I totaled the amount I spent restoring my e30 and I'm shocked.

[Thunderzol]

Yep, the cost is what the cost is. I still think it's funny what we (all automotive hobbyists) spend on cars that are neither rare, nor particularly special in an historical context. Imagine spending $50,000 restoring a base model slant 6 Falcon, and in the end you still have a base model slant 6 Falcon that's now worth 15K instead of 5K.

I’d say the car is historically very much special. Just not rare in terms of production. In a way, just like a vw beetle.

[808ETA]

Let's see it!! Where did you get your bumpers? I'm in the market for a set for my 84.

[roguetoaster]

Yeah, it's just expensive for everything. I replaced all the windows, weather stripping, gaskets, seals, new emblems, you name it. Just the front and back windshield gaskets alone are like $500 lol.

Yep, the cost is what the cost is. I still think it's funny what we (all automotive hobbyists) spend on cars that are neither rare, nor particularly special in an historical context. Imagine spending $50,000 restoring a base model slant 6 Falcon, and in the end you still have a base model slant 6 Falcon that's now worth 15K instead of 5K.

[agisthos]

It just adds up really quickly. That's normal for restoring old cars.

I don't even want to give a figure for my car, but I just had my M20 engine custom rebuilt, using all the good bits, plus did the entire suspension and brakes, back to front, new fuel tank, E36 rack conversion, custom PS pipes for that rack, all new gaskets/strips for both windscreens, and on and on
Parts cost alone is hitting 15k and the labor added a lot more as I do not do the work myself apart from small stuff.

[nocrashnofun]

Yes, this is a crazy amount to spend on an regular two-door E30. Especially since you restomodded your car, or at least that's how the market would likely view it. Which isn't to say that it's a bad thing to modify an E30, just so long as you don't expect ROI for doing so.

Yeah, it's just expensive for everything. I replaced all the windows, weather stripping, gaskets, seals, new emblems, you name it. Just the front and back windshield gaskets alone are like $500 lol.

[roguetoaster]

Yes, this is a crazy amount to spend on an regular two-door E30. Especially since you restomodded your car, or at least that's how the market would likely view it. Which isn't to say that it's a bad thing to modify an E30, just so long as you don't expect ROI for doing so.

[nocrashnofun]

I bought a 1986 325e alpine white e30 that was in moderate condition. Had some rust, ran okay. The body had some hail damage and some dents and dings and had a semi-crappy paint job. This seemed like the perfect starting point for my project car. I sourced an m20b25 off Facebook market place and went from there. I completely built the engine, turbo, megasquirt, I did all the work myself but had a shop do custom dyno tune, had all the hail damage and dents pulled, had all the rust cut out, new panels fabbed and had it painted last month. I decided to stress myself out and see how much I have spent on the car to this day. The total was $27,702 including the $4,000 I spent on the car. I obviously went all out by doing euro bumper kits, euro side skirts, mtech valances etc. The paint/rust work alone totaled (inside/outside/jams etc) $6,000. Is this a crazy amount to spend? How much did you spend restoring yours?