Ownership Journal - 1989 Diamond Schwarz / Anthracite M3, by windtendo

[windtendo]

Correct its silver

Thanks Adam, I needed a second opinion! I was 95% there, but needed that confirmation


Mick, can you please change the title to "Ownership Journal - 1989 Diamond Schwarz / Silber Uberkaro M3, by windtendo" ?

To eliminate future confusion, can you edit the sentence right above the first picture? I'd like it to say "I fell in love with the Diamond Black exterior and Silver Uberkaro Plaid interior."

[Magnus]

I forgot to comment. Awesome thread. Thanks for sharing.

[windtendo]

Mick just following up with you to see if you can change a few things up top:

• Could you please change the title to "Ownership Journal - 1989 Diamond Schwarz / Silber Uberkaro M3, by windtendo" ?
• To eliminate future confusion, can you edit the sentence right above the first picture? I'd like it to say "I fell in love with the Diamond Black exterior and Silver Uberkaro Plaid interior."

I've got another update coming likely tomorrow (from the end of March), and she's going back to the shop next week for some more work.

[windtendo]

As promised, another update is here. This one is a bit shorter, but super happy with how it turned out.

Thanks to you guys on here, I discovered Jay of Jay’s BMW Parts. Doing some research on his work, this guy truly knows what he’s doing and pays great attention to detail. Exactly what I was looking for on this project. The A/C compressor felt like it wasn’t operating at its full potential and with the Houston summer just months away, it was an opportune time to have the compressor rebuilt.

The Garagisti removed the compressor and shipped it off to Jay on my behalf, and Jay kept us in the loop with his progress along the way. I loved this part! The trickle of pictures as he worked made the wait quite enjoyable. As a side note, he did comment on how it was nice to see an unmolested unit come in for restoration. :lol:

First off, the soak:





After the parts were cleaned, they were polished and sent off for zinc plating:





The wingcell aluminum lid was vapor honed. For comparison, the freshly-honed lid is on the left:




The parts were then reassembled:







And finally, a before and after:

Before



After



I picked up a few smaller items to round off this update. A leather key fob with an original BMW badge made by Melsoms:





The glovebox had been missing something… A restored flashlight!




That’s all for this round of updates. The vehicle will be back in for some more mechanical refreshing on the next update. The feedback and comments from you guys is greatly appreciated and thank you again for all of your input on this forum. Have a great weekend!

[GanciE30]

WOW! Love this. Keep it up

[windtendo]

Quick question for those familiar with the AC system... The original condenser finally showed signs of leaking during a recent test and will need to be replaced. Is the general sentiment to go with the Nissens parallel flow or a more OEM-ish Mahle-Behr condenser? FWIW, it was converted to R143A back in Japan before my ownership.

[Chris W]

A parallel flow condenser cools the refrigerant better, which would be a better choice for an R143A system since R134A is supposed to be less efficient than the original R12.

[Dave @nz]

Plus 1 above the newer design will be more efficient to reduce temperature, also worth thinking about is making sure the electric fan works on both speeds and the viscous fan is still operational.

[windtendo]

Plus 1 above the newer design will be more efficient to reduce temperature, also worth thinking about is making sure the electric fan works on both speeds and the viscous fan is still operational.

Thanks Dave and Chris, I gave the shop the green light on the Nissens parallel flow condenser. I'll give them a call tomorrow to mention looking at the electric fan and viscous fan as well. Great tips!

Dave -- I'll look back through my correspondence with Jay and respond to your PM separately.