I've wanted to write this out for years, but I just never knew how to.... here's my attempt....
These two red e30s have made for some of the worst and best memories of my life. To a substantial degree, they define me due to the countless weekend wrenchings, projects, detailings, receipts, roadtrips, races, and daily commutes. It's brought together a lot of people and connections in my life that I'm very thankful for as well. So before I start, thanks to my parents, Richard, George @ RAI Motorsports, Vernon, Mckee, Manocheh, Don @ Blue Ridge Sports Cars, Fitzgerald, Sam, Andy, and all the supportive BMWCCA NCC Autox guys like Raphael, Bogdan, James, Thayer, Adam, Eric, Pete and everyone else who's made this project what it is.
2003
My BMW story started back in 2003, my sophomore year in highschool. Technically my first car was a mint condition beige Chevy Malibu I had inherited from my late 70+ year old aunt, but I was given the green light to sell it for a car that suited me better. Not to be ungrateful or anything, but I had been planning that first car purchase from day one. My first word was bus, second was car. And since then cars have been my driving passion in life. I couldnt handle something as a rubbermolded as that bloated Malibu, bless Aunt Bud's heart. So after a quick sale, I got into a higher mileage 1997 E36 M3 Sedan. And so the addiction began. Here's me driving with my buddy Sam, who oddly enough pops up a lot throughout this.
2005
That car never failed me once, ran exceedingly well, never got me in one ticket or accident, taught me how to drive and autocross, and was everything I wanted in a car for almost two years. Never should have sold her. But I did. I was leaving to college where I couldnt drive and instead of letting her rot in my family's garage under insurance, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to buy an older and cheaper BMW to learn mechanics with; a car I wouldnt be to intimidated to tear apart work on. I dont necessarily agree with that mindset anymore, especially since the e36 and e30 are so similar, but nevertheless that was the idea. It wasnt long until I fell in love with a recently posted e30 over on R3vlimited. I couldnt have asked for a more perfect example of what I was looking for.
Here's a screenshot from the owner's website. The minimized tabs say it all. I was writing my college essay, talking to e30-famed member Bokes, and illegally downloading the latest music on Limewire haha
That post was the single most influential mouseclick of my life. Within the same day of finding the ad, I was on the phone with the owner, Mr. Whitney. Very nice family man, an engineer, and from what I can gather a well respected member of the local Raleigh BMW and racing scenes. I told him I wanted it, discussed trip plans, and apparently I edged out 4 other people willing to fly in and even pay more. It was the summer before my senior year in highschool when I flew down with my mom to pick it up. I'll never forget this purchase, even down to the weirdest details like the inside of his house, garage, other cars, conversation, appearance, family, etc. It was obvious the car meant a lot to him. He named her Roxanne after that Sting song, but after many years of service and experience, it was time for him to move on and focus his attention to building up his newly purchased artic e36 m3. He had dozens of races under his belt, a magazine feature, and meticulously maintained her. Kinda weird that I sold my e36m3 to get an e30 325iS and he did just the opposite.
Meet Roxanne
I drove her back 7 hours to Baltimore on hoosier racing slicks on the cruise of my life. It was everything my e36 wasnt. It was impractical, unique, loud, flashy, small, kinda harsh, and I loved every second of it. It tested me as a driver ya know? It required constant communication and demanded my awareness. What could a car junkie want more? After the 7 hour drive, I dropped my mom off, went to Sam's house, and we drove the 3 hours straight to Ocean City MD all on my old M3's tags. We thought we were screwed when we pulled up at a DUI checkpoint. Two highschoolers locked into a loud red BMW with blue racing harnesses at 2am on an isolated road. He had to check the plates, no? All the cops did was laugh and asked us how he can put them in his pickup truck. I was young, rev-happy, and hooked on the e30's spell. I spent a few days with my buddies down there enjoying the new car. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I got comments whereever I went, occasionally ripping down the famed Avenue. I managed to make it back home on a race to beat the rain as my Hoosier slicks were almost toast by this point. In 72 hours I had driven almost 900 glorious miles on them.
Ocean City
Hunting corners in backcountry Maryland
So two weeks later instead of taking the M3, my next autocross would be in the new e30. This is what owning an e30 is all about, right? By this time I had about 8 autocrosses and two seasons under my belt with the BMWCCA. My parents had been signing me in since I was 15 with the M3 and by this age I had a solid amount of confidence. The course was in a Manassas VA highschool littered with lightpoles. I remember walking the course with a few of the guys and one organizing member warning about a particular turn prone to understeer, directly before a pole. For the first couple laps, the difference between my two cars was astounding. Needless to say, I much preferred the e30. Sam came to the autocross for his second time and was my passenger for the first couple laps. The last one I'd thankfully do solo. And that last lap would change me forever. It was the last turn of the last lap actually. The day prior I had replaced my hoosiers with brand new Toyos, not broken in yet with maybe 60miles on them. Going from racing to street tires changed the dynamic I had grown accustomed to entirely. I wasnt as in-tune with it and it certainly wasnt as planted to the pavement. Not a big deal though until that turn. I understeered like a pig, directly into the forewarned pole. There was a coneworker on that pole. I remember him anticipating the issue and preemptively moving into the clearing instead of behind the pole. I certainly cant blame him, it's human nature to move when you see a car coming. My focus was split on what to do, both directions screwed me, it all went very fast, and I ended up grazing the pole. The coneworker moved away and thankfully wasnt harmed. The car would be fine too, had the wheel not been turned out. I hit the pole with my tire, kicking it into the floorpan at 5-10 mph. I had some scuffing on the fender, messed up wheel, revenged the floorpan, and bent the corner of the valance, but that was it. The hood and front bumper was still straight. The door was fine. All the mechanics were fine.
That accident has been burned into my brain ever since. I'll never live it down. The single most humbling and heart breaking jolt of my life, all before the entire CCA community to see. I would later find out the impact was juuusssst enough to tweak the frame. rendering the car undriveable. Totaled. And I only had it for TWO WEEKS! The frame was the only part I couldnt replace, despite going to the areas top frame restorer. That's the reason I'll never forget my short experience with that car. I've replayed the situation in my head a thousand times. What I could have done differently and, oddly enough, what I did to the previous owner's pride and joy. I felt like I killed a living entity. As awesome as the car was, and as much as I legally owned, it, I still thought of it as Mr. Whitney's Roxanne. I would later see a pretty cool philosophy in the car documentary The Beast on why I was so quick to total it - I wasnt the one attached to her. I didnt build the car, I didnt truly know the car, I was driving someone else's car. Which means I totaled someone else's car. And that devastated me. I refused to let go of that rush too, that thrill of ripping around in a loud red e30. And as weird as it may sound, I had to do justice by Mr. Whitney. He trusted me with his baby and I fucked that up. I had to rebuild her no matter how long it took, no matter how monstrous of a pain in the ass it'd be. After all, all her internals worked, I just needed a compatible 325i e30 shell. How hard could it really be?!
I've always thought about how I'd tell Mr. Whitney. Never did. I have our original emails, I even still have his number. One day I'll send him this thread.
Here's what things looked like after I took off the bumpers, lights, etc to inspect the damage. Surprisingly little.
2006
And this is where my amazing friends and family come into play. All in all, it was two years until I got to drive the car again. For those two years I drove my parents' cars, walked 3miles home from school every day, and relied on a wonderfully supportive base of friends to help me rebuild her. After all, I bought the car to learn mechanics. I had never even changed oil before. And I was about to jump headfirst into a full-body-transplant.... again, with huge help from my friends and family. Couldnt have done it alone. But first I had to find a clean e30 shell. That part would turn out to be far more difficult than I anticipated. It took months before I was out of my slump and looking at e30s again though. And when that time came, everything was garbage. Just trash. Misrepresented rust buckets, and even one guy that showed up drunk at midnight with his high girlfriend trying to sell me a 200k mile junker 325 for $4k. No thanks. And then I find the one. Not the color I was hoping for, but I was desperate to get jumping on the project.
Here are the previous owners's ad pics...
1990 Brilliantrot 325iS Automatic w/ 110kmiles, largely owned by old lady who painted her name, Pam, above the pinstriping. Apparently the story was that the original owner was dying of cancer and her friends got her name painted in the door of her favorite car in support. As sentimental and cute as that was, I didnt want to drive around with that. However in retrospect I wish I had kept it. It wasnt THAT big. But yeah eventually I took it off. You can sorta make it out in a couple shots above the pinstripe, halfway point of the door.
Dealing with the shortterm owner after Pam was a pain. Sam was the only one willing to drive the 4+ hours to Pittsburgh to help me check it out . He knew what the project meant to me and was happy to help out. I appreciated that. Most of my friends just made fun of the project ideas and the crash. But that's highschool for ya. When we showed up, the e30 was at a garage parkinglot, not his house like he implied, and he forgot the key so I couldnt drive it or get in. I couldnt even buy it if I wanted to. What an idiot. I liked the car though, it was better than the dozen or so I'd seen over the course of months. I told him I wanted it. He actually backed out on me though and decided to keep the car. 3 months later, and oddly enough while on the way to have dinner with bfc's Ben Careful who was in town, this clown calls me up saying it's time to make a deal. That week he trailed the car to my driveway and I jumped right in. It was far more mechanically shot than he had advertized. It didnt matter too much though since I'd be taking everything out to sell. First and foremost, I had to do a thorough detailing. By that time I had been detailing for a couple summers as a sidejob. My summerjob was actually as a salesman for the local Porsche & Audi dealership.
The first detail allowed me to appreciate the differences between Zinnoberrot & Brilliantrot. The new brilliantrot body was definitely more inyourface bright red. And, if I'm honest, it's my least favorite shade of red that BMW offers. What I woulda done for a Hennarot.... anywho, because of the iron containment in the color red, it's the quickest to fade under the sun's oxidation. The new shell only had some expected fade on the roof and everything else buffed out just great. Love it or hate it, there really arent too many cars painted in this shade of red nowa' days. So yeah, I finally found a clean body worthy of rebuilding the project. Mission accomplished.
Mandatory before shots
Partway through a 12hour detail session:
These two red e30s have made for some of the worst and best memories of my life. To a substantial degree, they define me due to the countless weekend wrenchings, projects, detailings, receipts, roadtrips, races, and daily commutes. It's brought together a lot of people and connections in my life that I'm very thankful for as well. So before I start, thanks to my parents, Richard, George @ RAI Motorsports, Vernon, Mckee, Manocheh, Don @ Blue Ridge Sports Cars, Fitzgerald, Sam, Andy, and all the supportive BMWCCA NCC Autox guys like Raphael, Bogdan, James, Thayer, Adam, Eric, Pete and everyone else who's made this project what it is.
2003
My BMW story started back in 2003, my sophomore year in highschool. Technically my first car was a mint condition beige Chevy Malibu I had inherited from my late 70+ year old aunt, but I was given the green light to sell it for a car that suited me better. Not to be ungrateful or anything, but I had been planning that first car purchase from day one. My first word was bus, second was car. And since then cars have been my driving passion in life. I couldnt handle something as a rubbermolded as that bloated Malibu, bless Aunt Bud's heart. So after a quick sale, I got into a higher mileage 1997 E36 M3 Sedan. And so the addiction began. Here's me driving with my buddy Sam, who oddly enough pops up a lot throughout this.
2005
That car never failed me once, ran exceedingly well, never got me in one ticket or accident, taught me how to drive and autocross, and was everything I wanted in a car for almost two years. Never should have sold her. But I did. I was leaving to college where I couldnt drive and instead of letting her rot in my family's garage under insurance, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to buy an older and cheaper BMW to learn mechanics with; a car I wouldnt be to intimidated to tear apart work on. I dont necessarily agree with that mindset anymore, especially since the e36 and e30 are so similar, but nevertheless that was the idea. It wasnt long until I fell in love with a recently posted e30 over on R3vlimited. I couldnt have asked for a more perfect example of what I was looking for.
Here's a screenshot from the owner's website. The minimized tabs say it all. I was writing my college essay, talking to e30-famed member Bokes, and illegally downloading the latest music on Limewire haha
That post was the single most influential mouseclick of my life. Within the same day of finding the ad, I was on the phone with the owner, Mr. Whitney. Very nice family man, an engineer, and from what I can gather a well respected member of the local Raleigh BMW and racing scenes. I told him I wanted it, discussed trip plans, and apparently I edged out 4 other people willing to fly in and even pay more. It was the summer before my senior year in highschool when I flew down with my mom to pick it up. I'll never forget this purchase, even down to the weirdest details like the inside of his house, garage, other cars, conversation, appearance, family, etc. It was obvious the car meant a lot to him. He named her Roxanne after that Sting song, but after many years of service and experience, it was time for him to move on and focus his attention to building up his newly purchased artic e36 m3. He had dozens of races under his belt, a magazine feature, and meticulously maintained her. Kinda weird that I sold my e36m3 to get an e30 325iS and he did just the opposite.
Meet Roxanne
I drove her back 7 hours to Baltimore on hoosier racing slicks on the cruise of my life. It was everything my e36 wasnt. It was impractical, unique, loud, flashy, small, kinda harsh, and I loved every second of it. It tested me as a driver ya know? It required constant communication and demanded my awareness. What could a car junkie want more? After the 7 hour drive, I dropped my mom off, went to Sam's house, and we drove the 3 hours straight to Ocean City MD all on my old M3's tags. We thought we were screwed when we pulled up at a DUI checkpoint. Two highschoolers locked into a loud red BMW with blue racing harnesses at 2am on an isolated road. He had to check the plates, no? All the cops did was laugh and asked us how he can put them in his pickup truck. I was young, rev-happy, and hooked on the e30's spell. I spent a few days with my buddies down there enjoying the new car. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I got comments whereever I went, occasionally ripping down the famed Avenue. I managed to make it back home on a race to beat the rain as my Hoosier slicks were almost toast by this point. In 72 hours I had driven almost 900 glorious miles on them.
Ocean City
Hunting corners in backcountry Maryland
So two weeks later instead of taking the M3, my next autocross would be in the new e30. This is what owning an e30 is all about, right? By this time I had about 8 autocrosses and two seasons under my belt with the BMWCCA. My parents had been signing me in since I was 15 with the M3 and by this age I had a solid amount of confidence. The course was in a Manassas VA highschool littered with lightpoles. I remember walking the course with a few of the guys and one organizing member warning about a particular turn prone to understeer, directly before a pole. For the first couple laps, the difference between my two cars was astounding. Needless to say, I much preferred the e30. Sam came to the autocross for his second time and was my passenger for the first couple laps. The last one I'd thankfully do solo. And that last lap would change me forever. It was the last turn of the last lap actually. The day prior I had replaced my hoosiers with brand new Toyos, not broken in yet with maybe 60miles on them. Going from racing to street tires changed the dynamic I had grown accustomed to entirely. I wasnt as in-tune with it and it certainly wasnt as planted to the pavement. Not a big deal though until that turn. I understeered like a pig, directly into the forewarned pole. There was a coneworker on that pole. I remember him anticipating the issue and preemptively moving into the clearing instead of behind the pole. I certainly cant blame him, it's human nature to move when you see a car coming. My focus was split on what to do, both directions screwed me, it all went very fast, and I ended up grazing the pole. The coneworker moved away and thankfully wasnt harmed. The car would be fine too, had the wheel not been turned out. I hit the pole with my tire, kicking it into the floorpan at 5-10 mph. I had some scuffing on the fender, messed up wheel, revenged the floorpan, and bent the corner of the valance, but that was it. The hood and front bumper was still straight. The door was fine. All the mechanics were fine.
That accident has been burned into my brain ever since. I'll never live it down. The single most humbling and heart breaking jolt of my life, all before the entire CCA community to see. I would later find out the impact was juuusssst enough to tweak the frame. rendering the car undriveable. Totaled. And I only had it for TWO WEEKS! The frame was the only part I couldnt replace, despite going to the areas top frame restorer. That's the reason I'll never forget my short experience with that car. I've replayed the situation in my head a thousand times. What I could have done differently and, oddly enough, what I did to the previous owner's pride and joy. I felt like I killed a living entity. As awesome as the car was, and as much as I legally owned, it, I still thought of it as Mr. Whitney's Roxanne. I would later see a pretty cool philosophy in the car documentary The Beast on why I was so quick to total it - I wasnt the one attached to her. I didnt build the car, I didnt truly know the car, I was driving someone else's car. Which means I totaled someone else's car. And that devastated me. I refused to let go of that rush too, that thrill of ripping around in a loud red e30. And as weird as it may sound, I had to do justice by Mr. Whitney. He trusted me with his baby and I fucked that up. I had to rebuild her no matter how long it took, no matter how monstrous of a pain in the ass it'd be. After all, all her internals worked, I just needed a compatible 325i e30 shell. How hard could it really be?!
I've always thought about how I'd tell Mr. Whitney. Never did. I have our original emails, I even still have his number. One day I'll send him this thread.
Here's what things looked like after I took off the bumpers, lights, etc to inspect the damage. Surprisingly little.
2006
And this is where my amazing friends and family come into play. All in all, it was two years until I got to drive the car again. For those two years I drove my parents' cars, walked 3miles home from school every day, and relied on a wonderfully supportive base of friends to help me rebuild her. After all, I bought the car to learn mechanics. I had never even changed oil before. And I was about to jump headfirst into a full-body-transplant.... again, with huge help from my friends and family. Couldnt have done it alone. But first I had to find a clean e30 shell. That part would turn out to be far more difficult than I anticipated. It took months before I was out of my slump and looking at e30s again though. And when that time came, everything was garbage. Just trash. Misrepresented rust buckets, and even one guy that showed up drunk at midnight with his high girlfriend trying to sell me a 200k mile junker 325 for $4k. No thanks. And then I find the one. Not the color I was hoping for, but I was desperate to get jumping on the project.
Here are the previous owners's ad pics...
1990 Brilliantrot 325iS Automatic w/ 110kmiles, largely owned by old lady who painted her name, Pam, above the pinstriping. Apparently the story was that the original owner was dying of cancer and her friends got her name painted in the door of her favorite car in support. As sentimental and cute as that was, I didnt want to drive around with that. However in retrospect I wish I had kept it. It wasnt THAT big. But yeah eventually I took it off. You can sorta make it out in a couple shots above the pinstripe, halfway point of the door.
Dealing with the shortterm owner after Pam was a pain. Sam was the only one willing to drive the 4+ hours to Pittsburgh to help me check it out . He knew what the project meant to me and was happy to help out. I appreciated that. Most of my friends just made fun of the project ideas and the crash. But that's highschool for ya. When we showed up, the e30 was at a garage parkinglot, not his house like he implied, and he forgot the key so I couldnt drive it or get in. I couldnt even buy it if I wanted to. What an idiot. I liked the car though, it was better than the dozen or so I'd seen over the course of months. I told him I wanted it. He actually backed out on me though and decided to keep the car. 3 months later, and oddly enough while on the way to have dinner with bfc's Ben Careful who was in town, this clown calls me up saying it's time to make a deal. That week he trailed the car to my driveway and I jumped right in. It was far more mechanically shot than he had advertized. It didnt matter too much though since I'd be taking everything out to sell. First and foremost, I had to do a thorough detailing. By that time I had been detailing for a couple summers as a sidejob. My summerjob was actually as a salesman for the local Porsche & Audi dealership.
The first detail allowed me to appreciate the differences between Zinnoberrot & Brilliantrot. The new brilliantrot body was definitely more inyourface bright red. And, if I'm honest, it's my least favorite shade of red that BMW offers. What I woulda done for a Hennarot.... anywho, because of the iron containment in the color red, it's the quickest to fade under the sun's oxidation. The new shell only had some expected fade on the roof and everything else buffed out just great. Love it or hate it, there really arent too many cars painted in this shade of red nowa' days. So yeah, I finally found a clean body worthy of rebuilding the project. Mission accomplished.
Mandatory before shots
Partway through a 12hour detail session:
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