Any other dumbasses on here?

[Exodus_2pt0]

You're going to love that car.

[Nsquared97]

I like driving a car and learning it's flaws and perks. Then every time I make a mod or improvement, I notice and grow with the car. To me it's like an evolution. Growing and learning with the car. I have variables to compare from.

Completely agree with this, and it's why I kinda don't like the fact that I plan on throwing a bunch of parts at my car when it warms up in time for racing season. I want them on there, but I want to see the difference each part makes.

Anyway, to the OP your story isn't quite as bad as mine IMO. Short version of my story is this: Bought 2 non-running E30's for $500 with a friend. Strip/scrap one, store other for winter. Part ways with said friend during winter, find yourself in the spring with broken car, sitting in a 10x20 storage unit with no heat/lights/power, parts everywhere, and no idea how to do half the stuff you need to do to get the car running.

In the end it was 14 months before I finally got to drive my car after purchasing it. And even though all sorts of stuff needed work once I did get it on the road (it had been sitting for 4 years before I got it) that first drive was unforgettable. It will be very much worth it, don't worry about that.

[obes]

oh and once I dropped the car off at my buddy's shop, I immediately drove back to Huntington Beach (7 hours) to make it to class on monday morning.

damn! commitment !

[E30 Wagen]

This thread makes me feel better.

[Komzorz]

This thread makes me feel better too.

I had to spend $2700 (got hiked up from $2k from some other guys AFTER I had already agreed to buy it at full price) to turn around and spend another $100 to tow my e30 home because it hadn't ran in 12 years.

It took me a full year and a half (and another $2k) to bring the car to a dailyable state, however I am proud to say I've put almost 1k miles on it this year.

[JFarhanbod]

I bought my e30 not running, towed it home, got the engine to run on 5 cylinders, drove it for about 20 miles and then parked it and got it ready for a m50 and manual swap haha

[Wild Ride]

Bought my first e30 that I had never driven for top dollar plus $1k to outbid another buyer and shipped it to Hawaii for another $1100. I had only driven an beat ass e30 for 10 minutes and never driven the car I bought till I was $7500 deep. Don't regret it at all. Especially doing it the right way the first time.

I closed my eyes and jumped off the cliff with 2 other project e30s and an e21. Two of the sketchiest drives home ever. The other "just needed a fuel pump" which turned out to only have compression in 4/6 cylinders. Never regretted those either but they were a lot of work.

Honestly of all cars to do this to you really picked a winner.....and the beginning of a lifelong obsession.

If you ever want more power just downing Atlanta supercharge that m42! There are really so many things you can do to these cars you can build it to fit your (changing) needs and desires.

[JinormusJ]

I have a story similar to Ryan's

Lived in SoCal. Found a late model 325i Friday night in NorCal. Drove through the night 7 hours and 500 miles after talking to owner. Stayed at my cousin's house. Got him down to $800 Saturday morning. Drove another 100 miles to San Fran. Boomed around town another 100 miles on a $800 auto e30 with no clue of any previous maintainence history. Drove it another 100 miles back to Sac. Left Saturday night with my 2 cousins and 2 more friends (5 huge dudes in one e30!) do make the 500 mile trek home in SoCal. (let me remind you again: NO timing belt history, NO fuel pump history, NO spare parts)

When I got home, the very next day, my cooling system blew and was dripping coolant all over the place. I was throwing parts and money at it left and right to fix it up and make it runnable after a "drifting" mishap the very same day. Before I got to drive it again as a DD, I was roughly $2500 into it.


God, I loved that car. My first e30, but definitely not my last.

[matthugie]

There's nothing wrong with it no, but I couldn't do it.

I like driving a car and learning it's flaws and perks. Then every time I make a mod or improvement, I notice and grow with the car. To me it's like an evolution. Growing and learning with the car. I have variables to compare from.

I like this, but definitely didn't do it. My e30 was my DD for the first year or so and completely clapped out other than the shell. I drove it, but it was completely stock, and mostly worn out. It was then off the road for almost a year, got S52, full suspension, 95 m3 rack, BBK, wheels, seats, rest of the interior... at this point it bears no relation to the car I DD'd and I can't even remember what the car felt like stock.

[Jean]

What exactly did you get for it for 3grand if you haven't covered the most important areas ?

[mechdonald]

A bit of background information, I bought a 91 318is after only driving it once, then parked it and poured like 3 grand into replacing everything on it. I keep seeing threads pop up about the feel of an E30, and what makes it special, but I honestly can't comment, cause I have no freaking clue. I really like how the car looks, love it on paper, but I can only hope I actually like how it drives. I thought it was okay on the test drive, but all four shocks were blown and the power steering was leaking. The car also had tons of vacuum leaks and a crappy idle.

When it's finally on the road, I will have fully overhauled the problem areas on the M42 and literally every suspension component in the front, and many in the rear will be brand new. It's also getting an E36 steering rack. I just hope to god this car doesn't suck. I really think I'll like it, based on other cars that I've driven and liked in the past, but I can't help but feel like a huge idiot for pouring massive amounts of time and money into a car that I've never even driven.

Has anyone here ever done anything quite so stupid and naive before?

Let me know when it's finished and you end up not liking it. I'll drive the 2 hours to T.O. and take it off your hands :P

[nick526]

I did the same with mine. In my opinion, the best way to buy an older car is to look for a clean strait example that needs some refreshing.

I poured countless hours of work into mine (not to mention all the junkyard runs) to make it what I wanted and I would absolutely do it all over again. Besides, all the elbow grease, busted knuckles, swearing, trial and error is really a priceless part of the experience of owning a car like this.

[Blendercloud]

After looking for almost four years for a rust-free 2 door 5-speed iX I found one on eBay in January 2011. After a good deal of back and forth with the owner, and receiving maintenance receipts from the previous 17 years, I bought it sight-unseen. A week later I was on a plane to Reno, Nevada to drive my rough-around-the-edges beauty home to St. Louis, Missouri. If you do the math, that's quite a drive in a car you've never driven or even seen in person.

As I'm getting in the car to leave the previous owner in Reno he says to me, "oh, you're going to want to get the timing belt changed when you get home."

Left Reno on Friday at noon. Made it home to St. Louis Sunday at 4:30 AM, stopping in Salt Lake City on Friday night. I also had the privilege of driving my new-to-me iX in about two feet of snow through Wyoming on I-80. The trip was very memorable for me. After connecting with the car I'll never be able to let it go. When I bought my M5 I thought I'd be able to move on from my iX, but I just can't. Even with my V10 monster in the garage I still find myself sometimes itching to drive the iX.

[redsubdivisions]

I am a firm believer in the phrase "anything worth having takes work. I'm in a similar situation as you, but I am in the process of working on an E53 X5 that had been sitting for two years. Previous owner blew the motor, let it sit, so every gasket is pretty much toast; I yanked it out, resealed a new one and it's ready to go back in next weekend. I have a LOT more to do to it and I don't expect it to be perfect on the first startup, but I know that in the end it will keep me content after all the labor I poured into it. Keep with it and in the end you'll be fine.

[willworkfore30s]

bought my car not running and with no title. I swapped in a newer motor and fixed a few other things before I ever even went to the DMV to see if I was going to be able to get a title for it. Luckily it worked out, the car had a clean record and after much headache I was able to get a new title for it. But, had the car come up stolen or anything of that nature I would have been out all the money and labor I put into getting it running. I was very thankful and lucky it all worked out. I feel like your situation is not all that uncommon.

I have a 318is with the original shocks and suspension which needs to be replaced and a stock m42 thats only ever had its oil changed. I cringe to think how little power it actually makes but I love driving it even though it really only gets fun above 4000 rpms. I really doubt that you will be disappointed when you finally get to whip it