Dumbest mistake youve made with your e30?

[15Michaeljoseph]

so this blunder just came to mind: not on the e30, but two weekeds ago I was doing the front struts on my mom's e36, one side at a time (for reference, just in case ya know.) I got the drivers side strut assembly taken apart, transferred the spring over to the new strut, and installed all new hardware (insulators, bump stop, dirt shield, mount), got it gunned down good and tight, went to go put it on the car.....aaaand, I had built the passenger side strut.

I don't know how exactly I ever made an annoying mistake like that, but it just goes to show you the importance of laying the new part next to the old part and making sure they match up. :)


--Mike

[Aleman]

After putting on my new timing belt, I needed to turn the engine over with a wrench on the crank to check the teeth lined up. It wouldn't turn over. Thought I was hitting the valves with the pistons. Turns out, I had just not taken the transmission out of gear! Doh!


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[AlonzoS]

2nd day I owned my e30 two years ago I hit a fire extinguisher box in my college parking lot. lol Got confused with the pedals since it was my 2nd day learning to drive manual. Cut a very nice hole in my fender and gave my front bumper a nice crooked smile. And on my friggin birthday too! All's good and repaired now though

[keefy6]

parked the car, got out, didn't pull e brake. car rolled back cracked the rear bumper.

[lukeADE335i]

Same for me - started car & released e-brake, forgot something and without thinking ran back inside the house to get it, came out & the car was sitting in the neighbours front yard! Smashed through the asbestos fence between our houses, spent rest of day getting safety gear and cleaning up the mess.

Car wasn't badly damaged though as the asbestos sheet was pretty weak.

[15Michaeljoseph]

haha my mom did that once, rolled back into the garage door.


--Mike

[deutschman]

selling it :)

[ArtFoodBMW]

All of this was pretty stupid.

I bought a z3 shifter to install into my 85 327, took my old shifter out to find that my shift carrier was very different from later model ones. Put the old shifter back in. Go to the junkyard with my friend, find the one car that has a late carrier, can't get the bitch clip off the trans, then friend has to go work so we left. Went back the next morning and ended up dropping the whole subframe, engine and trans to get better access to the bitch clip.

Install the new carrier and shifter and hear a very noticeable grinding noise in reverse and second gear, when the shifter is pushed to the left. Found out it the stupid balancer on the driveshaft/guibo is hitting the linkage. I tried to bend the linkage from underneath but with no success. I ended up jacking the car up off all 4, put the car in gear, running. Hop underneath the car with a grinder and try to cut off some of the balancer but my air compressor can't keep it so it would have taken 2 weeks to make progress.

Since i was running the car, I forgot to put the parking break back up. Lower the rear of the car - no problem. As soon as the front cleared the jackstands, the car starts rolling down the driveway, falls off the jack and knocks over the stands. We ended up stopping the car 2 feet from the neighbors moving truck... Thankfully nothing broke and no one was injured.

Long story short, I'm not on speaking terms with anything related to the shifter.

[Hooffenstein HD]

Removed a fuel line without depressurizing the system. Copped a fuel geyser to the face. That was not a fun time.

[15Michaeljoseph]

Removed a fuel line without depressurizing the system. Copped a fuel geyser to the face. That was not a fun time.

shotgun fuel facials for life... i remember the first time i changed my fuel filter.


--Mike

[estoguy]

Removed a fuel line without depressurizing the system. Copped a fuel geyser to the face. That was not a fun time.

I need to do this sometime soon... so what is the best way to depressurize the system? Just pull the battery cable? Relay?

[Stanley Rockafella]

pull the fuel pump fuse then proceed to start the car. Let it run until it dies on it's own

[bumada]

Nothing dumb yet for the e30.

In college, I had a 1995 Integra that burned quite a bit of oil. I was about to leave to go home for one of the college breaks. I checked the oil and filled it back up to the line. I was in a bit of a rush because I like to get on the road as quickly as possibly. About 20 minutes down the road, I smell oil, which isn't that unusual since it burns it on the daily. But this smell was stronger than usual. Within 15 seconds of thinking what it could be, it hits me with a ton of bricks. I forgot to put the oil cap back on! I felt sick to my stomach because I figured the oil cap was long gone and I was dreading to see the mess.

I pulled into an Advanced Auto, popped the hood, oil everywhere. However, the oil cap was still on the valve cover as it was wedged between the hood and the valve cover. Bought another quart of oil, and some vigorous clean up, I was back on the road.

[arams325]

+1 to the facial of gas pulling my pressure regulator off the fuel rail at tech school haha

[15Michaeljoseph]

it exfoliates the pores


--Mike