College car rebuild - 1996 BMW Z3

I always wondered why they didn't put a little bigger engine in it, like a 2.4 straight six or something. But I bet BMW tuned that 1.9 super good, and it's light so it'd be fun af.

 

It's basically a stroked 1.8 out of the 318. They only offered the 1.9 for a few years before moving to a slightly larger displacement wise straight 6.

I've been looking into swapping in the 3.2 that is in the MRoadster/M3 and forced induction options for the 1.9. First step is dialing in the suspension and upgrading the brakes, then I may get more serious about bumping the HP. The 1.9 is light and reliable and I can get more than the inline 6 in terms of power with less weight over the front of the car with a supercharger...just won't have the sweet NA sounds. I've also looked into ITBs but the HP bump isn't as significant as a blower.

 

Interior is mostly back together now. I still have the steering column apart because I need to sort out the wiring harness for the horn but the shift boot and brake boot/handle are back on now.

Ignore the dirty interior...I've been driving it and it's had the top down in our dusty garage since March.

 

Started feeling out how much work the paint correction is going to be. I'm not going to show car mirror finish, just want to clean up the scratches and not get super aggressive.



Here's the before


This is after about 45 minutes of work