Spending money on your e30...

[Suspence]

Bummer about the bike. Niiice looking F2. What were the specs?

Suspence,
Sometimes this stuff happens to me, too. I spent a fortune onparts for my car, and then thought (briefly) that I might have to rebuild the bottom end. I have a load af parts I need to sell that I haven't used yet (US-spec ellipsoids, Euro Hella smilies, Husco armrest) to recoup some of my expenses, but buiding a car is sadly not a cheap proposition. Hang in there, man. You're car is coming along nicley, and I'm sure you'll be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel soon!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to having a killer engine setup, and I'm excited to knock engine rebuild off of my list... it's just a pain to spend all the money I make ah!!!

[Sagaris]

Obvious statement: doing the work yourself will save you heaps of $$$

Just sayin'.

No, I usually dont over-extend myself on car purchases. I have owned my car for 2 years and have done things slowly as I have acquired "excess funds" from side-jobs, birthday money, selling things on craigslist etc. I am not in a rush to try and impress forum people by having all the right stuff on my car (not saying you are, but that can be a driving force for someone to overspend) and I almost never dip into my actual bank account to buy parts and such. As much as I would like to dip into my savings account and build up a wild machine over the span of a few weeks, I try to play it safe, since at any given moment a car can be destroyed or stolen with little to no return on investment.

[kingston]

Yeah, I hear you. I am doing a 327i swap from my SETA engine, and now I've decided that I want to get IE rockers for the head (for peace of mind) and an IE 272 cam (for funz!). 'Cause, y'know, what's another $600 bucks when you've already dropped $6K on the car, not including the car (which I only spent $1,200 bucks on).

Look at it this way - it's inlikely that even with the money you've spent on the car so far, you're anywhere near paying what you would have if you'd bought the car new, and now it is a better-performing car!

[Simon S]

Bummer about the bike. Niiice looking F2. What were the specs?

Thanks. Meh - I got over it. As far as specs - It just had the carbs jetted and the slip on. Was mostly going for an authentic Two Brothers theme there (obviously). But most of the work was spent finding all sorts of Two Bros bike pics - then replicating/laying out those red and blue 'rips' on the bodywork. Was pretty proud of it at the time.. it sure sold easy.

[Mullet Bullet]

sorry but no, ive never put myself in that position. i keep my priorities straight, i save money for the future while saving for the car mods. and since i do all my own work i don't pay for labor ever.

[Simon S]

man - I still think you shoulda kept the black wheels..

Edit: and saved yourself hella rupies.

[grantlacey11]

I have parts on order that haven't been charged to my account yet, on top of shop fees for labor and a few other things. Trying to pay it all off.

Just got a call this morning that my radiator, oil cooler and hoses all need to be replaced... oh and my head is cracked so I need a new head. I dropped it off with having more than enough money to spare... now I'm trying to sell more and more shit.

it sounds like you aren't doing your own work on your car...now that would save you a lot of money.

[VinniE30]

The bad news is you won't get back the money you put into it if/when you sell it.

The good news is with an e30 you will get back a lot of the money you put in, under certain conditions, and much more than if you had put that money into a newer car.

The other good news is the e30 is long done depreciating or arguably slowly appreciating and because of the e30 demographic, most performance upgrades and tasteful appearance upgrades will increase the value of your car.

PS, I love your car and think it looks amazing.

[kingston]

Thanks. Meh - I got over it. As far as specs - It just had the carbs jetted and the slip on. Was mostly going for an authentic Two Brothers theme there (obviously). But most of the work was spent finding all sorts of Two Bros bike pics - then replicating/laying out those red and blue 'rips' on the bodywork. Was pretty proud of it at the time.. it sure sold easy.

I bet it did! It's virtually impossible to find a clean F2 now. I've tried. The funny thing is, I am doing the same thing with my CBR900RR! The Two Brothers 'Countermeasure' bike they used to run in endurance races really tripped my trigger. I've already picked up the rear solo seat and popped an inverted fork on there. Bodywork is next!

Suspense, what else do you have planned for the car?

[Andy348]

Just got my bank account up from $103... felt good.

Now spending $60 on parts :)

[devon.818]

i dropped WAY too much on my exhaust, when i tell people its a 700 dollar custom exhaust i get this look of why. but then all my e30 buddies are like, OMG TITS!
lol

now im getting ready to drop some coin on new wheels and tires, money i could use on plenty of other things that would benefit me more, but give me less enjoyment...

how's it make you feel knowing that you put money into your e30, knowing you will NEVER get that money back? HA! so glad i do not plan to sell my current one. i put all receipts in a folder labeled "do NOT open, unless for insurance reasons....PERIOD"
receipts go in and stay in there, out of sight out of mind.

[Suspence]

I bet it did! It's virtually impossible to find a clean F2 now. I've tried. The funny thing is, I am doing the same thing with my CBR900RR! The Two Brothers 'Countermeasure' bike they used to run in endurance races really tripped my trigger. I've already picked up the rear solo seat and popped an inverted fork on there. Bodywork is next!

Suspense, what else do you have planned for the car?

Hmm well...

At the moment it's sitting in the shop awaiting,

New M20 Block, then off to the machine shop
Heavy Duty Rockers
Oversized eccentrics
272 cam re grind
I Manifold
I throttle body
Miller MAF
KAmotors intake
Air to fuel ratio gauge with custom laser cut panel
Dual core radiator
new oil cooler
new spark plug wires
new intercooler piping ( y pipe )
and a few other parts...

My plan is to autocross the car, looking into getting new suspension, roll cage, and a few other small cosmetic things. Once 2011 is over, the modding for the car should be done... if boosting is complete :).

[A_Whelan]

I am doing that now. I should have sold my E30 after the engine went last September but I spent $650 on a M50 and $500 to ship it to me, plus I need a bunch of other parts to get it in. Ended up selling my tv, camera gear, etc. It sucks but I love the car so much so it's all justified spending.

The tv was for games which was a hobby as was my camera gear. Fixing cars (or my E30) is my new hobby and I was ready to move on from the others to make the next step.

[Mfever]

lol i just dropped 4700 on a paintjob...

[Gruelius]

just gotta slow your roll sonn with the mods.

As for the damage just get it fixed, worst case park it then fix it when u can.

e30's are reliable when they work lol.

But when it comes to repairs unless its a write off i wouldnt give up. if you fully paid off a new lambo and u couldnt afford the headgasket change, you would park it for a month to repair it, wouldnt sell it e.t.c.