Just the beginning. Initial parts bill

[Wh33lhop]

lol, $450 on parts... wait until you start getting cool stuff. :p $450 is a set of camber plates

[NeedaE30]

patch it up and slow the rust down The good thing is you can always swap over your good parts if and when youre able to find a clean dry shell. Make the most of what you have but i wouldnt put a ton into bodywork on a rusty shell.

well the under carriage is extremely clean, i could almost go as far as saying it's immaculate, But i wont. The cars body has leaks and there are spots of rust.. the absolute worst spots of rust are the lowest part of the trunk seal over the license place lights as well as the whole license place light area it really looks like it all needs to be cut out and new metal welded in.. it may almost be more practical to find a used hood and fender instead of repairing the ones on the car, but i honestly am not sure.. i've never really had to do body work or pay someone to do body work on any of my previous vehicles..

anyone have any more opinions on the rust issues with the car? 98% of the rust seems to just be surface rust.. though the car has most certainly been painted and i can see some previous body work.. so i really dont know the condition of the body under the paint. but it has bubbling rust by both hood and trunk roundels and the sunroof panel... some rust under the ac shnitzer door sills. obviously the rear plate light area and the edges of the tire wells.. I am not expert nor do i know jack shit about body work, but the rust all seems repairable to an extend or remedied somewhat easily depending on price

lol, $450 on parts... wait until you start getting cool stuff. :razz: $450 is a set of camber plates

450? no i'm well over a grand in maintenance parts and repair parts alone. thats not counting the unfortunate shop labor that i technically didn't have to pay for but did due to time constraints :-\ meh.. i know man this is my 3rd e30 and i've dumped thousands into them all

first e30 roughly 6 grand in maintenance parts, repair parts, and accessories.. in 3 years time

second e30 didn't need too much but still about 2 grand in about a years time

this one i've owned for about a month and have dumped right around 2500 into it

I've barely scratched the surface of this car

whats been done

timing belt kit & oil seals
valve adjustment gasket and rocker shaft plugs
fuel filter
rear shock mounts & reinforcements
center support bearing & centering bushing
guibo & bolts
all new side markers
catalytic converter
radiator
water pump
thermostat
all coolant hoses
Newer Euro smiley's coming from Germany(replacing the old dull Hella Euro smileys
rewired the front lights
door panel clips
window switches
trunk seal
drive belts
sway bar bushings
air filter
etc etc also not included are all the little things that add up quick like bolts, clips, sockets, bulbs, etc


other stuff that is planned for the next coming month..

Install sway bar links & bushings
replace all engine vacuum hoses
replace spark plugs & wires, cap & rotor
replace tranny fluid with redline MTL
adjust sunroof and replace the seal(may remove/repair rust bubbles then paint while its out)
Need to get tires badly
replace rear pads rotors and adjust/replace parking brake shoes/cables
remove drivers and passenger seats to try and repair them as well as sway them to the correct sides as well as detail the interior
replace all window/door gaskets seals and trim..
purchase some ebay valence brackets and remove the front bumper & valence, tuck the front bumper and properly secure the front valence, i may try to repair/Halt the rust, on the drivers fender at the same time


i really want to repair the rust and repaint the car or atleast try to get the paint blended as nicely as possible... am i dreaming?

tomorrow i will try to snap pictures of every single rust spot on the car and then ask for your opinions on what should be my long term goals for this car

[NeedaE30]

I've been really contemplating selling my ak47 and dumping the money into the e30, but now im scared about the rust...

[Dj Buttchug]

I've been really contemplating selling my ak47 and dumping the money into the e30, but now im scared about the rust...

do not sell your weapons. just save up. good progress here. I wish i only had 2.5k into my cars.


Id say im easily into the low 20k range. fuuuuu. Good luck op.

[saturnv7890]

Rust repair can be cheap.. but not to make it look nice. my only rust hole was on the bottom of my car luckily, so I grinded all the rust away down to bare metal on BOTH sides, then sprayed with some krylon zinc rust primer, then some bedliner, then riveted in a nice patch.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0058.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0066.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0072.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0073.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0074.jpg

That thing will last the years I need it to until I'm rich enough to pay some guy to weld all that in.. or when I'm profficient enough with a welder

[NeedaE30]

Rust repair can be cheap.. but not to make it look nice. my only rust hole was on the bottom of my car luckily, so I grinded all the rust away down to bare metal on BOTH sides, then sprayed with some krylon zinc rust primer, then some bedliner, then riveted in a nice patch.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0058.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0066.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0072.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0073.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/saturnv7890/E30/0074.jpg

That thing will last the years I need it to until I'm rich enough to pay some guy to weld all that in.. or when I'm profficient enough with a welder

see i would (in a perfect world) like the rust repair in the end to look like it was never needed to be fixed in the first place in other words, i'd like it to look as "fctory" as possible.. but i know this will be an expensive and time consuming venture if it's even possible... i will takes pics of all the rust when i leave for work and post them up tonight when i get out of work

[saturnv7890]

Ohh it's possible, have you read "e30 m3 minor rust repair"?

Good read, lonnnng read

[NeedaE30]

do not sell your weapons. just save up. good progress here. I wish i only had 2.5k into my cars.


Id say im easily into the low 20k range. fuuuuu. Good luck op.

yea i know i'd regret selling my ak i've already sold my shotgun and my 9mm so i could do more work on the bimmer, i'd have no more firearms if i sold the ak, so i will keep it, i've put too much time and money into it to sell it.

and thanks :)

Ohh it's possible, have you read "e30 m3 minor rust repair"?

Good read, lonnnng read

Yes i have read that entire thread from start to finish, i was shocked... and i unfortunately dont have that kind of time or money and this is now my daily driver. can't be without it for long periods at a time..

[NeedaE30]

OK i have an update on the rust... tons of pictures... i need to know if this car is worth saving. the car is driving and idling great it may need a clutch or just new tranny mounts soon and needs some other stuff that i plan on doing.. but if this rust is too bad and not worth me trying to fix then i see no point in going any further with the car and will just off it on craigslist and start over again... which would suck... balls.... big ... WAFFLE BALLS!! but please be honest. i need opinions and suggestions..

I tried to take the best quality pictures i could possibly take with my terrible cell phone..

passenger side directly behind the door above the rocker panel


Passenger side bottom corner of the door frame


Drivers front fender, its covered in electrical tape at the moment lol i figured it looks
better than rust and its letting less water in we'll see if the fender is repairable or
must be replaced. this fender has the vin sticker but was showing body filler/bondo between the original rusty metal and the paint




Passenger front fender. this fender is missing the vin sticker i assume its been replaced due to rust


Hood



Trunk lid


Passenger side rear fender



Drivers side rear fender


BOttom corner of drivers side door frame



Under the drivers side door sill(passenger side is very clean with no rust that i can see)


of course the ends of the bumper that someone tried to glue together instead of buying brackets.
now its being held on by tape until i can afford the proper ebay brackets it will then be sanded and painted cause it looks like shit.



Sunroof








Rear trunk latch



passenger side plate light




drivers side plate light




Under the brand new trunk seal above the license plate(someone neglected the trunk seal for a LONG time, the tail light gaskets are also leaking :-\)
i was extremely depressed when i pulled of the old trunk seal :(



i would have taken more pictures of the rust under the seal but i really am afraid to take the trunk seal off.. the rust was so swelled on the seam weld where the seal attaches to that i could barely fit the trunk seal on it in a couple spots, took a lot of force...

[NeedaE30]

Any opinions on the rust posted above? what should be my plan of action? i've never repaired rust before and really don't know shit about body work/rust repair

should i keep pouring money into this car and work towards fixing the rust? or is it too far gone? this is just the visible rust.. i really am scared to go searching for the hidden rust...

[rvgurjar]

about the car interior

hi..
At this time firstly people look at the outside of any car and its model but it is necessary to know about the engine and its interior ,
i'll tell you that you should prefer that the interior design is comfortable or not , it will feel you relax at the time of long drive.
.................................................. ..
everything is here what you want

[rcsoundn1]

Ahhh rust is an enemy of many. Its a tough thing to weigh out. I think it was mentioned before, might be a good idea to keep fixing this car until you find a rust free shell then swap all good parts to that car. If the rust was just on front fenders, doors, and hood, id say swap parts. For me when a shell has rust and a good amount of rust, it may cost a lot to fix.

[e30vert]

So much cancer! I vote swap good parts to a rust free shell! You are going to spend lots of time and $ chasing all that rust down and welding in patch panels or just replacing the panels and getting the paint to match.

[NeedaE30]

Well im gonna keep doing what i'm doing with it for now my end result plans were an s5x swap but due to the rust issues i will either be repairing/painting or just getting a whole other e30 to start over with, i'm gonna work with what i have for the time being

Update on the car, Front roundel flew off on the highway. only the silver backing plate is left, so i ordered some new black ebay ones, which i have used before. The fit and finish is pretty good, if not spot on. I only paid 12 bucks for 2, so Fuck it I say..

I removed the ac schnitzer and M badge off of the front grill, replaced breather hose, started refinishing the free basketweaves I got from craigslist. used a dremel to smooth out the curb rash, Purchased some magnum metal filler epoxy to fill in the curb rash. The plan is to then use the metal filler to fill in the curb rash completely, then i will smooth every thing out, get the new tires installed, then plasti dip the wheels to a grey metallic, I hope they come out decent. but i've never refinished wheels and i've never used plasti dip.

If the wheels come out good, I will use plasti dip to most likely do the front valence, side skirts and wing and maybe something else on the rear, maybe the bumper guard or something I don't know yet. I'm not sure what colors to use. but, i'm thinking either gloss black or matte black. i may even plasti dip the chrome trim to a silver metallic. most of this would obviously be temporary as i plan on a paint job and body work around tax return time, so any type of engine swap i had planned for that time will now be put to either body work/paint or another e30 all together.


so the drive shaft got a new guibo/bolts, csb and centering bushing. When i am mostly in lower gears and press the clutch in to shift, i get a clunking in the rear of the car, shock mounts were just done and the suspension is very smooth/comfortable, I'm assuming driveshaft u-joints or differential bushing? maybe its tranny mounts but i doubt it, i hope its not the diff itself, the fluid looks good and is full, I felt some very slight play in the rear driveshaft u-joint this is the main culprit i think. .. . ...

so much to do, so little time,

[JtNolan]

Same boat

Meh, just spend the money and do it over a weekend. My $600 e30 quickly escalated to $3000 in parts in 5 months. I replaced every single suspension piece, but man it sure drove nice.

I just bought a $600 91 318is yesterday and I'm wondering where to begin. I want to build a track car, but I don't won't to start making modifications that would exclude me from any racing class. It was sold as a blown head gasket case, but the entire cooling system is in complete disarray. I quoted lowsodium because I feel like I can't go wrong with freshening up the suspension

My options:
- restore to stock get tags
- S50/52 swap and get tags
- restore and race spec E30
- swap up to bigger motor and race
- swap up, tags, and race

I'm a total new guy when it comes to BMWs, but I can turn a wrench and I'm not afraid to spend some time and money. I just need a place to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-JT