Furthest your E30 has broken down

[Joe G]

Drove from NY to WA. Only break down was after 3 runs to 130-145ish in middle of nowhere montana. Car stopped getting fuel and I sputtered into a gas station and she died. Fuel pump sucked up some gunk and clogged, once i got it started again and revv'd it the car ran fine. No issues since.

So to answer your question, ~2,600miles from home. 800 miles from my destination.

[glucklich21]

Exploded the oil pan 3 miles away from home last night.

[e30trooper]

m20 car , bad fuel pump about 30miles from home. i can do over 300 miles in a day without any issues

[N2MYE30]

The clutch slave gave out right across the street from my parking structure.

Same here...300ft.

[Stephen]

Just north of sacramento about 400mi north of my hosue. Electrical connection on the power block came loose, killed my car

[burlmays9]

I wouldn't say "broke down" but my original throttle cable broke 15-20 miles from home in ghetto town, southwest Oklahoma City

Didn't wanna fool with being towed so I pulled out my cruise control cable, put in place as a sort of throttle cable and limped home

[nrubenstein]

Broke the shift linkage in the garage where I usually park the E46 M3. That sucked. I just could not make it up the hill in 4th gear. Had to jerry rig it to get it out of there (still only had 3rd and 4th).

[McGyver]

The clutch slave gave out right across the street from my parking structure.

i had this happen to me. my pedal would stick to the floor, so i put my belt around it to pull it back up. pretty sick having the clutch go from disengaged to engaged instantly...

[mikeedler]

ripped the teeth off the timing belt about 300 miles from home outside a whorehouse at the Luxembourg/ Germany border many years ago. thank you ADAC towing service that brought the car back to the house for a new head.

[steinbachphoto]

ruptured TB heating gasket RIGHT when I got to the rock climbing gym. Painted my engine bay in coolant. Only 15 min from home.

Called the girlfriend, picked me up after climbing, went to the local car shop, purchased a hose connector, by passed the TB heater and filled up with coolant, drove home, hosed the engine bay.

Done

[cabriodster87]

5 miles from home. Flat tire, and almost flat spare.

[Balleristic31]

6 miles from home, injector popped out of its seal and shot gas all over the place lol.

[FredK]

160 miles from my house, in the dead of winter.

I had freshly swapped in an S14, and went to visit my a friend in NJ. I was tinkering at his house and noticed the water pump belt tension had slipped so that the tension was too low, so I retensioned it. It's a rack and toothed nut that tensions the belt, unlike modern hydraulic belt tensioners. Anyway, I departed his house in the fading light of a winter afternoon for a four hour ride home. No big deal, right?

Well, in southern CT, I noticed my water temperature was starting to creep up. I was flabbergasted. I had a brand new water pump and all new hoses, and a good bleed. So, I took the next exit in Norwalk and parked my car at a Rite Aid pharmacy. I popped the hood and noticed I no longer had a water pump belt. It started to rain again, as it had been right on the verge of rain/snow all day long. Great. I called AAA, who quoted me around $350 to tow my car back home.

I went inside the Rite Aid and got a package of Nature's Valley peanut butter granola bars and some water. I needed to think. Distraught, I called MikeK.

"Dude my water pump belt is gone."

"Dude, that sucks."

"I just need to be fucking held."

<uncomfortable silence>

After a little while, after going through various scenarios, we agreed it'd be best to try a parking-lot fix. The closest Auto Zone was 1.4 miles away on foot. They also had a belt that'd work for my application. So, I walked to Auto Zone, trudging through watery slush. I also bought a belt, a ratchet, 13mm socket, and a 17 mm combo wrench.

When I got back to my car, installing the belt was a pretty simple affair. It was dark, but I could feel all the fasteners were still there. I topped the cooling system off with Rite Aid distilled water, then drove home.

[lolcantturn]

Have you ever been stranded for whatever reason in it since you did the swap?

My bronzit and my current have never broken down. I've done 8000miles on the bronzit and probably 4000 on my current since swaps.

[acolella76]

What days are you guys coming down here?