It's officially a money pit.

[e30rapidic]

considering we bought it brand new back in '87....theres 30k lol. Then add euro bumpers, rebuilding an adding an S50 with a bunch of goodies and tune, zf trans, stage 2 clutch, the 2.8 stroker I had and 2 M20 rebuilds before that, 5 different diffs, set of real Alpinas that I had refinished, 3 suspension variations, euroweaves. 6 speed. Ah forget it.....

[BoxDriver86]

I'm into mine for about $2500. I get 90% of my parts used or from the salvage yard with the exception of maintenance. I only paid $400 for the car.

It's rusty and smelly but it runs great and operates as if new. I would gladly spend more to keep it on the road.

[warmseth]

I just picked up my car from Castros and the money spent was perhaps the best money I've spent on it since I bought it. When I bought the car it had IE suspension goodies throughout but all of it was loose and a dreadful racket every time I drove over the most minor of road imperfections. Chris went through and tightened everything and replaced what bushings needed to be and a blown rear shock and the car feels almost "new car" smooth and solid. While he was dealing with the blown up head he found an incredible exhaust leak right at the collector for the rear bank of headers (IE Shorty). He welded that up and now the car is silky smooth sounding too. And lastly an M3 3 turn rack and all new plumbing for the steering goes a long way towards taking basically ALL slop out of my steering. Seriously the trip to the shop wasn't exactly cheap but he cut me a very good deal and the car feels SOOO much better. I almost don't care about not having money for rent. :)

:woowoo:

[Dave McLaren]

I think I'm in something like $33k so far including the $5500 price of the car.

Probably wasn't the brightest thing to do, but what the hell.

[TurboJake]

I think I'm in something like $33k so far including the $5500 price of the car.

How on earth is this even possible on a non-m E30?

Not trying to be a dick. But I cannot see this humanly possible.

[e30vert]

welcome to owning a car thats 20 years old..

I dont want to think about how upside down I am with the book value versus the amount of money invested. Gives me more grey hair.

[warmseth]

How on earth is this even possible on a non-m E30?

Not trying to be a dick. But I cannot see this humanly possible.

I'm in over $9k now and the car still needs, paint, better wheels/tires, some interior work including headliner, a stereo that's fit for the 21st century and an engine swap with something starting with SXX. I could EASILY be in the $25k range when I'm done if I continue. :/

[BillBrasky]

I'm in over $9k now and the car still needs, paint, better wheels/tires, some interior work including headliner, a stereo that's fit for the 21st century and an engine swap with something starting with SXX. I could EASILY be in the $25k range when I'm done if I continue. :/

I wouldn't do any of that if I were you. Do the bare minimum to keep it maintained and focus on getting your priorities in life straightened out, mainly rent.



/Buzz Killington post

[rollwaveroll]

My dad gave me his 84 318i coupe back in March. He's had it in an open carport on the marsh in S Ga since summer of 83 and hadn't driven it for 3 years. So yes lots of mold, dryrot, but surprisingly little rust. I've already dropped about $6k (don't tell my wife) on new upholstery, dash, steering rack, suspension, exhaust, a/c, tires, fuel pump, and on and on. Still have to have it painted...and that just gets me back to 'stock' with no mods. But it's well worth it to preserve a little family history and have something to pass on to one of my kids some day. Plus, it's actually really fun to drive and you can't beat the gas mileage!

[Dave McLaren]

How on earth is this even possible on a non-m E30?

Not trying to be a dick. But I cannot see this humanly possible.

No offense taken whatsoever. It's easy to rack up tabs when you aren't doing the work yourself. The big invoice was over $20k, though that did include the TCD S2 turbo kit which was like $5k but not the TCD exhaust and bunch of other stuff.

It did kind of spiral but I didn't care at the time. It was 2008, before the economy tanked, and I was feeling pretty flush and thought I deserved to throw whatever I wanted at it. I rationalized that old guys like me are dropping a lot more on toys, that whole trip. Not feeling like such a hotshot these days, but what the hell.

All I have to do is keep it for a while, imagine what depreciation would be on some other toy, and I'm not really that bad off. I guess that's another stupid rationalization, but it comforts me so I'll keep rolling with it.

Dave

[mcgillaguddy]

I think I have probably hit the 10k mark with mine since I bought it in march and I'm an (currently) unemployed 20 year old. After 10k I am still in desperate need of a paint job, as right now my hood is in primer and I have a full hartge kit thats still Schwarz and my car is a zinno.. I see myself easily hitting 15-20k before I am satisfied.

[Nick_S]

welcome to owning an old car...

There ya go.
Paid 2k for mine. Since have probably put close to that back in it just catching up on maintenance items. It sucks but if you want to keep a 22yr old car running it takes some work and money.

[nando]

$9k is nothing. especially if you've had one for 10+ years. that's only $900 a year. I probably spend $1500-2500 a year on my car. which is still only a hundred or two a month... you do the math.

[warmseth]

well as I've only had it for 10 months, that's $900 per month! :lol

[nando]

you could have saved yourself most of that if you'd spent $75 on a timing belt. ;)