Don't meet your heroes - E30 Vert

[Senor_Taylor]

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Taylor show. In today's episode, we have a cheap E30 convertible. 

I've been looking for an E30 vert for cheap in my quest to own the different E30 variants and I found this one listed for way too much money. I was the first to look at the car and snagged it yesterday for quite a lot less than he was asking. Apparently he bought the car to learn how to work on things, realized he was no good at turning wrenches and then his wife made him get rid of it so it'd stop being a smelly eye sore in their nice neighborhood. 

1990 Vert. White on Blue. Pre Facelift. 164,000 miles.

The photos showed some fender rust, but he also didn't mention in the ad that he had a shop professionally fix the rust over the winter. Doesn't seem like a smart way to sell a car, but his loss is my gain. Of course there's a shit ton wrong with the car and trying to make this into a "clean" E30 would be a completely stupid idea as it would cost many times the value of the car. What the car does have is potential. The motor is probably the smoothest, most quiet, and strongest M20 I've felt and the trans shifts very well. It also is well optioned, with sport seats (standard in all verts) but they're heated and it also has an LSD. It also doesn't seem to leak any oil (but it does leak gas). 

That's where the "good" stops and the bad begins. There's a lot of hacky shit done that I'm going to clean up, and the thing is REALLY dirty. A lot of things will be fixed with some simple rewiring, lubricating, and cleaning, so it'll be a fun little project for now. I have a new timing belt on the way and will knock that out some time before the weather gets warm. In the mean time, I'm going to see how much use I can make of the E30 network I've made for myself through my time buying and selling and see if I can cobble together some used parts to make this thing better. I'll take some better pics once I get the car cleaned up a little.

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Oh, and this is titled "don't meet your heroes" because a vert E30 isn't as cool as I thought it would be. A Miata is probably a better convertible.

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[ReallySlowGP]

That paint looks CLEAN

[Senor_Taylor]

Yeah, it's not too bad, minus some overspray in some spots. I'm sure it's been repainted.

[.RJ]

auto or manual?

[ScottyB]

Taylor, i'll give you this, you're one of a kind and we all love you for it.

but also something's broken in your brain

[Jake]

I see the tonneau cover not latched - how well does the top operate and how good or bad of condition is the fabric/plastic back window?

Convertible four-seat BMWs are fun cruisers. Sports cars they are not.

I look forward to approximately three weeks of ownership tales followed by a for-sale ad

[rherold9]

Taylor, i'll give you this, you're one of a kind and we all love you for it.

but also something's broken in your brain

Taylor got some disease from Dave, I think, or they are having a competition. Haven't figured out which one yet. Dave just doesn't post all his decisions anymore

[Senor_Taylor]

auto or manual?

Manual, needs a shifter rebuild. Feel free to come on by and take her for a spin.

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I see the tonneau cover not latched - how well does the top operate and how good or bad of condition is the fabric/plastic back window?

Convertible four-seat BMWs are fun cruisers. Sports cars they are not.

I look forward to approximately three weeks of ownership tales followed by a for-sale ad

The top is "new" and in pretty good shape. No visible flaws. The latch to get the tonneau open SUCKS so I need to lubricate and tighten that. The back plastic window is fine and will be perfect with some plasti-X. 

The car will sit for at least another week and we may see a for sale ad as soon as April. I'll do the timing belt before then at least. (Already ordered, don't try to talk me out of it)

To make it clear. This car is worse than it looks in the photos cosmetically, but better than it seems mechanically. It's an odd one.

[V1GiLaNtE]

[Senor_Taylor]

Indeed it is. 

Btw, if anyone is curious, my E30 checklist

Coupe - 0
Sedan - X
Convertible - X
325i - X
325e - X
318 (any flavor) - 0
any "s" model - 0
M3 ( lol ) - 0
Manual - X
Auto - X
AWD - 0
Plastic Bumper - X
Metal Bumper - X

Don't really care to find a wagon. I figure I'll knock out the coupel, 318, and "s" model together with a 318is. Just leaves an iX and an M3

[D_Eclipse9916]

The world will never know!

[.RJ]

auto or manual?

Manual, needs a shifter rebuild. Feel free to come on by and take her for a spin.

Yeah let me get the 400F running and I'll come by and we can trade each other's anachronisms. I think an E30 vert would be a fun summer car but I have a pretty poor track record of life choices.

[Senor_Taylor]

I figured BMW didn't install blue scotchbrite pads for trunk carpet in the 1990 models so I decided to rip it out and discovered a false wall where apparently someone had some mad oonts poking through the bulkhead. Why do people do these things.



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[SlimKlim]

[JPolen01]

You bought a sub $2k car. Don't complain about the bonus speed holes!

[Kaan]

whiskey tango foxtrot ... over...

i don't want to hear ANYTHING about "i can't afford a truck and trailer" until this madness stops... or at least slows down to a crawl.

[davej]

Taylor got some disease from Dave, I think, or they are having a competition. Haven't figured out which one yet. Dave just doesn't post all his decisions anymore

Did I forget to post the second e21 320is turbo project? (Read: parts car, because that's all any e21 is good for)

Taylor, keep your eye on the prize, even if that prize is a coke'd out ragtop. As long as you bank account doesn't get too hurt, I'm enjoying the show.

[*insertusernamehere*]

The motor is probably the smoothest, most quiet, and strongest M20 I've felt and the trans shifts very well.

[Sijray21]

wow, someone put dynamat in the e30? seems that a previous owner was serious in the oontz oontz build

[Jake]

whiskey tango foxtrot ... over...

i don't want to hear ANYTHING about "i can't afford a truck and trailer" until this madness stops... or at least slows down to a crawl.

+1, this is trailer money. But we all (well, me) had to get it out of our system before applying reason and logic to our purchases.

My racecar came with excess oontz holes as well. Take a look at the rear deck sometime, somebody at a Circuit City had fun with a Sawzall back there.