New guy looking to buy his first e30 *updated with pics*

[Grackle]

no big deal, e30s get "totaled" by most insurance companies due to their age, even if it's something as insignificant as some lady backing into a fender.

find out why it has a salvage title, check the car out (or ask if you can take it to a frame shop or some shit), who knows it might be nothing major. even if it actually did get fucked up good, as long as someone competent fixed it you shouldn't have any issues.

only real reason to stay away from it is if texas makes it difficult to tag salvage title cars

Cars are pretty east to tag here as long as you don't live in an emissions county. Dunno why it was totaled yet. I emailed the seller but haven't heard back.

[Old city bimmer]

300k- you have you work cut out for you

[Grackle]

Bump cause I updated the original post.

[abrokenframe]

Nice! Glad you are happy. Looks like a good start.

[Rsully70sev]

Very nice, what did you pick it up for? Seems like a nice foundation. As far as the speedo, start with the easiest solution and work your way up. My tachometer went out, I panicked and realized I just blew a fuse.

[flyboyx]

good for you! is this the salvage title car with 300k you were talking about? it looks really nice. i think you are probably better off with this car than the other one even if you paid more for it. the interior looks pretty good other than the driver's seat. i suggest going through the engine and replace as many consumables as you can. hoses, plugs, wires, gaskets, t-belt....flush cooling syst.....

then go through the suspension/brakes and replace whatever you can. i suggest forgoing the coil overs and get yourself h&r sport springs and either billy's or koni's. once you have all that taken care of, work on the convenience issues such as a/c and annoying broken/worn items around the car. find yourself a set of euro or plastic bumpers and put them aside for when you get the above important shit fixed.

the paint looks pretty darn good from the pics. assuming it is, you saved yourself a lot of money by not needing to get it painted in the future. just take care of it with a buff and wax yearly.

[jalopi]

good find OP! how much did you end up spending on the car? looks pretty clean

first thing i'd do to check for an inop speedo is the speed sensor connector on the diff. sometimes when people drop the diff (need to disconnect the sensor wire to do so... or i guess i should disconnect it) they don't completely plug the connector back in when everything goes back together. you won't get a speed reading if it's not plugged in right

protip for the cable - just wrap it in red electrical tape. you won't find a new cable in that gauge/length for a reasonable price anytime soon. if you NEED to replace the cable due to the cracked insulation, my advice is to pull a cable from a newer (read: from the late 90's or early 2000's) bmw in a junkyard - all the e30 cables are getting up there in age and it'll be the same story as buying a dash - sure it might not be cracked right now, but come back to me in six months and then we'll talk

also

the rack boots are trashed

sounds like a good excuse to upgrade to an e36 rack :D

i suggest forgoing the coil overs and get yourself h&r sport springs and either billy's or koni's.

+1. coilovers on these cars aren't a bolt-on affair unless you buy the strut housings pre-modified, which can be on the pricey side from ground control.

i personally thought the h&r race springs were a bit on the goopy side (in the rear), so i'm not so sure i would recommend the sport springs. however, this was goopy by drift standards, so you might be perfectly happy with the sports. i will say that with h&r race springs + billlies you will have a car that handles like tits for autox or HPDE

oh yeah, if it was me i'd leave the diving boards alone. i briefly considered doing it myself until my sister backed into my car one day. my car fared very well. hers... did not

regardless of what you do, grats on the nice car OP

[Grackle]

No this isn't the salvage title car, I never heard back from that guy. This was a two owner car (even have the original receipt the dealer issued in 1986). The car has a couple of dents in it, and the bar that holds the door (not sure what it is called, but it serves to detent the door as you open it) the metal is severely damaged, so I will have to pull the driver's side door off at some point and weld a replacement patch of metal in there. Other then that the car is rust free.

I found some information on the speedometer. I looked under the car and saw the boot to the speed sensor is cracked and kinda hokey looking. So hopefully that is what is wrong with it. I am going to change the oil tomorrow (any weight recommendations?), I have the receipt for the timing belt being replaced a couple of years ago so hopefully it will be good for a while. Previous owner told me he put only about 15K miles on it since it was replaced. If I have to do it I'm not to intimidated after doing the belt on my WRX. lol

The a/c works fortunately, but due to the controls, I can't turn it off, ha ha. I have h/r springs with Bilsteins on my 91 Mustang and they are great. I would really like to preserve the ride of the car but improve the handling if possible. I am not a fan of the bottle caps either, which is a shame cause the tires are only a couple of years old as well.

[Grackle]

Very nice, what did you pick it up for? Seems like a nice foundation. As far as the speedo, start with the easiest solution and work your way up. My tachometer went out, I panicked and realized I just blew a fuse.

Maybe that is it, hopefully it is something easy like that, drives me nuts to look down and see it at 0mph when I am moving. I paid $4K for the car. I looked at a couple of others that were in the $3K range that were pretty beat and didn't have working A/C, so I think I did OK on this one.

[flyboyx]

i guess i'm an old fucker. my boy's car has h&r sports/billies but otherwise has stock but replaced suspension components. i actually think it rides a little harsh.

my cabrio in my sig has vert h&r springs on the front and e36 h&r sports on the back with billy's. my rear end is stiffer, my front end is a little smoother, but i like the ride of my convertible much better. i actually think it has the perfect balance for the driving i do. just let me tell you about my mountain drive west of denver a couple days ago......

i know my opinion is only that. one has to take it for what it is worth. i will qualify it by saying i am a relatively old guy in my mid 40's so i probably have less tolerance for ride harshness than you young bastards do. 8)

[Grackle]

Oh, also, when I am driving and get stuck in spot and go traffic the temp gauge moves up a tick, is this normal or am I looking at my fan going out? Keep in mind this is during 100 degree Texas weather.

[Grackle]

i guess i'm an old fucker. my boy's car has h&r sports/billies but otherwise has stock but replaced suspension components. i actually think it rides a little harsh.

my cabrio in my sig has vert h&r springs on the front and e36 h&r sports on the back with billy's. my rear end is stiffer, my front end is a little smoother, but i like the ride of my convertible much better. i actually think it has the perfect balance for the driving i do. just let me tell you about my mountain drive west of denver a couple days ago......

i know my opinion is only that. one has to take it for what it is worth. i will qualify it by saying i am a relatively old guy in my mid 40's so i probably have less tolerance for ride harshness than you young bastards do. 8)

I'm not too much younger then you. Most all my cars handle sharp, but I pay for it in ride. Not that I want to change them, but I don't feel like ruining this one if I can do it right. Not that my LX is ruined, it is actually pretty good for an old solid axle American car. My WRX beats me the worst, but that sucker is a laser in the turns despite the garbage tires.

[flyboyx]

Maybe that is it, hopefully it is something easy like that, drives me nuts to look down and see it at 0mph when I am moving. I paid $4K for the car. I looked at a couple of others that were in the $3K range that were pretty beat and didn't have working A/C, so I think I did OK on this one.

i think you did just fine at the price you paid. in the long run, this car is much cheaper than the 318 you originally posted about.

as for oil, buy the best filter you can find. i personally use shell rotella t full synthetic. if its good enough for my diesel pickup, its good enough for every engine i own. you can go to wal mart and buy this oil for about 21.00/gallon.

[Grackle]

i think you did just fine at the price you paid. in the long run, this car is much cheaper than the 318 you originally posted about.

as for oil, buy the best filter you can find. i personally use shell rotella t full synthetic. if its good enough for my diesel pickup, its good enough for every engine i own. you can go to wal mart and buy this oil for about 21.00/gallon.

I run that in my WRX due to the heat from the turbo charger. What weight do you guys like to run in these?

Yeah I was afraid I was going to have to do an entire build on that 318. I didn't really want to have to build a motor for a car I hadn't even driven yet. Not only that, I may have ended up close to investing as much money as I paid for this car today only to be left with a 300K mile car at the same price with a lot more sweat in it.