E30 = Stress cope for me but stressfull for the others...

[funcrew]

do you really have to fix your car every weekend just to make it driveable?

Actually, no. I used to be that way when I drove Fords.

RANT ON/ I'm just pissing and moaning, having sold a much abused/bulletproof 6-year-old Japanese econobox to get a 20-year-old German semi-exotic. The basic cars are very reliable as far as going down the road. It's just that I bought low-mile E30's trying to minimize work needed, and it didn't really pay off. They still have lots of 20-year-old maintenance needs at initial purchase; brakes, fluid leaks, electrical and HVAC stuff that doesn't work, fried wheel bearings, rusted out mufflers, dried out leather, plus stuff I'm doing before it fails, such as fuel pump, fuel hoses, TB, water pump, coolant hoses, and then the paint ding repair, etc.

Here's a recap in order of purchase:

#1 Bought a 66K '89 cabrio from photos (mistake) from a dealer (mistake) on the opposite coast (mistake) and had it shipped (mistake). Put in synthetic fluids and dang near every system on the car started leaking. Won't do that again. The A/C blower didn't work - I thought that would be easy to fix, but was wrong. Lots of gravel dings in the paint. Brakes were toast - replaced everything including calipers. Realized how much work it needed and purchased #2 intending to sell #1 immediately. Has been my daily driver for a year and a half, esp since #2 blew up - see below. Will sell #1 when #3 is ready for daily driving (within a week or 2).

#2 S50-swapped '92 cabrio. Rust free California car, new paint, new top, Mtech 2 kit, mint interior, 5-lug E36 suspension. Working A/C. The S50 blew the head gasket a few months after I bought it. Car is now at TNG getting an S52-OBD1 put in. Nice car, but I now realize that I hate convertibles. Didn't know that until I spent a Summer in Las Vegas with one. The electric top flap lever broke off. Otherwise the car is really nice. TNG is fixing all the little annoying stuff for me. Will probably sell this one, but Matt at TNG tells me the S52 will sway me to keep it. He's probably right.

#3 77K '88 325i sedan with plastic bumper swap. Fried wheel bearings. HVAC blew ice-cold just like the seller told me. For a couple days. Must have been recharged the day I picked it up. Brakes were fried. Interior smelled like smoke. Still, it drives awesome and should be completely lined out in a couple weeks. If I keep #2 I'll sell this one, and vice versa.

So the basic problem is that I have 3 old cars and only enough mechanical skill, time, space, tools, and interest to stay on top of one, with a lot of the work farmed out to those more qualified and motivated than myself.

/RANT OFF So I really like the E30 driving experience. Once I'm down to a single car with the 20-year maintenance cycle completed and the suspension set up, I'm going to be a happy camper. In the meantime, my wife thinks I'm crazy. And she wants her garage back. I also pissed away a lot of money down the old-car sinkhole. That is all.

Edit - Thanks for asking, Nando. I feel a lot better now.

[jmairs]

Interior smelled like smoke.

So did mine. Trying to get every bit of smoke smell out of it was a nice stress relief for me. Plus, I actually succeeded!

As for doing actual work, it's stressful for me because I have little mechanical skills and practically no money.

[twothrees]

"Zen and the Art of E30 Maintenance" sounds like a great title of a book to me. I would read it.

I bought my E30 cabrio and my Jeep XJ specifically so I could work on and modify them. It has been very rewarding and a great learning process. Like most of us, our cars can becoming addicting and has taken away from some of my other sports/hobbies. Balance is the key I am trying to learn. Sounds like a Zen thing.