1989 Alpine II 325i Coupe

[coldweatherblue]

Haven't posted in a while but the car is still super fun to drive. Has been turn-key reliable as a fun-car for the past 2.8 years.

Took the camera on a joy-ride tonight:

[coldweatherblue]

Most of the work on E30s is an easy fix.

One of the best things about E30s.

Haven't done a photo session in a while, got a ding in my front turn signal that I need to fix and want to take it to a detail shop for PDR and ? ceramic coating but here's an unposted pic.

E30

[2mAn]

Easy fixes are the best.

Most of the work on E30s is an easy fix.

Congrats.... any new pics?

[coldweatherblue]

Fixed an intermittent no-start issue today.

A couple months ago my E30 wouldn't start for a joy-ride.

Pulled the fuel line at the rail and was pumping gas, checked spark and was present, wierd.

Pulled the main relay and the car started and ran fine, until last week when the no-start came back.

Checked crank-sensor on a hunch and was 0 ohm.

Put in a new sensor as well as a hood shock (should've done that a long time ago) today and runs great.

Easy fixes are the best.

[coldweatherblue]

Yeah I've daily'd the taco for the past 4 months and it's been a lot of fun.

I basically bought it for the dogs now that my wife's X5 is too nice for 'em, hiking/everything-practical and to keep miles off the E30. It's fun enough with the 6spd manual and has been unstoppable enough.

Took a nice joyride in the E30 today after the above problems were fixed and it reminded me why I drove E30s so long..

[e30RS]

I have a 4runner trail 2013 built and a 2017 Tundra built and they are the garage queens now! The e30 325is is getting the stick time.

[coldweatherblue]

So as payback for getting a new vehicle my E30 gave me a few maintenance issues recently. Was out for a joyride about a week ago when noticed a sudden increase in lifter noise. Car ran fine so drove it home.

Next day took it around the block and noticed the smell of fuel (crap). So thought it was a leaking injector or something, replaced all my engine bay fuel lines, leak gone, loud tick remains.

Pulled the valve cover and found this:



Eccentric nut fell off and the valve adjustment was completely off.

Actually was able to find the nut and washer in a recess near one of the drain holes so all parts accounted for, crisis averted lol.

The engine was rebuilt ~14 mo ago and still under warranty, kind of annoying they fucked this up, checked all other nuts/adjustments though and they're all tight and in spec.

[Poorhouse]

Awesome for this car to move into a comfy retirement after 100s of thousands of miles.
Seems more fitting than the low,mileage garage queens.

[325isman]

Great looking car.Love those wheels.....Welcome

[coldweatherblue]

Thanks man, strangely still feel kind of sad saying this, but..

The E30 has been upgraded to "garage queen" status!

Got a new Tacoma for utility/daily use. That trip I talked about in my last post.. loaded the E30 up with a paddleboard, surfboard, guitar, camera gear, fishing gear, drove 7 hours to hilton head, had a great weekend down there then got back and noticed my front turn signal cover got a hole in hit, rock chips on the new valance, rock chip on the windshield.. etc. Plus driving 14 hrs at 80mph = 4000rpm with no cruise control... I love the E30 but it was enough to convince me to finally get a new vehicle.

So no more wet swimsuits on my sport seats all summer long or using tie downs around the roof to haul lumbar/trees/paddleboards. No more sitting out in the rain at work. The E30 is gonna get vintage plates, detailed, and stay in good condition for whenever I want to have some fun. :)

[Poorhouse]

This was a good read. Awesome to see someone get so much use out of their car.

[coldweatherblue]

going to the beach next month so took my surfboard over to the lake to get in paddling shape.. ended up getting rained out by a popup thunderstorm but got some..

rainbow pics, derp.

[coldweatherblue]

More pics before it gets messed up haha.

[coldweatherblue]

Adventures in bodywork:

My buddy needed a valance and mine was a little dinged, nothing major but it bothered me so got a new one from BMW (better price than anything online fwiw) and some AW 218 paint from scratch wizard and had some fun over the past few weeks.

First time taking a panel off; it needed some tlc to fit right but came out ok from 10 ft for a rattle can job. I justify being cheap cause the original paint is 30 years and nearly 400k miles old and if you look close it's not concourse but from a distance will shine if kept clean which is the goal of the car as my daily driver. If I decide to spend $4k on a paint job I'd rather just do it all at once anyway so no point in paying a body shop to spray a single piece.. justification for DIY learning..

I need a slim front lip if anyone knows where to get one. Have looked on ebay/google/etc, difficult to find. The car came with an IS lip and the first time I drove it home to my apt in San Bernardino almost 8 years ago the lip was destroyed on a culvert so ptsd would rather just have the bare minimum to cover to fog light mounts in black.

[coldweatherblue]

lately..