What keeps you guys going?

[sticksdaman]

Heres my situation... ive had the car since september 2004 and since the day ive picked it up something has been wrong with it. I got it working and liscensed and running in january 05 and drove it for roughly four months relatively problem free.timing belt snapped replaced that. i lowered it....did some dumb shit and put a hole in my oil pan.. ive matured since then had the car running early this year and then an exposed manhole cover took withg it my oil pan pump steering rack and u joint... now this happened in november and i havent been home from college until just recently... so eager to get my car running again i ordered a rack a pan an oil pump and got to work replaced everything ... then i found out my u joint was no good.. temporarily fixed it and got the car registered and everything... drove the car and the brakes gave out... got it back home bled the brakes problem solved.... so i get ready to drive my car and now there is a fuckin leak..... wtf





short version: had car since 2k4 constant problems only drove it for roughly 4 months before problems started.


my question to you guys is what keeps you going? what makes you keep the car even after everything goes wrong with it... now dont get me wrong i love my car if i didnt i wouldnt have spent all this time and money fixing it myself. now im trying to find inspiration as to why i shouldnt scrap it and buy a civic or some shit. What keeps you guys driving your cars even after they act up and what not?

[nando]

sounds like many of your problems were caused by you.

my car has been pretty trouble free in the last 4 years. I've put about 60,000 miles on it in that time. it's never once stranded me anywhere, even though I broke things on it I was able to limp home - but I've always kept up on things like the timing belt, which has to be the dumbest thing to neglect on the E30.

forgot to add, things like brakes are not specific to E30s, they go out on all cars - and actually, if you kept up on your maintenance they would have been replaced before they actually failed.

[Garageaholic]

If you know enough about the car it isn't that bad changing alot of the shit u need to fix.
Also, if it's not your primary vehicle, it makes that much easier and enjoyable to fix it when you have time, no pressure.
The E30 is a unique car. They are very reliable with proper maintenance. Alot of potential. Looks great, and rather a rare find on the road these days. They can be done up very nicely if done properly and are relatively inexpensive to fix.

Don't forget about preventative maintenance. I think you're not doing enough of that. Change the belts every so often, and inspect other shit when you do. You live in the bronx, which i can assume there's alot of stop and go traffic. That is alot harder on your car than smooth windey roads upstate, so that could be a reason too. How hard do you drive the car? think about it.

[StereoInstaller1]

Sticks, go test drive a Civic. One you can afford. You will love your E30 even more.

[Garageaholic]

Sticks, go test drive a Civic. One you can afford. You will love your E30 even more.

nicely put

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

how much did you buy it for? 1k-2k? i'd expect those problems.... shit... an 88.. what the milage? ~160k eh? the previous owner prolly didn't do sh*t worth of maintance... so you have to do it now... as simple as it gets!

[madjurgen]

you do realize you own a 18 yr old car right?

and everything thats happened to you has been your fault.

preventive maintenence = do shit before it breaks

we all have to do brakes, oil pan, timing belt. its much more enjoyable when its preventive and not after-the-fact

[arsevader]

A 3 hour Flex Joint job just turned into an 11 hour ordeal for me on Sunday but I still love this car.

I just need a day to cool off and then I'm good to go. Beleive me I was so pissed when I was in the middle of it but when I drove it home it was all worthwhile.

[sticksdaman]

its probably because this is my primary car i understand that the oil pan thing was my fault on both counts. i was under the impression that e30's had cain drive belts (then i realized that the m42s and not the m20s came with chain belts) so i guess i take the blame for that as well. i do maintenance on the car but as stated above i rarely drive the car ive put probably 1500 miles on the car and ive loved every second of it. by no means do i drive the car hardi generally shift at 3k and its only been above 100 roughly 4 times since ive had it. got the car for 850...thought i was getting a steal guess not...i guess im paying the price now for the PO's neglect

[hugh jass]

if you bought an $850 honda or toyota or nissan you would have the same problems. shit wears out. if you buy an old used cheap car, expect problems. next time check it out before you buy it. ask questions about maintenance, ask to see receipts, or walk away and save your $$ for a better car.

[Jon325i]

Sticks, go test drive a Civic. One you can afford. You will love your E30 even more.

Best advice. Ever.

Jon

[StereoInstaller1]

So, I got to the shop this morning to find 2 cancelled appointments. Oh boy, no income today. So, I decided to attack my windshield, the one that has been bugging me since I got the fucking car.

I bought black lockstrips from Jordan about a year ago, maybe 15 months?

Sunday, I went for a bit of a drive and picked up a terrific condition windshield from "browntown" up in Salem...like an hour drive each way. I had stuff to do in Salem anyway, so good timing.

I got my old windshield out in about 2.3 million pieces.
Cleaned up the mess, cleaned my windshield gasket. Got the bastard in...installing the lockstrip...got through the first corner....




crack.




Fuck!

Broke my nice fresh windshield!



FUCK!!!!!


Now I am gonna buy ANOTHER windshield, for a hell of a lot more than I paid for this one.

Maybe I should go test drive a Civic!

Anyway, I will keep going. I will have a nice E30 someday. In the meantime, I will once again have a broken windshield.

Hang in there, Sticks. It can get worse.

Luke

[Dave]

I rarely drive the car - that is how I deal with it.

It sits right now with an oil leak I tried to fix, but failed to do. I have been too busy/lazy to take another crack at it yet.

When my Cabby was my daily - it gave me few problems. Of course though I sold it to Scott and it proceeded to blow two engines on him . . .

[equate975]

Nothing, im so sick of this car im probably going to sell it.

Fuel problems FTL

Not to mention I have sunk every penny into this thing, I cant afford it.

[Court M3]

you do realize you own a 18 yr old car right?

and everything thats happened to you has been your fault.

preventive maintenence = do shit before it breaks

we all have to do brakes, oil pan, timing belt. its much more enjoyable when its preventive and not after-the-fact

good advice, couple of years ago when my wife asked me why I was fixing a car that isn't broke, I called the dealer and let them quote me on a car that had snapped a timing belt She got the message quickly