I bought my first BMW today

[Mark 42]

E30's are tail happy, but not that tail happy.

I'm a bit spoiled from driving a MK 1 MR2. There probably isn't an easier
car to drive. The balance when it's sliding is incredible.

I have been thinking about moving the battery from where it is now
(all the way aft, behind the fuel filler) to either the front of the trunk
(immediately behind the rear seat), or under the rear seat.
It feels a little tail heavy to me (when it slides).

My kids love it when I do donuts in the vacant field near the
Taekwondo school, BTW... makes me think about setting it up
for rallycross.

[SteveJ]

The antenna should retract all the way down. Just the top cap should show. If things were cut and spliced, probably the antenna lead suffered the same fate. A solid mast could easily be installed at the same location. Not sure if Crutchfield carries things like that anymore.

The E30M3's had the battery mounted in the trunk, but they had wider fenders that allowed for a place to mount the battery. Not sure if a regular E30 has enough space there. On 2002's, a popular upgrade is to move the battery into the trunk using a kit that TopEnd Performance sells. A few notes- Batteries need to be vented to the outside. 2002's already have enough 'natural ventilation' (ie: they don't seal for sh**), and on the E30M3, the battery was a special one with a vent which connected to a hose and a catch tank/vent underneath tha battery tray. Not sure if the Optima batteries require a vent or not- could be an option.

Tires are probably old = hard. They'll last a long time but have no grip.

[Mark 42]

My battery is in the trunk, on the right hand side, aft of the tank's
fuel filler neck. It looks like a factory installation - maybe it was
adapted from a 325 (I hear 6 cyl 3-series had the batt in the trunk
to offset added engine weight).

I'd like to move it forward a few feet.

I did see two vent hose barbs on the batt (looks like a budget
battery though). I had thought about adding hoses and routing through
a hole in the trunk floor - I'm used to that from motorcycles.

The power and the trigger voltages for the antenna motor are there
and switched correctly. I was given a replacement antenna assy
by the PO, but want to bench test it before I install it.
I'll pull out the one in it (it doesn't work), and if needed, will
combine parts to make one good one.

But, if I could find a good quality "stealth" antenna I would just
delete it and make it look like it was never there when I repaint.

[cabriodster87]

Picture of the car:

Click pics for huge version...

Ahh, the right front fender dent most have. LOL. Diamondschwartz, IMHO the only color that makes four doors cool. Hey, what kind of headlights are those? Very nice car!

[Mark 42]

I'm 99% sure they are just ordinary sealed beam headlights.
The lighting might be making them look good.

It looks better in pictures than in person, but it's pretty good looking
in person too.

I'd like to take off the chromey rain gutter & window trim, or have
it powder coated. I wonder if it's a place to trap water & rust?

[SteveJ]

The drip rails and door trim are pretty good, but I woudn't say there is NEVER rust there. Never say never.

The drip rails come off pretty easy compared to a 2002. At the rear, slide the joining clip to one side. Open the door and begin prying the front edge, near the hood, out away from the car. It comes off perpendicular to the body. The front (vertical) edge of the rain gutter is just a tab that comes out from the body. Up near the top where the drip rail goes horizontal it becomes an L shape. At this point the trim must be rolled up from the window towards the roof for it to disengage with the body of the car.

The back end of the drip rail trim is secured with plastic rivets to the painted body part at the c-pillar. The painted part pulls straight out from the body. There are three oval sockets and a smaller black socket at the bottom. The oval sockets almost always break in half when you take them off. When you replace them, be sure to also order the foam gaskets for each socket. The black socket is usually ok. Flip the whole piece over and feel for the indentations in the foam tape. This is where the rivets are for the trim. Use a small finishing nail and tap the center pin in a few mm. this should release the grippers on the rivet and allow you to lift the trim piece out. The rivets will slide out of the trim piece. If you didn't force them you can re-use the rivets and save yourself $5.

The lower trim on the window was a little tougher. It is held on with 6 or so metal clips that also hold the squeegee. It prises straight up along the window. I used a plastic trim tool to start at the front end of the door. Work it up a little and move towards the back of the door continuing to work back and forth untill you can lift it off. I'd protect the door paint with a couple of layers of tape.

The trim can be lightly sanded and shot with some etching primer and trim satin black paint. SEM makes both and they should be available at you local autobody supply house.

Be prepared to re-do ALL the trim. If you do just one it will make the rest look bad.

[Mark 42]

Thanks. It sounds doable, but like it could be frustrating on a bad day.

I'll probably wait until I'm ready to re-paint the car. I don't really care for
shiny metal (e.g. chrome trim), but it's in good shape, so I'll wait until
I'm feeling lucky before I mess with it. There are enough other projects
I need to do (like replacing a tie rod end and checking brakes).

I got a set of lowering springs with the car - I might put them on...
but my son says Fritz wants to be a rally car.

Also, if I put the springs in, it would probably move me out of the stock
class if I ever do find time for autocross.

So for now, I'll just fix the glove box and the antenna.