Meet Bruni - My 1986 325e projecto Burgundrot

[Stapes]

After a couple of months of daily visits to craigslist I found a 1986 325e with 240K miles, a Burgundrot. Not knowing anything about e30's I drove fours hours to eastern Washington. When I first looked at the car I thought "I scored!" I loved its color. It looked stock and well put together. I got very excited. However, the PO had no maintenance records, which made me a little bit nervous, but the engine bay looked clean :)

I took it for a spin and to less Schwab and they said that I needed to replace control arms, struts, and tie rods. It also wouldn't go into fourth gear, there wer leaks underneath the engine, the tranny, and diff. and the interior wasn't that encouraging. I came back home empty handed. A week later I came to terms with the reality of buying an e30 this old. Drove back to eastern Washington and with $1K plus a spare laptop I put my first e30 on its way to Seattle. I was pretty excited.

Here are some pictures of how I found Bruni.

[Stapes]

To honor my noobieness to this forum I'm going to include pictures by creating a post for each one. I'm sure one day I'll learn how to add multiple pictures with one single post like a pro. In any case here are some more details about Bruni.

[Stapes]

The engine bay

When I saw the engine I thought it was well kept. Hoses, clamps, connectors and little details looked like the PO was able to keep up with the engine. But then again I didn't know much about spotting issues.

[LateFan]

I love burgundrot.

To post more pics, click on the paperclip thing like you probably did already, a "manage attachments" window will pop up and you click "choose file." Go into your files to find the photo you want, then click upload for each one. It will let you add 5 total. To do more at once, you need to have them hosted somewhere.

[Stapes]

I just wanted to get started

I did a lot of reading about owning an E30 for the first time so I placed an order with Pelican parts for the "ten escentials". Timing belt, t-stat, water pump, hoses, belts, lubricant, and a rotor. While the order was in transit and I was geting ready with supplies and finding a shop to rent a bay, I decided to make the cockpit comfortable, clean, and presentable. I was on a budget so Craigs was the best resource. I got to say I was very excited and pleased of how things turned out. Along the way I met the most interesting people, from all sort of life. From a 21 dude from UW who sold me a seat for $20, to an engineer form Boeing who was converting his 1990 318i as a track car, two brothers who rented this old beat-up shop way out there in federal way to work on their e30, to these two buddies who ventured out parting out a Canadian 324 with 80K miles, to this mid 40's guy who converts e30's into pro-3 cars. I honestly had the best conversations and it was thrilling to do all that. A few weeks later, after LOTS of elbow grease and no more than $200, including $50 for the stereo I got a clean and respectable interior with a fresh center concole, restored cluster, glove box, reconditioned seats, and a clean carpet.

[Stapes]

Fresh interior

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[Stapes]

Before and After

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[DJ13]

Looking great!

https://www.facebook.com/onesheepwolfpack

[kingston]

Great find! I wish the paint on my Burgundrot was still in that good of shape! Looking froward to see what else you do with her. For what it's worth, upgrading the steering wheel was one of the nicest mods I made on each of my cars. It is that part of the car that you interact with the most with your hands. A ZHP shift knob was nice for the same reason.

[Stapes]

Great find! I wish the paint on my Burgundrot was still in that good of shape! Looking froward to see what else you do with her. For what it's worth, upgrading the steering wheel was one of the nicest mods I made on each of my cars. It is that part of the car that you interact with the most with your hands. A ZHP shift knob was nice for the same reason.

Paint is OK but there is some clear coat peeling on the trunk and the roof. I'm planning on doing a paint job right after I take care of the mechanical side. You're absolutely right on the steering wheel and shifter. One of the people I met wanted $40 for an M-Tech, I regret not getting it when I could. I'm planning on replacing the tranny for another Getrag 260 I got in Spokane, that would be the time for a ZHP. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Stapes]

I love burgundrot.

To post more pics, click on the paperclip thing like you probably did already, a "manage attachments" window will pop up and you click "choose file." Go into your files to find the photo you want, then click upload for each one. It will let you add 5 total. To do more at once, you need to have them hosted somewhere.

Thanks for the tip. It seems to be working great.

[lambo]

Damn that's clean

[Panici]

Good work so far! Keep us updated.

[Stapes]

Damn that's clean

I sat on the driver's seat of a new one when I was a freshman in College and it was the best car I've ever seen. So I kind of wanted to get that feeling back, now that I own one. I'm going to try to bring it as stock as possible. Although, the more projects I read, the more I want to mod it.

[bradnic]

SUB'D
In for updates..