e30 325i Sport M-Tech1
Discussion
Tri_Doc said:
helix402 said:
LanceRS said:
My memory tells me that it would have a simple 325i badge rather than an M badge.
Correct, unless it was ordered sans boot badge.option 320: model designation, deletion
Perhaps all the more of an arguement for leaving it off...
Caddyshack said:
My one had the M badge.
They were all the rage, but there were add ons:https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php?title=32...
I’ve got one in my tool box where it belongs!
And a period sticker on the outside:
So. All the hard work is done, Spencer and his team at BMP Conversions have checked everything over and the MOT is booked for tomorrow morning.
Kindly, his team washed the old girl and to my immense surprise and delight, the horrible discolouration on the wheels came off and they’ve come up like new.
It’s only now the crud from 14 years dry storage has been washed off that it’s clear quite how lucky I’ve been with this car in terms of it’s condition. I know that as things loosen up on the road other jobs will become apparent, bushes being top of that list most likely, but I can’t wait to get behind the wheel.
My father in law confirmed this evening that I was the last person to drive the car, back in the summer of 2005, before she was put back into the garage that year. With the MOT result looming, I feel a bit like I did the night before receiving my A-level results back in 2003 and I’m not sure if it’s 90% excitement and 10% nerves or the other way around.
Either way, the car is in the best shape possible at this stage for the MOT, it’s stunning, I’m jacked and won’t sleep a wink and can’t wait.
Kindly, his team washed the old girl and to my immense surprise and delight, the horrible discolouration on the wheels came off and they’ve come up like new.
It’s only now the crud from 14 years dry storage has been washed off that it’s clear quite how lucky I’ve been with this car in terms of it’s condition. I know that as things loosen up on the road other jobs will become apparent, bushes being top of that list most likely, but I can’t wait to get behind the wheel.
My father in law confirmed this evening that I was the last person to drive the car, back in the summer of 2005, before she was put back into the garage that year. With the MOT result looming, I feel a bit like I did the night before receiving my A-level results back in 2003 and I’m not sure if it’s 90% excitement and 10% nerves or the other way around.
Either way, the car is in the best shape possible at this stage for the MOT, it’s stunning, I’m jacked and won’t sleep a wink and can’t wait.
outnumbered said:
The gov.uk site says it passed !
Top stalking!!She passed!!!!!! then the brake master cylinder detonated on the way back from the test centre. An overnight part has been ordered so collection hopefully pushed back no later than early afternoon tomorrow if all goes smoothly.
Wasn't expecting to be sitting here typing this update. Crushing disappointment sadly, but some positives to be had.
Collection day yesterday - I had the phone call at 3.30pm to say the brake master cylinder had been fitted, the car had been road-tested and was working perfectly. The car was ready for collection.
My wife ran me down to the garage and there stood her old family car, the car her parents had made her polish as a kid to earn pocket money, the car that she'd helped rub trim restorer into the various parts of body/interior over the years to help keep things in good condition. After a chat with Spencer, discussing the latest work, we had a quick handover - It's very helpful to be told little snippits of information about the e30 when i'm not familiar with them - not letting them idle for a while without moving or allowing them to get hot in traffic being the big one - cracked cylinder heads were notorious back on these in the day - something you just don't know unless someone tells you. I then set off for home. Car starts on the turn of the key. Lovely.
Anyway. Car looked resplendent:
First impressions?
1) Wow, the stearing rack is slooooooow. I was very surprised by that, as this is supposed to be a sporty car, and I know a popular modification was to add a Z3 or e36 rack to these, and I can see why, it feels like you're trying to turn a bus at low speeds. I'm not going to modify this, but it jumped out at me before I left the compound.
2) Its comfy. Really comfy. Coming from a modern golf estate, the ride is like a magic carpet compared to that. The 55 profile wheels obviously help, also down the line i'll need to replace the worn rubber bushings, but its still deliciously soft on first impressions, without bobbing around on rebound or obviously rolling in the corners.
3) THAT ENGINE.
4) THAT ENGINE when you add revs.
5) It feels like a 32yr old car. I'm not sure what I expected, but that honestly surprised me a little.
Moving on. As I pulled out onto the A47, taking my time, being VERY gentle with the car, I notice the fuel gauge reading below empty - not initially surprising, as I knew there was a new tank on the car, so figured the team at BMP had put just enough in to get me to a local forecourt. I pulled into BP on the A47, splash in £11.14 of super unleaded (FACTFANS: I wanted to put in £10 then head to Shell to brim with v-power, but missed the click on the pump). Time to take a quick picture from the queue:
Get back into the car. It turns but won't fire. Oh s••t. Get out, check receipt. Thank God, I did put petrol and not diesel in it. Get back in. Turns, no firing. Hmmm. I called BMP - "Spencer is out on a test drive in another customer vehicle, he will be with you shortly"
He then turns up in the sexiest recovery vehicle I've ever seen. A full carbon bodied E30 M3 with e46 running gear putting out 380bhp (ish). What a machine. Anyway, gave me something to look at while the chaps were under the bonnet:
They found the issue was a melted relay.
The other odd thing was a slight smell of burning and a VERY VERY hot coil pack.
The car fired up ok once we replaced the relay with another from the fuse box, and back we went the 5 miles to the workshop. The team set about swapping out the relay and coil pack for a new unit and to fault find to get to the bottom of why we now had a fuel gauge that wasn't reading (the team had put in £14 of fuel that wasn't even registering on the clocks), a very hot coil pack and melting relays, but also to investigate the smell.
Meanwhile, I poured over the customer car that had rescued me from the BP garage:
I also discovered the largest tub of swarfega I've ever seen in the back of the workshop.
Out came the heater covers, to get to the bottom of the smell. Evidence suddenly became apparent as to what might have caused the electrical issues....
With this nest successfully cleaned out, the clocks were removed, to check the 8mm bolt on the back that can apparently loosen to cause issues with the fuel gauge. No issue there. Check the small batteries in the clocks, to see if they're the original long acid filled batteries that can leak over the circuit boards in the clocks. No issue there. Out come the back seats, to check the fuel sender in the tank....
And this is how I left it. The wife came back to collect me, complete with 1 & 3 yr olds, the older of which shouting "TO THE RESCUE" as she jumped out of the car. Helpfully adding "daddy, why is your car broken?"....
So. Evidence of electrical overheating, signs of mice (parents-in-law did set traps in the garage and had a cat which was a prolific mouser, but this might not have been enough) and a close call with an issue that could have caused an electrical fire. A 'bonding experience' as one friend put it! I feel a bit sorry for Spencer as he was incredibly apologetic about the whole thing - he'd never want a car to leave the workshop and return so quickly. Nothing had been an issue on the test drives and to/from MOT or to get fuel for the car, so they were as surprised as I was.
A bit of a wait is in store while an auto-electrical engineer gets to work on diagnosing the fault.
Ending impressions? I LOVE THE CAR, and want another fix of that engine and have a bit of a wait before I can test out the upper reaches of that rev range. Good things come to those who wait.....
Collection day yesterday - I had the phone call at 3.30pm to say the brake master cylinder had been fitted, the car had been road-tested and was working perfectly. The car was ready for collection.
My wife ran me down to the garage and there stood her old family car, the car her parents had made her polish as a kid to earn pocket money, the car that she'd helped rub trim restorer into the various parts of body/interior over the years to help keep things in good condition. After a chat with Spencer, discussing the latest work, we had a quick handover - It's very helpful to be told little snippits of information about the e30 when i'm not familiar with them - not letting them idle for a while without moving or allowing them to get hot in traffic being the big one - cracked cylinder heads were notorious back on these in the day - something you just don't know unless someone tells you. I then set off for home. Car starts on the turn of the key. Lovely.
Anyway. Car looked resplendent:
First impressions?
1) Wow, the stearing rack is slooooooow. I was very surprised by that, as this is supposed to be a sporty car, and I know a popular modification was to add a Z3 or e36 rack to these, and I can see why, it feels like you're trying to turn a bus at low speeds. I'm not going to modify this, but it jumped out at me before I left the compound.
2) Its comfy. Really comfy. Coming from a modern golf estate, the ride is like a magic carpet compared to that. The 55 profile wheels obviously help, also down the line i'll need to replace the worn rubber bushings, but its still deliciously soft on first impressions, without bobbing around on rebound or obviously rolling in the corners.
3) THAT ENGINE.
4) THAT ENGINE when you add revs.
5) It feels like a 32yr old car. I'm not sure what I expected, but that honestly surprised me a little.
Moving on. As I pulled out onto the A47, taking my time, being VERY gentle with the car, I notice the fuel gauge reading below empty - not initially surprising, as I knew there was a new tank on the car, so figured the team at BMP had put just enough in to get me to a local forecourt. I pulled into BP on the A47, splash in £11.14 of super unleaded (FACTFANS: I wanted to put in £10 then head to Shell to brim with v-power, but missed the click on the pump). Time to take a quick picture from the queue:
Get back into the car. It turns but won't fire. Oh s••t. Get out, check receipt. Thank God, I did put petrol and not diesel in it. Get back in. Turns, no firing. Hmmm. I called BMP - "Spencer is out on a test drive in another customer vehicle, he will be with you shortly"
He then turns up in the sexiest recovery vehicle I've ever seen. A full carbon bodied E30 M3 with e46 running gear putting out 380bhp (ish). What a machine. Anyway, gave me something to look at while the chaps were under the bonnet:
They found the issue was a melted relay.
The other odd thing was a slight smell of burning and a VERY VERY hot coil pack.
The car fired up ok once we replaced the relay with another from the fuse box, and back we went the 5 miles to the workshop. The team set about swapping out the relay and coil pack for a new unit and to fault find to get to the bottom of why we now had a fuel gauge that wasn't reading (the team had put in £14 of fuel that wasn't even registering on the clocks), a very hot coil pack and melting relays, but also to investigate the smell.
Meanwhile, I poured over the customer car that had rescued me from the BP garage:
I also discovered the largest tub of swarfega I've ever seen in the back of the workshop.
Out came the heater covers, to get to the bottom of the smell. Evidence suddenly became apparent as to what might have caused the electrical issues....
With this nest successfully cleaned out, the clocks were removed, to check the 8mm bolt on the back that can apparently loosen to cause issues with the fuel gauge. No issue there. Check the small batteries in the clocks, to see if they're the original long acid filled batteries that can leak over the circuit boards in the clocks. No issue there. Out come the back seats, to check the fuel sender in the tank....
And this is how I left it. The wife came back to collect me, complete with 1 & 3 yr olds, the older of which shouting "TO THE RESCUE" as she jumped out of the car. Helpfully adding "daddy, why is your car broken?"....
So. Evidence of electrical overheating, signs of mice (parents-in-law did set traps in the garage and had a cat which was a prolific mouser, but this might not have been enough) and a close call with an issue that could have caused an electrical fire. A 'bonding experience' as one friend put it! I feel a bit sorry for Spencer as he was incredibly apologetic about the whole thing - he'd never want a car to leave the workshop and return so quickly. Nothing had been an issue on the test drives and to/from MOT or to get fuel for the car, so they were as surprised as I was.
A bit of a wait is in store while an auto-electrical engineer gets to work on diagnosing the fault.
Ending impressions? I LOVE THE CAR, and want another fix of that engine and have a bit of a wait before I can test out the upper reaches of that rev range. Good things come to those who wait.....
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