e30 325i Sport M-Tech1
Discussion
To update, Footman James gave me a seriously good quote for an agreed value, allowing some brilliantly clearly priced extras such as: drive to work, trackdays, scrap salvage etc. All clearly priced and good value.
Back in France, my parents-in-law have been prepping the car for collection, assembling all the little bits together - keys, alloy locks, paperwork, but also checking additional bits like making sure the original tool kit is all intact in the boot.
I can't help but agree with the text on the keyring. Fortunate indeed.
Even kind enough to wash the car cover for me.
Tyres all pumped up, ready to be winched onto the trailer and brought back home"
Excited doesn't really do it justice. It will need plenty of work, seeing that the last time it fired up was 2005, but new belts, pumps, plugs, fluids, tyres, filters etc and a good check over all the rubber/bushes should create a list of work that can then be sorted out over this coming summer/winter so hopefully by next spring she'll be one of the best and most original in the UK.
I’m also keen to know if anyone has any tyre suggestions. The car is on 205/55/15 which make performance choices a little limited. Any suggestions would be welcome!
Back in France, my parents-in-law have been prepping the car for collection, assembling all the little bits together - keys, alloy locks, paperwork, but also checking additional bits like making sure the original tool kit is all intact in the boot.
I can't help but agree with the text on the keyring. Fortunate indeed.
Even kind enough to wash the car cover for me.
Tyres all pumped up, ready to be winched onto the trailer and brought back home"
Excited doesn't really do it justice. It will need plenty of work, seeing that the last time it fired up was 2005, but new belts, pumps, plugs, fluids, tyres, filters etc and a good check over all the rubber/bushes should create a list of work that can then be sorted out over this coming summer/winter so hopefully by next spring she'll be one of the best and most original in the UK.
I’m also keen to know if anyone has any tyre suggestions. The car is on 205/55/15 which make performance choices a little limited. Any suggestions would be welcome!
Edited by Tri_Doc on Thursday 13th June 11:27
Tri_Doc said:
It will need plenty of work...that can then be sorted out over this coming summer/winter so hopefully by next spring 2022 she'll be one of the best and most original in the UK.
EFA - looks much better than expected so I've knocked a year off for you. Edited by TheInternet on Monday 17th June 22:19
You're going to have such fun. About 11 years ago I bought an Alpine White 318i Lux saloon from Manchester and ran it for 3 years. What a terrific car that was and the extra power and poise in your model can only make it more exciting. I foresee a Readers Car of the Week thread in your future. Keep us updated please.
Update time. I'm exhausted.
33hrs driving/ferry time in 48hrs. We departed from the excellent Wallis rentals in a very basic spec car transporter (who specs a long distance vehicle without air conditioning or cruise control??) at 4pm on Friday. Typically hitting M25 in full rush hour mode, we made out 8.15pm ferry crossing only to find bus loads of French kids, all fired up with haribo and monster energy drinks charging around the boat, prohibiting any possibility of a sleep on the crossing. Now I know why the tunnel is nearly 3x more expensive - economy of peace and quiet....
We were treated to a superb sunset over the white cliffs as we left England for France.
Having driven 3hrs to get to the Ferry, and arriving in France at 10.30pm, my trusty old satnav showed just what a proposition the drive that night was going to be.
As it was, we got stuck into the long shift driving, my friend James doing the first stint, with me waking up in a services just outside Paris, with severe back ache from trying to sleep in a fully upright seat. Oddly, the van then lost all its headlights for about 40 minutes, through Paris, after we encountered a full deluge of rain. I reported back to the company at drop off and he said "thats odd, its usually the indicators", so the van clearly had electrical gremlins hid in it somewhere. Frustratingly, without cruise, the van was really struggling to stay anywhere near 85mph limits on the autoroutes, so we had to consider this for our return journey with the added weight of the car.
We arrived in Lavit at 9am on Saturday morning. Exhausted. We then tucked into a breakfast of multiple pain-au-chocolats and a Kronenbourg red, before heading to bed for 4 hours and waking up at 2pm to give us time to load the car, for James to be taken out in my Father-In-Law's new toy and leaving enough time for us to enjoy a superb supper of fresh prawns and duck.
Then came the time to dig out the car from the garage and load it onto the trailer. The open deck of the car transporter allowed us to seriously inspect the underside of the car for the first time. It was even better than I could have hoped for.
Closer inspection revealed quite how tidy the bodywork and other parts of the car were.
Loading the car went very well and pretty quickly we were able to use the boot on the e30 to put it to good use in typical dash across the channel style
We then enjoyed an amusing hand-over ceremony
Before hitting the road, only 8.5hrs after arriving in the south of France, to return to the UK. Leaving in its place the corgi toy as a memento.
The journey back was much easier knowing the precious cargo was safely strapped on the back of the transporter
We then headed back to Cambridge to collect James's car, I then headed on to Beeston to drop the car with Spencer at BMP Conversions to look over the car and quote for the important work like belts and tasked him with firing it up and getting it through an MOT, after 14years since it was last started and a quite frightening 19 years since it was last given an oil change.....
The great news is that the shell is solid, straight and original. It's going to be quite a car to enjoy. Work starts tomorrow and i'm hoping to be able to report back some initial impressions of the car in short order. I'm off to bed to catch up on some sleep. I can't work out if its the redbull or excitement thats stopping me feeling tired.
33hrs driving/ferry time in 48hrs. We departed from the excellent Wallis rentals in a very basic spec car transporter (who specs a long distance vehicle without air conditioning or cruise control??) at 4pm on Friday. Typically hitting M25 in full rush hour mode, we made out 8.15pm ferry crossing only to find bus loads of French kids, all fired up with haribo and monster energy drinks charging around the boat, prohibiting any possibility of a sleep on the crossing. Now I know why the tunnel is nearly 3x more expensive - economy of peace and quiet....
We were treated to a superb sunset over the white cliffs as we left England for France.
Having driven 3hrs to get to the Ferry, and arriving in France at 10.30pm, my trusty old satnav showed just what a proposition the drive that night was going to be.
As it was, we got stuck into the long shift driving, my friend James doing the first stint, with me waking up in a services just outside Paris, with severe back ache from trying to sleep in a fully upright seat. Oddly, the van then lost all its headlights for about 40 minutes, through Paris, after we encountered a full deluge of rain. I reported back to the company at drop off and he said "thats odd, its usually the indicators", so the van clearly had electrical gremlins hid in it somewhere. Frustratingly, without cruise, the van was really struggling to stay anywhere near 85mph limits on the autoroutes, so we had to consider this for our return journey with the added weight of the car.
We arrived in Lavit at 9am on Saturday morning. Exhausted. We then tucked into a breakfast of multiple pain-au-chocolats and a Kronenbourg red, before heading to bed for 4 hours and waking up at 2pm to give us time to load the car, for James to be taken out in my Father-In-Law's new toy and leaving enough time for us to enjoy a superb supper of fresh prawns and duck.
Then came the time to dig out the car from the garage and load it onto the trailer. The open deck of the car transporter allowed us to seriously inspect the underside of the car for the first time. It was even better than I could have hoped for.
Closer inspection revealed quite how tidy the bodywork and other parts of the car were.
Loading the car went very well and pretty quickly we were able to use the boot on the e30 to put it to good use in typical dash across the channel style
We then enjoyed an amusing hand-over ceremony
Before hitting the road, only 8.5hrs after arriving in the south of France, to return to the UK. Leaving in its place the corgi toy as a memento.
The journey back was much easier knowing the precious cargo was safely strapped on the back of the transporter
We then headed back to Cambridge to collect James's car, I then headed on to Beeston to drop the car with Spencer at BMP Conversions to look over the car and quote for the important work like belts and tasked him with firing it up and getting it through an MOT, after 14years since it was last started and a quite frightening 19 years since it was last given an oil change.....
The great news is that the shell is solid, straight and original. It's going to be quite a car to enjoy. Work starts tomorrow and i'm hoping to be able to report back some initial impressions of the car in short order. I'm off to bed to catch up on some sleep. I can't work out if its the redbull or excitement thats stopping me feeling tired.
What a lucky find!
Original unrestored E30 325i Sports, especially tech 1's are almost impossible to find!
100% needs to be kept original and looking at the pics its not going to take much to bring it up to scratch with some sympathetic cleaning of the underside along with replacing the rubber components.
Serial E30 owner here and still have three of them including a tech 2 sport ive owned 13 years.
Looking forward to the progress!
205 55 15 tyres are limited in what you can get but Goodyear are about the best they do in that size.
Original unrestored E30 325i Sports, especially tech 1's are almost impossible to find!
100% needs to be kept original and looking at the pics its not going to take much to bring it up to scratch with some sympathetic cleaning of the underside along with replacing the rubber components.
Serial E30 owner here and still have three of them including a tech 2 sport ive owned 13 years.
Looking forward to the progress!
205 55 15 tyres are limited in what you can get but Goodyear are about the best they do in that size.
The Sytner Nottingham keyrings and the like bring back a lot of very happy memories. When I was a wee lad my dad had a few through Sytner before we moved away from Nottingham. I still remember the showroom now, their old site before they moved to Lenton Lane. His last from Sytner nottingham was an E36 in 1995.
That's a lovely car, and not that far from where my good lady has family, either. We're off there next week. Lovely part of France.
You'll love the car. E30s are really special, and one so original is a near impossible find. The M20 is a very charming engine, and could still teach a thing or two to new engines around these days. Nothing smoother than an old BMW 6-cyl.
That's a lovely car, and not that far from where my good lady has family, either. We're off there next week. Lovely part of France.
You'll love the car. E30s are really special, and one so original is a near impossible find. The M20 is a very charming engine, and could still teach a thing or two to new engines around these days. Nothing smoother than an old BMW 6-cyl.
What a lovely thing and a lovely gesture from the FIL! Standard E30s in good fettle are a great drive, with the only real bugbear being the hopelessly slow steering rack. Whilst there are plenty of ways of replacing the rack for something better (normally Z3 / E46 rack conversions), a Tech 1 in such clean condition deserves to remain original. Congratulations on your acquisition!
Tech 1 >> Tech 2
Tech 1 >> Tech 2
I echo all the comments above, that looks very good. Well done, a rare find today!
For tyres, to add to the mix I am currently running Yokohama Fleva V701 on my touring with success. I did a road trip to Scotland (from Cornwall) a few months back with some like minded individuals in all weathers and all types of driving with no complaints. I use their AD08r's on the M3 which are superb but unfortunately the last time I looked they weren't avaliable in 205 55 15.
Congratulations on the car again! ( cough....keep it OEM!)
For tyres, to add to the mix I am currently running Yokohama Fleva V701 on my touring with success. I did a road trip to Scotland (from Cornwall) a few months back with some like minded individuals in all weathers and all types of driving with no complaints. I use their AD08r's on the M3 which are superb but unfortunately the last time I looked they weren't avaliable in 205 55 15.
Congratulations on the car again! ( cough....keep it OEM!)
mark.c said:
I echo all the comments above, that looks very good. Well done, a rare find today!
For tyres, to add to the mix I am currently running Yokohama Fleva V701 on my touring with success. I did a road trip to Scotland (from Cornwall) a few months back with some like minded individuals in all weathers and all types of driving with no complaints. I use their AD08r's on the M3 which are superb but unfortunately the last time I looked they weren't avaliable in 205 55 15.
Congratulations on the car again! ( cough....keep it OEM!)
I've just ordered a set of these V701's as I couldn't find much in that size at all. Good to have a real opinion on them, thanks!For tyres, to add to the mix I am currently running Yokohama Fleva V701 on my touring with success. I did a road trip to Scotland (from Cornwall) a few months back with some like minded individuals in all weathers and all types of driving with no complaints. I use their AD08r's on the M3 which are superb but unfortunately the last time I looked they weren't avaliable in 205 55 15.
Congratulations on the car again! ( cough....keep it OEM!)
So, we’re 14 man hours into getting the car ready to be started for the first time in 14 years. Progressing well, but already the evidence of being sat and not run and not serviced is making itself known.....
This is the thermostat etc:
This is why you don’t just jump in and try to start a car that has been sitting.
This is the thermostat etc:
This is why you don’t just jump in and try to start a car that has been sitting.
Little bit of an update. Thankfully the car is solid. The majority of the service items are now complete. The plan was to fire it up on Saturday, but on inspection of the fuel tank, the standing fuel and constant warming/cooling and subsequent consdensation + separation of fuel and water had rusted the bottom and top of the tank.
As such, a replacement has been ordered from Germany and will hopefully be arriving anytime between 1-11th July. Once that is fitted, we can fire her up for the first time since 2005 and run to temp and see what happens. Then drop the oil and replace the filter and put in some fresh stuff to head out to the MOT and see what is what.
It will need rear beam bushes doing, so the possibility of then removing all the underside of the suspension, sending it off for powder coating and rebushing the lot has already been discussed. This might have to wait because we've already used up the budget i'd saved for this job. Anyway, like a good episode of Grand Designs, if it hasn't taken twice as long and gone twice over budget, is it even a project?
As such, a replacement has been ordered from Germany and will hopefully be arriving anytime between 1-11th July. Once that is fitted, we can fire her up for the first time since 2005 and run to temp and see what happens. Then drop the oil and replace the filter and put in some fresh stuff to head out to the MOT and see what is what.
It will need rear beam bushes doing, so the possibility of then removing all the underside of the suspension, sending it off for powder coating and rebushing the lot has already been discussed. This might have to wait because we've already used up the budget i'd saved for this job. Anyway, like a good episode of Grand Designs, if it hasn't taken twice as long and gone twice over budget, is it even a project?
That's great news that it's solid and nearly at a point where you can fire it up, very exciting.
A word of caution ref the powder coating ...these things can get out of hand very quickly. I took my E12 M535i off the road to do some light suspension restoration, powder coating and the like. It didn't really need a lot as it's a sub 50k car, no rot, always garaged etc but once one piece looks nice i found it impossible to put a grotty bit back on......That was two years ago and a few £k later it's still not quite done! It depends how ocd you are and how quick you want to drive it but my advice would be get it MOT'd and enjoy it before pulling apart. Unless of course you can show some level of restraint in which case ignore everything I just said
A word of caution ref the powder coating ...these things can get out of hand very quickly. I took my E12 M535i off the road to do some light suspension restoration, powder coating and the like. It didn't really need a lot as it's a sub 50k car, no rot, always garaged etc but once one piece looks nice i found it impossible to put a grotty bit back on......That was two years ago and a few £k later it's still not quite done! It depends how ocd you are and how quick you want to drive it but my advice would be get it MOT'd and enjoy it before pulling apart. Unless of course you can show some level of restraint in which case ignore everything I just said
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