Getting my 1st E30

[marshallnoise]

If you are putting in a new steering rack consider installing the zf rack from the e46.
One of my favorite mods to the car. Great response.

Pics/link or it didn't happen.

Nevermind: Google is my friend.

[Holland]

I live around the 51 & Shea

Cool, I work not too far from there.

[Frenche]

If you are putting in a new steering rack consider installing the zf rack from the e46.
One of my favorite mods to the car. Great response.

[Hoffbrohaus]

I made it! Nothing crazy to report. Won enough in Vegas to pay for the trip. Got to drive part of the way with a skyline (he had better passing abilities:p). Now I just don't want to work, I want to work on the car all day! But I have to pay for my hobby somehow.

Nice Mexican family insisted I stay for breakfast (homecooked!) before I hit the road. ...Hopefully less adventurous for you though.

It was less adventurous, which is good. But I would have loved to have a home cooked mexican breakfast! chilaquiles verdes, or juevos rancheros, or even a breakfast burrito, nothing better.

Very nice! How'd you lose the lip!? Damn.

I lost it somewhere in Seattle, didn't even know it until I was taping the car to get ready for the long drive to ID. Should have known when the previous owner said "Here are some clips for the lip, you may need them". It was an ebay lip, luckily he gave me the original IS lip that was cracked, so I'll see how much it is to repair & respray.

Great looking car! What wheels are those?

Thanks! Konig Remember 16inch BBS Replica wheels.

Here it is in Vegas! Hofbrauhaus.

[Ocell]

That looks like a lot of fun! Beautiful car.

I just drove my new-to-me 318is from Fort Lauderdale to Austin, TX this past weekend... with a pit stop at Sebring along the way. The fuel pump died on the track, but after that the car had no issues making the trip.

[marshallnoise]

Great looking car! What wheels are those?

[ak-]

Very nice! How'd you lose the lip!? Damn.

[Hoffbrohaus]

We just got to Vegas. Car runs like a champ! Nice and flat on curves. Only lost 2 parts on the way so far. The front lip and the brake duct on my driver's side. Radar detector has paid off big time! What a great way to learn the car. I'm loving it!

Here's my car in Twin Falls, ID. I'll have pics from Vegas tomorrow. Im heading out to gamble now...

[ParsedOut]

Car looks CLEAN!

Road trips to get cars... reminds me of about 10 years ago I flew out to Los Angeles from Phx to pick up a 91 VW GLI 16v. Super clean, bone stock. Nice Mexican family insisted I stay for breakfast (homecooked!) before I hit the road. About 20 miles out of town on the I10 I hit some pretty rough highway and realized the tranny mount was shot, couldn't go above 55 without it banging around. Middle of the desert, no A/C, no radio reception, only had one CD in the deck...to this day I can't listen to Jimmy Eat World without remembering that trip. No breakdowns though!

I suggest you watch a few episodes of RoadKill on the Motortrend youtube channel to get in the correct mindset for what you're about to encounter. Hopefully less adventurous for you though.

[goldenbb]

I have the exact same car, presently not as clean cosmetically. Mine runs well, though. I am going to be sorting out a host of suspension needs and then paint/body issues over the winter, hopefully. Hope you didn't pay like $10K for that car...

Good luck!

[marshallnoise]

I picked up my first e30 a little over a week ago. Nothing even remotely as clean. Upon exiting the driveway, I realized one of the front rotors was being eaten to death by a brake pad having no material left (metal on metal) and it was smoking like a son-of-a-bitch.

My small journey from Fallbrook to Oceanside (10 miles) was a freaking blast (learned by people love these cars), scarier than hell (brakes? who needs them!), and the smoking was cured by the time I arrived at home.

So that is proof that buying an untested car and driving it back = making the car better.

[Hoffbrohaus]

Where in Phoenix are you going to be?

I live around the 51 & Shea

Good luck on your trip, at least you'll have a navigator

Ha thanks, it will be a navigation training session. She's not the best but hopefully I'll get her there. My dad trained me back in the day pre-cell phones, pre GPS, when we moved from PA to AZ and then back to PA and back to AZ. 3 different routes cross country with paper maps :up:

[2mAn]

I just flew up to Seattle and drove my 77 Rabbit 1200 miles in two days. I swapped the motor back in July and never drove it more than 25 miles since then. I had no idea if I was going to break down, in fact I was expecting it. Never happened. 4 speed trans was singing at 4k+ rpms for hours straight! haha I love the car now, but Im still selling it. Doing the same with my E30 this weekend.

Good luck on your trip, at least you'll have a navigator

[blunttech]

Agreed. As a teenager and in my 20s I traveled all the time, and many great adventures ensued. Now that I am older, wiser, less broke, it's even more fun. The drive to V@V for instance... Huff's engine blew up on the way back. No problem, tow it home slap an engine in a week later.

About 6 years ago Avi and i flew into Sacramento and picked up an unknown 2002... Set the GPS to avoid all freeways and took off for Minnesota with no tools. We were on washed out dirt mountain roads running into road crews that told us we would never make it past some of the washed out sections. We beat that car mercilessly drifting it on gravel roads etc etc One of the most fun trips ive ever done and made it without one breakdown.

[Holland]

Where in Phoenix are you going to be?