Well I think its time to finally Officially introduce myself after owning my E30 for the past 3+ years and being a daily lurker of this forum.
For the Longest time I was afraid to post my car up. I really thought that not many people would appreciate a stock E30 especially with the hate the 325e gets. But I love this Car so much. It runs great and I figured someone has to appreciate a well taken care of car that has not been destroyed by mods. But rather carefully and methodically maintained. I don't have pictures of everything just the Important stuff. I am one of those car guys that fixes a problem before it arrives and I regularly check my car to make sure its in good shape. I am making an effort to document everything from now on.
Where My E30 is Currently.
Interior
385MM M-Tech One Wheel
Euro Clock hooked up with plug and play KIRIEIW adapter
Stock Radio with AUX input added
Fully Refurbished cluster From Bavarian Restoration with "Eta Alpina stripe added"
Stock Pacific Blue interior
Matt-B M-tech shift and Ebrake boot
Black carpets from ECS
Exterior
Euro Grills and Euro Plate Filler
Front License plate filler
Respray of Hood, Front fenders and Roof in Factory Cirrusblau
Hand refinished 14in BasketWeaves
Suspension
Garagistic Front Strut Bar
Stock Everything Else.
I am proud to say that the first Car I ever drove was my fathers 1995 525i. Needless to say driving a BMW set my bar high and I fell in love with my fathers 5 series. I loved the round headlights and square shape. Around the same time a good friend of mine in high school purchased a 1984 318i I was in love! It was like a small nimble version of the E34 I loved so much. I HAD TO have one. I continued to drive my fathers BMW and I thought I was the coolest kid in school. I then was foolish and crashed it during a snow storm the following winter, I was devastated. However much I begged my father to help me get a BMW he wanted me to own a car that I could learn to drive well with and not worry if I crashed it again. So I got a 2003 Jetta with a five speed. I hated it, it was obvious that whoever owned it before us had just trashed it out and it had been neglected. I am glad however to have leaned to drive stick on a car i did not care about. I owned the Jetta for about a year. After I crashed that one
(not my fault). I was given the option of purchasing a new car. I took out a personal loan for 5k and began looking for E30's. All this time my I had been helping my buddy build up his E30 we had put a new suspension, wheels and some light engine mods to bring out that M10 power. I wad determined to have an E30
I decided that I wanted an Early model since I loved the look of the "diving boards". After all my first experience with an E30 was an early model. I had my heart set on a 325es. I just loved the look the sweet "cow catcher" front valance the Wheels and the sport interior. However it was becoming difficult to find one in the right condition. I had 5k to spend and at the time 5k could but you an immaculate E30. I looked at a convertible (it was crap) and some other stuff came up in my area. Then this little 325e popped up about three hours away in Muncie, IN. It was advertised as "rust free 325e with records and everything working" for $3000 and the seller wanted it to go to an enthusiast. It was Blue with a Blue interior at the time I thought that had to be the ugliest thing ever (boy was I wrong). I had a good feeling about the car. I offered him $3100 to hold it for me. The next day my dad and drove the car and it ran great. I bought it on the spot and drove it 3 hours home to Louisville.
Here she is about 5 mins after I got home
20140211_165228 by Matthew Johnson, on Flickr
20140211_165240 by Matthew Johnson, on Flickr
20140211_165306 by Matthew Johnson, on Flickr
Here is a Picture of the interior I took a few weeks later. God hated the way that radio looked
20140401_142524 by Matthew Johnson, on Flickr
Clearly I had some work on my hands. Since I had money left over from my purchase my thought was to immediately have the car painted and go from there. This was back In 2014 and at the time I was in school. I decided to just drive the car and enjoy it. It had a "patina" to it that I liked, and it ran great. Plus having extra money for repairs never hurts.
For the Longest time I was afraid to post my car up. I really thought that not many people would appreciate a stock E30 especially with the hate the 325e gets. But I love this Car so much. It runs great and I figured someone has to appreciate a well taken care of car that has not been destroyed by mods. But rather carefully and methodically maintained. I don't have pictures of everything just the Important stuff. I am one of those car guys that fixes a problem before it arrives and I regularly check my car to make sure its in good shape. I am making an effort to document everything from now on.
Where My E30 is Currently.
Interior
385MM M-Tech One Wheel
Euro Clock hooked up with plug and play KIRIEIW adapter
Stock Radio with AUX input added
Fully Refurbished cluster From Bavarian Restoration with "Eta Alpina stripe added"
Stock Pacific Blue interior
Matt-B M-tech shift and Ebrake boot
Black carpets from ECS
Exterior
Euro Grills and Euro Plate Filler
Front License plate filler
Respray of Hood, Front fenders and Roof in Factory Cirrusblau
Hand refinished 14in BasketWeaves
Suspension
Garagistic Front Strut Bar
Stock Everything Else.
I am proud to say that the first Car I ever drove was my fathers 1995 525i. Needless to say driving a BMW set my bar high and I fell in love with my fathers 5 series. I loved the round headlights and square shape. Around the same time a good friend of mine in high school purchased a 1984 318i I was in love! It was like a small nimble version of the E34 I loved so much. I HAD TO have one. I continued to drive my fathers BMW and I thought I was the coolest kid in school. I then was foolish and crashed it during a snow storm the following winter, I was devastated. However much I begged my father to help me get a BMW he wanted me to own a car that I could learn to drive well with and not worry if I crashed it again. So I got a 2003 Jetta with a five speed. I hated it, it was obvious that whoever owned it before us had just trashed it out and it had been neglected. I am glad however to have leaned to drive stick on a car i did not care about. I owned the Jetta for about a year. After I crashed that one
(not my fault). I was given the option of purchasing a new car. I took out a personal loan for 5k and began looking for E30's. All this time my I had been helping my buddy build up his E30 we had put a new suspension, wheels and some light engine mods to bring out that M10 power. I wad determined to have an E30I decided that I wanted an Early model since I loved the look of the "diving boards". After all my first experience with an E30 was an early model. I had my heart set on a 325es. I just loved the look the sweet "cow catcher" front valance the Wheels and the sport interior. However it was becoming difficult to find one in the right condition. I had 5k to spend and at the time 5k could but you an immaculate E30. I looked at a convertible (it was crap) and some other stuff came up in my area. Then this little 325e popped up about three hours away in Muncie, IN. It was advertised as "rust free 325e with records and everything working" for $3000 and the seller wanted it to go to an enthusiast. It was Blue with a Blue interior at the time I thought that had to be the ugliest thing ever (boy was I wrong). I had a good feeling about the car. I offered him $3100 to hold it for me. The next day my dad and drove the car and it ran great. I bought it on the spot and drove it 3 hours home to Louisville.
Here she is about 5 mins after I got home
20140211_165228 by Matthew Johnson, on Flickr20140211_165240 by Matthew Johnson, on Flickr20140211_165306 by Matthew Johnson, on FlickrHere is a Picture of the interior I took a few weeks later. God hated the way that radio looked
20140401_142524 by Matthew Johnson, on FlickrClearly I had some work on my hands. Since I had money left over from my purchase my thought was to immediately have the car painted and go from there. This was back In 2014 and at the time I was in school. I decided to just drive the car and enjoy it. It had a "patina" to it that I liked, and it ran great. Plus having extra money for repairs never hurts.
its one of those things that really bothers me. Its def on the list of things to fix!
Comment