Now you can buy engraved or drilled door handles all over eBay, but to these two jugheads they were all just too common or too out of place on a BMW – especially the aftermarket drilled handles. So they 3D printed an example of their perfect handle with an M division stylized E30 logo engraved in it and started driving around machining shops to get them made.

To hear them tell it, most of these shops wouldn’t give them the time of day because it just wasn’t worth the shop’s time to crank out two handles on one of their milling machines. However, the shops said the order was for at least 25 pairs they’d be happy to mill out the handles.

So off to the forums, car shows, and social networks they went to see if 25 more people would be interested. Turns out they were. There were 50  pre-orders booked within 48 hours and Act of Congress was born. It was time to start cranking out handles.

Since we’re such big fans of vintage BMWs, especially 2002s and E30s, we had to check these out once we caught wind of the project online. The handles they’ve created are precision milled out of solid billet aluminum for lightweight and corrosion resistance, then powder coated matte black to match the OEM finish. In fact, the Act of Congress E30 handles match the OEM E30 handle dimensions perfectly thanks to some handy 3D scanning.

We threw on a pair to a super secret project car we’re working on (more on that coming soon!) in all of about 10 minutes. Seriously, it’s two phillips screws on each handle. The fit was just like the factory ones, but the handles are more robust. The E30 engraving is nice and subtle, nothing you’ll notice from across the street, but instead something you’ll see every time you open your door. These are a really nice upgrade, and something that’ll help our project stand out at the shows.

Next up from the Act of Congress crew are a lighting upgrade, some more cosmetic pieces for sale, as well as a few secret parts. For now they are concentrating on their handles and setting up their business, but we’ve seen their other rally-inspired parts and they are something special. All that’s left is to ask, can you handle it?

Yeah, sorry about that…

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Hearing Kayla laugh at the fact that I searched up my old car only inspired me to actually find one. I did not end up searching very long, because a deal jumped out at me immediately. “400 OBO BMW 318ic 5 speed m42 engine” I sat there thinking, “Oh, a nice engine for sale. Woohoo!” and moved on accordingly. We searched through several other high-priced BMWs ranging from Miami to North Carolina before finding ourselves back at this one in Jacksonville. I opened the post this time and noticed, near the bottom, three interesting catches:
1. “It needs a trailer. ”
2. “It’s not running, but I drove it into the garage. ”
3. “All parts included. ”

Having rebuilt an E30, E24, and an old E12, I was immediately ready to buy this car. The only real catch was that my wallet was empty (isn’t it always?). I looked over, laughing, and asked Kayla “Hey, you want to buy my PS4?” She looked back seriously and said a nice, stern “Yes.” The kind of “Yes.” that makes it clear that the idiotic words that just left my lips could not be taken back. Well, less gaming time meant more wrenching time. My deal with Kayla seemingly struck in blood, and my visions of Halo glory already fading I typed a to-the-point email stating:, “I can come up today. Tell me what’s wrong with the car, I’m ready to buy it.” We waited fifteen minutes to hear back from this guy, worried because it was an “email only” post. Guh. “He may never respond..” we both started thinking. BOOM. To our surprise, his response came: “what time?”

Kayla and I were amazed that he responded. I told him to send his phone number and sent him mine. We then waited another grueling forty-five minutes. A little let down, we set out to the adult candy store “Total Wine” and wandered the spirit filled isles in hopes to lift ours. My phone then vibrated and I jumped up to answer. It was the car.

“Yeah the oil pan busted. I bought it because it had a hard top. I sold the hard top and made my money back, so this convertible’s been sitting in my garage for two months. I don’t want to fix it!” Kayla and I immediately left the store and grabbed my trailer, her truck, my straps, and set course for Jacksonville. Five hours, a wayward trailer that fell off on the way, and one PlayStation exchange later, I had another baby in my driveway. I knew I would miss my dear and very regularly used gaming console; but alas, I was ready to start my next project, After all, the new oil pan was already in the trunk…

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