Cheap BMW's are the low hanging fruit and ultimately more expensive than just buying a nice one. The sense of accomplishment is such a huge payoff when its all done. Bringing a car with a foot in the grave back to its former glory and allowing it to live another 20 years is awesome.
This car is a 1987 Early model Alpine on cardinal I bought for $800 with no compression from a kid who had single-handedly taken a 1 owner e30 and turned it into a pile of shit over a two year period. His stereo install was the worst I have ever seen, limo tint on all windows, chrome stick on trim on every fender arch and window, honda offset 17" wheels that rubbed the inboard section of the fender as they must have been et50, thank god he never ever decided to pop the hood and go to town. When the fuel pump finally died he was driving on 3 cylinders with a horrificly bad wheel bearing, cracked brake rotors, and totally waffled center support bearing. He said "yea dude just change the fuel pump and it will smog fine" as he lied through his teeth. I sent him a picture of the finished product with a waffles waffles you for all the ish you lied to me about. I'll share some before and after over the 3 month period I restored it.
Work commences:
Redying the seats with $150 in dye and leatherique and about 20 hours of labor
3 Months and $3800 later
The original single stage alpine paint can be cut an polished to perfection no matter how bad it is:
Redying the seats was a huge undertaking but was a huge payoff.
I sincerely hope this inspires r3v to focus on restoring a car to stock perfection before heading down the mod path. A car on tight stock suspension will handle better than one on blown ball joints on a china bay coil over kit. After the restoration the car was sold to my friend who has never had to do more than an oil change and basic maintenance for over two years now, rock solid reliable and timeless looks. My neighbor walked up to me one day and said "i want to buy your car" I replied I would be happy to help him find an e30 and I was not finished with it. He said "no I want THAT car" as I restored the car to restore it and already had 3 e30's to drive I passed it on.
Would I do it again? YES! But remember even if it runs and drives that "deal" you got on an e30 will add up quickly even doing all your own labor. Doing things for the first time means it will take you 10 times longer, so just because you have $800 does not mean you can afford an e30.
This car is a 1987 Early model Alpine on cardinal I bought for $800 with no compression from a kid who had single-handedly taken a 1 owner e30 and turned it into a pile of shit over a two year period. His stereo install was the worst I have ever seen, limo tint on all windows, chrome stick on trim on every fender arch and window, honda offset 17" wheels that rubbed the inboard section of the fender as they must have been et50, thank god he never ever decided to pop the hood and go to town. When the fuel pump finally died he was driving on 3 cylinders with a horrificly bad wheel bearing, cracked brake rotors, and totally waffled center support bearing. He said "yea dude just change the fuel pump and it will smog fine" as he lied through his teeth. I sent him a picture of the finished product with a waffles waffles you for all the ish you lied to me about. I'll share some before and after over the 3 month period I restored it.
Work commences:
Redying the seats with $150 in dye and leatherique and about 20 hours of labor
3 Months and $3800 later
The original single stage alpine paint can be cut an polished to perfection no matter how bad it is:
Redying the seats was a huge undertaking but was a huge payoff.
I sincerely hope this inspires r3v to focus on restoring a car to stock perfection before heading down the mod path. A car on tight stock suspension will handle better than one on blown ball joints on a china bay coil over kit. After the restoration the car was sold to my friend who has never had to do more than an oil change and basic maintenance for over two years now, rock solid reliable and timeless looks. My neighbor walked up to me one day and said "i want to buy your car" I replied I would be happy to help him find an e30 and I was not finished with it. He said "no I want THAT car" as I restored the car to restore it and already had 3 e30's to drive I passed it on.
Would I do it again? YES! But remember even if it runs and drives that "deal" you got on an e30 will add up quickly even doing all your own labor. Doing things for the first time means it will take you 10 times longer, so just because you have $800 does not mean you can afford an e30.
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