Thoughts on BMW e30's
Discussion
It would be lovely to see this restored...... Great colour too.
Before you do anything tho, I would have a sit in the back seat, look up, and have a gentle push on the headlining where the sunroof cassette is, particularly towards the c pillar, these cars can rot spectacularly in this area and with the lack of roof panels and the expense of replacing/repairing the roof it can often be a deal breaker.
Good luck tho, I'm a big fan of E30's, have two myself and will watch with interest.
Before you do anything tho, I would have a sit in the back seat, look up, and have a gentle push on the headlining where the sunroof cassette is, particularly towards the c pillar, these cars can rot spectacularly in this area and with the lack of roof panels and the expense of replacing/repairing the roof it can often be a deal breaker.
Good luck tho, I'm a big fan of E30's, have two myself and will watch with interest.
Someone else asked me this on a different forum so heres the pasted answer 
The fact it was £560 and im a student who cant save money. I can spend money monthly on my cars but saving to buy a nice one? Nah not here, also its nice to learn to do things. Sadly gonna have to pay a bud to do the welding.
The fact it was £560 and im a student who cant save money. I can spend money monthly on my cars but saving to buy a nice one? Nah not here, also its nice to learn to do things. Sadly gonna have to pay a bud to do the welding.
Slow said:
Someone else asked me this on a different forum so heres the pasted answer
The fact it was £560 and im a student who cant save money. I can spend money monthly on my cars but saving to buy a nice one? Nah not here, also its nice to learn to do things. Sadly gonna have to pay a bud to do the welding.
It'll be a learning experience, not an expensive one either. For that reason alone it is not a waste of time. See if you can have a go at learning to weld.The fact it was £560 and im a student who cant save money. I can spend money monthly on my cars but saving to buy a nice one? Nah not here, also its nice to learn to do things. Sadly gonna have to pay a bud to do the welding.
Slow said:
Would there not be bubbling on the roof? Assuming its a single skin roof and not another piece of metal inside rotting.
No, the cassette for the sunroof is another piece of structure within the roof space, it also forms the drains for the sunroof, hence the rot. Here is an example.
Kawasicki said:
I'm amazed that you are considering this project. Fair play and all that, but I would be starting with something a little less rusty.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Worth starting a thread on E30Zone and ask their opinion. That rust is very extensive.
Orangecurry said:
I still have this; it gets dragged out of the garage every now and then.
Very nice. I had mine for 5 years as a daily driver. Plenty of drives up to Scotland and a fun Euro road trip.
g3org3y said:
Kawasicki said:
I'm amazed that you are considering this project. Fair play and all that, but I would be starting with something a little less rusty.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Worth starting a thread on E30Zone and ask their opinion. That rust is very extensive.
Not sure if you guys know prices of these but a non rusty one is 2k+ if 3 door really. Thats alot of rust money.
Im hoping to have the rust sorted for around £500 max. The panels are £250 and its like 2/3 days welding I reckon if not needing to make bits for it.
Spray it in primer and a rough match rattle can. Planning plasti dip or a respray at home so saving alot of money on getting it looking good.
Im useless at saving up, if i dont spend money on car parts I just end up drinking/partying it away with mates at college.
It started with the dash all lighting up too. Leaky pipe somewhere, battery out my old e46, fix rear lights if the on board computer check thing was to be believed.
This is pistonheads, lets get behind a project haha
Spray it in primer and a rough match rattle can. Planning plasti dip or a respray at home so saving alot of money on getting it looking good.
Im useless at saving up, if i dont spend money on car parts I just end up drinking/partying it away with mates at college.
It started with the dash all lighting up too. Leaky pipe somewhere, battery out my old e46, fix rear lights if the on board computer check thing was to be believed.
This is pistonheads, lets get behind a project haha
Slow said:
g3org3y said:
Kawasicki said:
I'm amazed that you are considering this project. Fair play and all that, but I would be starting with something a little less rusty.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Worth starting a thread on E30Zone and ask their opinion. That rust is very extensive.
Not sure if you guys know prices of these but a non rusty one is 2k+ if 3 door really. Thats alot of rust money.
I'll follow your progress thread with interest. Best of luck with the project.
rallycross said:
Had a few E30's last one as a v nice 325i manual SE saloon.
Even with rising prices on these E30's sorry to say that one is a scrapper, find a clean rust free 4 cylinder shell and put the good bits from the 323i in to the good shell.
Yip I'd agree with that , it looks finished, also I could be wrong but that looks like an early 5 series steering wheel Even with rising prices on these E30's sorry to say that one is a scrapper, find a clean rust free 4 cylinder shell and put the good bits from the 323i in to the good shell.
Here's our old 320 (complete with 2.8 conversion) nearing completion. Sadly, it's still nearing completion over two years later due to lack of time!
All these E30 threads are getting me thinking about having it completed and returned to a road-legal status (of sorts) at a garage and not in our spare time!
All these E30 threads are getting me thinking about having it completed and returned to a road-legal status (of sorts) at a garage and not in our spare time!
Still a work in progress. Bodywork is basically done except sanding/paint.
Basically been put on hold due to life. Been in the USA for half of my time for the last few years which limits things when you have a few cars to work on.
Hopefully can get it on the road by the end of the year, if it’s painted or just mechanically sorted is a different question.
Basically been put on hold due to life. Been in the USA for half of my time for the last few years which limits things when you have a few cars to work on.
Hopefully can get it on the road by the end of the year, if it’s painted or just mechanically sorted is a different question.
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