DirtE30 - 1990 BMW 325i

[Senor_Taylor]

Look at me, I've done it again. I've replaced my old and broken car with one that is older, more broken, and more full of spiders. I had decided when I was selling the miata that I would get something cheap for the winter and it eventually boiled down to whatever Civic Hatch or E30 I found first for a good price. I've been prowling craigslist for a week or 2 and found nothing but ETAs, but there was an 325i with the new bumpers in culpepper. I e-mailed them on Monday, and they got back to me today. I left work, got Zach to meet me at home, and we went down to Culpepper to look at it... in the dark. 

The exterior looked great for the price and he explained he had actually bought the car from one of his friends, a Spec E30 racer with NASA-MA. It was supposed to be a parts car because the motor was shot, but he decided the body was too clean to waste. He pulled the heads and reworked them, did a headgasket, water pump, and timing belt while he was at it, and even installed a full OEM exhaust. He claims the cylinder walls still had the cross hatching. I look the car over and get it. It fires right up, but the TOB makes an awful noise, but that's minor for the price. The interior is.... less than desirable. The passenger seat is essentially gone, the radio is gone, the rear seat looks like a frosted mini wheat, and there is at least 1000 spiders living inside there. The dash lights don't work, and neither does the speedometer, but all 4 windows roll up and so does the power sunroof and mirrors! 

We putter out of his driveway and the shifter feels better than I expected, but it still feels like a wooden spoon in a bowl of mashed potatoes. I make my way out of his little neighborhood in the woods guided by the pulsing headlights (I'm assuming alternator), and he finds me a straight road to stretch its legs. I dropped a gear, and floored the accelerator and the car sprung to life with no qualms, all 6 cylinders roaring up to speed. The steering was smooth, the suspension was calm, and everything was right with the world. We discussed some of the quirks of the car and the work he had done and made it back to his house. I manged to talk him down about $400 and we signed the papers while his girlfriend made ravioli. Zach and I traded driving the 4Runner and Ellen the E30 once on the long drive once and we discovered this thing has power locks! In a 1990!!!! 

The drive home was relaxed with country music playing from my phone speakers, no idea how much gas I had or the engine temp since the lights were out, and my left arm got sore from wrestling the pull to the side (he just replaced both control arms and didn't align it). We got home, parked it in a visitor's spot, and I ran back by the bank because I also lost my debit card today and I think I left it in the ATM machine like an idiot. 

Details
1990 BMW 325i Sedan
162,XXX on the odometer (Not correct)
Fresh Headwork, Head gasket, Timing belt, water pump, Lower Control arms
Limited Slip Diff
Power locks, mirrors, windows, sunroof
Seems to be extremely rust free and has a very straight body

Things to fix
Rear bumper plastic
Front bumper plastic
License plate bulb, rear running light, dash lights
Add Radio back in, antenna
Parking brake light doesn't work
Needs alignment and wheel balance
Deep interior cleaning
Needs glovebox, passenger and rear seats
Speed sensor in the diff and crimp new connector
Fluids
If I get ballsy, TOB, Clutch, Guibo, CSB, Diff seals
More things to come.

Plans
Drive this until I get bored. Fix some things and hopefully increase value over the winter, but not burn money (I know, good luck with that)
Autocross and HPDE for a while
After that, my plan is to look for an E36 M3, but maybe that will wait depending on how much I like this

[Ryan T]

Nice pickup, should be fun to play with. I look forward to the pending for sale ad in December 

[davej]

I look forward to the pending for sale ad in December  [emoji14]

[emoji23]

Should be a fun winter beater. I don't know if any of my part cars have better seats, or less spiders, but we can check.

Go get antique tags for it and don't look back.

[ViPER1313]

Things to fix:

-- End of list

It's a beater.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Have fuuuuunnnnn!!!

Sent from my FRD-L04 using Tapatalk

[rherold9]

Things to fix:

-- End of list

It's a beater.

Except the spiders

[Senor_Taylor]

So, popped by the DMV to get my Antique tags this morning. NOVA DMV people are so unfriendly. Drove to the bank I thought I left my debit card at and then shuttled a few of my closest spider friends to work. I've read that the noise I thought was the TOB is actually a common Getrag noise and I don't need to worry about it. It's really fun to drive, but it really grosses me out how nasty the interior is. However, other than the seats and the rats nest of wires where the radio had been, the interior is mint. All of the gauges work except the speedo, the shifter and boot is nice, all of the windows, sun roof, power mirrors and locks all work. I'm impressed. If I don't have to move apartments this weekend, this thing is getting a scrubbing and some love. I did notice it sometimes idles at 2000RPM, so I'll need to investigate there. I should also check to see if it has oil in it.

I need to formulate a plan to get this thing on the track.

[davej]

man that wheel gap makes Madonna's teeth look normal. Throw the old springs I have from the 318is on, slap a couple of generic seat covers on it and call it a day.

[Senor_Taylor]

man that wheel gap makes Madonna's teeth look normal. Throw the old springs I have from the 318is on, slap a couple of generic seat covers on it and call it a day.

I'll be in town next week for a wedding so I may need to raid your stockpile along with Jake L's. Let me know if you get a line on some cheap wheels or anything. I have 2 sets of bottle caps right now. 

Things I'm looking for on the cheap:
Wheels with decent tires (No idea how old these are)
Something cheap to replace old suspension
Speed sensor AND connector from the car side
New seats or seat covers - Grey front and rear
Bumpers front and rear
HEADUNIT

Roundel for the rear
Glovebox

Also, I've read that the noise I thought was the TOB dying was just a common Getrag rattle. Party on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qp22w27yrc

[ViPER1313]

Things I'm looking for on the cheap:
Wheels with decent tires (No idea how old these are)
Something cheap to replace old suspension
Speed sensor AND connector from the car side
New seats or seat covers - Grey front and rear
Bumpers front and rear
HEADUNIT

Roundel for the rear
Glovebox

:facepalm:

[ViPER1313]

But if you are serious about making it nice... buy a second one and swap parts. https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/...96711.html

[Senor_Taylor]

But if you are serious about making it nice... buy a second one and swap parts. https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/...96711.html

I'm not serious about anything. I'm just doing whatever the hell I want. That's not a bad idea, but I have nowhere to store it. That's a nice looking interior in that car, and it's really tempting.

[davej]

Also, I've read that the noise I thought was the TOB dying was just a common Getrag rattle. Party on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qp22w27yrc

the first comment in the video, from the guy who made it...


[/SprinkleOfDoubt]

[Senor_Taylor]

Also, I've read that the noise I thought was the TOB dying was just a common Getrag rattle. Party on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qp22w27yrc

the first comment in the video, from the guy who made it...


[/SprinkleOfDoubt]

You're a bad person. Or perhaps a good person? How does a vacuum line make that noise? If you look up Getrag noise on youtube, they all sound like that. I'm excited to dig in and see what I can fix. The Miata wasn't fun anymore since the only things not fixed were either a complete pain, or really expensive.

Also, my clothes smell like the car now.

[Jake]

This reminds me of my Eta car, but your paint is nicer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[*insertusernamehere*]

Shoulda just bought an e36 m3 if you're gonna track it, honestly. This is just gonna drive like shit with whatever you can get your hands on for cheap.

Sent from my FRD-L04 using Tapatalk

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm not so sure why anyone is upset about this. I got it stupid cheap, and I've never even done a hyperdrive, so I'm a long way away from "tracking". I'm sure with some very minor work, this can handle some HPDE. Then sell it and make a little money in the spring (or at least break even). This is especially possible with the connections I have for good cheap parts. I can fix a few of the "major" things I talked down the PO on and keep rolling. Half of this stuff was never fixed because the guy only had the car long enough to get it running. He said he put less than 200 miles on it (if you believe him)

OR

If I happen to like the car, I can keep it and do whatever I want with it.

OR

If I hate the car tomorrow, I'll re-list it and burn it to the ground if it doesn't sell in a week.

OR

Joey and I can use this as a rally car because, SURPRISE, I barely spent more on this than what we have in the Subaru

OR

Just to piss y'all off, I'll buy and sell another cheap car every month until I'm blue in the face

The world is my oyster, baby.

[WRXtranceformed]

50 Shades of Revolving Door

Doesn't bother me a bit you do you cowboy! We can only watch and soak it all in, poking in some "hell yeahs!" or "I told you so's" when relevant

[Beej]

Yeah fuck that noise. My utility bills were $400 this month and I have zero e30’s to show for it. 

That said, it needs a suspension, euro grilles, an iS front lip, and BBS.’  

Delphin grey?

[ViPER1313]

Doesn't bother me at all; just trying to drop some knowledge in a snarky trollesque manner. My advice, from someone with a deeply ingrained cheap-car fetish, is don't buy cheap cars and fix them up. Been that done there. Enjoy them for what they are. You can autox it without new diff fluids and a working speedo and springs and you will enjoy it just the same.