Hi guys,
This first post is going to be a biggish one since I've already had the vert for a year and afterwards it'll be slow going, but I'll probably update here and there. Also, excuse my time progression if it doesn't make much sense, it's been a while. So here 'goes...
I've been on r3v for a while now just lurking on a different username, and decided it's finally time to make my own "Hello!" post (sorry, some of the pics in here are from my old iPhone). New post and new name for notoriety for whoever already knows me in my area. Hi! It's Chef Rob!
I'll just start from the beginning... I came from strictly Datsuns and Jap cars, where I thought I would be for my whole life (and still am, but not strictly anymore) until my buddy Ryan moved in across the street. He has an amazing 1991 318is among plenty of other BMWs, and the first time I saw it around 8-ish years ago, I knew I had to have an E30. Or... well at least a BMW anyways, cause I landed in a '97 328is. Lowering suspension, E38 style 5's, roof racks, HIDs, exhaust. Standard run-of-the-mill Honda-kid car, but with a BMW badge slapped on front and back. I know what I did and I'm not ashamed. I loved it, every minute of it for about a year until the slave cylinder shot into the bell housing and put the final nail in the coffin for that poor dual-mass flywheel.
I was sad, but I had already moved on to possibly my most favorite car that I have ever owned. My 1988 Alpine on Cardinal 535is. It took a bit of work to clean up and get her running, but MAN did she run when the electrical system wasn't being finnicky and the stupid hydro-boost system wasn't failing. I threw the style 5s on there and all was good.
After about a year of DD'ing, I found a half torn apart '91 318is on CL and snagged it for cheap. This picture is after a whoooole lot of work and an early valence swap, which looks GREAT on a late model!
Sits pretty on a set of 15x7 Mullins 5 spokes.
After throwing enough money and parts at the 318 to get it to run well enough, I sadly had to let go of the E28 after about 2 years. Used that money for a down payment on a Speed3 so I had something that ran every time without question. I still kept working on and driving the 318. I threw on all the goodies: ellipsoids, Billies + IE3s, homemade euro grills, Z3 short shift, poly front end, power steering delete, etc. Here she is cleaned and polished for Oktoberfest 2014.
I had the 318 for about a year and a half. The WHOLE time I had been dealing with an electrical issue somewhere in the body harness that was absolutely DESTROYING the DME's ground signal. It kept the motor running on what felt like 3 cylinders essentially. Bad spark signal, bad fuel signal, bad everything signal. I replaced pretty much every single sensor, electrical unit, you name it I did it. I even tried a different motor. If you've never rebuilt an M42, congratulations! It gets stupid expensive. For those of you that have, imagine rebuilding 2. Complete re-gasket, timing components and all the little nick-nacks and do-dads. Twice. Okay, I recycled some stuff that didn't need to be bought twice, but my wallet still shudders to this day. Long story short... I started parting it out and kept all the goodies. Oh yeah, it had Prelude seats with homemade brackets too. I highly recommend them, they're super comfy!
About 6 months later Ryan saves the day by picking up a '92 325i Vert. It was beautiful. I had to have it, and after some back-and-forth, I bought it from him. Aftermarket vinyl top which sucks, broken driver seat that I fixed and recovered, passenger door that wouldn't close or latch which I fixed, automatic that we fixed IMMEDIATELY with a good ole G260 (only drove it as an auto 1 time), 3.73lsd and I threw all the goodies I had from my 318 on there.
Here it sits after I took all the paint off of the wheels and polished them up.
Now there was a problem hiding in there that we didn't know about. The motor was slowly running hotter and hotter every time I drove it, and before you know it...
Yeah that's a tasty looking milkshake... Low compression on cylinder #1. So what do we do in this situation? Pull the head and re-gasket of course! Also did a timing belt, water pump, thermostat and the usual while we were in there.
All done with that and all buttoned back up! I drove it for about 2 weeks or so, and then the same stuff... Motor started getting hot so I pulled off the road and trailered it back home. 4 miles away. Yeah.
AGAIN?! You have got to be kidding me! Instead of just doing it the baby way, we just ripped that shit out.
While pressure washing the engine bay, I decided to get EVERY spot of the coolant system cleaned. I proceed to go at the heater core inlet/outlet with the pressure washer and lo-and-behold, THE HEATER CORE IS BLOCKED! So I bypassed it, I'll change it out later whenever I have the balls to remove the crack-free dash. Since the motor had "blown" twice, I just gave up on that M20. The head is fine and will be used in some other project somewhere down the line. I bought my brother's M20 (he swapped out for an M52), which came with plenty of other nice goodies. Ebay headers, cam, new do-dads and the like. I powder coated the intake and valve cover at work, slapped everything back together and threw it in the car with the Ebay midpipe and an ANSA tail-end.
After that, I've just been driving it and enjoying it. It sounds great, pulls great and drives fantastic! I finally went full poly front and rear and also swapped out the IE3s for some JOM "coilovers" (I'm cheap, I'll get GCs later). The IE3s don't fare as well on a vert as they do on a coupe, way too bouncy. I also candied the tails and didn't want to spend ridiculous $$$ on a piece of plastic, so the license plate insert is just plasti-dip.
I love this car. I love driving it, I love working on it, I love the sounds and the smells and the creaks and groans. I drove it to its first Oktoberfest this year, which is a great time if you've never been. Great people, amazing cars, food and drinks. Here is a shameless plug for the E30CCA (you're welcome Art and Chris) because I need to cook for more people at next year's Oktoberfest.
I'm sure I left a TON of stuff out of this post (E30TT's, The Vintage, etc.) but you get the idea. I'll update with more stuff as it happens, I've got BIG plans for this car in the future ;)
-Rob
This first post is going to be a biggish one since I've already had the vert for a year and afterwards it'll be slow going, but I'll probably update here and there. Also, excuse my time progression if it doesn't make much sense, it's been a while. So here 'goes...
I've been on r3v for a while now just lurking on a different username, and decided it's finally time to make my own "Hello!" post (sorry, some of the pics in here are from my old iPhone). New post and new name for notoriety for whoever already knows me in my area. Hi! It's Chef Rob!
I'll just start from the beginning... I came from strictly Datsuns and Jap cars, where I thought I would be for my whole life (and still am, but not strictly anymore) until my buddy Ryan moved in across the street. He has an amazing 1991 318is among plenty of other BMWs, and the first time I saw it around 8-ish years ago, I knew I had to have an E30. Or... well at least a BMW anyways, cause I landed in a '97 328is. Lowering suspension, E38 style 5's, roof racks, HIDs, exhaust. Standard run-of-the-mill Honda-kid car, but with a BMW badge slapped on front and back. I know what I did and I'm not ashamed. I loved it, every minute of it for about a year until the slave cylinder shot into the bell housing and put the final nail in the coffin for that poor dual-mass flywheel.
I was sad, but I had already moved on to possibly my most favorite car that I have ever owned. My 1988 Alpine on Cardinal 535is. It took a bit of work to clean up and get her running, but MAN did she run when the electrical system wasn't being finnicky and the stupid hydro-boost system wasn't failing. I threw the style 5s on there and all was good.
After about a year of DD'ing, I found a half torn apart '91 318is on CL and snagged it for cheap. This picture is after a whoooole lot of work and an early valence swap, which looks GREAT on a late model!
Sits pretty on a set of 15x7 Mullins 5 spokes.
After throwing enough money and parts at the 318 to get it to run well enough, I sadly had to let go of the E28 after about 2 years. Used that money for a down payment on a Speed3 so I had something that ran every time without question. I still kept working on and driving the 318. I threw on all the goodies: ellipsoids, Billies + IE3s, homemade euro grills, Z3 short shift, poly front end, power steering delete, etc. Here she is cleaned and polished for Oktoberfest 2014.
I had the 318 for about a year and a half. The WHOLE time I had been dealing with an electrical issue somewhere in the body harness that was absolutely DESTROYING the DME's ground signal. It kept the motor running on what felt like 3 cylinders essentially. Bad spark signal, bad fuel signal, bad everything signal. I replaced pretty much every single sensor, electrical unit, you name it I did it. I even tried a different motor. If you've never rebuilt an M42, congratulations! It gets stupid expensive. For those of you that have, imagine rebuilding 2. Complete re-gasket, timing components and all the little nick-nacks and do-dads. Twice. Okay, I recycled some stuff that didn't need to be bought twice, but my wallet still shudders to this day. Long story short... I started parting it out and kept all the goodies. Oh yeah, it had Prelude seats with homemade brackets too. I highly recommend them, they're super comfy!
About 6 months later Ryan saves the day by picking up a '92 325i Vert. It was beautiful. I had to have it, and after some back-and-forth, I bought it from him. Aftermarket vinyl top which sucks, broken driver seat that I fixed and recovered, passenger door that wouldn't close or latch which I fixed, automatic that we fixed IMMEDIATELY with a good ole G260 (only drove it as an auto 1 time), 3.73lsd and I threw all the goodies I had from my 318 on there.
Here it sits after I took all the paint off of the wheels and polished them up.
Now there was a problem hiding in there that we didn't know about. The motor was slowly running hotter and hotter every time I drove it, and before you know it...
Yeah that's a tasty looking milkshake... Low compression on cylinder #1. So what do we do in this situation? Pull the head and re-gasket of course! Also did a timing belt, water pump, thermostat and the usual while we were in there.
All done with that and all buttoned back up! I drove it for about 2 weeks or so, and then the same stuff... Motor started getting hot so I pulled off the road and trailered it back home. 4 miles away. Yeah.
AGAIN?! You have got to be kidding me! Instead of just doing it the baby way, we just ripped that shit out.
While pressure washing the engine bay, I decided to get EVERY spot of the coolant system cleaned. I proceed to go at the heater core inlet/outlet with the pressure washer and lo-and-behold, THE HEATER CORE IS BLOCKED! So I bypassed it, I'll change it out later whenever I have the balls to remove the crack-free dash. Since the motor had "blown" twice, I just gave up on that M20. The head is fine and will be used in some other project somewhere down the line. I bought my brother's M20 (he swapped out for an M52), which came with plenty of other nice goodies. Ebay headers, cam, new do-dads and the like. I powder coated the intake and valve cover at work, slapped everything back together and threw it in the car with the Ebay midpipe and an ANSA tail-end.
After that, I've just been driving it and enjoying it. It sounds great, pulls great and drives fantastic! I finally went full poly front and rear and also swapped out the IE3s for some JOM "coilovers" (I'm cheap, I'll get GCs later). The IE3s don't fare as well on a vert as they do on a coupe, way too bouncy. I also candied the tails and didn't want to spend ridiculous $$$ on a piece of plastic, so the license plate insert is just plasti-dip.
I love this car. I love driving it, I love working on it, I love the sounds and the smells and the creaks and groans. I drove it to its first Oktoberfest this year, which is a great time if you've never been. Great people, amazing cars, food and drinks. Here is a shameless plug for the E30CCA (you're welcome Art and Chris) because I need to cook for more people at next year's Oktoberfest.
I'm sure I left a TON of stuff out of this post (E30TT's, The Vintage, etc.) but you get the idea. I'll update with more stuff as it happens, I've got BIG plans for this car in the future ;)
-Rob
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