Newbie - short intro and hello

[ivangene]

Is there a good DIY write up thread on that,...sounds fun!

Thanks for the pointers

[ivangene]

Got it
http://www.beckerelectronics.com/SIboard/siboard.html

[bmwstudent]

In my opinion 16's are as large as you want to go on an e30. That looks like a decent car from the pics. Only a drive and full on inspection will tell. Pay attention to the rockers at the front and the rear. Look under the car at the front floor pans for any holes. If there are any, expect there to be lots of rust under the wet carpet. It may not look wet on top but the carpet has padding built into it and I cannot tell you how many cars suffer from leaks and saturate that area. Pull the trunk liner and check there too. Check the strut towers for rot close to the fender. Also check around the taillights for rot. The guy may think your crazy but have him open the sunroof, pour about a cup of water into the well around the front and rear of the open sunroof, watch the water come out of the front drain at the bottom of the car at the rear of the front fenders(both sides). At the rear it should drain out behind the rear tire. The drains runs down all four roof pillars and they clog up and hold water. If they hold water you get SEVERE rusting down at the rear of the front fenders, and in the rockers. Go for the m42 or the 325 e or i, they both can be fun and upgraded. Warning, the 325i is pretty quick and will break the tires loose no problem(tickets). Good luck and welcome R3v.

[ivangene]

Great info...the porsche is the same on the roof drains so I am familiar with that

I had the car on the lift today and several experienced e30 owners combing over it...each of them said, wow...great find

We did discover a front fender replaced and passenger door...we opened up some of the plastic and there appears to be no damage inside we assumed a supperficial issue...that was a little surprise but not a deal breaker

A friend and ex e30 owner and one of the best drivers out there took it for a drive and came in smiling...we have a list of parts to replace but most of them are simple and not going to add up to much....brakes, rear rotors, fluid, shift bushings, one power steering line, and a couple other things I wrote down

The car has never seen any leaks or was stored inside and not taken out much...under thr carpet and truck area the paint is clean and the carpet is in great shape, even the sound deadening material is clean...side rockers straight, front brake ducts in tact, all plastic and even the battery cable covers. All inplace with the right stickers....we dug everywhere and I am happy to report...pretty clean...

So tonight my son drove some more, he is learning...we didn't get out of 1st but we got started. On flat, up and down hill a couple dozen times.......
Next step second gear!

[bmwstudent]

congrats

[ivangene]

new air filter in - now we found a good intake leak there - bellows is shot...still holds OK but will replace asap - with the air box out I cleaned up the AFM and took a deeper look into the motor bay... I need to clean it up and see if we can trace some of the weeping wetness (oil) - nothing saturated, just want to keep it from getting worse

RE driving - we hit second gear
the comment "I like second gear" came out - ive created a monster!

complete wash and cleaning of the car - some good pointers on what to do while washing, how to avoid scratching it and checking condition of things while washing...then a trip to the autoparts store to pick up a sun shade - those things actually work, the interior was much cooler and we want to keep the sun off that dash

having a great time - my only regret so far is not buying one years ago....dang fun car!!

[bmwstudent]

Signs of a little oil in the intake boot are actually normal. The entire crankcase is under vacuum, it pulls from the left front side of the throttle body. See the hose that goes from the throttle body, under the intake to the valve cover. So a little oil residue in the boot is okay, no standing oil though, and if it made it into the filter housing you should start checking for vacuum leaks.
As far a washing it, I always like to give it a couple baths and then clay bar mine. A couple good coats of wax and your ready to go. I lived in Bothell for a while and I still have three brothers in the area. Beautiful area.

[ivangene]

Saturday my son and I took the car out to Bremerton Motorsports park for a "skills day"

background - I am an instructor, and he isnt old enough to participate yet - BUT - since I set up the slalom course - I thought I better get it "tested"

so he drove 5 times up and down the slalom and mostly VERY SLOW - but smoothly, and started to feel more confident each run - after that we wandered over to the skidpad (me driving...and PRE water truck, so it was dry as can be) - I was quite impressed how easy the car is to get into a drift and hold it there as long as I wanted...3-4-5 times around in a full drift?? WOW!! I'm sold - what a fun car!

It was a long day and he had a chance to help me set up and "test" the advanced slalom in the afternoon, with a little more "checking/testing" before we released students on it :)

in the afternoon I set up the road coarse and although it wasnt my best (a little "kinked") it was fun - we flogged the car a few runs and I was impressed with super sloppy suspension on snow tires how well this little car handles!! - one pivot turn around I pulled a "ken block" style J turn and put a cone right on the license plate and rotated the azz around the cone, my boy was laughing saying "WOW - THAT was cool!!!

long drive home, tired - he asks me "do you think I will be as good as you dad?"

my answer, you'll be better
why?
because you are starting to learn at a much younger age then me

he smiled

OH - and the flood of positive comments about the car from other drivers and instructors sort of reinforced in his head how damn lucky he is - several instructors were like - WOW, do you know how lucky you are? - I think he got it - yesterday I was pretty busy and when I came home from some errands - got ready to mow the grass....and ???? what the hell ? ? ? ? it was already mowed - seems he thought it would be nice to do that for me - I agreed it was a very nice gesture and thanked him!!

I think we are on a good path

Love the car, its amazingly balanced and fun as h&ll to drive - but you all already knew that! Have a great day