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Back in the day...

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    Back in the day...

    I've been an e30 fan for a long time. In fact, the first car that I had all to myself was a 1987 325is. This was back in 1999. I wasn't to sure what I had at the time but I soon fell in love. I remember learning to wrench on this car, doing what I could given that I was college poor. I spent a lot of time tweaking, maintaining and generally obsessing over what I thought was greatness. What got my even more excited is that I found people, via the internet, that shared my love of e30's. I wasn't alone. It's funny, but I actually remember when R3V first started and I think I have an old account from 2003-2004.

    It's actually still in the family. It's current form is a gts4 nasa race car that my dad drives when he can.

    From 2001, probably from a disposable camera :)



    It's current form...


    It currently has a euro 3.2 that's being replaced by an S54 but more on that later.

    So onto my current e30. My brother actually found this red sedan in Knoxville. It was an '89 325i, very clean but had a blown motor (assumed timing belt) and about 278,000 miles. I bought it because the price was so right, it was clean and I had a spare m20 sitting in bimmerworld's garage (I worked there at this particular time). After a few late nights in the BM garage we got the old m20 in and had it running good aside from a few electrical problems. Good times, fighter jet flyovers and all.

    It was after this time I got a Z4 and then an E55 amg. After about 6 years out of the e30 game I eventually sold the E55 and decided it was time to go back to my roots. AMG's were hugely impressive, but the old bmw formula was in my blood. Unfortunately, I stored her in a barn just outside of Knoxville. Worst mistake I've made with a car. It was as nasty as I've ever seen a car. It was basically a mouse apartment for almost 2 years. I literally had to hold my breath when we pulled it onto the trailer. I wish to hell I had better pictures of her from that time. The good news was that it was mostly just dirt. The seats, dash, door cards, etc etc were all in great shape, no tears, no cracks, etc. It was just super filthy. Here are a few pictures from when I pulled her out, getting ready for a paint correction with a few after pics. This is approx July of 2011. A full right up can be found here: http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/...orrection.html








    Euro S50 Daily Driver: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=279195

    #2
    red car looks great! and that racecar is sexy as all hell!

    Comment


      #3
      Damn son, you have some mad skills. That car just doubled it's value.


      Wish you lived in NY, I'd love to have you do my car.

      Comment


        #4
        So next came the interior revival and general resto job that was required if I was gonna get her back on the road. I completely torn the interior apart (again no pics, lost on an old phone). But I scrubbed, sanitized, deep cleaned, repainted, replaced and did whatever I could on every single piece of the interior with the only exception being the body wiring harness. It took forever but many long days and nights paid off in an absolutely minty fresh interior.

        The next step was getting her road worthy. I already had IE3 springs, bilstein sports and an IE short shifter from my BM days. But I had to basically replace everything. Tie rods, CAB's, driveshaft, CSB, guibo, RSM's, subframe bushings, RTAB's, etc. I got her on the road as my permanent DD in about October of 2011 and have slowly restored/replaced what I could during that time. Just a whole host of things like wiper blades, spark plugs, coil, fuel pump, fuel filter. Many late nights with my aforementioned brother or whoever was willing to help. Along the way I picked up some drop hats, an Evo3 steering wheel (awesome updgrade), 17" esm 002r's, IS front lip spoiler, painted rocker panels and a bunch of other things I am leaving out.

        I got my new phone around the same time as the wheels (which I love) so please excuse the photo dump.

        Before wheels and some rocker panel/valence love



        After













        Future plans include the euro 3.2 I mentioned earlier. That engine has a special place in my heart. The original plan was to have the white '87 as a restored car, euro 3.2 and all. The swap got complicated and dad got the racing bug so he got "my" s50 and has raced it for some time. I've lusted after a euro 3.2 e30 (that one in particular) for damn near 10 years and soon I will have it. I also may get some revalved bilstein's, bigger sways, corner weighting, real BBS RS wheels, some paint/dent work and then get my sport seats and e30 m3 rear seats I have in storage recovered and put in. The comfort seats are ok, but they don't quite cut it.
        Last edited by Luke_M; 02-16-2013, 07:32 PM.
        Euro S50 Daily Driver: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=279195

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks guys. The paint correction was done by Eric Witt. He's a literally a pro. He sees things that normal eyes can't see, even when they're pointed out. He really knows his stuff. He's blown up since then.

          Free plug if the mods don't mind. http://www.trushinedetailing.com/
          Euro S50 Daily Driver: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=279195

          Comment


            #6
            Jesus...this looks exactly like my old zinno sedan (aside from the esm's). May it rip.

            Love your car! Keep up the great work :up:
            -Brad, AlphaTeam Motorwerks, LLC
            91' 318iS - S54/6MT Swapped
            08' E90 M3 6MT - Daily
            04' Chevy Duramax CCLB - Work Truck/Hauler


            Originally posted by IronJoe
            Alpha Team: running through e30s, gringo icebergs, and 19 yr olds.

            Originally posted by 2mAn
            Brads a standup guy even though he likes buttsex

            Comment


              #7
              This really does it for me. Nice work. Small bumper sedans have always been my favorite, especially with some rolling stock such as yours.

              Did you order your headliner or make it yourself? I recently replaced mine with a stock headliner and sort of regret not going with a suede one.
              sigpic

              Comment


                #8
                really nice!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by fourmotioneer View Post
                  This really does it for me. Nice work. Small bumper sedans have always been my favorite, especially with some rolling stock such as yours.

                  Did you order your headliner or make it yourself? I recently replaced mine with a stock headliner and sort of regret not going with a suede one.
                  Kevin Chin with Creative Options in Atlanta built the headliner and I had a local do the install. It's about the only thing I outsourced. Way to much trouble otherwise for me.
                  Euro S50 Daily Driver: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=279195

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Good stuff....i like the M tech 2 style bumpers with flares on the racecar. Who makes that kit?
                    "I'd probably take the E30 M3 in this case just because I love that little car, and how tanky that inline 6 is." - thecj

                    85 323i M TECH 1 S52 - ALPINEWEISS/SCHWARZE
                    88 M3 - LACHSSILBER/SCHWARZE
                    89 M3 - ALPINEWEISS II/M TECH CLOTH-ALCANTARA
                    91 M TECHNIC CABRIO TURBO - MACAOBLAU/M TECH CLOTH-LEATHER

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Beautiful! Love it! Making me want a red e30 even more..

                      Originally posted by SpasticDwarf;n6449866
                      Honestly I built it just to have a place to sit and listen to Hotline Bling on repeat.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I love that headliner!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I love the idea of this car with an s50b32, and I love the story behind it as well. Looks like you're putting together a great car.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            You're doin it right... well done man!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              That son of a bitch looks amazing! Those esm look perfect with the drop. Any rubbing up front?
                              I want a nice set of smoked MHW's (I know, get it line)
                              Free Stuff!!:http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=273454

                              Comment

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