Nigeb

I’m selling my late fathers car. He had it from new in Aug 1997. It is now in my name as he passed over 2 years ago, but my mother wanted to keep it for sentimental reasons, but she passed a couple of months ago, so it’s time to move on. It’s covered just under 50K from new and has a dealer service record and partial service record that I have done/kept. I believe it will be tax free next year, and it’s Mot’d until may 2023 it has the Lux pack which includes sunroof alloys rear parking sensors and fog lights . All the documentation is present including handbook service book and the original bill of sale, and some other stuff. It drives very well for its age, and has never had any paintwork or damage from new, however there is a little bubbling on the rear arches and lacquer peel on the rear bumper and mirror backs. These pictures were taken about 3 years ago but the car still looks nice, I can take new pictures if anyone is interested please get in touch if anyone is interested so we can maybe arrange a viewing. As the car is nearly 25 years old I don’t have any idea how much it’s worth Nigel

I’ve had the reflectors re-chromed at Dual Metallising in Birmingham at a cost of £162. They have made an excellent job and they look like new ! rebuilt the units with new genuine BMW glass seals @ £29 Re-fitted to the car and they look fantastic. Well pleased with the results. I’ve also replaced the adjusting brackets inside, Need to re-align the headlight aim now before the MOT ! Incredible also to think all the original bulbs were re fitted and work fine, not bad for 24 years old !!

Morning could you give me the details for quarry motors ? I’ve contacted Hella directly who want around £200 per light whilst BMW want £350per light lol 😂 I’ve also posted on 2 breakers sites requesting both headlights, but had no response There are the odd ones on EBay but looking at them they will be of a similar age and probably no better than what I have. There are also some available on EBay from Germany, but they are different part numbers as I think they will be for left hand drive cars, so the lights will be configured to aim the opposite way to the UK version The big problem is the Compact headlights are different to a standard 3 Series headlights , although they look the same. They won’t fit. That’s a shame because they’re much easy to find 2nd hand Nigel

Hi Dave the picture is the original lamp (the worst one) I’ve stripped the other lamp but as I learned with the 1st one I stripped, when I attempted to polish the dull finish with a slightly damp microfibre, the chrome finish comes off easily revealing the orange “undercoat” you can see in the picture. The set on eBay is £50 but I’m wary of getting these and trying to clean them . They are available from BMW in Germany at £118 each on a 10 day lead time, but again another concern is if they’ve been in stock for X number of years in a stockroom they may have detoriated and I’ll have the same problem if they have dulled So I think my best option will be to have them re-plated by dual metallising @ £145 + VAT for the pair. I’ve also managed to buy the adjustment screws off eBay as the original ones just snapped off ! here is a picture of the ones off eBay for £50 that as I said I’ve got not guarantee that they will polish up without ruining them

It’s the reflectors , see pictures. Found a 2nd hand set on eBay (£50) but I’m a bit wary as I know when the coating gets old/hot it can rub off with your fingers very easily used the link you sent to get the part numbers for the reflectors and rang BMW. they’re available on 7-10 days from Germany at £118 each !! the 2 adjuster brackets per light are easily available off eBay for around £5 also rang a company in Brum called dual metalising than can re-coat both reflectors for £145 + Vat + carriage costs not sure which way to go now I’ve got all this info lol

Thanks for the reply, I’ll follow the link you sent to see if I can obtain parts A 2nd hand set of reflectors are listed on EBay, but they look a little “cloudy” and I’m worried if I buy them and try to clean them, the silvering will just come off like they did on mine thanks again Nigel

Hi, I’ve just joined as I’ve now inherited my dads 1997 316 compact that he had from new. (Sadly lost my dad 2 years ago) it’s been a very good car with only a few problems in the 25 years (this August!) and has only covered 49000 miles The reason I’ve joined is I’m looking for help on the headlights as it was only passed on the MOT last year on the condition that the headlights were sorted. The light intensity is quite low ! due to the chrome reflectors becoming vey dull. I’ve removed the lights and stripped one of them which has revealed plastic reflectors which is a problem to get re-silvered. Also the plastic push brackets that are used to adjust the aim angle just broke up when dismantling. just looking for advice on getting them re-furbed as both BMW and Hella don’t seem to be able to supply parts ??? In the meantime here’s a picture of the car taken a couple of years ago….