Downsides of convertibles?

[87Blue325iC]

I loved mine would I had it... but DO NOT drive through a car wash unless you have the hard top. The soft top is not strong enough to stay down with the high pressure washes. I ended up soaked and unhappy.

At least it was a nice day and I was able to put the top down to dry off.

Yeah - I did that too once! :curse: Bad, bad idea!

[talltorontoguy]

I'm sure this may already have been discussed, but can any one give me quick run down on where all those squeaks and rattles are coming from back there and if there are any easy fixes?

Not sure where they "all" come from but the rear side windows are one culprit for sure. There are some adjusters/guides in the assembly that get out of adjustment causing the window to rattle, particularly when the windows are up. I haven't fixed mine yet, and they do rattle.

[87Blue325iC]

Not sure where they "all" come from but the rear side windows are one culprit for sure. There are some adjusters/guides in the assembly that get out of adjustment causing the window to rattle, particularly when the windows are up. I haven't fixed mine yet, and they do rattle.

My passenger side rear window rattles when it is all the way up, but if I just tap the switch and lower it a tiny amount it stops. Not the right way to get rid of the problem - but the cheapest!

[VacMan]

My car has no rattles unless I'm hitting bumps, and every e30 coupe I've driven is the same. However, my car has a strut brace, Eibach sways and a Bilstein/Bavauto setup. I'll be going to H&R/Bilstein soon.

I don't get butthurt by those talking crap about cabrios. I love mine, and I have an E39 for a DD. If you don't like my car I could care less.

A couple of pics by request.

[E30 Cabrio]

I've never had any negative comments about my car. Anyone who has ever opined on it has been positive, and I don't care what the haters think/say anyways.

I bought the car because I like E30's and I like Convertibles.

The whole "gay" thing sounds like a whole lot of "projecting" to me. :p

My front passenger side window rattles a little bit from people closing the door by pushing the window instead of the the door, which irks the hell out of me because it loosens the window and makes it rattle.

Same thing happened with my Corvette Convertible, as if that car didn't rattle enough.

But like mentioned above, if I lower the window an inch, it stops rattling. I'll have to pull the door panel and adjust it someday, but for now, I'll just lower the window a bit when the top is down and the windows are up so it doesn't rattle.

BTW, VacMan, your car is the best E30 I've ever seen with the Cardinal Red interior. It ususally doesn't look good in most E30's, but you managed to pull it off. The whole car looks great.

[andrewintraining]

Sweet, looks like i'm going to be in the cabrio club..
are there any ways of making the car flex less?

[Stevie30]

Sweet, looks like i'm going to be in the cabrio club..
are there any ways of making the car flex less?

Yes. Stay on smooth roads and corner slower! LOL Just kidding. Mine will take curves faster than I want to take curves. You will not notice much difference in the vert and the coupe.

[twothrees]

Mine squeaked like an old mattress until I replaced the shock mounts. I think that is the biggest culprit.

I was looking for a coupe but settled on the cabrio. I have a E46 sedan and a Jeep, so I thought a cabrio would be a different driving experience. It was the best thing I ever did.

New suspension, plastic bumpers with a rear apron and larger/wider wheels will give it a nice, clean 'euro' look and will distance yourself from the 80's.

[Maluco]

If I had to pick one over the other I would definitely go with the coupe. But in a perfect world, I have both :up:

nothing like taking the vert out on nice days...

[E30 Cabrio]

I've owned a 325 es and my current 88 Cabrio and cannot tell the difference in handling, and I've drivin both cars quite aggressively on some twisties I know quite well. Roads that I've been having fun on here in the North SF Bay Area for over 25 years.

Anyone familiar with the area knows about Hwy 1 to Stinson Beach, Muir Woods, Mt. Tamalpais, etc...

If not, do a Google Earth view on them and check out those roads, they are quite challenging.

Maybe it's because my Cabrio has less mileage on it then my 325es did, but the es did have the "Sport" suspension and like I said, the handling difference was/is imperceptible.

[andrewintraining]

Mine squeaked like an old mattress until I replaced the shock mounts. I think that is the biggest culprit.

I was looking for a coupe but settled on the cabrio. I have a E46 sedan and a Jeep, so I thought a cabrio would be a different driving experience. It was the best thing I ever did.

New suspension, plastic bumpers with a rear apron and larger/wider wheels will give it a nice, clean 'euro' look and will distance yourself from the 80's.

Hey can I see some pics of your car? Sounds like sex

[andrewintraining]

No mean to bump this but

Does anyone have any ideas or ways to get rid of this LP gap on the front bumper?

[andrewintraining]

Those pics didn't work, but thanks!

[Maluco]

Those pics didn't work, but thanks!

check out these threads... what you are looking for is a late model front license plate delete. Do a few searches.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=102882&highlight=license+plate

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=81630&highlight=license+plate

[fporro]

mang's,

cabrios are great e30's. I love both of mine. even for evrydat driving, heck, it's L.A. :)

easy bumper swaps and sweet setups can be achived with right components.

neg's, well, yes, they do rattle, but body flex can be cure to some extend.
say, set up a front strutbar and go for a ride on the twisties, then take it off on the way back, you'll notice diffrence within the 3rd turn.

not that anyone requested it but...

here's my Zinno 87, bumper swaped and bbs skirted on m3 springs and 15x7 bbs fronts and 15x7.5 rear ACT's
with proper offsets.



then, 2 month older sister...
bastardise between mt1 front and mt2 rear bumper set ups, uglyer wheels than your gf behind and suspension wise, well, too much to list, i'll just post a pic instead....





Zinno on oem springs, she dropped about 1/2 inch with coupe m3 springs., also added an m3 rear swaybar, so it is as close to oem cabrio M Technic setup as i can get her (as seen on first pic)