Coast to Coast, an e30 American adventure

[alkkamai]

Definitely going to follow along with this.

If you need anything when you're near Baltimore, hit me up.

[jtheilbrun]

man that looks stunning!!

what time of year did you do that in?

That was in August, September/October should be even better

[benwalsh91]

Awesome! That sounds very similar to the way we went. It's all a very scenic drive but especially between Montrose and Durango. Lots of elevation, switchbacks, a few waterfalls. Here's an example of one lookout we stopped at.

man that looks stunning!!

what time of year did you do that in?

[jtheilbrun]

Thank you for this suggestion!! i have actually changed my route because of this but slightly different to how you done it...

we have a hotel in Colorado springs so when we leave that to go south to Albuquerque we are going to initially head west to Montrose where we are going to jump on the 550 to Ouray and Durango and follow the 550 all the way along, i have actually heard of this road previously, am i correct in saying some people call it the Million Dollar Highway? We are basically on the 550 all the way from Ouray to Albuquerque believe its going to be almost an 11 hour drive! but looks amazing!

Awesome! That sounds very similar to the way we went. It's all a very scenic drive but especially between Montrose and Durango. Lots of elevation, switchbacks, a few waterfalls. Here's an example of one lookout we stopped at.

[325e '87]

You’re not there at the right time but I played in this brass band for a couple of summers. Too bad you’ll miss it.

https://fourcornersgeotourism.com/content/great-western-rocky-mountain-brass-band-festival/fca59e9b9521fe152754

[benwalsh91]

Looks like an amazing trip! I can't wait to follow along.

Depending on how much flexibility you have I would definitely recommend going back west then south through the mountains after your Denver, Colorado stop. My Wife and I purchased our E30 in Arizona and drove it back through Durango and Ouray. It's much more scenic that the interstate.

Thank you for this suggestion!! i have actually changed my route because of this but slightly different to how you done it...

we have a hotel in Colorado springs so when we leave that to go south to Albuquerque we are going to initially head west to Montrose where we are going to jump on the 550 to Ouray and Durango and follow the 550 all the way along, i have actually heard of this road previously, am i correct in saying some people call it the Million Dollar Highway? We are basically on the 550 all the way from Ouray to Albuquerque believe its going to be almost an 11 hour drive! but looks amazing!

Hey Ben,

Previous owner of this car. Good to see you on here. I would have kept it if it wasn’t for the chance to get my brother M30-swapped coupe. Definitely keeping up with your trip.

thanks man! I was wondering if you was on here!! still a few things to sort out on the car to make it ready, you know the car a lot more than me other than the subframe is there anything else you recommend I sort out before I leave cali, oh and the seat belt buckles.

[benwalsh91]

Still planning the trip, getting super excited now as its about 5 weeks away till we fly. been getting some stuff for the car and to bring with us. still need some misc bits for the e30 but I got this today to help record some of the adventure!!

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

[iso_hi]

Hey Ben,

Previous owner of this car. Good to see you on here. I would have kept it if it wasn’t for the chance to get my brother M30-swapped coupe. Definitely keeping up with your trip.

[jtheilbrun]

Looks like an amazing trip! I can't wait to follow along.

Depending on how much flexibility you have I would definitely recommend going back west then south through the mountains after your Denver, Colorado stop. My Wife and I purchased our E30 in Arizona and drove it back through Durango and Ouray. It's much more scenic that the interstate.

[wolfador]

This sounds like an awesome trip.

How's the bushings on the car? Changing the control arm / rear subframe bushings on my car made a HUGE difference in the ride.

[benwalsh91]

In terms of maintenance, I’d make sure the tires are new or newish. Make sure the car has the full jack kit also. You can stuff a few things in the spare tire well too.

For the toolkit, I’d look at harbour freight. They have pretty good prices for tools. Not the best quality but they usually do the trick.

thank you! the following is copied and pasted from another thread:

ts a 85 325e. has 270k on the clock however its had the following work done (with receipts to prove and you can tell by looking its all new)
full coolant system overhaul including all hoses.
full tune up, fluids, filters and plugs/wires
brakes
timing belt
and was recently smogged (being a cali car)

the car is kinda rough exterior wise and a little on the inside but mechanically she is a peach which was what I wanted due to all the miles and also it will probably get a little bump and scrape here and there on the journey so wasn't really after a "mint" car. plus I am hoping having a car that looks a little beat up will put people off if they was looking to steal or rob a car but most the time this isn't the case, scumbags will be scumbags regardless.

also, I am pretty sure the tyres have recently been replaced but I will have my friend check the date/numbers on them. if need be I will get them replaced but I am 90% sure they are new or atleast a few months old.

[pondhopper]

In terms of maintenance, I’d make sure the tires are new or newish. Make sure the car has the full jack kit also. You can stuff a few things in the spare tire well too.

For the toolkit, I’d look at harbour freight. They have pretty good prices for tools. Not the best quality but they usually do the trick.

[pondhopper]

You may also want to keep an eye out due to forest/grasslands fires.
The season already has started out on the Westcoast.

[benwalsh91]

If you’re picking up the bronzit in Sacramento and come through Humboldt County (west of Sac along the coast), I’ll bring my bronzit out to play too.

The car is white but I am down on up for that. we are doing West Sacramento/Old Sacramento on one of our first days, the 6th September I believe as the car itself is located in Vacaville.

Subscribed!

SWEEEET!

Excellent! I’d love to do this someday too.

When near Las Vegas don’t miss Bryce and Zion National Parks. Monument Valley is iconic.

Also consider adding Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. You won’t be sorry.

Bryce is actually on our list of places to visit along with Zion, unfortunately we do not go up as high as Yellowstone, it was somewhere that I wanted to go but to see it we would of had to have missed quite a few other bits that we wanted to see so we had to weigh up our options and decided to skip that one but we are doing quite a few other National Parks. Grand Tetons is also a lot higher than we plan on going so wouldn't be able to make that one either :(

[jgilber0]

Excellent! I’d love to do this someday too.

When near Las Vegas don’t miss Bryce and Zion National Parks. Monument Valley is iconic.

Also consider adding Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. You won’t be sorry.