The sickess: 87 325is

[Gubernaculum]

Update 11/17/11 - post 16
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Not sick as in rad - sick as in WhyTF did I buy another e30.

So I sold my trusty '87 e30 eta 2 months ago after 7 years of reliable service as my only car, telling myself it was time to grow up and get a more "professional" car - being that I'm in professional school, getting old, not having wrenching time, and what-not.

Well, after a month of searching for newer volvos and saabs and 5 series BMW's, I ended up buying another e30 -
FAR crappier than my previous car, in need of pretty much everything I ever did to my old e30 in 7 years of ownership and more.
Same damn year as my old car.
But m20b25.

So this is my new musty, dripping bronzit 325is, the AM after its maiden voyage 125 miles to my parents house for some rehab. It seems to have lost about 1qt of oil along the way. The driveway corroborated this.

Feel free to give me ideas on how to fix the badnesses below:



The badness:
XX-FIXED-XX*about 2 sqft of oil spot under the engine. Spots of oil under the passenger side all the way back to the rear floorboards - WTF - must have splashed back there on the ride and dripped off after.
*wheels need refinishing - Silver, Gunmetal, WHITE or Black?
FIXED*bad clearcoat problems on roof and trunk
FIXED*driver mirror paint is mostly peeled off
*in need of low
*antenna snapped. Can I plug hole and somehow wire up a fixed mast antenna to sit in the trunk?


The badness:
XX-FIXED-XX*dirty girl, leaky as hell
XX-FIXED-XX*unknown timing belt history despite PO having car for 15 years (high priority - waiting to place order depending on other parts needed)


The badness:
FIXED*steering wheel leather terrible
FIXED*original radio "works", included genuine "Metallica: The Live Shit" cassette tape. Will put in CD wired to premium sound speakers.
FIXED*blower doesn't work on any speed
FIXED*window switches partially or fully out.


The badness:
SORT OF FIXED*Ye old german leather: worse than it looks: hard, cracked, dirty. Tried cleaning and soaking with leather cleaner/conditioner. Need more suggestions. Will probably DIY reupholster driver bolsters at a minimum, possibly driver seat bottom. Where to get semi-matching vinyl?

Main priority right now is the terrible oil leak, and ordering a T-belt.

Photos make it look and smell better than real life I think.

[Blackout]

Oh man, i feel your pain.

[T Verdier]

Have fun polishing a bronzit terd! ; )

[T Verdier]

Sounds like it need $7,000 in parts alone. Is that what your gonna do?

[Ninz30]

e30's are in your blood

[CHIF8008]

bronxit looks tits when done right

[Gubernaculum]

Have fun polishing a bronzit terd! ; )

Thanks for the helpful suggestion?
As long as I can plug these leaks and the engine isn't shot I'd say most of these problems are relatively inexpensive to fix if my end goal is a fun daily driver that I don't have to worry too much about. If it all goes to pot I'm pretty certain I could sell it for what I paid or part it for profit.

[abefroman]

Try a new resistor for the blower motor. That may be your problem as you said it doesn't work on any speed...or your blower motor is shot. I have a resistor if you want to see if that fixes the issue.

[Farwest92]

Passenger side oil leak, I'd check the oil filter mount and oil cooler lines. Mine was leaking bad but a few o-rings is all it takes. Good luck with the 87, It's my favorite year.

[JrCamacho]

Looks like your back to square one with an e30!

Lots of work to be done, but you've been down this road before right? So you know what needs to get done!

[Gubernaculum]

Of the several oil leaks, one APPEARS to be coming out of the black casing around the wire that goes to the windshield washer pump. Weird as hell. The oil pressure switch is also leaking. If I'm right about the washer pump wire, somehow somewhere along the line the wiring harness is getting pumped full of oil (like, at the oil press switch). If I'm right about this I will report back about what it feels like to poop a brick.

Regarding my blower - since it doesn't even work in high I'm thinking I have problems besides the resistor. A JY blower isn't a huge cost, so I'm not overly concerned, just curious about what the problem is.

Off to work in the early AM and long weekend of racing sailboats - I'll update with diagnoses and fixes next week.

[SkywayScraper]

O man, I'm surprised you went with another e30. Good luck call me if you need any parts might have something laying around.

[E30 Wagen]

Call me crazy but I've been wanting a bronzit. Good luck with yours. The body looks pretty clean and straight, which I think is the most important thing. Engines can be rebuilt, which what I think you should consider with your m20.

[Gubernaculum]

O man, I'm surprised you went with another e30. Good luck call me if you need any parts might have something laying around.

Haha, thanks man - I blame it on poor decision making while working nights. Luckily I've got a few weeks at my parents to try and sort things out. If you still have those old blue seat scraps please hold on to them a bit longer - I could use them as templates again - but if you've thrown them away that's fine, too.

[SkywayScraper]

Yeah I tossed them last week when I was cleaning out the trunk... sorry