New S52 E30 Touring! Introduction & Questions

[Deen HK]

Hello everyone, I am the new owner of a 89 E30 touring! It's got an S52/ZF 5 speed in it, both which have been rebuilt and have ~4500 miles on them. The car was restored in 2008 and it seems as if everything was gone over (i'm still waiting on the original owner to send over the binder full of paperwork documenting everything). It's got Supersprint headers + muffler, 16" AZEV wheels with a Wilwood BBK, BC Racing coilovers, SSK, and an LSD.

I'm well versed in E46 M3's, but this is my first E30, so I'm still in the learning process. I was wondering if anyone has any information on a couple of things. The headliner is sagging (found a great DIY on e30 zone), the diff bushing is torn (can I replace it with the diff still in the car, if not do I need to drop the diff/subframe to get the cover off?), and the rear hatch won't open (the key won't even turn in the barrel, any help on how to open it? I think a latch might have broken inside).

What're some good coilovers everyone recommends, these BC's are going to shatter my bones any moment now. Glad to be a part of the community!

[2mAn]

Welcome and congrats, thats a nice Touring!

Im a fan of Ground Control coilovers, but they will want a set of strut housings. You might be able to do a sell and swap with the buyer of your BC Coils to take their stock Strut Housings.

I believe you can replace the diff mount without removing the diff, but Id suggest taking the diff out. Its not as wild as your E46 and will give you the ability to inspect the rear subframe to make sure there are no cracks. Normally its not a problem but with a S52 you'll want to check and maybe weld in the reinforcements

[roguetoaster]

The headliner is a big card that is mostly retained by sliding clips that will come unglued, you will need two people to reinstall the headliner after you recover it with material that is commonly available. You can take the rear cover off and replace the bushing without more work if you want. I imagine that to open the hatch, you could remove the rear inside cover on the hatch and unbolt the latch strap. However, you should try repeatedly locking and unlocking the car from the DS lock first.

[Deen HK]

Welcome and congrats, thats a nice Touring!

Im a fan of Ground Control coilovers, but they will want a set of strut housings. You might be able to do a sell and swap with the buyer of your BC Coils to take their stock Strut Housings.

I believe you can replace the diff mount without removing the diff, but Id suggest taking the diff out. Its not as wild as your E46 and will give you the ability to inspect the rear subframe to make sure there are no cracks. Normally its not a problem but with a S52 you'll want to check and maybe weld in the reinforcements

The headliner is a big card that is mostly retained by sliding clips that will come unglued, you will need two people to reinstall the headliner after you recover it with material that is commonly available. You can take the rear cover off and replace the bushing without more work if you want. I imagine that to open the hatch, you could remove the rear inside cover on the hatch and unbolt the latch strap. However, you should try repeatedly locking and unlocking the car from the DS lock first.

Thank you guys for the help! Sorry for the late response, life got a bit hectic here with work/school/etc. I refreshed my diff while I had it out, got the trunk latch solved, and now am moving on to tidying up the interior. For the headliner, does it make a difference if I have a sunroof? I'm assuming I'd have to mess with it before removing the pillar trims/obc panel, etc. I saw a thread for slicktop touring (I believe it was your 318i @roguetoaster) where the headliner process looked like a very quick job. Good to know the touring headliner just slides out without any of those metal bows, excited to get some black alcantara to freshen it up with.

[roguetoaster]

I am pretty sure the sunroof headliner is different, at least in attachment around the sunroof. You can find out if it's a single "card" by just pressing on it all around to check for seams in a panel and/or where it's affixed.