My second e30

[RedlineE30]

Hi,
I had an '86 325 ES about 9 years ago, when I lived in Hawaii. Loved that car. It was so nice. My wife loved it, cause she could start from a stop in 3dr, lol. I don't have any pics, but it was a slightly rusty alpine white. We moved back to the main land, and I couldn't afford to ship it at the time, so I sold it. Missed it ever since.
At the end of last summer, I bough this '86 325 ES:


It needed (and still does) lots of work. I just got it on the road this week, though. It now looks like this:


One of the major problems it has is trouble with cold starts. Would love some pointers as to where to start looking. Thanks

Oh, I did get another Bentley manual, as the last one went with the car. I also have a timing belt and water pump waiting to go in when it is a bit warmer out.

[craiggroves91]

Did you paint it yourself?
Looks like a good start. You should post more pics!

[RedlineE30]

I did paint it myself. It was just to keep the rust away, for now. I just used flat red in a can, so it looks good from about 10 feet away. I need to get the rest of the moldings back on.
I drew this:

I'd be great if it looked like that one day. :)
It is already lowered on IE springs and Bilstein shocks. I believe the rears are shot, though.

[timofeylbelarus]

its looking nice dude

[Roysneon]

I am a fan of the flat red.

[manjambles]

cjdontthink, best sig ever!

[jaywood]

Nice job!

Lolz, just noticed the tree above the rear of the car.

[c4ls7]

^^^ wow thats a good eye noticing the tree(actaully pretty cool).


Car looks really nice in flat red.

[scabzzzz]

Cool. I trust you'll do that car a favor and bring it back.

As far as cold starts, you should check on the Cold start valve, and the temp sensors that are on the thermostat housing. Just replace em. The cold start valve can be troubleshooted via the Bentley. It should only affect the car below a certain temp, that is defined by said sensors. Im just going by memory though, double check me in the Bentley. Theres a chart for cold/hard starts and general starting issues. Good luck!

[Fleksta]

Do you have any closer (and larger) pics of the car? I'm curious as to how the rattle can job came out.

[RedlineE30]

Well, as luck would have it, the release bearing gave out. (why don't they call it a through out bearing?) So now it is stuck in the driveway, leaking bunches of fluids ;)

Is it "better/easier" to drop the trans by itself, or take the engine and trans out the front?
I'd have to rent a hoist, but I do have jack stands (would that even be enough?).

This will be great, as the shifter rests on the drive shaft in 2nd. :D

Her's some more picks:
Is this too close?




And, the best part of this car:

I think I'll leave it for now. Especially since it won't be going anywhere for a while.

[RedlineE30]

Also, had more fun in Illustrator:

[Cabriolet]

is that an I intake manifold on there?

[dude8383]

You call that a strut tower bar?

[LuckyHenriksen]

Love it. Everything about it