Hey everyone,
This is my first e30 and consequently my first post. I picked up a 1987 325i Convertible last week in Northern VA with 115,5XX miles on the original motor. A 5 speed had been swapped in by the original owner (I am owner number three). The original top was leaky and when the second owner bought it the interior was damp and disgusting. He then ripped every last bit of the original interior out, and swapped in his original seats from his 350z. I am assuming the original exhaust pipe rusted, as there is a brand new muffled bolted directly to the header. It is loud. It is proud. It pisses everybody and everything but me off.
So when I picked the car up, it had 115,5XX on the odometer, swapped 350z seats, an un-cracked dash, a fully functioning cluster, and an aftermarket radio with ungrounded, but presumed functioning speakers.
I promptly filled the empty power steering reservoir, put some air in the tires, and drove the car 500 miles to my parents house at the end of Long Island for a surprise Memorial Day visit. Crazy? Absolutely. Frightening? Every last foot until she cranked into the garage back in D.C Sunday afternoon.
Before I left I promised myself if things started breaking, I'd drop her off at the junkyard at the end of August and try again. She ran like a top North and South and as a result is going to be showered in gifts and spoiled rotten.
Plan is to put a 2.8L M52 motor in and stroke it out to 3.0L and run a set of forged pistons with S52 crankshaft. Going to turbo it by the end of the summer or early fall. Debating using the Z3 M52 with aluminum head and iron sleeves vs. an iron head. Will snap more pictures tomorrow, and post some existing photos below.
Have read about a billion threads here and am looking forward to input and keeping everyone updated on the build.
This is my first e30 and consequently my first post. I picked up a 1987 325i Convertible last week in Northern VA with 115,5XX miles on the original motor. A 5 speed had been swapped in by the original owner (I am owner number three). The original top was leaky and when the second owner bought it the interior was damp and disgusting. He then ripped every last bit of the original interior out, and swapped in his original seats from his 350z. I am assuming the original exhaust pipe rusted, as there is a brand new muffled bolted directly to the header. It is loud. It is proud. It pisses everybody and everything but me off.
So when I picked the car up, it had 115,5XX on the odometer, swapped 350z seats, an un-cracked dash, a fully functioning cluster, and an aftermarket radio with ungrounded, but presumed functioning speakers.
I promptly filled the empty power steering reservoir, put some air in the tires, and drove the car 500 miles to my parents house at the end of Long Island for a surprise Memorial Day visit. Crazy? Absolutely. Frightening? Every last foot until she cranked into the garage back in D.C Sunday afternoon.
Before I left I promised myself if things started breaking, I'd drop her off at the junkyard at the end of August and try again. She ran like a top North and South and as a result is going to be showered in gifts and spoiled rotten.
Plan is to put a 2.8L M52 motor in and stroke it out to 3.0L and run a set of forged pistons with S52 crankshaft. Going to turbo it by the end of the summer or early fall. Debating using the Z3 M52 with aluminum head and iron sleeves vs. an iron head. Will snap more pictures tomorrow, and post some existing photos below.
Have read about a billion threads here and am looking forward to input and keeping everyone updated on the build.
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