1990 BMW E30 325iC - US spec
Discussion
For those who live vicariously through the frivolous car purchases of others:
When I lived in the UK, I had a particularly tatty 325i (1991) as a second car that I must admit I loved. At some point it must have been quite well looked after, but it was in that critical phase where the rust had begun to nibble.. It was quite fast, good fun, but ultimately not worth much - nor was it worth tidying up the details unless I was prepared to properly tackle the rust. If I'd have kept it, it would only have had at most another couple of years fun in it, keeping the expenditure to patching it up at most..
When we moved to the US, it obviously had to go (it went to Ireland - so I can't do a DVLA check to make sure it's okay...) and I moved on. I sampled what the US car industry had to offer (I'm a cheapskate though, so I was sampling what they were offering 10 years ago, and even then, only what had survived 180,000 miles of someone else's ownership..
That is over 17.5 feet of Mercury Grand Marquis, equipped with almost 200bhp of Ford 4.6l V8. Photographed, believe it or not, on the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That car served it's purpose (of getting me from A to B pretty cheaply and allowing me technically tick the box of "owning a V8" and "owning an American car") but was enough to convince me I needed to change my own gears and experience the sensation of 'involvement' in my choice of direction of travel.. So it was replaced after a year or so with a BMW E39, a 530i:
Which has proved to be a great car, and even quite fun. Though, I should admit that in fairness to the Mercury it replaced, the BMW has required quite a bit more tinkering.. But despite being technically only 1 year apart in manufacture, the BMW is obviously a way more complex machine, the Mercury being an unstressed robustly engineered tank that probably hadn't changed much since the late 80's...
Anyhow, the E39 is very nice - but I missed the relative simplicity nimbleness (and actually the noise - since I think my 325 was missing most of its intake system and some, probably important, sections of the exhaust) of my old E30. I don't normally 'go back' to previously sampled automotive products, preferring to try something new (as long as it's cheap..) and check something else off the list.
(Note: I did at one point about 10 years ago actually write a list of things to aim to own/try. There was even a scoring mechanism so I could compare my tally with colleagues. I don't refer to the list, but in some form or other it does still exist in the back of my mind, and so buying the same thing again is clearly on some level a waste of time / garage space..)
Anyhow, my wife "hinted" that she would only support the purchase of a third car in our household if it were to be a convertible, since she'd probably enjoy driving that occasionally. She did own a convertible once back in the UK, and even in Lancashire she made the most of the limited opportunities to razz about with the top down. Now that we are living in the midwest, with the increased probability of precipitation avoidance, it might be not a bad idea..
So the search was on for a cheap (did I mention I was a cheapskate?) manual E30 convertible that hopefully could have benefited from avoiding the rain and roadsalt that a UK car would have seen, and hence be rust free. That way, if I did decide over time to spend money on it tidying up the details, at least I wouldn't be bolting shiny new parts (who am I kidding, 'slightly better used parts') onto a rotting shell..
Ideally I only wanted to sink $2000 (about 1200 quid) into the initial purchase, since I've found buying used cars in the US a bit hit and miss. In the state where I live (and most surrounding states) there is no MOT equivalent or even emissions test, and at the cheap end of the market cars seem to be lucky to get an oil change (that seems to count in Indiana as 'full maintenance'). I've yet to meet anyone who keeps any service history.. And, I'll be honest, I'm not a mechanic. I get carried away in the car buying process and only see the things I want to see, so if I was going to buy a pup, I wanted to not waste too much of my cash. At $2000, if the thing blew up on the way home, at least I could part it out on Craigslist and get half my money back..
Anyhow - after seeing a few listings, on Craigslist and eBay, I decided the following:
- It seemed about a 50/50 split between Manuals and Autos in the surviving convertible E30 world, which surprised me. A higher proportion of the surviving US hardtops are seemingly Autos, and so the manual 2 door coupes seem to be worth a bit of a premium. But then, people like to track-day a 325i here just as much as back in the UK!
- Rust is just as prevelent in the US, certainly in Indiana and any state to the north.. And when there is no MOT, there's no need to scrap the car, or weld a patch on..
- Few cars that had AC when new still have functioning AC (and they all used R12..)
- All the listings seemed to mention, (or show in the really small photos) cracked dashboards and split trim
- All 325s in the US seemed to get leather as standard.
- I hated the airbag equipped steering wheels
- And the US spec bumpers..
So, I figured the probable non-functioning AC in a $2k car further pointed towards a convertible ('cos you'd have the top down right?) and I needed to look south. I was also by now well aware that if I wanted rust free, I was probably going to have to accept some other compromises..
This eBay listing caught my eye:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121432358511?ssPageName=ST...
Text reproduced (as the eBay listing won't last I guess)
"I have a 1990 bmw 325i convertible for sale. 150k miles. 5 speed manual transmission. Runs and drives amazing. Bilstein shocks, besides that completely stock. Every item on this car works as it should, except a/c is not blowing cold and odometer isnt working. Has been very well maintained over the years. I'm the third owner and know the previous two very well. All windows, gauges, trip computers work perfectly. It's always been a third car/weekend car and all of us have thoroughly enjoyed it. Runs tip top. Been driving back and forth to Florida in it the last couple months. 5-6 round trips. Average 25-26 mpg. Never a hiccup. Wouldn't hesitate a second to take off to California right now. It just doesn't work well for two dogs and my surfboards, That is the only reason that I'm selling it. I love this car. It is a blast to drive. The top works but has a rip in the back window, Will keep you dry idea stuck out in the rain storm without any problem, But may leak if you just leave it out in the rain for extended period of time. A couple small dents that I pointed out in the pictures and interior seats are shot. I have the custom fitted seat covers for both front and back seats but they are also a little faded. Great stereo, aftermarket speakers and CD player. If you know e30 BMWs, You know that the value is only going up on these cars. This car is in phenomenal shape for its age it just means the next person to continue to love her. Overall a great car at a fair price. Very low reserve. If you want an incredible driving car this is it. No rust whatsoever. Shifts great, clutch is strong, motor is strong. All glass very good. "
I liked* the listing and had basically decided that this was the new shed for me before I'd even been to look at it. Or spoken to the seller. Or established what his reserve was..
[*discuss: I liked the listing because, even though there was some clear BS, it seemed literately written, pointed out some faults, there were plenty of photos and the photos were taken outside a nice house. He also had 2 BMW 2002s. Which for some reason made him a 'good person'. I will find out in time if I need to revise my way of judging eBay listings..]
I arranged to go and look at it, but as it was a near 5 hour drive away, I took cash, and went in a rental car that i could ditch down there. So basically I was pretty much assuming I was driving it back. (I am now getting used to the idea that in the midwest USA, a 5 hour drive is not so far..) And it was south, where they don't have snow** so the 'rust free' claim was potentially believable.
[**Actually they do have snow occasionally. But they don't expect it, so they don't have salt. According to the seller, when they do get some snow, the roads get very interesting very quickly]
Anyhow, the drive down went well (in a Chevy Captiva - I assume a car that has not made it to Europe with a Vauxhall / Opel badge on, and if it has I assume it's had it's name changed to something that doesn't remind me of a hostage situation..) and it looked okay in the flesh from 10 feet away, which is about as good a distance as any car I've previously owned achieved. We went for a spin, all the controls felt shockingly heavy after the insipid experience of the Captiva.
The hole in the rear plastic window was bigger than it looked in the pictures. The seat covers were ill-fitting and covered really badly split seats. The gearshift felt even sloppier than my last E30 did (and I thought that was bad). I think the seat adjuster was a bit iffy (but many seemed to suffer that problem..) and the paint was a bit, well, odd. There were areas where it simply seemed to have rubbed off.. The exhaust was blowing a bit (at the back box I think) but it actually sounded better for it and it was all a bit grubby.
I bought it for a tad over my $2000 budget, and embarked on a ~300 mile journey home.
Mid route burger stop, no problems to report, other than the fact that I noticed one of my tyres was bald and a different size to the others..:
Like I say, looks ok from 10 feet. The bits above the rear bumper that have faded to white are plastic. Obviously they don't seem to last 25 years of bright southern sunshine well..
Welcomed back to Indiana like heroes:
(That's probably in bad taste - I think there was some kind of funeral parade on the southbound side..)
Anyhow - the journey went well. The radio was loud enough to be heard over the leaking exhaust and wind noise at 75mph, the cruise control worked (which is good, because the throttle pedal made my ankle ache like mad after about an hour - it just seemed so much stiffer than a modern..) and the OBC told me I was getting 25mpg (and that may even be US gallons..) making it the most economical car in our household..
Once tucked up in the garage (check out how a normal US double garage is actually big enough for real cars..) I compiled a little list (whilst worrying about the smell of hot oil..)
Number one is to get a new tyre (sorry tire..) from Walmart. I will go pretty cheap here as I'm tempted to swap out the wheels for something nicer. (Gotta make use of the fact that my American car insurance company doesn't penalize for this..)
Number two has to be to sort out finding some new / replacement seats. The "custom fitted seat covers" very quickly lost their 'fitted integrity' and resembled a half arsed Halloween costume - picture a lanky kid dressed as a ghost, old white bedsheet billowing around them as they run down the street. I knew I would need to get the seats swapped out (as in fact I had to on the E30 I had in the UK. 150 quid got me some "houndstooth sports seats " off eBay.co.uk) but I had hoped the seatcovers would disguise the need for a while. The southern sun may be kind on the metalwork, but the leather has suffered:
The rear is even worse.. I just hope that I've not been a bit stupid in assuming that some reasonable replacement seats are going to be easy to come by. It seems that everyone with an E30 'vert may be looking for the same thing..
Number three may be to replace some of the rubber seals and apply judicious stickytape to make it all a bit more watertight. Again the sun doesn't appear to be too kind to the rubber seals:
Number four might yet be to swap the steering wheel. I hate that airbag wheel, and the leather on that has all decayed away and is now covered by a market stall quality cover..
It would be good to investigate that AC system - and see if it can be made to work.. (currently it just does strange things to the idle speed) and I think the ICV could do with a bit of a clean-out.. And I never noticed that the driver's side tweeter is missing. And I think it's worth getting the suspension checked over..
Anyhow - enough rambling. I'll keep you posted.
When I lived in the UK, I had a particularly tatty 325i (1991) as a second car that I must admit I loved. At some point it must have been quite well looked after, but it was in that critical phase where the rust had begun to nibble.. It was quite fast, good fun, but ultimately not worth much - nor was it worth tidying up the details unless I was prepared to properly tackle the rust. If I'd have kept it, it would only have had at most another couple of years fun in it, keeping the expenditure to patching it up at most..
When we moved to the US, it obviously had to go (it went to Ireland - so I can't do a DVLA check to make sure it's okay...) and I moved on. I sampled what the US car industry had to offer (I'm a cheapskate though, so I was sampling what they were offering 10 years ago, and even then, only what had survived 180,000 miles of someone else's ownership..
That is over 17.5 feet of Mercury Grand Marquis, equipped with almost 200bhp of Ford 4.6l V8. Photographed, believe it or not, on the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That car served it's purpose (of getting me from A to B pretty cheaply and allowing me technically tick the box of "owning a V8" and "owning an American car") but was enough to convince me I needed to change my own gears and experience the sensation of 'involvement' in my choice of direction of travel.. So it was replaced after a year or so with a BMW E39, a 530i:
Which has proved to be a great car, and even quite fun. Though, I should admit that in fairness to the Mercury it replaced, the BMW has required quite a bit more tinkering.. But despite being technically only 1 year apart in manufacture, the BMW is obviously a way more complex machine, the Mercury being an unstressed robustly engineered tank that probably hadn't changed much since the late 80's...
Anyhow, the E39 is very nice - but I missed the relative simplicity nimbleness (and actually the noise - since I think my 325 was missing most of its intake system and some, probably important, sections of the exhaust) of my old E30. I don't normally 'go back' to previously sampled automotive products, preferring to try something new (as long as it's cheap..) and check something else off the list.
(Note: I did at one point about 10 years ago actually write a list of things to aim to own/try. There was even a scoring mechanism so I could compare my tally with colleagues. I don't refer to the list, but in some form or other it does still exist in the back of my mind, and so buying the same thing again is clearly on some level a waste of time / garage space..)
Anyhow, my wife "hinted" that she would only support the purchase of a third car in our household if it were to be a convertible, since she'd probably enjoy driving that occasionally. She did own a convertible once back in the UK, and even in Lancashire she made the most of the limited opportunities to razz about with the top down. Now that we are living in the midwest, with the increased probability of precipitation avoidance, it might be not a bad idea..
So the search was on for a cheap (did I mention I was a cheapskate?) manual E30 convertible that hopefully could have benefited from avoiding the rain and roadsalt that a UK car would have seen, and hence be rust free. That way, if I did decide over time to spend money on it tidying up the details, at least I wouldn't be bolting shiny new parts (who am I kidding, 'slightly better used parts') onto a rotting shell..
Ideally I only wanted to sink $2000 (about 1200 quid) into the initial purchase, since I've found buying used cars in the US a bit hit and miss. In the state where I live (and most surrounding states) there is no MOT equivalent or even emissions test, and at the cheap end of the market cars seem to be lucky to get an oil change (that seems to count in Indiana as 'full maintenance'). I've yet to meet anyone who keeps any service history.. And, I'll be honest, I'm not a mechanic. I get carried away in the car buying process and only see the things I want to see, so if I was going to buy a pup, I wanted to not waste too much of my cash. At $2000, if the thing blew up on the way home, at least I could part it out on Craigslist and get half my money back..
Anyhow - after seeing a few listings, on Craigslist and eBay, I decided the following:
- It seemed about a 50/50 split between Manuals and Autos in the surviving convertible E30 world, which surprised me. A higher proportion of the surviving US hardtops are seemingly Autos, and so the manual 2 door coupes seem to be worth a bit of a premium. But then, people like to track-day a 325i here just as much as back in the UK!
- Rust is just as prevelent in the US, certainly in Indiana and any state to the north.. And when there is no MOT, there's no need to scrap the car, or weld a patch on..
- Few cars that had AC when new still have functioning AC (and they all used R12..)
- All the listings seemed to mention, (or show in the really small photos) cracked dashboards and split trim
- All 325s in the US seemed to get leather as standard.
- I hated the airbag equipped steering wheels
- And the US spec bumpers..
So, I figured the probable non-functioning AC in a $2k car further pointed towards a convertible ('cos you'd have the top down right?) and I needed to look south. I was also by now well aware that if I wanted rust free, I was probably going to have to accept some other compromises..
This eBay listing caught my eye:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121432358511?ssPageName=ST...
Text reproduced (as the eBay listing won't last I guess)
"I have a 1990 bmw 325i convertible for sale. 150k miles. 5 speed manual transmission. Runs and drives amazing. Bilstein shocks, besides that completely stock. Every item on this car works as it should, except a/c is not blowing cold and odometer isnt working. Has been very well maintained over the years. I'm the third owner and know the previous two very well. All windows, gauges, trip computers work perfectly. It's always been a third car/weekend car and all of us have thoroughly enjoyed it. Runs tip top. Been driving back and forth to Florida in it the last couple months. 5-6 round trips. Average 25-26 mpg. Never a hiccup. Wouldn't hesitate a second to take off to California right now. It just doesn't work well for two dogs and my surfboards, That is the only reason that I'm selling it. I love this car. It is a blast to drive. The top works but has a rip in the back window, Will keep you dry idea stuck out in the rain storm without any problem, But may leak if you just leave it out in the rain for extended period of time. A couple small dents that I pointed out in the pictures and interior seats are shot. I have the custom fitted seat covers for both front and back seats but they are also a little faded. Great stereo, aftermarket speakers and CD player. If you know e30 BMWs, You know that the value is only going up on these cars. This car is in phenomenal shape for its age it just means the next person to continue to love her. Overall a great car at a fair price. Very low reserve. If you want an incredible driving car this is it. No rust whatsoever. Shifts great, clutch is strong, motor is strong. All glass very good. "
I liked* the listing and had basically decided that this was the new shed for me before I'd even been to look at it. Or spoken to the seller. Or established what his reserve was..
[*discuss: I liked the listing because, even though there was some clear BS, it seemed literately written, pointed out some faults, there were plenty of photos and the photos were taken outside a nice house. He also had 2 BMW 2002s. Which for some reason made him a 'good person'. I will find out in time if I need to revise my way of judging eBay listings..]
I arranged to go and look at it, but as it was a near 5 hour drive away, I took cash, and went in a rental car that i could ditch down there. So basically I was pretty much assuming I was driving it back. (I am now getting used to the idea that in the midwest USA, a 5 hour drive is not so far..) And it was south, where they don't have snow** so the 'rust free' claim was potentially believable.
[**Actually they do have snow occasionally. But they don't expect it, so they don't have salt. According to the seller, when they do get some snow, the roads get very interesting very quickly]
Anyhow, the drive down went well (in a Chevy Captiva - I assume a car that has not made it to Europe with a Vauxhall / Opel badge on, and if it has I assume it's had it's name changed to something that doesn't remind me of a hostage situation..) and it looked okay in the flesh from 10 feet away, which is about as good a distance as any car I've previously owned achieved. We went for a spin, all the controls felt shockingly heavy after the insipid experience of the Captiva.
The hole in the rear plastic window was bigger than it looked in the pictures. The seat covers were ill-fitting and covered really badly split seats. The gearshift felt even sloppier than my last E30 did (and I thought that was bad). I think the seat adjuster was a bit iffy (but many seemed to suffer that problem..) and the paint was a bit, well, odd. There were areas where it simply seemed to have rubbed off.. The exhaust was blowing a bit (at the back box I think) but it actually sounded better for it and it was all a bit grubby.
I bought it for a tad over my $2000 budget, and embarked on a ~300 mile journey home.
Mid route burger stop, no problems to report, other than the fact that I noticed one of my tyres was bald and a different size to the others..:
Like I say, looks ok from 10 feet. The bits above the rear bumper that have faded to white are plastic. Obviously they don't seem to last 25 years of bright southern sunshine well..
Welcomed back to Indiana like heroes:
(That's probably in bad taste - I think there was some kind of funeral parade on the southbound side..)
Anyhow - the journey went well. The radio was loud enough to be heard over the leaking exhaust and wind noise at 75mph, the cruise control worked (which is good, because the throttle pedal made my ankle ache like mad after about an hour - it just seemed so much stiffer than a modern..) and the OBC told me I was getting 25mpg (and that may even be US gallons..) making it the most economical car in our household..
Once tucked up in the garage (check out how a normal US double garage is actually big enough for real cars..) I compiled a little list (whilst worrying about the smell of hot oil..)
Number one is to get a new tyre (sorry tire..) from Walmart. I will go pretty cheap here as I'm tempted to swap out the wheels for something nicer. (Gotta make use of the fact that my American car insurance company doesn't penalize for this..)
Number two has to be to sort out finding some new / replacement seats. The "custom fitted seat covers" very quickly lost their 'fitted integrity' and resembled a half arsed Halloween costume - picture a lanky kid dressed as a ghost, old white bedsheet billowing around them as they run down the street. I knew I would need to get the seats swapped out (as in fact I had to on the E30 I had in the UK. 150 quid got me some "houndstooth sports seats " off eBay.co.uk) but I had hoped the seatcovers would disguise the need for a while. The southern sun may be kind on the metalwork, but the leather has suffered:
The rear is even worse.. I just hope that I've not been a bit stupid in assuming that some reasonable replacement seats are going to be easy to come by. It seems that everyone with an E30 'vert may be looking for the same thing..
Number three may be to replace some of the rubber seals and apply judicious stickytape to make it all a bit more watertight. Again the sun doesn't appear to be too kind to the rubber seals:
Number four might yet be to swap the steering wheel. I hate that airbag wheel, and the leather on that has all decayed away and is now covered by a market stall quality cover..
It would be good to investigate that AC system - and see if it can be made to work.. (currently it just does strange things to the idle speed) and I think the ICV could do with a bit of a clean-out.. And I never noticed that the driver's side tweeter is missing. And I think it's worth getting the suspension checked over..
Anyhow - enough rambling. I'll keep you posted.
Slowped said:
Do you have to re register it and get some Indiana plates?
Indeed I do. I have the joy of meeting with the BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) later this week. (I think I have 30 days to get the the paperwork sorted. ) Whilst my friends and neighbours despise the Indiana BMV, I think the set up is impressive. Compare this with the DVLA:Past experience tells me that I will arrive at the BMV, there will be more staff than customers, I will take a number (like at the supermarket cheese counter) and be called up before I've even managed to sit down in the waiting area and be talked through the process face-to-face with someone.. I'll make the relevant payments and be on my way. (Sadly the payments will include sales tax. Yes, here you pay the equivalent of VAT on used car sales.. :-( But at least the fees for the plates etc will be low for such a worthless car) It all goes smoothly provided you have every piece of paper required, correctly completed..
It might be interesting though as I now realize that the Tennessee title that I have for it was never changed over from the previous previous owner.. (In other-words, the guy I bought it off never bothered to register it in his name, for whatever reason.. ) So I just have the title signed over on the back from the person he bought it from 9 months ago.. Anyhow I'll see how I get on..
As an aside, Vanity plates in Indiana simply cost an extra $50. If your 7 digit combination isn't already taken, and doesn't cause offense, you can just pay the extra and away you go.. Not sure it aligns with my cheapskate tendencies..
Other progress:
I bought a new tyre, cheapest brand name I could find.. So I now have a complete set that are the same size and have tread!!
I might have found some better front seats, I go to look at them on Wednesday night. (Only a 4 hour round trip.. Which will work out pretty expensive in a 5.4l Ford Expedition..) Good job the seats promise to be cheap..
Campo said:
That BMW really does look in a s
t state. On the plus side, you can only make it better.
eBay is a wonderful place for sellers of past it tat normally destined for the scrapyard
:-> Most uncharitable of you - you can certainly get tidier ones for twice the money, but it drives straight, stops straight and seems reasonably solid. $300 spent on a few details (and some tape) should see it looking a bit more pleasant a place to be. It's not ready for the scrapyard yet..t state. On the plus side, you can only make it better.eBay is a wonderful place for sellers of past it tat normally destined for the scrapyard
(I'll have to find some photos of just how bad a car can get and still be legal here..)
Campo said:
On the plus side, you can only make it better.
Hopefully I won't prove you wrong..Keep us updated, I love to see cars like this turned around.
I've just come back from CA so I know how much 2nd hand cars go for out there, it's just a shame your example is in such poor condition despite what seems to be a total bullst ebay description!
Let's hope the inop odometer isn't disguising many more miles covered than the seller claimed.
I'd say the best update you can make is some seats , they are truly awful and it isn't just sun damage,
Good luck!!
I've just come back from CA so I know how much 2nd hand cars go for out there, it's just a shame your example is in such poor condition despite what seems to be a total bulls
t ebay description!Let's hope the inop odometer isn't disguising many more miles covered than the seller claimed.
I'd say the best update you can make is some seats , they are truly awful and it isn't just sun damage,
Good luck!!
So not an entirely successful week, but progress made..
In an attempt to fit in with my US friends and colleagues, I am trying to get used to the concept of travelling larger distances to do stuff. In the Southeast UK, I’d never have considered travelling more than 10 miles to go shopping, and if I was visiting friends 20 miles away I’d have wanted to stay over. Subsequently a 250 mile journey down the M6 / M40 Lancashire to SE London was not a prospect relished.. That’s just been my framework for judging car journey distances.
Now I’m surrounded by people who think nothing of loading up their Minivan and heading off on 14 hour drives to Florida.. So I’m trying to adapt.
Which is why when my plea (on a local facebook group) for a better pair of E30 front seats got a response from a guy some way south, I decided to ignore the fact that it was ~120 miles away and go get them after work. I borrowed the wife’s aging Ford Expedition and, well, it took around 6 hours round trip and the front seats were not as good as hoped.. However, I got to visit Bardstown, KY, which is apparently both the “Bourbon Capital of the world”, and was voted “Most Beautiful small town in America” according to the sign I passed on the way into town. Everybody looked happy, not sure if that was due to the former or the latter.
So now I have these:
For $100 (~ GBP 60) + 6 hours of my life they are a definite improvement, but still have splits and cracks in the leather. But at least the leather is still there. All the mechanisms work, and unlike the seats I removed, the backrests are properly attached to the seat bases.. :-\
While they were out, I pulled the carpet back and found absolutely zero rust in the floor – though the carpet backing / under carpet insulation has baked and turned to a gravel like material.. Once I’d bolted them in, I belatedly noticed they weren’t quite the right colour, but hey.. Like I said, not a huge success!
Before I skip the old ones, I will try and take off the undamaged inner bolsters – I figure that at some point I might end up with another used set in the correct tan colour, and they’ll be likely to be showing some wear on the outer bolsters – and I’d guess they are swappable. I’ll look for a link on how to dismantle the seats without destroying them.
The nice man I bought them from seemed to have been accumulating E30s and parts for a while, but didn’t seem to have one that ran. I poked around the piles of parts but only added a small trim piece that my car was missing. (Small interior door trim piece that ideally needs to have a tweeter present, so that it would match the passenger side, but pfft – it would be easy to then have too much treble at the driver’s ear..)
I have also been busy shopping on eBay, so I now have these:
The cog set should allow me to repair the odometer (apparently a very, very common failure) from a company called Garagistic.
The bulbs should allow me to re-illuminate the OBC (on board computer).
Both of which I have foolishly put ahead of changing the timing belt..
Final achievement was that I did manage to get the car ‘titled’ (transferred to my name). I’m told this was quite an impressive achievement given that I had no receipt signed by the vendor (or at all), an out-of-state title (kind of signed over on the reverse, but by the previous out of state owner) limited additional paperwork and BMV staff renowned for their bureaucratic officious tendancies. I’m told the fact that the place is staffed 100% by women, and I had amplified the ‘British Charm’ as much as I could might have helped.. (Suspect an dashing Italian would have needed no paperwork at all..)
Anyhow, the car now sports a naff paper temporary plate, while they generate a new plate and post it to me. But at least it is legal.
[Side note: There was no option to go for a Vanity plate, as the state of Indiana is still currently having a legal battle over them, and until it is resolved they won’t issue new ones. I’m told a policeman wanted a plate that read “OINK” and they wouldn’t let him, as it might be offensive to policemen. So he sued them.] I had considered ‘BMW325c’ or ‘SHED’ but mostly because I think it would look good on my wall years later. Was worried that on the car it would just look like:
Really must sort out the insurance next, then check the health of the timing belt, see if there is any oil in the gearbox (there seems to be rather a lot under the car *near* the gearbox) touch up some of the paint where there is currently bare metal (!) etc etc...
But first I'll get the OBC to light up..
Anyone got advice on swapping an Airbag Equipped steering wheel for a much more attractive non-airbag wheel?
In an attempt to fit in with my US friends and colleagues, I am trying to get used to the concept of travelling larger distances to do stuff. In the Southeast UK, I’d never have considered travelling more than 10 miles to go shopping, and if I was visiting friends 20 miles away I’d have wanted to stay over. Subsequently a 250 mile journey down the M6 / M40 Lancashire to SE London was not a prospect relished.. That’s just been my framework for judging car journey distances.
Now I’m surrounded by people who think nothing of loading up their Minivan and heading off on 14 hour drives to Florida.. So I’m trying to adapt.
Which is why when my plea (on a local facebook group) for a better pair of E30 front seats got a response from a guy some way south, I decided to ignore the fact that it was ~120 miles away and go get them after work. I borrowed the wife’s aging Ford Expedition and, well, it took around 6 hours round trip and the front seats were not as good as hoped.. However, I got to visit Bardstown, KY, which is apparently both the “Bourbon Capital of the world”, and was voted “Most Beautiful small town in America” according to the sign I passed on the way into town. Everybody looked happy, not sure if that was due to the former or the latter.
So now I have these:
For $100 (~ GBP 60) + 6 hours of my life they are a definite improvement, but still have splits and cracks in the leather. But at least the leather is still there. All the mechanisms work, and unlike the seats I removed, the backrests are properly attached to the seat bases.. :-\
While they were out, I pulled the carpet back and found absolutely zero rust in the floor – though the carpet backing / under carpet insulation has baked and turned to a gravel like material.. Once I’d bolted them in, I belatedly noticed they weren’t quite the right colour, but hey.. Like I said, not a huge success!
Before I skip the old ones, I will try and take off the undamaged inner bolsters – I figure that at some point I might end up with another used set in the correct tan colour, and they’ll be likely to be showing some wear on the outer bolsters – and I’d guess they are swappable. I’ll look for a link on how to dismantle the seats without destroying them.
The nice man I bought them from seemed to have been accumulating E30s and parts for a while, but didn’t seem to have one that ran. I poked around the piles of parts but only added a small trim piece that my car was missing. (Small interior door trim piece that ideally needs to have a tweeter present, so that it would match the passenger side, but pfft – it would be easy to then have too much treble at the driver’s ear..)
I have also been busy shopping on eBay, so I now have these:
The cog set should allow me to repair the odometer (apparently a very, very common failure) from a company called Garagistic.
The bulbs should allow me to re-illuminate the OBC (on board computer).
Both of which I have foolishly put ahead of changing the timing belt..
Final achievement was that I did manage to get the car ‘titled’ (transferred to my name). I’m told this was quite an impressive achievement given that I had no receipt signed by the vendor (or at all), an out-of-state title (kind of signed over on the reverse, but by the previous out of state owner) limited additional paperwork and BMV staff renowned for their bureaucratic officious tendancies. I’m told the fact that the place is staffed 100% by women, and I had amplified the ‘British Charm’ as much as I could might have helped.. (Suspect an dashing Italian would have needed no paperwork at all..)
Anyhow, the car now sports a naff paper temporary plate, while they generate a new plate and post it to me. But at least it is legal.
[Side note: There was no option to go for a Vanity plate, as the state of Indiana is still currently having a legal battle over them, and until it is resolved they won’t issue new ones. I’m told a policeman wanted a plate that read “OINK” and they wouldn’t let him, as it might be offensive to policemen. So he sued them.] I had considered ‘BMW325c’ or ‘SHED’ but mostly because I think it would look good on my wall years later. Was worried that on the car it would just look like:
Really must sort out the insurance next, then check the health of the timing belt, see if there is any oil in the gearbox (there seems to be rather a lot under the car *near* the gearbox) touch up some of the paint where there is currently bare metal (!) etc etc...
But first I'll get the OBC to light up..
Anyone got advice on swapping an Airbag Equipped steering wheel for a much more attractive non-airbag wheel?
OK, apologies in advance, long and rambling update...
Car insurance is now sorted, proper Indiana license plate now fitted, high quality repair effected on the split rear screen (I splashed out on very expensive $7 sticky tape) and so I moved on to the vital jobs of fixing the back-light for the OBC and fixing the odometer.
I won't bother detailing the process for either as I think there's plenty of walkthroughs elsewhere for both. Short version is that I should probably have used LEDs for the OBC fix as it was a pig to get at the lightbar. Would hate to have to ever do it again.. People advised to either take out the whole OBC & heater control panel, or undo the OBC from the back. I kind of did a bit of both methods..
But is now lights up so I can clearly see I'm only getting 20mpg.. Yay.
The odometer repair was documented well on the website of the supplier:
http://garagistic.com/index.php?page=vdo-odometer-...
and was pretty straightforward - weird how the original cogs had turned to a soggy rich tea biscuit consistency.. I can now start accumulating miles again – I can only guess how many miles it has done while the odometer was dead.
Seats:
So last month I’d fitted the front seats I’d bought from Kentucky. They aren’t great and don’t quite match but were better than my originals. (as would have been sitting on the floor) But I still needed a rear seat and I eventually heard back from someone local who had responded to my plea for a rear bench, through an E30 Facebook group. (A new thing for me – but basically seemed to get my request seen by more than 200 E30 owners in my region. And in this region people tend to have barns. And I guess if you have and E30, and a barn, then you probably have at least one ‘parts car’. I really want a barn..)
Didn’t turn out quite as planned though as, probably through some translation issues, I ended up with half a backseat and another pair of front seats. None of which were in great condition.. but only $75 all in. I genuinely drove home wondering quite how that happened.
So from this:
To this:
But still need to replace the seat base:
After taking this photo, I at least removed all the loose and peeling trim and basically covered the bare foam in the fabric aftermarket seat cover as a temporary fix. But it looks sh*t and is high on my list for replacement.
So I also now have these spare fronts:
They may yet clean up and (with one of the headrests I kept off the original seats) might yet make it into the car.. Or get put on eBay.
On a brighter note, I've been crawling around the car and can find NO RUST. Even in the areas where the previous owner's excessive polishing has removed the paint.. I need to touch up some areas ASAP though in case I do have to use it over the winter. We had our first snow in Indiana today and they've already started salting the roads heavily..
I have also pulled the Airbag steering wheel and swapped in a Tech1 wheel (another $99 delivered) which feels and looks a lot nicer but puts the wheel slightly closer to the stalks. Don't think it's going to bug me.
The chavvy gearknob has gone too - though the replacement (ordered after a few beers off eBay) looks like its from a later BMW. It'll do for now. Apart from the heart-in-mouth dis-assembly of the airbag wheel (not messed with airbags before..) the swap resulted in an annoying degree of confusion in the onboard electronics, with the flashing "check" light refusing to go off and flashing SRS light on the overhead check panel. Another $15 got me an earlier check panel which plugged straight in and seems to have solved that:
Whilst pulling the dash apart for the OBC fix, This fell out:
Which appears to be a hardwired radar detector. It's still getting power, but had been switched to silent and wedged up behind the centre console. I assume it's pretty old, and therefore not likely to be useful (technology moved on?) but explains what this is, mounted under the rear of the car:
I should be planning the timing belt replaement, but find myself researching wheel options. 15" BBS 'basketweaves" are sadly a rare luxury on the US market (I think I only paid 200 quid for a nice set with tyres back in the UK) - so I think I want these Tecnocast US market options, thoughts please:
And thinking I'll have an attempt of smartening up the mirrors with some rattle cans:
But in the meantime it's tucked up nice and cosy in the garage:
Anyhow.. some long winter evenings ahead, should give me plenty of time to do something useful. Like that timing belt..
Car insurance is now sorted, proper Indiana license plate now fitted, high quality repair effected on the split rear screen (I splashed out on very expensive $7 sticky tape) and so I moved on to the vital jobs of fixing the back-light for the OBC and fixing the odometer.
I won't bother detailing the process for either as I think there's plenty of walkthroughs elsewhere for both. Short version is that I should probably have used LEDs for the OBC fix as it was a pig to get at the lightbar. Would hate to have to ever do it again.. People advised to either take out the whole OBC & heater control panel, or undo the OBC from the back. I kind of did a bit of both methods..
But is now lights up so I can clearly see I'm only getting 20mpg.. Yay.
The odometer repair was documented well on the website of the supplier:
http://garagistic.com/index.php?page=vdo-odometer-...
and was pretty straightforward - weird how the original cogs had turned to a soggy rich tea biscuit consistency.. I can now start accumulating miles again – I can only guess how many miles it has done while the odometer was dead.
Seats:
So last month I’d fitted the front seats I’d bought from Kentucky. They aren’t great and don’t quite match but were better than my originals. (as would have been sitting on the floor) But I still needed a rear seat and I eventually heard back from someone local who had responded to my plea for a rear bench, through an E30 Facebook group. (A new thing for me – but basically seemed to get my request seen by more than 200 E30 owners in my region. And in this region people tend to have barns. And I guess if you have and E30, and a barn, then you probably have at least one ‘parts car’. I really want a barn..)
Didn’t turn out quite as planned though as, probably through some translation issues, I ended up with half a backseat and another pair of front seats. None of which were in great condition.. but only $75 all in. I genuinely drove home wondering quite how that happened.
So from this:
To this:
But still need to replace the seat base:
After taking this photo, I at least removed all the loose and peeling trim and basically covered the bare foam in the fabric aftermarket seat cover as a temporary fix. But it looks sh*t and is high on my list for replacement.
So I also now have these spare fronts:
They may yet clean up and (with one of the headrests I kept off the original seats) might yet make it into the car.. Or get put on eBay.
On a brighter note, I've been crawling around the car and can find NO RUST. Even in the areas where the previous owner's excessive polishing has removed the paint.. I need to touch up some areas ASAP though in case I do have to use it over the winter. We had our first snow in Indiana today and they've already started salting the roads heavily..
I have also pulled the Airbag steering wheel and swapped in a Tech1 wheel (another $99 delivered) which feels and looks a lot nicer but puts the wheel slightly closer to the stalks. Don't think it's going to bug me.
The chavvy gearknob has gone too - though the replacement (ordered after a few beers off eBay) looks like its from a later BMW. It'll do for now. Apart from the heart-in-mouth dis-assembly of the airbag wheel (not messed with airbags before..) the swap resulted in an annoying degree of confusion in the onboard electronics, with the flashing "check" light refusing to go off and flashing SRS light on the overhead check panel. Another $15 got me an earlier check panel which plugged straight in and seems to have solved that:
Whilst pulling the dash apart for the OBC fix, This fell out:
Which appears to be a hardwired radar detector. It's still getting power, but had been switched to silent and wedged up behind the centre console. I assume it's pretty old, and therefore not likely to be useful (technology moved on?) but explains what this is, mounted under the rear of the car:
I should be planning the timing belt replaement, but find myself researching wheel options. 15" BBS 'basketweaves" are sadly a rare luxury on the US market (I think I only paid 200 quid for a nice set with tyres back in the UK) - so I think I want these Tecnocast US market options, thoughts please:
And thinking I'll have an attempt of smartening up the mirrors with some rattle cans:
But in the meantime it's tucked up nice and cosy in the garage:
Anyhow.. some long winter evenings ahead, should give me plenty of time to do something useful. Like that timing belt..
Thanks for the updates. An interesting car and I can understand you wanting to go back to the old E30. 
They are great cars and really good fun as a cabrio. I had one for 4 years.
Otherwise I'd rather the OEM BMW alloys it originally came on.
The alloys in question look very similar to BMW Stying 10 which I used to have an my E36 325 albeit with a deeper dish.
What's the deal with the US bumpers? Can you remove and fit Euro spec or would you rather keep the US/OEMness of it intact.
Euro bum is much sexier!
And also...what's with the 3rd brake light(??) I can see on the boot. No doubt aftermarket. Can it be removed or will it require a new boot lid (though I do think cabrios suit no rear spoiler - so two birds one stone etc)?
Keep up the good work!
They are great cars and really good fun as a cabrio. I had one for 4 years.shedtastic said:
I should be planning the timing belt replaement, but find myself researching wheel options. 15" BBS 'basketweaves" are sadly a rare luxury on the US market (I think I only paid 200 quid for a nice set with tyres back in the UK) - so I think I want these Tecnocast US market options, thoughts please:
Honestly, not my cup of tea - it has to be BBS cross spokes (or period tuner - Alpina). Otherwise I'd rather the OEM BMW alloys it originally came on.The alloys in question look very similar to BMW Stying 10 which I used to have an my E36 325 albeit with a deeper dish.
What's the deal with the US bumpers? Can you remove and fit Euro spec or would you rather keep the US/OEMness of it intact.
Euro bum is much sexier!
And also...what's with the 3rd brake light(??) I can see on the boot. No doubt aftermarket. Can it be removed or will it require a new boot lid (though I do think cabrios suit no rear spoiler - so two birds one stone etc)?
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the feedback!
Sadly the high level brake light was a standard fitment on (I think) all US E30 convertibles. Even though from behind it is almost entirely obscured by the spoiler.. I think it should at least be body colour, but since it was plastic, it probably faded badly and so was repainted.
The Euro bumpers certainly look much better. Much, much better. But I think all E30's here up to 1991 (ish) had the 'diving board' impact bumpers, so the plastic bumpers fitted to the last 'verts are quite sought after and go for $500-$600 in good condition. In fact they seem to go for $500 even in crappy condition. Then you've most likely got to get them painted, so it would end up being a $1000 upgrade on a car that was supposed to be cheap fun.
Some people here do 'tuck' the impact bumpers in a bit more, to lessen the god-awfulness of them. It seems they just drill holes in the oil filled 'dampers' behind the bumper and then drive / reverse into a wall until the desired effect is achieved. I have yet to form an opinion on that 'look'. I would worry it might just make the car look 'pre-crashed'..
As for the wheels, I think they are referred to as Style 10's. Apparently they were an option on US E30s. I like the deep dish, but BBS spokes are probably the way to go. 14"would be right, but I might be able to rely on the sag in the 25 year old suspension to make 15" look acceptable..
Sadly the high level brake light was a standard fitment on (I think) all US E30 convertibles. Even though from behind it is almost entirely obscured by the spoiler.. I think it should at least be body colour, but since it was plastic, it probably faded badly and so was repainted.
The Euro bumpers certainly look much better. Much, much better. But I think all E30's here up to 1991 (ish) had the 'diving board' impact bumpers, so the plastic bumpers fitted to the last 'verts are quite sought after and go for $500-$600 in good condition. In fact they seem to go for $500 even in crappy condition. Then you've most likely got to get them painted, so it would end up being a $1000 upgrade on a car that was supposed to be cheap fun.
Some people here do 'tuck' the impact bumpers in a bit more, to lessen the god-awfulness of them. It seems they just drill holes in the oil filled 'dampers' behind the bumper and then drive / reverse into a wall until the desired effect is achieved. I have yet to form an opinion on that 'look'. I would worry it might just make the car look 'pre-crashed'..
As for the wheels, I think they are referred to as Style 10's. Apparently they were an option on US E30s. I like the deep dish, but BBS spokes are probably the way to go. 14"would be right, but I might be able to rely on the sag in the 25 year old suspension to make 15" look acceptable..
shedtastic said:
Thanks for the feedback!
Sadly the high level brake light was a standard fitment on (I think) all US E30 convertibles. Even though from behind it is almost entirely obscured by the spoiler.. I think it should at least be body colour, but since it was plastic, it probably faded badly and so was repainted.
The Euro bumpers certainly look much better. Much, much better. But I think all E30's here up to 1991 (ish) had the 'diving board' impact bumpers, so the plastic bumpers fitted to the last 'verts are quite sought after and go for $500-$600 in good condition. In fact they seem to go for $500 even in crappy condition. Then you've most likely got to get them painted, so it would end up being a $1000 upgrade on a car that was supposed to be cheap fun.
Some people here do 'tuck' the impact bumpers in a bit more, to lessen the god-awfulness of them. It seems they just drill holes in the oil filled 'dampers' behind the bumper and then drive / reverse into a wall until the desired effect is achieved. I have yet to form an opinion on that 'look'. I would worry it might just make the car look 'pre-crashed'..
As for the wheels, I think they are referred to as Style 10's. Apparently they were an option on US E30s. I like the deep dish, but BBS spokes are probably the way to go. 14"would be right, but I might be able to rely on the sag in the 25 year old suspension to make 15" look acceptable..
The brake light looks like such an afterthought doesn't it? Ruins the clean lines of the E30 as does the spoiler (is that OEM? It looks awfully big). In your position I'd be getting rid of all that stuff with a new bootlid (easier said than done - and more £££).Sadly the high level brake light was a standard fitment on (I think) all US E30 convertibles. Even though from behind it is almost entirely obscured by the spoiler.. I think it should at least be body colour, but since it was plastic, it probably faded badly and so was repainted.
The Euro bumpers certainly look much better. Much, much better. But I think all E30's here up to 1991 (ish) had the 'diving board' impact bumpers, so the plastic bumpers fitted to the last 'verts are quite sought after and go for $500-$600 in good condition. In fact they seem to go for $500 even in crappy condition. Then you've most likely got to get them painted, so it would end up being a $1000 upgrade on a car that was supposed to be cheap fun.
Some people here do 'tuck' the impact bumpers in a bit more, to lessen the god-awfulness of them. It seems they just drill holes in the oil filled 'dampers' behind the bumper and then drive / reverse into a wall until the desired effect is achieved. I have yet to form an opinion on that 'look'. I would worry it might just make the car look 'pre-crashed'..
As for the wheels, I think they are referred to as Style 10's. Apparently they were an option on US E30s. I like the deep dish, but BBS spokes are probably the way to go. 14"would be right, but I might be able to rely on the sag in the 25 year old suspension to make 15" look acceptable..
I'm not surprised that the Euro spec bumpers are desirable and expensive. The E30 in cabrio form is actually a very elegant car in profile. I have to say, the US bumpers make me sad.
Re the alloys. Yes, Styling 10 as mentioned in my post. I think they are a touch too modern for the E30. BBS cross spokes are the original and classic choice. For the 325i should be 15 inch with 205/55 tyres (recommendations in my handbook and what I had on my white cabrio as above).
BritVsRedneck said:
Christ! For the cost to make it Euro, you could import an authentic European E30!
Rust and all..I was supposed to be making lots of progress over winter. I have not. I did move on the spare front seats, for the same money I paid for them (so the part of the rear seat that I gained was effectively free..)
I also got around to tidying up one mirror - but have yet to do the other. I couldn't bring myself to pay $35 + P&P for a rattle can of the correct official BMW shade, so used a can of Nissan red that I had lying around. I figured I was going to screw it up anyhow, and besides even if I'd used the right BMW shade, how close a match would it be to the 25 year old surrounding paint..
And today I bought some used wheels & tyres that I think will look pretty good on it. Not the BBS 15" I would have liked, but nice condition and pretty good tyres. According to the listing they are "15x7 TRmotorsport C1's 4x100 +25 offset with 205/50r15 BFG rivals":
There's a chance I might have a go at some local autotest type events this summer, so the sticky tyres might come in useful. They certainly won't be going on the car until the weather warms up.
Or until I've done the timing belt..
Edited by shedtastic on Sunday 18th January 23:49
So the snow is melting, the rain has washed much of the salt away and the temperature in the garage has got above freezing so I finally got the eBay replacement exhaust fitted. I replaced the rubber isolators (again with bits from eBay – but they look like pretty good representations of the originals..) but decided to reuse the rear muffler straps, weird ‘gasket’ & bolts at the inlet. The straps cleaned up okay and I gave them a couple of coats of paint (which was probably pointless, but was quite therapeutic and put off having to squeeze under the car for a bit longer.)
The (“Made in Taiwan”) exhaust cost $114 delivered to my house, and looked like a reasonable approximation of the original (but then what are the odds that the Bosal one coming off the car was OEM, at 25 years old?):
The architecture and all the pipe diameters seemed similar, but the flanges were clearly cheaper method of manufacture.. Plus, pulling off some of the labels, sticky tape and packaging did result in some of the paint coming off! But c’mon – what can you expect for 75 quid delivered?
It went on without much complaining and doesn't look too shabby, no leaks anyhow.. Also have some other wheels fitted, which are light and have nice summer tyres – but they don’t look right:
(In fact I think they look quite good from all angles EXCEPT directly side on. It might just be that the tyres are too low profile for the [only] 15” wheels..)
So I’ll be getting these refurbished and put on, I like the deep dish and OEM goodness..:
Then it’s just fix the oil leak and do the timing belt..
Oh, and the E39 has been sold and replaced by something with 205bhp, LSD, ~1300kg. Sound like an E30 M3? Well its not - its a US spec Honda Civic..
The (“Made in Taiwan”) exhaust cost $114 delivered to my house, and looked like a reasonable approximation of the original (but then what are the odds that the Bosal one coming off the car was OEM, at 25 years old?):
The architecture and all the pipe diameters seemed similar, but the flanges were clearly cheaper method of manufacture.. Plus, pulling off some of the labels, sticky tape and packaging did result in some of the paint coming off! But c’mon – what can you expect for 75 quid delivered?
It went on without much complaining and doesn't look too shabby, no leaks anyhow.. Also have some other wheels fitted, which are light and have nice summer tyres – but they don’t look right:
(In fact I think they look quite good from all angles EXCEPT directly side on. It might just be that the tyres are too low profile for the [only] 15” wheels..)
So I’ll be getting these refurbished and put on, I like the deep dish and OEM goodness..:
Then it’s just fix the oil leak and do the timing belt..
Oh, and the E39 has been sold and replaced by something with 205bhp, LSD, ~1300kg. Sound like an E30 M3? Well its not - its a US spec Honda Civic..
Edited by shedtastic on Tuesday 24th March 02:41
Goodness, it's been four years since I last updated this. I think it's somewhat depressing to think how little progress I've made in that period, but I guess I can take solace in simply having kept the car running and driving , and in a probably comparable condition..
Will post an update this weekend. It's interesting that in that time, 2-door E30's have continued to rise in value, but only really mint low-mileage convertibles have moved out of the sub-$3k bracket.. (and mine will never be described as mint!)
Will post an update this weekend. It's interesting that in that time, 2-door E30's have continued to rise in value, but only really mint low-mileage convertibles have moved out of the sub-$3k bracket.. (and mine will never be described as mint!)
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