Another Newcomer

[turbo zombie]

hey all, just bought an E30 one week ago today. test drove it and fell in love (has more freakin options than my civic did, except cd player). '87 325e, 5 speed, broken odo shows 225k miles, PO says it's at about 240k. he also said it's had the timing belt and water pump done recently, so i supposedly don't have to worry about that anytime soon. gonna do it anyways. all the important gauges work (the obc screen is screwed), and the dash is uncracked (well, mostly, there's one but it's less than 1cm).

already done the oil, tranny fluid, diff fluid, ps flush (needs another one already), extended clutch stop, found out why you shouldn't use carb cleaner in the ICV, jumped the pins and reset the SI lights, bumper tucks, and home job short shifter (did that one today, haven't taken pics yet). next on the list is replacing the odo gears, an ignition refresh, waxing it (right now it's dull white), and finding the intermittent check light coolant issue (hoping it's just the sensor).

the front fenders are a little banged up, and the passenger footwell has been crushed in a little bit, but it still runs like a champ (much better than my volvos did with as many miles).

the PO also cut the front springs, so i'll have to deal with that soon too. planning on H&R sports and Billy sports.

i've been trolling some of the bimmer forums (e30tech and here, mostly, but also some bimmerfest), and almost everyone seems really helpful and the good knowledge seems real easy to find, so i'm looking forward to being an e30 addict!

[Edev]

Sounds like you're on the right track! When you get a chance, you should post some pictures :) you'll <3 r3v.

[dashboardmonkey]

welcome

post pics

[turbo zombie]

i'd take more pictures of the outside, but honestly i need to wax it first. it doesn't show up well in the pic, but the paint is pretty dull. i've waxed the roof 4 times and it still needs more.


to do the shifter i just took a hacksaw and cut the top 3/4" off the rod. the knob is an inverted 8 ball (a real one i got off ebay) with a hole drilled in one side. with nothing between the two it's a loose fit, but i folded over a piece of shop rag and crammed the knob down on the rod. it can spin a little bit but does not pull off (unlike the stock knob did). i'll add a little glue or epoxy to hold it a little better, but it works great for now.

[Farbin Kaiber]

There is a better way to have a short shifter...

[Jand3rson]

Not gonna lie, that's a pretty rad shift knob. Welcome. :up:

[turbo zombie]

Not gonna lie, that's a pretty rad shift knob. Welcome. :up:

thanks!

There is a better way to have a short shifter...

not for the price :). i've had that shift knob since 2003 so it's not like i feel like i paid anything for it anymore (it was only like 20 bucks to begin with). plus it was on both of my volvos, so it's also sentimental. the oem rubber shift knob felt like crap, and wiggled all over the place even when not shifting hard, so it had to go asap. maintenance items are coming first on this car, so anything performance has to be free or very very cheap (like under 15 bucks). it's already so much more fun to drive just from the clutch stop and the shifter, and it was fun to begin with, so i'm happy for now. i'll eventually do a real short shifter.

[Farbin Kaiber]

That's what I meant, use a real shorter throw shifter and by all means still run your cue ball, I've seen much worse, (i.e. rainbow colored lexan dildo drifter shifters) so do your thing.