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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Gavsadler's 130i M-Sport (E87)
- Thread starter gavsadler
- Start date
gavsadler
///Member
Additional update May-2026:
Looking back, it has been an exceptionally busy year, with lots of projects on the go, including the various cars. Traditionally, the 130i has it's annual bits of maintenance and detailing and that's that. However, since the Concours last year, some plans and ideas were brewing in my head for this year. So, consider this the first official update of the "Road to Concours 2026" for this car.
During my brainstorming sessions, I went down the rabbit hole of itemising everything that could potentially be attended to, fixed, repaired or replaced. This was done as a blank slate job card, without any thoughts of cost. Thereafter, I added some costs to the line items, and got to a ridiculous figure: well actually it was a 6-figure value. This was simply out of the question. Obviously not everything needed replacing (I was never going for a full restoration, or to make the car undriveable because it would be too nice). So I decided on a handful of things I would do, which would improve the car overall.
The first of these tasks was the roof lining. About 2-3 years ago, it started so sag in the boot area. Surprisingly it didn't get worse in the back, however over the past 6 months, it did deteriorate up front around the sun visors. One of my friends in the detailing space referred me to someone and after seeing some of his previous jobs, I was convinced that it would be the right choice. I got in touch with Yatish from YD Customz, made arragements to drop off the car and he would get stuck in.
The car was with Yatish for 1 week. Essentially the 1st day was stripping, day 2 and 3 were to glue the new roof lining to the board and let it dry, as well as re-dying the A-pillar covers and sunroof surround. Day 4 was to reinstall in the car, and I then collected a day or so after that. I am very pleased with the work, and will happily recommend him to do work on other cars. (He also subsequently recovered a steering wheel for me, and will also be doing work on my other cars in future).
Onto some pics:
The upcoming updates will be a bit pic heavy with detailing prep....
Looking back, it has been an exceptionally busy year, with lots of projects on the go, including the various cars. Traditionally, the 130i has it's annual bits of maintenance and detailing and that's that. However, since the Concours last year, some plans and ideas were brewing in my head for this year. So, consider this the first official update of the "Road to Concours 2026" for this car.
During my brainstorming sessions, I went down the rabbit hole of itemising everything that could potentially be attended to, fixed, repaired or replaced. This was done as a blank slate job card, without any thoughts of cost. Thereafter, I added some costs to the line items, and got to a ridiculous figure: well actually it was a 6-figure value. This was simply out of the question. Obviously not everything needed replacing (I was never going for a full restoration, or to make the car undriveable because it would be too nice). So I decided on a handful of things I would do, which would improve the car overall.
The first of these tasks was the roof lining. About 2-3 years ago, it started so sag in the boot area. Surprisingly it didn't get worse in the back, however over the past 6 months, it did deteriorate up front around the sun visors. One of my friends in the detailing space referred me to someone and after seeing some of his previous jobs, I was convinced that it would be the right choice. I got in touch with Yatish from YD Customz, made arragements to drop off the car and he would get stuck in.
The car was with Yatish for 1 week. Essentially the 1st day was stripping, day 2 and 3 were to glue the new roof lining to the board and let it dry, as well as re-dying the A-pillar covers and sunroof surround. Day 4 was to reinstall in the car, and I then collected a day or so after that. I am very pleased with the work, and will happily recommend him to do work on other cars. (He also subsequently recovered a steering wheel for me, and will also be doing work on my other cars in future).
Onto some pics:
The upcoming updates will be a bit pic heavy with detailing prep....
gavsadler
///Member
Update July-2026:
June was a quiet month for this car, as I was busy wrapping up other projects and commitments. In July, I started off with some mechanical maintenance to get that done before the intensive cleaning and prep started.
Annual service time: new oil, oil filter, LM Ceratec and LM Hydraulic Lifter Additive were used. (I have an intermittent sticky lifter, so I thought I would give this a go and see if it helps). I also cleaned the Air Filter and Pollen Filter. Last but not least, the brake fluid was changed as well.
You may have read it elsewhere, but I purchased Firi's / Yulon's Quick Jack, and this has proven to be a game changer at home. I'm so glad I could make it happen.
June was a quiet month for this car, as I was busy wrapping up other projects and commitments. In July, I started off with some mechanical maintenance to get that done before the intensive cleaning and prep started.
Annual service time: new oil, oil filter, LM Ceratec and LM Hydraulic Lifter Additive were used. (I have an intermittent sticky lifter, so I thought I would give this a go and see if it helps). I also cleaned the Air Filter and Pollen Filter. Last but not least, the brake fluid was changed as well.
You may have read it elsewhere, but I purchased Firi's / Yulon's Quick Jack, and this has proven to be a game changer at home. I'm so glad I could make it happen.
gavsadler
///Member
With the mechanical stuff mostly done, it was time to focus on a few other things:
Airbag recall completed, new airbag installed (FYI, a new steering wheel airbag is approx. R17k)
Earlier this year, some family members were here from Oz, and they used the car to travel to Mpumalanga for a family emergency. On the way back, they picked up a nasty stone chip just above the driver's field of vision, which began to crack. There were a couple of other stone chips here and there, and these, together with the obligatory sand-blasting over a few years meant that a windscreen replacement was on the cards.
A Fuyao windsreen was installed, which I believe is OEM fitment/replacement on BMW? Anyway it looked pretty much identical to the glass which came out the car. There were no issues with installation.
I personally stripped out all the covers and shrouding below the wipers and windscreen, and requested that they only install the glass and leave everything else alone as I would be cleaning.
So behold, 19yrs of dust and dirt and grime. I don't think these covers have ever been off to clean the parts underneath. All that was about to change over the next 2 weeks...
And lastly, with my newly acquired lift in full operation, I decided to invest in some Powerflex jack pad adaptors. Soooo much better than the smaller, cheaper rubber ones I was using previously:
That wrapped up the activities in July. August would become the INTENSIVE cleaning month.
Airbag recall completed, new airbag installed (FYI, a new steering wheel airbag is approx. R17k)
Earlier this year, some family members were here from Oz, and they used the car to travel to Mpumalanga for a family emergency. On the way back, they picked up a nasty stone chip just above the driver's field of vision, which began to crack. There were a couple of other stone chips here and there, and these, together with the obligatory sand-blasting over a few years meant that a windscreen replacement was on the cards.
A Fuyao windsreen was installed, which I believe is OEM fitment/replacement on BMW? Anyway it looked pretty much identical to the glass which came out the car. There were no issues with installation.
I personally stripped out all the covers and shrouding below the wipers and windscreen, and requested that they only install the glass and leave everything else alone as I would be cleaning.
So behold, 19yrs of dust and dirt and grime. I don't think these covers have ever been off to clean the parts underneath. All that was about to change over the next 2 weeks...
And lastly, with my newly acquired lift in full operation, I decided to invest in some Powerflex jack pad adaptors. Soooo much better than the smaller, cheaper rubber ones I was using previously:
That wrapped up the activities in July. August would become the INTENSIVE cleaning month.
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