1991 BMW e30/318is purchased in October of 2003 with 136K miles. Adult driven. Tan cloth interior. All stock. $3900.
I drove it for about a month – then it went under my knife. For almost seven years, I worked on the car on/off without putting a single mile on it. It was a hell of a journey – but one I enjoyed immensely. Now it is done and drivable.
So many aspects of the project involved “while I was at it” aspects. One might say that I went about refreshing the shift linkage – then proceeded to restore the car – “while I was at it”.
The full story is told in my Zen and the Art of e30 Maintenance thread. It is a long, detailed, thread consisting of over 1200 photos. Because of all the photos, many will have better luck viewing each of the 27 posts individually. To view them separately, one can visit my Table of Contents post. It is a thread geared toward other e30/DIY enthusiasts. My hope was that it would be an inspiration to others.
This thread is a summary.
Approximate appearance as purchased:
Before/After of rear suspension rebuild:
Before shots of engine bay:
During:
After:
Interior before/after:
During and after:
New parts pile pics:
Old parts pile pics:
Miscellaneous chronological-order exterior shots:
I really, REALLY need to give the car its first waxing and take a proper photo shoot – which will happen in time..
The car project has resulted in pure joy. It runs and drives like it came off the showroom floor.
The throttle response – the shift action – the comfort of the interior – and the handling all combine into driving nirvana behind the wheel. Averages 30mpg with combined city and highway. It’s everything I could ever want in a car – and the satisfaction from building it myself is something hard to put into words. The car went into a paint shop when I first got it – and it went to an alignment shop when I was done. My own hands did all the rest. The experience was priceless.
I drove it for about a month – then it went under my knife. For almost seven years, I worked on the car on/off without putting a single mile on it. It was a hell of a journey – but one I enjoyed immensely. Now it is done and drivable.
So many aspects of the project involved “while I was at it” aspects. One might say that I went about refreshing the shift linkage – then proceeded to restore the car – “while I was at it”.
The full story is told in my Zen and the Art of e30 Maintenance thread. It is a long, detailed, thread consisting of over 1200 photos. Because of all the photos, many will have better luck viewing each of the 27 posts individually. To view them separately, one can visit my Table of Contents post. It is a thread geared toward other e30/DIY enthusiasts. My hope was that it would be an inspiration to others.
This thread is a summary.
Approximate appearance as purchased:
Before/After of rear suspension rebuild:
Before shots of engine bay:
During:
After:
Interior before/after:
During and after:
New parts pile pics:
Old parts pile pics:
Miscellaneous chronological-order exterior shots:
I really, REALLY need to give the car its first waxing and take a proper photo shoot – which will happen in time..
The car project has resulted in pure joy. It runs and drives like it came off the showroom floor.
The throttle response – the shift action – the comfort of the interior – and the handling all combine into driving nirvana behind the wheel. Averages 30mpg with combined city and highway. It’s everything I could ever want in a car – and the satisfaction from building it myself is something hard to put into words. The car went into a paint shop when I first got it – and it went to an alignment shop when I was done. My own hands did all the rest. The experience was priceless.
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