Whats interesting about your e30's history?

[e30slidewayz]

My e30 is the 325is that was featured as the "budget bimmer" in eurotuner June, July, and August 2003 issues. I originally drove 4 hours to go look at a pristine alpine 325i, but the fucker sold it out from under me before I got there that day. I arrive and was diasappointed as hell, even told him I had cash in hand and I was on the way. But then he told me to give him a couple hours, he knew of a guy that was selling an e30. A couple hours later I returned, and there she sat all shiny and detailed. Bronzit on anthracite koseis k1's, H&R sports with koni adjustables all around, swaybars, nice brakes, and a new tasteful Arc audio setup... absolutely stunning. Turned out it was featured in eurotuner, built and tuned by Bob Tunnell of Bimmer Haus, and came with all the mags and a shit ton of meticulous records. Also turned out that my cousin, who worked for BMW at their factory in SC, knew the guy that painted the car previously as well as the PO. I'm so damn happy it worked out like that... amazing. Fate brought me this car and I love it. I've done a lot to her since then. Currently I'm getting her buttoned up for the Brodeo in a few weeks ;)

[spdracrm3]

E30m3

my second E30M3 has an interesting history , was originally purchased locally by a fellow from South Africa who worked in the oil industry at the time so traveled around the world ,he moved to England and had the car shipped there too and while there had the car upgraded to Evo2 spec by Mosley Motorsports ,eventually moved back to Washington bringing car back and then sold the car to a used car lot up north ,where some of the Evo parts went missing from car .the fellow i got the car from purchased it from this lot thinking it was still a full Evo2 car ,he had the car a couple years and then had the car stolen from him in his own house at gunpoint by masked men(he suspected the Ex wifey put whoever stole the car up to it as they knew exactly what to ask for and knew there was a safe in the house ).car was eventually found high centered down a dirt road with no wheels and interior mostly stripped (ignition lock punched out even though whoever stole it was given the keys) and they had tried to blow up the motor .

so how did i come to get the car ,well my dad is well known locally in the BMW circles as he has over 30 BMW's and 30yrs worth of parts stashed at his house . so one day he gets a call from the last owner trying to sell him the car to which he told him he wasn't interested but gave him my number thinking i might be (my dad had just recently sold me his 88M3 so thought i could use it for parts), so i get the call and tell him I'm not interested at the time especially for the price he was asking so didn't think about it again then 3 months later he calls back telling me his new lower price ,nope still not interested in another project so forget about it again ,then 6 months later he calls again desperate to get rid of it and to have me at least come look at it ,so i give in and go look and decide on a ridiculously low price i could give him (not knowing at the time what was wrong with engine other than it would only turn 90 deg back and forward) and knowing i could at least part it out and get that money back and he agrees .so i trailer it home and proceed to disassemble it .
i find virtually no Evo2 parts left on car other than Evo2 spoiler (i did luckily get the Evo2 16" BBS RS as they weren't on car when it was stolen)and 48mm throttles on a stock 2.3 motor ,which as mentioned was attempted to be destroyed by who ever stole it last (we think they put brick on gas pedal and when it wouldnt explode they opened the oil fill cap and threw dirt ,rocks and then pennies in motor ) the pennies eventually got into Timing chain and made it jump until a pair of intake valves smacked the pistons and second hit valve head broke off and jambed vertically into top of piston and then stopped abruptly against cyl head . was able to salvage motor and its now a 2.5L with the Turner kit rest of car is slowly being turned into a track car

i actually found and called the original owner (south african fellow who still lives locally) and got the full history and all the shipping paperwork he had left from when he owned it .

still dont know how/why the car came to be stripped down a dirt road with ignition punched out ,but speculate that it was either a cover up job or bunch of kids stole it in the end ...... makes for a amazing history though

[Kvasi]

My first E30 was bought when complete dark outside. Turned out almost all of the firewall was rusted to crackers so paid more to have it welded at a shop than i paid for the car.

[strang3majik]

My e30 was originally from Texas, moved to California for a few years, then went to New Jersey for a year or so, then down to Georgia, then back up to Jersey, then to Maryland...and finally to me in Pennsylvania. Lol.

2xx,xxx well earned miles. Also explains why you could eat off the underside.


And...went to buy parts from a guy in Maryland who's friend used to own my car (and wishes he never sold it.) haha.

[willworkfore30s]

Bump, some of these stories were pretty good reads

[smitche]

mine was purchased from auction, so I have absolutely no history. I do know that the car was impounded, I'm guessing due to possession of a controlled substance based on the vials found in the car. Also found several expired registration and missing proof of insurance tickets. The good news, I found out it was originally an 88 seta automatic and it's been swapped to an 885 head and intake, and a 5spd.

[S62]

I bought my car from a guy who ran tap water in the cooling system, ran the car without a fuel filter (great fucking idea for a car with a 25 yr old gas tank). He also used some type of adhesive to hold the ICV on, cut a whole in the bottom of the trans. to check the clutch and so on.

[TheTacoMan]

I had been looking for an e30 for a few months after getting convinced by other owners. After months of looking for an e30 I had looked at mostly "e"s and "i" four doors both of which I did not want. I ended up looking at about 6 e30s before mine, all of them were just beat to shit and not taken care of at all. Which brought me to my e30. I was working some odd jobs up in Tahoe city California and I drove by this blue e30 with bright bottle caps. So I ended up walking around a little bed and breakfast trying to find the owner. Found him and asked him if he would sell it, turns out he was going to list it on craigslist later that day. Car was owned by a buddist monk that traveled the world and needed to sell it due to traveling. He told me he couldn't tell a lie and explained EVERY flaw down to scratches behind the passengers seat and included service records dating all the way back to the early 90s. I talked to the guy and it was fate that it would be mine. I could not make this story up.
Ended up getting the car for 2k, but the reason it intrigued me so much was it was a super Eta and it was blue. Mileage right now is almost 150k, no rust as it is from Henderson Nevada and im the third owner.

[M-technik-3]

Bought it on a whim cost 240 bucks. Was a 3 speed. 1/3/5 plate shifter was missing a bolt only allowing you to shift into top gears, no biggie for an eta.

My M3 has lived in 5 states 3 of them twice. The other one has odd life, has had 4 engines, original S14 then a 2.5 then another 2.5 and now back to a 2.3.

Other than that nothing cool really. No drug doors or smuggling compartments like that M3 on S14.net that had a 6 gallon fuel tank the other side stored coke.

[bddog]

The original owner of my BMW, flew to Germany to purchase it from the factory. He toured Europe, then shipped it home through the Dealership in Whittier,CA. I have all the paperwork, with the original owners Manuel. I bought it from the second owner, A Rabbi in Santa Monica. She had under 100,000 miles on her. Had to break the seat in. He did not want to get rid of it. His wife bought a new car, his son wanted a Honda instead. That Man practically cried when I drove her away.

[VinniE30]

(the zinno e30)
It was originally a 1989 325i. The previous owner swapped out the stock m20b25 for an eta m20b27. He was a mechanic at a BMW dealership yet said he didn't know it was an eta engine. I'm not sure what's more stupid - if he knowingly did it or unknowingly did it. Although he did say the original engine got wrecked from a broken timing belt.

[Mr. Burns]

my convertible was previously owned by a hair salon owner.

HE took meticulous care of it, and was ocd about cleanliness.

came with a stack of DEALER receipts for little thing like"turn signal bulb replacement...$30 labour, $9 material costs...

regardless, the convertible quickly earned it's nickname as "the gay hairdressers car"

[Nick_S]

When I first got it I did the typical E30 thing and ripped out the interior for cleaning. Found a $.50 German coin under the center console, thought that a bit strange so I started looking through the owners manual. The car had originally been purchased in Germany and was shows service and maintenance records at the same dealership till around 97. That dealerships emblem was still on the trunk as well. Looks to have been brought over sometime around 97 based off the service records. Unfortunately it appears the only bit of euro flair that remained on the car was the euro grills which were destroyed from PO lightly rear ending someone. I suppose I could run the vin to get an accurate history of it sometime.

[Mr. Tasty]

my e30 lived mostly up in Illinois and Wisconsin it's entire life, yet it has no signs of rust. Must have been only a summer car.

[JinormusJ]

Every e30 I've owned has never left me stranded after the first few weeks of new owner maintanence (TB/WP, Oil, Coolant, Cap/Rotor)

100% Cali Car originally bought in San Fransisco and ending up in Sacramento; soon to be moving to Orange County