After lurking and asking a question or two, I've decided its finally time to introduce myself and my car(s).
First off, with a short story, I've owned a lot of cars, the e30 being my 15th and I'm only 19 years old (only ever wrecked one and it was minor). I started my car ownership with a 1987 Chrysler Conquest TSI I bought, fixed up, painted, etc, and sold for $4500, and have since grown from there, buying and selling til I've ended up with what I wanted.
Well, I've always had a soft spot for 80s cars. Most were developed to handle, and they're cheap to obtain. Though I never thought so for the Bimmers.
I've owned a few Conquest/Starions, an RX7 convertible, a Shelby Charger, my current Omni GLH....and I've always like the e30s. First time I saw one was in a junkyard and the car was nice (probably had many good parts on it at the time too :/ ).
But I remember thinking how gorgeous of a car it was, sitting in it, looking it over. Keep in mind I was probably about 13 or 14 at the time. But it was a BMW, I thought they were expensive.
Fast forward to this past summer...I had wrecked my SRT4 back in December and had been without a car. I had my Jeep, but its a gas guzzler and I only like to drive it when I need it. So, scouring craigslist looking for a car, I thought, what the hell, let me look for the BMWs I've always liked. I was amazed by how obtainable they were.
So instantly I began lurking forums and simply reading on their reliability, cost of ownership, etc. I do all my own work, so, parts was the expense I was worried about. Well basically, after reading, I was sold. So the search began.
Looked at a couple of them, finally found one in Hanover, MD, already lowered with some rota rbs on it, brand new tires, brakes, all four tockico struts, new ball joints, sway bar links...etc. I pulled up and was already in love. Then he let me drive it.
Despite the hardly disengaging clutch and the shear slowness that was brought to you by eta power, I was in love. The body was straight and without rust, and despite peeling clear and cracked dash, it was just a clean car. So...two days later went down and picker her up.
Since picking her up, I've replaced the clutch, carrier bearing, flex disc, and cap/rotor, plugs, and did an r134 conversion and have ice cold ac. :) Despite a few quirks, she's been a great car. Slow as all hell, but just a great time.
This is honestly the only car I've been able to overlook the pure lack of power due to its amazing abilities in handling, and simple joy of operating.
Needless to say, I plan on keeping her for a long while.
Anyhow...enough of my rambling, here's some pictures from the first week on to its transformations already. My plan is to make it clean and classy. Keeping the chrome and repainting the blue, and I'm halfway done my tan interior conversion (it was blue houndstooth). Slowly but surely I'm getting there. An I swap is in its very near future as well.
Ok I'm done typing now. Thank you for reading all that if you did
Now for pictors! (they are in chronological order)
Roofrack. Liked it for a while...also removed almost all of the stickers.
I razored the peeling clear off and recleared it, wetsanded and buffed it to make it look a little better for now.
Then I sold it...got a german plate, put stock headlights back in it...etc.
And just for reference, here's some pictures of my other toys.
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited. 85k miles. Fastest SUV in the world circa 1998. Hood vents are factory and functional...not Autozone stick ons...lol Also has black housing Euro spec headlights, with black housing blinkers/parking lights.
1985 Dodge Omni GLH (thank Carroll Shelby for the existence of this :P ). Currently being restored and I have a full 35k mile GLHS swap for it out of GLHS number 158 of 500. I also have the original window sticker/build sheet/etc for this car as I got it from the original owner after sitting in her driveway for 15 years because the ac quit working.
Thats all for now. I will add more as I go along. Thanks for having me!
First off, with a short story, I've owned a lot of cars, the e30 being my 15th and I'm only 19 years old (only ever wrecked one and it was minor). I started my car ownership with a 1987 Chrysler Conquest TSI I bought, fixed up, painted, etc, and sold for $4500, and have since grown from there, buying and selling til I've ended up with what I wanted.
Well, I've always had a soft spot for 80s cars. Most were developed to handle, and they're cheap to obtain. Though I never thought so for the Bimmers.
I've owned a few Conquest/Starions, an RX7 convertible, a Shelby Charger, my current Omni GLH....and I've always like the e30s. First time I saw one was in a junkyard and the car was nice (probably had many good parts on it at the time too :/ ).
But I remember thinking how gorgeous of a car it was, sitting in it, looking it over. Keep in mind I was probably about 13 or 14 at the time. But it was a BMW, I thought they were expensive.
Fast forward to this past summer...I had wrecked my SRT4 back in December and had been without a car. I had my Jeep, but its a gas guzzler and I only like to drive it when I need it. So, scouring craigslist looking for a car, I thought, what the hell, let me look for the BMWs I've always liked. I was amazed by how obtainable they were.
So instantly I began lurking forums and simply reading on their reliability, cost of ownership, etc. I do all my own work, so, parts was the expense I was worried about. Well basically, after reading, I was sold. So the search began.
Looked at a couple of them, finally found one in Hanover, MD, already lowered with some rota rbs on it, brand new tires, brakes, all four tockico struts, new ball joints, sway bar links...etc. I pulled up and was already in love. Then he let me drive it.
Despite the hardly disengaging clutch and the shear slowness that was brought to you by eta power, I was in love. The body was straight and without rust, and despite peeling clear and cracked dash, it was just a clean car. So...two days later went down and picker her up.
Since picking her up, I've replaced the clutch, carrier bearing, flex disc, and cap/rotor, plugs, and did an r134 conversion and have ice cold ac. :) Despite a few quirks, she's been a great car. Slow as all hell, but just a great time.
This is honestly the only car I've been able to overlook the pure lack of power due to its amazing abilities in handling, and simple joy of operating.
Needless to say, I plan on keeping her for a long while.
Anyhow...enough of my rambling, here's some pictures from the first week on to its transformations already. My plan is to make it clean and classy. Keeping the chrome and repainting the blue, and I'm halfway done my tan interior conversion (it was blue houndstooth). Slowly but surely I'm getting there. An I swap is in its very near future as well.
Ok I'm done typing now. Thank you for reading all that if you did
Now for pictors! (they are in chronological order)
Roofrack. Liked it for a while...also removed almost all of the stickers.
I razored the peeling clear off and recleared it, wetsanded and buffed it to make it look a little better for now.
Then I sold it...got a german plate, put stock headlights back in it...etc.
And just for reference, here's some pictures of my other toys.
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited. 85k miles. Fastest SUV in the world circa 1998. Hood vents are factory and functional...not Autozone stick ons...lol Also has black housing Euro spec headlights, with black housing blinkers/parking lights.
1985 Dodge Omni GLH (thank Carroll Shelby for the existence of this :P ). Currently being restored and I have a full 35k mile GLHS swap for it out of GLHS number 158 of 500. I also have the original window sticker/build sheet/etc for this car as I got it from the original owner after sitting in her driveway for 15 years because the ac quit working.
Thats all for now. I will add more as I go along. Thanks for having me!
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