missing
Battery terminal - protection fuse blown
Left side skirt - missing

Now this is what I could see at the time, more problems will be uncovered as I continued the project.

So on the shopping list was to get some power to the car, the battery has a charge that blows and cuts off mains power when the air bags deployed, I could see someone tampered with the battery to try and jump the car without luck. This part cost £17 from eBay.

Next was making the car look more acceptable in my drive, 405 wheels and M-performance replica bumper paid and sprayed. Mistake number 4, don't try and fit a bumper in a storm!

Anyhow after a lot of fiddling removing the whole front end to get access to the radiator, intercooler etc all parts have been replaced and the new bumper attached, it was hard to find all the wiring harness for the fog lights but all is connected.

[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69024[/IMG]

Next inside and the windscreen needed attention, I had the windscreen replaced for £150 via a local dealer and brought replacement dash, curtain airbags, steering wheel airbag and seatbelt restraints from a local breaker and fitted all my self thanks to this forum. This point I felt a little out my depth mainly because of the hundreds of screws and bolts I had to remove. Here's what it looked like before, during and after.

[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69026[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69029[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69025[/IMG]

With an upgrade to the stock suspension with Bilstein dampers it was time for the wheels and side skirt vinyls.

[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69031[/IMG]
[IMG]https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=69030[/IMG]

So I got to the stage where I felt I could do all I can, the only last things I wanted to do was to upgrade the cluster to a 6WA and upgrade to NBT widescreen, these two last bits were fairly easy to install but complex to understand, I brought the NBT from a scrapyard in Latvia (very happy) they coded it to my VIN so it was plug and play. The cluster I brought from eBay and sent it to someone to reset the miles to 0 and remove the previous VIN ready for coding.

So the car is currently at the garage, they are working on: steering rack, axle carrier, brake line, oil sump, transmission oil, they spotted the exhaust it crushed, some of the bushes are out of shape. God knows what else they will find but I'll keep you posted.

I'll keep updating, happy to answer any questions or edit as appropriate, when i get time I'll link all the tutorials i used and also give a full cost breakdown.

————————

Update

It's been a few months since I've had the car back, some major problems occurred after the car went to the specialist including putting right all the work I did, my favourite comment from the garage "who put this together? A blind man". But that's why I suppose I took it to them, what they did to the car was amazing and took the project to the next steps.

They fitted the front axle carrier, steering rack, abs sensor, AC condenser, rear hub, engine and gearbox oil pans and put back together all the fasteners and bolts exactly where they should be.

Now the car was ready to drive (not finished), but good enough to pass an MOT.

Pleased as punch I started the drive to get my tracking sorted. 2 miles down the road the engine ceased! After a quick look in the oil filter and crying at the specks of metal the car went back to the garage. To cut a long story short a new engine was needed, all pistons welded themselves to the rings. Could have been repaired but due to all the problems that still could be undetected post crash we ripped out the engine and transplanted a donor.

Anyway, the less I think about that the better...

Main thing is the car is running, further updates:

Rear spoiler fitted
Rear exhaust tips fitted
Rear bumper painted
Roof and roof rails wrapped black
Door handles wrapped black
Windscreen drip moulds painted white
Sound system upgraded all round from standard.
Lighting strips added to door cards
Lighting surround added to dash
Bonnet replaced (old one creased)
Other headlight changed (previous one dogged as cracked).
Engine bay added additional soundproofing.

A few more little mods to complete the project but it's 95% there.




Thanks

[CTMike]

This is pretty awesome. Great work.

[prkr]

Having just bought my f30 for 14k I'm curious roughly how much you've spent on the rebuild and if you think your extra work was worth the money you've saved?

(My f30) https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1577118

[RMachuca3d]

Awesome, thanks for the report.

My one and only concern, and please dont let this sour your great ambition\work..... The hit it took was clearly over a curb\hard object on the left front initially, which may have tweaked all of the unibody\suspension points, have you had the frame measured to be sure its still straight? are all the panel gaps relatively uniform?

[rjd_F30]

Cool to see the progress, and good for you for taking this on! Looking forward to see it progress.

[BMR_CK]

That is a great recount of your journey thus far. I know I could not pull off what you have done!

[Rich84Ts]

Originally Posted by prkr

Having just bought my f30 for 14k I'm curious roughly how much you've spent on the rebuild and if you think your extra work was worth the money you've saved?

(My f30) https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1577118

I'm keeping a log of everything spent on the car, I'll list everything when I have time. They way I'm looking at it (so not to cry), is "this was a hobby and hobbies cost money". It will be interesting to see the final cost Vs what other ppl paid for a non destroyed version.

I'll probably separate out the upgrades like rims and NBT as I would have saved a fortune just taking it back to stock.

[.BMW.]

Nice progress so far.

Looking forward to follow this thread!

[Rich84Ts]

Originally Posted by RMachuca3d

Awesome, thanks for the report.

My one and only concern, and please dont let this sour your great ambition\work..... The hit it took was clearly over a curb\hard object on the left front initially, which may have tweaked all of the unibody\suspension points, have you had the frame measured to be sure its still straight? are all the panel gaps relatively uniform?

I share your concern, no measuring as yet, the rear axle has been dropped today and inspected as it also took a little beating.

If all goes well by the end of the week tracking and measuring will have been completed.

[Simon89]

Awesome - keep it up!

[Rich84Ts]

Originally Posted by prkr

Having just bought my f30 for 14k I'm curious roughly how much you've spent on the rebuild and if you think your extra work was worth the money you've saved?

(My f30) https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1577118

Just as an update I've totalled everything so far. Currently about £12K for all parts fitted. With the remaining work I want doing i.e. front parking sensors, ceramic coating, rear diffuser etc and with the the work currently being done I guess it will be around £15k by the time it's all done.

[Gbtr6]

Are you concerned that the title is branded salvage, or whatever they do in the UK? That will diminish the value over a similar one that has not been wrecked. Not to minimize the work you've done, it looks fantastic. Good job,

Perry

[Rich84Ts]

Originally Posted by Gbtr6

Are you concerned that the title is branded salvage, or whatever they do in the UK? That will diminish the value over a similar one that has not been wrecked. Not to minimize the work you've done, it looks fantastic. Good job,

Perry

That's a fair comment, it will have a CAT N title in the UK, it means the car was deemed too expensive to fix by the insurer and has no structural issues.

For sure this will effect the resale price, the plan will be to drive this into the ground over the next 5 years or so rather then to flip for cash.

In the UK we have no additional inspections to get the car back on the road other then the usual MOT. I'll be interested to see any similar cars sell with the same title though.

I'd deffo do this again, maybe something with less damage though.

[Gbtr6]

Fair enough, good plan. I'd like to be able to do what you're doing, just for the experience and satisfaction. Good on you.

Perry

[Rich84Ts]

Originally Posted by Gbtr6

Fair enough, good plan. I'd like to be able to do what you're doing, just for the experience and satisfaction. Good on you.

Perry

I have to admit, the wife hasn't been a fan of the whole project with a smashed up car on the drive and absent husband

[prkr]

Originally Posted by Rich84Ts

Just as an update I've totalled everything so far. Currently about £12K for all parts fitted. With the remaining work I want doing i.e. front parking sensors, ceramic coating, rear diffuser etc and with the the work currently being done I guess it will be around £15k by the time it's all done.

I admire your determination. The work looks great, keep us posted!

[mrphotoman]

Looks like you are doing a good job!

[Gbtr6]

Originally Posted by Rich84Ts

I have to admit, the wife hasn't been a fan of the whole project with a smashed up car on the drive and absent husband

Yeah, they tend to not be big fans of inoperative vehicles.

Perry

[charliewaqs]

Subscribed . Keen to follow your progress. I'm going through something similar with my F36 430D. Whole O/S pretty much smashed. Front lower wishbone was snapped in half and steering rod bent. Replaced the suspension parts myself and it's just gone in to the body shop for everything else.

[Rich84Ts]

I went to visit the garage yesterday. They are pretty much there with what they can do at the moment. There was an interesting pile of parts they took off my car.

They had no problems coding the steering rack, I've seen a few people having problems with this, it should be MOT today just leaving the tracking, measuring, some underbody paneling and paintwork to finish the job.

Im going to have to put the original cluster back in, the on I had virginalised they can't connect to :

One thing that did make me laugh, he said a blind man must have down some of the repairs, I have to say I agree with him, without the proper tools and know how could be causing more problems then fixing.

Oh and he had 7 pages of faults they worked through, I'll upload them when I have them all to hand.

[Simon89]

Any updates?

[natesi]

How did you wrap the door handles?! That looks awesome.