Just the beginning. Initial parts bill

[NeedaE30]

Hey bud I tried my best to work with you on a reasonable price.. We both knew it was a little rough and that's why I didn't try to retire on the sale.. Most D-BAGS would Rape n Pillage!! "It's an E30 BRAH" She had NO rot and very very minimal rust.. Most of the things needing attention were obvious and we discussed them. For $1350 I wanted to give you plenty of room for parts n such.. Sorry If you're at all upset.. My $2500 IX has turned into $5500-6000 Quickly! Not to mention the SHOCK when I bought 2 front axels n control arms ouch!! Most of us on here most definitely feel your pain homie... Hope you get to enjoy her soon! ;)

BMW=BrokeMyWallet! hahaha JK

Definitely not upset man I'm actually excited to get her on the road i waffleswaffleswaffleswafflesin love the car and im very satisfied with the price you gave me... :)

[NeedaE30]

dude everytime I see it I watch it for like atleast a minute

lol its ok i do to my man

[ZM Blue Devil]

If it makes you feel better, over the winter this is what I did:

Falken 912 tires x 4
Treehouse racing control arm bushings
New control arms x2 (lemforder)
New tie-rods
Rebuilt injectors (flow matched/bench tested)
Valve adjustment
Timing belt/waterpump/tensioner
Alternator/power steering/AC belts
Black leather interior
Re-installed stock radio
Removed aftermarket alarm
Antenna gourmet
Euro smileys
Bilstein HD shocks (car has factory m-tech springs that I retained)
173 ECU
New odo gears
Derlin shifter carrier bushings
AKG DSSR
Both Transmission seals
Engine mounts
Transmission mounts
Strut mounts front and back
Glove box handle/lock
Exhaust hangers middle and back
Catback gasket x2 + header to midpipe gasket
CV boots inner and outer
OEM Subframe bushings
OEM Trailing arm bushings
Shifter joint
OEM Differential mount
OEM Diff Gasket
Sway bar links front and back
Oil filter housing plug (revised design from the dealer)
T-fitting for the spray nozzles
New wipers
Shifter boots (the actual boot and the rubber boot below it)
Thermostat
Radiator
Window regulator
Door seal
Trail light seal
Guibo
CSB
New fluids front to back (diff, transmission, engine, coolant, etc).
Time-sert kit for the oil drain plug
Turn signal stalk
Rear sway bar links
Spark plugs (NGK)
Reverse light switch
Fuel pump
Fuel filter
Distributor cap
Distributor rotor
Ignition wires
Valve cover vent hose
Coolant hose (from thermostat housing to throttle body)
Tool kit for the trunk
AFM
O2 sensor
Gas funnel rubber surround
New group 49 battery (and proper venting)
All new bulbs all around
Coolant to heatercore outlet hose
I am sure I am forgetting some stuff, the above is all I can recall off the top of my head.

and yet we all flame when we see $20k+ e30s for sale.

[NeedaE30]

First and foremost, when you get the cat replaced, make DAMN sure you get the OEM cat back from the shop.

That right there will get you ~$100-150 back on your expense. If you don't mention it, you can be sure that the shop will be more than happy to "take care of it" for you for free.

There's a guy who posts on here that buys used cats, or you can try www.sellyourcatsdirect.com if you can't find a buyer locally.

Thank you for that I actually didn't even think about it but hell yes ill be keeping the cat and reselling it

[NeedaE30]

If it makes you feel better, over the winter this is what I did:

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I am sure I am forgetting some stuff, the above is all I can recall off the top of my head.

Sounds about right.. i'll be right there with you soon enough lol I got pretty good start going i'm up to about 700 in parts in the first week of ownership :)

[nando]

A single 2" pipe is too small for an m20b25. You want 2.5".

[-SUPREME-]

:up::up::up::up:

Definitely not upset man I'm actually excited to get her on the road i waffleswaffleswaffleswafflesin love the car and im very satisfied with the price you gave me... :)

:up: can't wait to see her all dolled up!!

[NeedaE30]

Well I'm happy to say after about 3 weeks of ownership.. the car is finally back in my posession. I am absolutely disappointed in the fact that i had to have shops do these initial repairs.. but $800 later(in labor) and i am happy to say she's driving Wafflesing amazing.. I've never had an e30 with such a quiet running m20.. she feels over all tighter and very smooth after the valve adjustment, cooling system overhaul, timing belt, driveshaft etc were the major repairs i paid for in labor.. overcharged a bit yes but it was done in a somewhat timely manner and it was definitely done right cause my god this is the best running e30 i've ever driven lol

When i picked her up from the shop today, her idle was terrible and was nearly stalling nearly stalling. the shop told me i failed inspection for tires, cat leak, and rear shock mounts, no big deal all was planning to replaced anyways.. so once i got the car back home..(after working) i cleaned the following, ICV, throttle body, intake boot, AFM, and fixed a vacuum leak in the little elbow that goes to the throttle body.. and also got rid of the rusty disgusting paper cone ebay air filter and "ghetto" installed an e30 stock airbox. By ghetto i mean its wrapped with electrical tape until i can get 3 more little metal clips.. the car LOVES the stock air box.. she idles right at 600-750 no jumping, wandering idle, no more loss of power during acceleration i am loving it..

at about 2 AM i called it quits for the day after working 9 hours then jumping straight into the car, I also did the following, Installed the interior door handle trim, fixed drivers side inner door handle, removed drivers side door panel, lubricated all moving metal parts inside the door, fix the tweeter pod cover so it actually stays where it should, put all new door panel clips in the door panel, fix the cigarette lighter, fixed passenger side window, mmm tried to remove some nasty old ahesive from an ac schnitzer badge and the 325 badge but had no luck, ill need a heatgun or some paint thinner to get that nasty shit off of there ugh


next on the list
catalytic converter, i think a single in/out 2" cat will be fine i don't see why it would hinder performance whatsoever?? any opinions?
tires
rear shock mounts
affix the ends of the front valance some how can anyone suggest anything???
registration and inspection
install new side markers
clear all the water drains in the car
fix the rust
fix the front seats or buy new ones
Fix the gauge cluster and align it properly and get the check engine light working again
detail the hell out of the car because it needs it badly...BADLY!!!! in and out
paint valve cover and intake manifold
Fix the interior light brackets/frames i hope they are replaceable..
and sooooooo much more


expensive but god damn i miss owning an e30 :)

[agent]

i think a single in/out 2" cat will be fine i don't see why it would hinder performance whatsoever?? any opinions?

Yes: trying to second guess a room full of German engineers is usually not a good idea.

[saturnv7890]

affix the ends of the front valance some how can anyone suggest anything???

More pictures = better answers


But I know my valence is attached to the fender with a small lag bolt with a 8mm head. Go to HF and get one of those boxes of bolts or boxes of thick screws, and go crazy! Might not be "oem" quality but it's solid for that kind of stuff, and much better than zip ties

Here's what I'm talking about it if you can see. That's the pass side looking from the front of the car, I had pulled the bumper mount to the side (early bumpers) to show how wonderfully zip tied it was there. You can see the 8mm bolt in the middle of the picture which holds the valnce to the fender

[NeedaE30]

Yes: trying to second guess a room full of German engineers is usually not a good idea.

on my first e30 i had a y pipe made that went from the stock dual pipes to a single 2" pipe all the way to the tail pipe.. and it ran perfectly and sounded amazing with zero loss of power.. with this car im keeping the dual exhaust its just going to have a slight bottle neck going from dual pipes into a single 2" cat then out of the single 2" cat and back into the dual pipes.. less restriction than my first e30 and will still be mostly dual exhaust, again. i don't see how it could cause any issues

More pictures = better answers


But I know my valence is attached to the fender with a small lag bolt with a 8mm head. Go to HF and get one of those boxes of bolts or boxes of thick screws, and go crazy! Might not be "oem" quality but it's solid for that kind of stuff, and much better than zip ties

Here's what I'm talking about it if you can see. That's the pass side looking from the front of the car, I had pulled the bumper mount to the side (early bumpers) to show how wonderfully zip tied it was there. You can see the 8mm bolt in the middle of the picture which holds the valnce to the fender

I will try to get pics tomorrow... im talking about the very ends of the valence closest to the fender/tire there literallty is nothing to hold it in place at the moment i have it duct taped from the inside so it doesn't hang down while im driving i have not had the time to fix it yet because i want to figure out the proper way to permanently fix it and i've been much more worried about the mechanical aspects of the car so far

[nando]

single 2" is way too small for an M20B25!!!

the *stock* pipes are dual 1 7/8.

you can't have "mostly" dual exhaust. even worse, you're making the cat smaller, which is already a restriction. You'd be way better off leaving all the exhaust stock.

[saturnv7890]

I will try to get pics tomorrow... im talking about the very ends of the valence closest to the fender/tire there literallty is nothing to hold it in place at the moment i have it duct taped from the inside so it doesn't hang down while im driving i have not had the time to fix it yet because i want to figure out the proper way to permanently fix it and i've been much more worried about the mechanical aspects of the car so far

Here is another shot of that bolt/screw, sounds like you're missing that.

And if you've got plastic bumpers, that little plastic slide piece also does a little bit to help support the valence on the side there.

If you've got aluminum bumpers, be sure you've got screws holding the plastic cover on.

But whether it's an early or late model, the small lag bolt (painted white here) is always on the end of the valence holding it to the fender

[agent]

on my first e30 i had a y pipe made that went from the stock dual pipes to a single 2" pipe all the way to the tail pipe.. and it ran perfectly and sounded amazing with zero loss of power..

Butt dyno doesn't count.

single 2" is way too small for an M20B25!!!

the *stock* pipes are dual 1 7/8.

you can't have "mostly" dual exhaust. even worse, you're making the cat smaller, which is already a restriction. You'd be way better off leaving all the exhaust stock.

QFT.


Dual 1⅞ = 3¾. A single 2" is roughly *half* the 3¾ used by the stock system. How can that not be more restrictive?

Don't get me wrong... I think it's awesome you're putting some money, time and effort into an E30. I'd bet nando does too. It boils down to talking you out of making a poor choice that could be easily corrected.

[10Toes]

Single 2" = 3.14 sq in

Two 1.75" = 4.81 sq in



and single 2.5 = 4.9 sq in