​​​​​​​My first ever E30! I need some help and knowledge

[Ryan’s1986bmw325es]

Hey everyone, I’m new to the E30 life and I just bought a 1986 325es 5 speed that needs some love. I’m looking for some more experienced knowledge on parts that are cheep but preferably aren’t gonna crap out in a week or so lol. It runs and drives great! Could use a throw out bearing though. I’d appreciate all the help I can get. Here’s a list of everything I need/want that I could think of;

Pretty much everything in the interior is clapped out lol
seats
dashboard
speedometer works sometimes
fuel gauge works sometimes lol
door panels
etc.
for exterior
yellow tinted headlights
smoked taillights
all the bmw logos
exhaust resonator
Wheels
etc.


The reason why I put ‘etc.’ at the end of each section is because I know you all know more then me and might have random ideas of what I might need that I didn’t even think of lol. So fire away with all of your advice for parts. Also I’d really be looking for aftermarket modifications to replace the broken stuff not really oem parts cause those are expensive lol. Thanks for all of your help! Here’s a few pics as well

[Vincenze]

Most interior panels are not available new. You have to watch "For sale" sections here and in FB groups.
If there is a partout nearby, you may visit it.
Good seats and dashboards are expensive.

You may need to check the speed output connector on the differential. There are wiring diagrams online if you search.

Logos are available from BMW, cheaper ones on ebay.

Sites like https://www.ecstuning.com/ show non-BMW parts.

[Panici]

Welcome!
Looks like a fun project.

Does it run and drive right now?

[strickland]

You’ve come to the right place!

ECS, FCP, Turner, Pelican, Bimmerworld & others have plentiful parts… until you find one that is no longer available.

Bavarian Restoration for the cluster.

This site has decades worth of info & troubleshooting, if you dig into the search.

[Ryan’s1986bmw325es]

Yes it runs and drives great! I’m looking for aftermarket parts for mods as well, like smoked headlights and taillights, and not really oem part so if y’all have any info on that that would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!

[TobyB]

Do the brakes first, and the fluids next... and check all the rubber bits like the guibo, the center support,
the brake flex lines, fuel lines, hell, at this point, even the fuel filler hose and all that piping under the rear seat.

'Cause this stuff's aged out, and running the originals is asking for... experience.

Likewise, my experience with cone filters is that they suck... as in, suck in dirt, grit, and all other sorts
of things that hurts your performance far more than it helps.

If you're into customizing, then you can make your own door panels out of thin plywood, foam and
fabric/vinyl, and if you're good at it, they can actually look better than stock. For a fraction of the price.

I've seen people spray 'smoke' onto stock taillights and it looks... pretty good, actually.
With headlights, I find the smoke gets out once, and then they never work again..
(lamin-x covers come in shades and colors- I had blue ones on my blue car for a while)

t
firm believer in not dying in ways he doesn't have to.

[Maybe Magpie]

Welcome to the shit-show! Here, have an absolute tsunami of text to save you a bunch of damn time. Take this with a shaker's worth of salt, I'm an opinionated bitch and nothing more.

General tips:
RealOEM is your friend. FCPEuro is too. Do not be afraid to consult the ancient texts here and elsewhere. Hoard information - save documents and the like because you never know when old websites go down these days. I highly recommend having a little spreadsheet or checklist or just writing down what you've done and what you need to do, and when, and so on.
1986 means your car is an early - not all late (post-1987, especially model year 1989 onwards) parts will fit. They have different cooling systems, body panels, window mechanisms, taillights, etc. and some stuff was only used on etas, not the 325i cars in regards to the engine and such.
Get ready to replace an unholy amount of rubber. Rule of thumb is if it's chalky or cracked-looking, keep an eye on it and replace it when you can. Seals, gaskets, hoses, belts - ESPECIALLY the timing belt if it hasn't been done in 5+ years or 50k+ miles - are generally ancient and crusty. So are things like suspension bushings and various mounts. Fresh stock stuff can often bring a car back to life wayyyyy harder than you might expect if it was all tired before. 30-40 years does a number... I agree with all the comments saying stuff like the giubo, the hoses, and so on. I'd also flush your brake fluid and get braided stainless lines. Check your brake pads too.
If your car idles weird or runs rough, smoke test time. Almost certainly a vacuum leak (see previous statement).
If there's rust you can see that means there's more you can't lurking. Avoid road salt like it's bubonic plague. Common problem areas are sunroof gutters/drains, rear battery tray and license plate lights, rocker panels, and wheel wells.
OEM parts are a good deal, think store brand soda - oftentimes it's damn near the exact same stuff at way less money. However, not all are made equal - which brand is best depends on the part, thankfully FCPEuro helpfully lists country of manufacture on their listed parts.
There's toooooooons of aftermarket operations. Some are fly-by-night, some are sterling and honest, but there's a lot of operations out there that make decent or good stuff (AKG, Rogue Engineering, Garagistic's QC has notably improved, and there's tons of other little specialists and stuff floating around).

Interior:
Seats - Lseat makes leather covers for stock sports seats a competent upholsterer can redo 'em with. Before you let them at it, I'd clean up the seat rails and frames of any corrosion and maybe gently clean up the foam a little. In the meantime the classic move is a sheepskin cover or whatever.
Dash - yeah, if you want a nice one it's $$$$ so my advice is just either get one of those plastic caps or mats or ignore it for now if you don't want to DIY one of those spackle-and-flock jobs or whatever.
Door panels - see upholsterer remark.
Fuel gauge - probably your sending unit(s) are on the fritz or gummed up. Pull 'em and clean 'em up and see if that helps. If not, might need rebuild/replacement.
Note that interior components aren't always compatible across coupe vs sedan vs cabrio/convertible etc - it depends on what parts.
Speedometer - seconding Bavrest, dude charges a pretty penny but is the guy for cluster refurbs. He makes nice cables too - if you have electrical gremlins get some of his and replace grounds and the like accordingly.
Shifter - Garagistic makes a nice DSSR and SSK, but you have an early car with the old-style sheet metal shifter carrier assembly if I had to guess. Converting is possible last I heard, so that might be worth doing with some fresh bushings there too. Should tighten up the shifts if it's a stick car. If it ain't, don't sweat it.

Exterior:
Lights - I'm a smoked lights hater. I get the appeal but you're in a tiny car by modern standards and have no airbags. You want lights that work BETTER, not worse. Don't bother, man. Get yourself an HID conversion kit from ESG Prints or some Holley retrobrights in the warmest color, and some decent bulbs for the tails (there's resistor solutions to it making the check panel complain if there's LEDs).
Logos - A lot of the new-production roundels kinda suck from what I hear. Try to find good used ones on ebay - IMO one of the best moves an e30 enthusiast can make is accepting slightly scruffy stuff that just needs a little TLC over new-new replacements because oftentimes it's made to a higher standard and you save money that way.
Wheels - those are decent wheels if they're the 15" Borbet Type Hs they look like they are (jury's out on reps). The best? Probably not, they're a li'l heavy, but you can do worse than those. I'd keep 'em for now especially if the rubber's still good. Spend your money on keeping the car healthy first, I've still got my 14" weaves after five years because I can't justify the money on wheels when I have so much else I've been tackling. Drip is cool but doesn't help your car to be reliable.
Some paintless dent repair on that front-end damage and a good detail might breathe some life back into the outside. Maybe get a wrap if you reaaaaaally want but patina has a charm to many.
If your hood doesn't like to STAY open, the hood strut is cheap and easy to replace - it was the first thing I ever did on my car and was 100% worth it.

Engine & drivetrain:
If you don't know the last time the valves were adjusted, get 'em adjusted (or do it yourself). Every 15k is the rule of thumb as far as I know - these are solid rocker motors, so no self-adjustment. Get the oil sprayer bar cleaned out real good - it's unlikely but removing any buildup is a good move and you'll have access to it then anyway.
Timing belt and water pump - Geba pump with the metal impeller, OEM belt and tensioner oughta do it. I'm into overkill but the gates belt and PPF tensioner I got are almost certainly wasting money on an eta motor. I'd also get the cam seal addressed while you're at it and also the cam gear, if the cam gear is the old stamped/thin kind, replace it with the newer sintered, heavier-duty one that's more durable. It's not super common but the stamped ones are known to sometimes fail dramatically and your car is old enough it probably didn't get one from the factory.
Motor mounts (like other rubber, and the transmission mounts too) tend to be tired as fuck if they haven't been done. Whenever you have the engine lifted or whatever (e.g. to replace the oilpan gasket easier), see if you can replace them.
Bash pans are nice to have to protect the oilpan.
Everyone and their mom has a different opinion and preference on oil. I'm an advocate for synthetics but regardless of what kind as long as it has a nice high amount of ZDDP/zinc in it (like these old motors like) and is a remotely appropriate weight, you'll be fine. Most OEM filters are fine - Mahle, Mann, Bosch all work. Wix is alright too.
Throttle cables can get stretched out and floppier over time. Might be worth doing yours if your throttle is mushy.
Use the stock air filter. The cones suck, especially without a housing where they'd suck hot air (Castro Motorsport makes a good housing but I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a cone filter brand that doesn't let more grit in and shit like others said).
Looks like whoever was in there last has the radiator mounted... uh, expediently. Zip ties are great in a pinch but if you have time (and you should), get the proper radiator mount parts. Honestly, good excuse to convert to the late-style cooling setup that's slightly better... A fresh Nissen or Behr E36/Z3/Z3m radiator is drop-in and a nice upgrade for not a stupid amount of money, to my understanding. Flush that coolant and use G48-spec coolant, other kinds even of the same color (blue) are not guaranteed to be what the M20 likes. Brand is irrelevant as long as it's G48. Don't use the green shit. BMW's is overpriced of course, but I use the Zerex G48 and distilled water. No complaints. Ideal time is when doing the timing belt/water pump job as you gotta remove all that shit anyway to get at it easier.
If it's an autobox, consider a 5-speed swap. My car's 5-speed now and is a lot livelier, but there's some differences in driveshaft, transmission bellhousings, flywheels, etc between etas and 325i cars, as well as late cars vs early cars so beware.
Being an M20B27 (eta) your head is more restrictive than the M20B25 in the 325i cars (aka "885" head). However, via combining an eta lower assembly with an 885 head and some piston/rod/crank shenanigans, you can get a nice stroker build going if you're into that for more power. That said, etas get notably better mileage than i cars and they're understressed so they tend to be pretty robust and live long lives. M20B25s are better motors for performance, but at the end of the day neither cracks 200hp stock so don't feel bad about it, IMO.
Being an early car and an eta I'd wager your diff is open but given it's an ES it might have an LSD. If it does that's a nice thing to have, no need to rush but getting fresh fluid in there and maybe having the mechanism rebuilt will keep it going. If it doesn't, maybe a diff upgrade might be a good pick - most people with stick M20b25s like the 3.73s but the etas are oddballs built with longer gearing for fuel efficiency and have a lowwww redline.
Oilpan baffle helps with oil pressure on hard sustained cornering. A crankscraper from Ishihara-Johnson is a well-regarded addon too.

Suspension:
Bump stops, shock boots, steering rack boots, rear CV boots, front tower bearings/mounts, swaybar bushings, control arm bushings, endlinks, and so on tend to be all pretty crusty (rubber again). It's often easiest to just drop the whole damn front subframe and do it all in one go (I'm going to do so myself soon) and that also lets you replace the oilpan gasket easy if you have an engine support bar. If your rear doesn't already have adjustment stuff welded onto it for camber and toe, given that you're lowered I'd advise either raising the car back up or fitting those - stock e30 rear stuff isn't adjustable and lowering messes with the geometry in some complex ways I won't agonize about here.
Less is more on a street car, IMO. Don't rattle your teeth out and make the car miserable to drive. Poly is fine for track but there's a reason I'm mostly replacing my crap with fresh stock IS bits, offset M3 FCABs (compatible with 325 - more caster at no cost, basically) and koni yellow adjustables at stock IS height, but it seems a PO already has you on springs. I'd suggest H&R OESports (not the same thing as H&R sports!) in concert with the Konis if your shocks are due for replacement. There's also stuff like shims and stuff for the springs and so on that is often tired.
Garagistic makes a neat x-brace. Stiffens the chassis up good. Some skid plates are compatible with it.
Rogue Engineering makes spiffy rear shock mounts that are a lot better and more durable than stock.
I'd pull that strut bar, clean it up with sandpaper or a wire-wheel, and then rattlecan or powder coat it.

PHEW. Sorry if that's a little much, but... this is everything I could think of in the "I wish I had known this from the start" category. Everything else is just keeping on top of intervals and enjoying the damn car. Hopefully this is helpful!

[82eye]

first off listen to guys here. most have extensive experience and yrs of working on these.
no matter what mechanic level you are at, everyone will encourage you to catch up on worn parts and deferred maintenance first, these cars are amazing once you get to a base level. they will reward for taking care of very basic stuff.

take your time and have fun with it. these are fantastic cars for teaching the basics of mechanics to newer folk.

e30's respond well to a suspension refresh and easily available common bolt on mods. fresh oe rubber is often far better than poly.

performance is a little harder to chase with an e car, it is a bit easier with an i, depending what you are after. most mods are well covered here. the e-car motor is the basis for numerous stroker engines and turbo builds

[Ryan’s1986bmw325es]

Thank you so much for all of that info Maybe Magpie and all of you! This is gonna help me out so much