FS: The Chalkboard E30 (Sold)

[Neil1138]

Sold

It's been an adventure, however it's time to move on. I thought about listing her on craigslist but I'd prefer for a fellow r3v'er to continue the legacy.

FS: 1990 BMW 325i
Location: Oklahoma 73072
Color: Maroon Chalkboard Paint (originally calypsorot)
Engine/transmission combination: M20B25 w/ G260. The odometer stopped at 212k. When I bought the car two years back, it was like that. So I'm unsure what mileage the car has but it has to be a lot.

Things to note:

· I'm not going to lie to anyone, this was a $400 car when I bought it three years ago. It did not run, the exterior was crap, the interior was crap. It was destined for the junkyard but I poured quite a bit of blood, sweat and tears into this one to prevent that. It is not the most perfect e30 but it is one of the most special e30's.
· The car will not come with the style 5's or ground control coilovers. I've replaced it with stock everything. It comes with straight set of bottlecaps with new tires. Also suspension has been replaced with good stock shocks and springs (looks like a monster truck now)
· The interior is nice and blue now. Blue cloth interior, the drivers seat bottom is ripped to hell. Everything else is great. Comes with near perfect condition black vinyl door panels (no tears, delamination, etc).
· Momo steering wheel is mine as well (will be replaced with stock 4 spoke wheel).

Good:

• No rust.
• Chalkboard paint ftw.
• Valances aren't caved in, i lip is intact and in good shape.
• Interior is good.
• Retrofitted ellipsoids
• Good window regulators all around
• Tinted windows (20%) with 3M tint
• Plastic bumpers aren’t cracked.
• Super meaty clutch (replaced at some point, at least 80% life left).
• New exhaust
• Replaced gas tank (so no rust)
• Replaced fuel pump
• New thermostat
• Replaced starter
• Replaced alternator
• New battery
• Good AUX fan + SPAL 16" puller
• Replaced blower motor
• Good waterpump (replaced with the timing belt)
• New subframe bushings, differential bushings
• Replaced driveshaft
• Perfect bottlecaps
• New tires
• Good shocks/springs
• Good wheel bearings
• Replaced ICV
• New roundels
• Has new brakes/rotors in rear and meaty brakes/rotors up front.

Bad:

• Bottom of driver's front fender and part of drivers door are dented. I've never bothered replacing them.
• Cracked dash
• The engine has a lot of miles. I’m fairly certain that piston ring #4 is worn. It runs quite well considering the mileage and truthfully, you would never know the motor wasn't perfect if I didn't tell you. To put it simply, it drives really solidly for having 212k+ miles. I drove from OKC to Pasadena for B.fest 2012 without issue and down to Houston just a few days ago and I would do it again in a heartbeat. In the end, it’s an old M20. Bulletproof for the most part but things do happen when you have 212k+ miles.
• Likes to get hot on hot days.
• Odometer stopped at 212k. I'm surprised the gears made it that far.
• 3.73 open diff. Doesn't whine or anything, but not an LSD.
• Needs a radio. I like my alpine unit so I transferred it to my new e30. Car is wired for an alpine radio, just buy another one.
• Needs a set of RSMs. Both have blown through.
• No A/C. I removed all of the A/C components a few years back when I wanted to turn it into a track car but I never ended up tracking it. All parts I removed, I kept and are in the trunk.
• No cigarette lighter
• Missing one of the rear window switches
• Glove box latch is broken
• Sunroof headliner has been removed, rest of headliner is fine.
• Needs new shifter bushings
• No windshield washer fluid reservoir

Other:

• Back when I thought I was going to make the car a track car, I stripped all of the sound deadening from the car. I mean all of the trunk gunk is gone, all of the stuff from underneath the carpet is gone. Everything.
• Replaced the timing belt when I bought the car (August of 2010). Have probably put 20k miles on it so the car does not need a new timing belt for a while.
• Rear deck has some weird speakers in it. The new AW e30 had a sound system that I didn't like so I switched the rear decks. I think the speakers are a good brand but I don't care for them. Not currently wired in.
• Sunroof works fine, but takes a bit of coaxing to slide all the way back. Not sure if this is because of the chalkboard paint or because the sunroof motor is weak or something. Never bothered fixing it because I don't use it frequently. It all works though.
• Car currently has an e36 steering rack in it but I'm planning on pulling it and putting the stock rack back in there. If you want the e36 rack, let me know.

As much as I want to keep this car, I just need to move on. It's a solid e30 and it has never let me down. I will let the photos do the talking.

When I first bought the car, three years ago:





After some work:







At bimmerfest 2012



Aftermath of b.fest













damage to door/fender





Usernames v2









What it looks like today:







Price: $1500.00: It has a clean title and all of that shenanigans. I've tried to be as honest as possible. If anyone has questions or wants extra photos, just let me know.

<3

[Swanny]

Hope the next owner carries on the tradition!

[TehPilot]

love the color

[Redfox]

If you weren't so far I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[frankenbeemer]

A bargain. Unique car, honest seller.

[amcp]

I'm interested. PM.

[theothgrey]

Pm'd. Great job bringing this car back to life.

[Docdrey]

This car is epic.

[e30Villain]

I'd honestly love to have this. So unique.
Glws, hopefully lands an equally great owner.

[Neil1138]

Thanks for the love guys <3

A few things to clarify:

• The car was originally calypsorot. When I got it, the clear coat had completely failed. I painted with RustOleum 'tintable' Chalkboard paint and ran that for about a year. It faded a great deal over the year and started to look pink. I then repainted it a second time with my own blend of paint. Same style of paint (still chalkboard) but much stouter, richer in color and less prone to failing. It has been like this for almost 2 years without issue (still as rich in color as the day I painted it). More photos below
• Exterior wise, I replaced the front valance, front bumper and trim and the fog lights. I also, at some point, decided to paint the bumpers solid chalkboard paint. You'll notice that in the early renditions of the paint, both bumper trims were left unpainted. Then I painted the front trim, and then finally the rear trim followed suit. Only made sense as people used to try and chalk on the plastic bumper trim and that didn't work very well

All photos I have taken of the car: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neil113...7629271225776/

When car was first painted:



After a year of sitting out in the sun:



After new repaint:



New paint even after a year:





Also, there are of course marks in the paint (scratches, etc). The paint is literally like one big chalkboard. However, it is not like a blackboard. You can only use sidewalk chalk on it as it is softer than blackboard paint. A complementary box of non-washable sidewalk chalk (the best kind) comes with the car, haha



<3

[Vivek]

Good car, good deal. You can own one of the most famous e30's in the world for 1500 bucks.

[mcskibadee1]

Seems like good deal for a known well running car and it's Internet famous!

[florida_dirt]

rad. be awesome to see where it ends up next.

[ethrtyiS]

love this car. hope it goes to a good home. price very, very nicely as well. good luck sir!

[patmald]

remember drawing a mouse under the mirror at bimmerfest, I loved it.