Bens '86 325i UK Import

[Europeaben]

Hi, told myself I wouldn't make another build thread after it led to my past car being taken off the road (along with my license and a lot of fines...) but figured it couldn't hurt too much with this car, and I like to keep a log of what/when I've done things for future reference, so here I am.

Some background: I'm Ben, live in Australia and have recently acquired an e30. I'm new to BMW's and am greatly enjoying learning about them after only playing with VW's for the last few years. My last car was a Mk3 Golf I put a lot of work into, including bags and such. It was very much all show and no go, and after being repeatedly raped by police with "defects" I sold it early this year. Will be going in a very different with the e30, moving away from the stance scene, and making something much more fun to drive.

Last car:



Now onto more relevant stuff... The new e30 ;)
It's a 1986 325i, not entirely sure of miles (odometer is broken, which of course I only discovered after buying it) but it is very clean. Most of the car has been resprayed except for the bonnet and boot lid, am yet to find any rust (assuming any had been fixed when it was resprayed), dash is completely crack free too.

Suspension wise it is on koni adjustable shocks and lowering springs, which down the track will be swapped for coilovers.

Engine has a rebuilt head with 288 Schrick cams and 19lb/hr injectors etc. Has had something done to the exhaust, not sure if it is a full catback system of if the stock one has been modified, sounds very nice, a little on the loud side though.

Wheels are Azev Type A's, 16x7.5 +20. Not my favourite wheels in the world, but they look pretty decent so I'll probably keep them on for now, certainly a hell of a lot easier to clean than the various BBS I've had on past cars.

Don't really have any good photos of the car yet, but heres a couple of phone snaps and some photos taken at a recent track event I took the car out too





Have a lot of plans for this car, guess we'll see what happens as it comes ;)

[ZinnoBerrotEta]

That's beautiful. Please post more pictures when you get the chance. Welcome to r3v.

[brutus87]

Sweet!

[tak7]

Very nice, jealous of the euro bits.
Interior pics?

[dishwab]

Those wheels are sweet! Perfect on an e30

[Europeaben]

Thanks guys. haven't got any interior pics, I'll get some sometime though, interior isn't perfect, some of it's a bit messy actually, the carpet has been cut in a bunch of places for some reason (not that you can see it though unless you're pulling things apart) and the two front seats don't match, so that's why they've put seat covers on. power windows and sunroof all work, as does the ac, although the car won't idle with it turned on which is a pain.

So far all I've done to the car is fix the reverse switch, ran some upper engine cleaner foam through it and fresh spark plugs. next up is oil air and fuel filters, rebuilding the locks and fixing the central locking (it will lock all the doors from the drivers door/boot, but can't get it to unlock them all from any of the locks. passenger door doesn't do anything to any of the locks). any ideas? I've eliminated the live power loop through the right door but that didn't fix it. need to get the central locking working to install the remote kit I've ordered.

Megasquirt may be in the near future, it's running really rich so needs a good tune ;)

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[MazterDizazter]

Megasquirt won't fix the root of the problem, which is probably a clogged fuel system and/or worn ignition.

[MoreMayhem]

What is that tall mini van looking thing on the track a few cars behind you? Broom wagon?

[shameson]

You picked up a great looking car for your first e30. I love the Azev's and wanted a set for mine. A lot harder to come by those in the states

[Nick_S]

What is that tall mini van looking thing on the track a few cars behind you? Broom wagon?

A GTI

I kid...sort of.

[Europeaben]

Megasquirt won't fix the root of the problem, which is probably a clogged fuel system and/or worn ignition.

I'm cleaning out the fuel system and going over everything ignition related too, it all looks pretty new though so shouldn't be causing trouble. I think its mostly the stock ecu not handling the larger injectors and cams well. Either way, even if it doesn't fix it, I'll be able to squeeze a bunch more power out of it, and will be able to keep tuning if when more work is done. a 2.8 stroker is on the cards too ;)

What is that tall mini van looking thing on the track a few cars behind you? Broom wagon?

It's a Nissan s-cargo van someone brought out for a laugh. wasn't a serious track event, just some non competitive laps with a bunch of vws (I'm still an active member of an Aussie vw forum so they let me come along)

You picked up a great looking car for your first e30. I love the Azev's and wanted a set for mine. A lot harder to come by those in the states

Thanks. yeah the wheels aren't common over here either, already have people wanting to buy them if I change them for something else. I quite like them, just wish they were staggered


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[Luis325]

NICE Car!!!

[Europeaben]

Car broke down on the highway last weekend, stopped making spark, I suspected it was a crank angle sensor or something along those lines as there was no signal going to the coil. Was a fair way from home without tools so had it towed to a mechanic in the area for free and left it with him for a few days to let him sort it out. He couldn't figure it out (from what I've since heard from other people, they are notoriously useless there) so I had it towed up to another mechanic who specialises in these sorts of cars on friday. He also thinks it's a crank sensor, and it should hopefully be fixed today. Normally would fix things like this by myself, but it was going to cost hundreds of dollars to have it towed home, which will be more than it will cost to have someone else fix it.

Its only been a week but I'm already really missing driving the e30, haven't felt this way when any of my other cars have been off the road, guess that says something about how much of a drivers car these are!

[freeride53]

cool car! interesting how far you shipped it.

[Europeaben]

Thanks. Yeah it couldn't have come from anywhere further away, I didn't import it myself though, it was brought over in 99 by what seems to be the original owner (just guessing from service records though), and has then been through a couple Australian owners since then.

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