I joined the e30 club.

[structured]

that interior combo it tight.

[Ross Brentwood]

bumper swap?! it is an 88 afterall, nice nice car, awesome to start with

Definitely doing the bumper swap - I'm eyeing the MTech 2 front and rear or decent replicas of said bumpers. I dig the stock side skirts, so I won't be touching those.

Also looking for center caps for my basketweaves - I have seen them new for $50ish a piece on several sites, but I'm thinking i might be better off waiting for them to come up used somewhere.

Will definitely be reconditioning the leather, fixing a few interior light problems, affixing various trim pieces, and generally bringing the car back to what it could very easily be.

HID's are definitely going in.

I'm contemplating painting it alpine white. I've always had a weakness for white BMW's. It needs paint pretty badly as it is, and some bodywork here and there. Thoughts?

It is currently getting new rotors/front calipers/pads and new rear wheel bearings. I'd be doing the work myself, but I'm overseas at the moment.

In a few months when I return, planning on doing some quality suspension work, dynamating the interior, and then deciding on how I'm going to make it faster (boost, 24v swap). Yes, I know about the oil pan issue. And yes, I've done a fair amount of work with forced induction - well, enough to be dangerous :mrgreen:

Any other suggestions you all might have would be more than welcome, as I am just delving into the e30 community and I'm hunting for ideas.

Thanks for the welcome!

- Jameson

[m3_eater]

Cirrusblau is a great color, and very underrated. I know, because my first E30 was Cirrus, and I just loved how that color looked different in different kinds of light. I'd recommend a quality respray in the original color. Have them remove the doors, tape the VIN tags, and go at it. You wouldn't ever regret it - and you wouldn't have to pull the engine and paint the engine bay!

Also, HIDs are overrated - I had them and hated them. Now I'm back to Euro Smileys with four SilverStar halogens which look & function great. Try to see/drive someone else's E30 with HIDs installed before you go spending the money. You may or may not like the different kind of light.

[einstein57]

I like the color but then again i'm kinda bias. Remove the distributor cap and rotor assembly and take a peek at the timing belt to see how urgent replacement is. Since you have an ix the wheel selection is finominal. All those cheap Honda and vw wheels at your disposal. And the general consensus here is do not m5X swap an IX. Its a waste of a fairly rare e30 as most IX's around are four doors.

Whoring my car

[Ross Brentwood]

I did forget to mention that a timing belt replacement is also on the list of things to do, as I have no idea when it was last done.

As far as paint, proper prep will most certainly be done.

Ryan Stewart is a friend of mine, and I dig the HIDs in his car. I've had SilverStars in a few of my other vehicles, which have been great, but I dig HIDs. They're cheap enough for quality bulbs/ballasts where it makes sense (to me, anyway) to do them.

I've always been a bit against color changes, because of the magnitude of work involved in doing it properly (i.e., pulling the engine). However, this particular car is a 'prior salvage' - and I'm not looking to win any awards with it. I'm simply looking to build a car I enjoy driving. It was dirt cheap as it is, so I'm not really concerned with diminished value. I'm not dead set on a color change, but we'll see how things play out...

Einstein - is it truly a waste? You're still with an inline six motor, and a BMW one at that - just of slightly different character.

Thank you all for your input!

[CleanAzzE30z]

Wow!! Iraq looks a lot like the US! lol jk



Mariano

[Nicademus]

I especially love the interior of you car. The red carpet with the black seats is beautiful.

[Stephen]

I like it. Welcome

[dashboardmonkey]

Welcome to r3v. Thank you for your service to our great country.

+1

Thanks for sharing and serving.

Andy

[e28forlife]

I really like the red carpet with the black interior. I also like that color, and its nice to see something different from the usual black, white, red, silver and bronzit. Its a shame there isn't a wider variety of colors in the US. You see a lot more colors in Europe, but now so many here.

And an iX coupe, there are many around. Nice find.

[Ross Brentwood]

Wow!! Iraq looks a lot like the US! lol jk



Mariano

Haha, doesn't it?

Only five more months over here. Been here since Feb or so. Can't wait to a) drink booze; b) see women; c) work on the e30. Not necessarily in that order.

All at the same time, maybe?

Thanks for the welcome, guys!

[einstein57]

The susppension geometry is different on the ix then it is on a standard rear wheel drive e30 and will handle horrilby w/o awd. Most of the drivetran parts on your car are ix specific and don't mix well with engine swaps.

[Van Westervelt]

Nice starting point! If you pull that red carpet, PM me. :) Welcome!

[Ross Brentwood]

The susppension geometry is different on the ix then it is on a standard rear wheel drive e30 and will handle horrilby w/o awd. Most of the drivetran parts on your car are ix specific and don't mix well with engine swaps.

Oh, the AWD is here to stay. :) That's much of the charm of the car.

There is more than one way to do these sorts of things - I'm not your 'drop-in replacement' type of guy...fabrication is part of the fun. That, and successfully doing something that few other people have done.

[Motorsports]

Welcome to R3V. Look forward to see how this turns out.