New e30 beater. Best cheap refresh ideas?

[thefrog1394]

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:
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Second e46:
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My new e30 beater:
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Thanks guys!

[mcaden]

Welcome! I picked up a sub-$1k E30 beater a couple of years ago, which I still own and love.

First, make the car safe and reliable. Change every fluid in the car - oil, power steering fluid, diff, xmission, brake, coolant, etc. Change any hoses that appear worn. The v-belts are easy and cheap. Check your fuel lines, brake hoses and pads. Make sure your cooling system is okay - thermostat and radiator. The main thing is to have the car reliable. I got my car reliable and drove it that way for a year with a completely shot suspension.

Next, see if you can get away with FCAB or go with new control arms. Do shocks, struts, easy bushings, end links. If you can lower the car car with Bilsteins and H&R lowering springs.

Once you get suspension done focus on things that might give you pleasure and comfort. Odometer gears are easy and cheap. I fixed my AC for very little $$ over a couple of weekends. Get your radio and speakers working nicely if they aren't. Install the Omega central locking system. Clean up your interior and get some nice floor mats. Rebuild your shift linkage or install a short shift kit. Check out your drivetrain at the same time and replace guibo and center bearing. Make sure your tires are good or buy new rubber (this is a safety issue, so don't delay worn or old rubber). If you have bottlecaps, you pick up some cheap "is" basketweaves.

Finally. take an orbital to the paint and see what is left. Congrats on a great find!

[mcaden]

Also, do you know when the timing belt was done? If not, add that and the tensioner to your list. And then consider adjusting the valves, replacing items like: distrib cap, rotor , spark plugs, rubber rocker plugs, VCG, spark plug wires, etc.

[thefrog1394]

Well first item on the list: bought a used but good condition driveshaft off ebay. On the way home from a 2 hour drive I heard a loud bang. Now at slow speeds I have a clunking in time with the wheel speed.

Also just bought a set of Vogtland springs. Haven't decided whether to spring for KYBs or Bilsteins yet.

Will probably pick up the full suspension refresh kit from ECS tuning. Lots of Uro parts which scares me a little, so not completely sure yet.

[yungmike]

Not sure what the situation is with your e46... But there are a few parts that are almost interchangable and can work on the e30. The engine comes to mind first ;)

[thefrog1394]

Not sure what the situation is with your e46... But there are a few parts that are almost interchangable and can work on the e30. The engine comes to mind first ;)

Yea, I'm definitely tempted to buy the e46 back and swap the m54 in. Unfortunately I don't have a way of towing it home (would have to flatbed it). Nor the garage space (1.5 car garage). And for some reason the insurance company claims they are not obligated to pay sales tax if I buy the car back. So the total cost for a buyback ends up close to $1,500 which is by no means a deal factoring in the hassle.

[thefrog1394]

E30 Update!

My brake lines popped while driving home from lunch a few weeks after my last post here (usual rusty spot by the T junction in the rear). Some cunifer lines, lots of zip ties, and some ECS tuning SS lines later and it actually can stop again.

But the hassle of being without a car prompted me to run out and buy an e90 335i. I did drive the e30 daily most of last winter to keep the hard 2 mile commute off the notoriously unreliable N54. I've managed to put about 30k miles on the e90 without ever jacking it up outside of an oil change so figured its about due for some downtime to get some overdue maintenance and upgrades. Which means, you guessed it.... e30 time!

Thankfully I managed to overcome my laziness over the past year and a half and install all the suspension goodies I bought for the e30. Newish used control arms + bushings, bilstein shocks, vogtland struts. And finally got around to fixing my door lock cylinder a few days ago. Unfortunately not before my stereo got stolen. So thats on the list now too.

I'm really torn on how to handle this e30... I do love driving it but I can't help but feel guilty dumping money into a $700 beater. I've periodically explored picking up a southern vert and really restoring one. Decisions, decisions.

So far, $700 purchase price, $2,300 in maintenance/upgrades...

[stonea]

I picked up a beater e30 once. Maintenance turned into mods, mods turned into need for money, need of money turned into me considering selling the Z3 (and that was the whole reason I bought the e30 to beat around in to begin with). One doesn't just buy a e30 and not fall in love with it.

[Kershaw]

But the hassle of being without a car prompted me to run out and buy an e90 335i.

Oh yeah, of course. Every time my e30 breaks down I go out and buy another e90 as well. I used to buy the 335i, but the last 2 times I just went with the m3. Just can't beat that styling, you know?

[JIM1inWisconsin]

beater

What do you do when the E90 breaks down?

[thefrog1394]

what do you do when the e90 breaks down?

f30...