Simon’s Zen/Maintenance Spring ’12 Report w/ Photos & e30 poetic waxing

[jasonbk]

I like non-power steering in my car, it doesn't feel like it's being assisted and it's fairly easy to drive/park most of the time.

[801coppertop]

Yay! Nice to see after all that hard work you put into the car it is paying off and giving back you you. You and your car a an awesome example of why e30 is the best evar!! Le passion...

[ZekeTheSneak]

ditch those wheels

[ANDRÜ]

Great post

[N2MYE30]

Ive been a fan since I read though his zen thread 2+ years ago. Its the only thread that I know of that has a table of contents (TOC on his link)...and I still reference it!!! Bravo Simon! :bow:

[cbouchez]

Nice job man! I love it. The mirrors look great, I miss mine...

[hfabricius]

Great thread. I wish I could go through my e30 the way you did and get it feeling like new again.

[mangomango]

Nice to see this is a wisconsin car!! I'm just north of Milwaukee, the roads are incredible in the kettle-moraine area to blast through. Can't wait to get the timing chain done on my 318is and do some twisties. ... except my car is at about where you started out. Just looking forward to wrenching on it when the warm weather ever gets here.

Anywho, glad to see you got to enjoy that amazing car of yours.

[Simon S]

Nicely written and lovely looking car.. I've slowly been replacing things and the longer I keep it, the more I enjoy it.

Thanks
.. and yeah - there is a certain magic about these cars that return the love one can put into them for sure..

This car sounds bullett proof! Great write ups by the way!

So far - it sure has felt this way.. It was a joy to hear when my mom said how I went for the strong red/black contrast made the car look "tough"

And thanks for appreciating the write ups - it's been fun to share the passion.

I have to say-m42's are almost only fun to drive in the upper rpm range. I often find myself shifting around 4-5k in traffic just to get around.

For me – the balance is totally there. Most of the time, I’m driving around in ‘grandma/get-around’ mode – or nursing the car around so it lasts longer. This equates to smooth/lazy/rev-matched/low rpm shifting and soft brake applications. There just isn’t a need to drive all ‘racerboy’ around town. It’s not worth it..

I love this thread. That was a great read.

Aw - thanks man - I had fun writing it.

Not Again! Simon makes routine maintenance look like an art form. Keep up the good work!

Will do. Your words are profound - for they mean a lot to me. Much of what I wanted to accomplish with this late model m42 car was simply to celebrate and accentuate what was already there. Doing so - always felt like an artistic effort as the hours of work accumulated - in relation to what the desired end-result/goal became.

I do enjoy seeing all the great effort you put into your car. It's turned out well man! Keep it up!

:up:

Looks good and sounds like it functions even better.
Where in the ole great land of iowa did you stop at?

Thanks. Form and function in harmony. It's magical.
As far at the Iowa adventure - I entered via Lansing and exited via Prairie du Chien en route to/from Independence.

I like non-power steering in my car, it doesn't feel like it's being assisted and it's fairly easy to drive/park most of the time.

Agreed. It's not at all like the car actually needs it.

Yay! Nice to see after all that hard work you put into the car it is paying off and giving back you you. You and your car a an awesome example of why e30 is the best evar!! Le passion...

Indeed. It's glorious.

ditch those wheels

yeah yeah - i'm on it..
In the mean time - I'm proud to voice that 'caps can still be fun to roll. I know I'm having fun..

Ive been a fan since I read though his zen thread 2+ years ago. Its the only thread that I know of that has a table of contents (TOC on his link)...and I still reference it!!! Bravo Simon! :bow:

<3

Great thread. I wish I could go through my e30 the way you did and get it feeling like new again.

Thanks. I feel like some odd/weird/lucky/obscure kind-of-guy to have gone this route. It was a dreamy journey - where most of the dreams were nice ones..

Nice to see this is a wisconsin car!! I'm just north of Milwaukee, the roads are incredible in the kettle-moraine area to blast through. Can't wait to get the timing chain done on my 318is and do some twisties. ... except my car is at about where you started out. Just looking forward to wrenching on it when the warm weather ever gets here.

Anywho, glad to see you got to enjoy that amazing car of yours.

Fuckin' A.
Once had a Duc that I got to carve through the kettles once or twice.. nice twisties indeed there..

.. and dude! The warm weather has been here you waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles !! lol

[lolcantturn]

Well written post, grammatically pleasing and delightfully interesting.

That said, I love your car and everything you wrote about it. I feel like that every time I step out of my car, whether it be my 60 mile boring DD commute, or a weekend getaway. The joy of stepping out, taking about 8 steps forward, turning around and seeing beauty in the form of a 1980's German vehicle is well, magnificent.

I'm jealous you're able to enjoy your twisty driving roads as much as you can with those awful-but-fun tires. My suspension is a bit too refined and my tires too new for me to have fun-- I'm always at the edge of grip to the point where I'm going way too fast to correct myself in case of any error on a tiny road, to which case I back off and say "I'll just leave this for the track."