Hey everyone. I suspect I will be spending a lot more time here in the near future. Just picked up a beater $700 91 318i. I'm new to e30's but not to BMWs. Coming off my second e46 which was totaled by a drunk driver.
The e30 has quite a bit of rust in the usual places. Battery tray has a hole rusted in it. A hole or two in the rockers. One under the windshield on the passenger side that the previous owner resolved with a piece of electrical tape :LOL:. None of the rust appears to be structural, at least that I've discovered so far. Paint is in pretty bad condition. The interior is in decent condition.
I have no intention of restoring the car. If I want to do that, I'll fly down to texas or arizona and pick up a rust-free specimen. That being said, I would like to knock off some of the best "bang for the buck" refreshes to make my beater drive a little better than it looks. So what do you guys think? Some of my ideas below.
Shocks are pretty shot. Springs are rusted. But maybe only surface rust? Could I throw some KYB shocks on and reuse the rusty springs?
Control arm bushings are completely shot. How can I tell on the ball joints? The control arms themselves are pretty rusty, although I doubt that really matters. Would new control arm bushings get me 90% of the way there or would I need to get new control arms to really feel a difference?
People talk about subframe bushings. Do those make a real difference in handling or is it just a noise thing?
RTABs were often recommended e46s but were kind of a pain to do. Should I swap those? How hard is it on an e30?
Some pictures of my BMWs past and present.
First e46:
Untitled
Second e46:
Untitled
My new e30 beater:
Untitled
Thanks guys!
The e30 has quite a bit of rust in the usual places. Battery tray has a hole rusted in it. A hole or two in the rockers. One under the windshield on the passenger side that the previous owner resolved with a piece of electrical tape :LOL:. None of the rust appears to be structural, at least that I've discovered so far. Paint is in pretty bad condition. The interior is in decent condition.
I have no intention of restoring the car. If I want to do that, I'll fly down to texas or arizona and pick up a rust-free specimen. That being said, I would like to knock off some of the best "bang for the buck" refreshes to make my beater drive a little better than it looks. So what do you guys think? Some of my ideas below.
Shocks are pretty shot. Springs are rusted. But maybe only surface rust? Could I throw some KYB shocks on and reuse the rusty springs?
Control arm bushings are completely shot. How can I tell on the ball joints? The control arms themselves are pretty rusty, although I doubt that really matters. Would new control arm bushings get me 90% of the way there or would I need to get new control arms to really feel a difference?
People talk about subframe bushings. Do those make a real difference in handling or is it just a noise thing?
RTABs were often recommended e46s but were kind of a pain to do. Should I swap those? How hard is it on an e30?
Some pictures of my BMWs past and present.
First e46:
Untitled
Second e46:
Untitled
My new e30 beater:
Untitled
Thanks guys!
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