My new Alpine white e30 325i

[nyy e90]

This is my first e30... its a 1989 325i, it's got over 200k on the clock but one of the PO's, the owner of a local BMW shop, replaced the engine which has more like 133k. He also put on some m3 front suspension components giving it a little wider track up front, and of course the 15" wheels. I've had it for about a month now and I can't get enough of driving it. I'm still learning about the e30's but these forums and my Bentley manual are a good start. I can at least report that it's easier to work on than an e90 :D

It is pretty well sorted overall and I plan on doing an auto-x next month. A couple current issues are a light oil leak coming from somewhere around the rear of the transmission. I'm guessing it's the seals which I've heard is a common issue... Should I be checking the transmission oil level every so often to make sure it doesn't drop below a certain level? Also, there seems to be some light smoke/steam coming from the exhaust only when accelerating in 1st when the car is cold.

My plans for the car are just to keep it up overall and keep it for a long time. It'll be a fun weekend car and occasional track/auto-x warrior. All I'm working on now is getting the OBC in and the stock radio connected (anyone have a radio harness and speaker wires? :D )

My BMW background: my first BMW was an e36 m3 which I loved, raw and powerful. Had it for about 6 years then replaced it with an e90 2006 330i 6MT, which I still have (pictured below).

Any comments, tips, questions, or suggestions are welcome























And one from the SoCal Vintage BMW meet...

[Cephas]

Car seems to be in excellent condition. I really like the seats, they look great!

[mr. winkie]

Wow, that extremely clean!

[FunfGan]

Holy mint condition Batman!

[canuck]

Nice pick-up! That is one clean e30.

[txtorquemade]

Maybe some HR/Bils?

[EREKSHUN]

very clean!

[Eurospec]

Very nice acquisition. It's begging for a drop though. Don't overlook a suspension upgrade especially considering you'll be putting it on the track.

[einhander]

I want this car to be my valentine.

[Kevinl]

beautiful car that mint black interior makes me want to change mine to black

I think the height looks fine

[Erik]

Goood gawdddd, we need more E30s in this condition!!

[kevmac858]

that interior 0_o. looks incredible!

[ButtJuice]

Nice find indeed!

[nyy e90]

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions guys. The PO put in new carpets, seat foam, and leather. To be honest the seats feel fresher than my e90 sport seats.

I noticed at the vintage meet that at stock height I had one of the tallest e30's there haha. A drop may be in the future but likely nothing too drastic. I'll test it out on stock suspension for awhile first.

Quick question regarding my wheels as I'm still learning about this car's history and parts, they are 15" BMW wheels, from browsing around I'm thinking they are 'euroweaves' painted black? Anyway I can confirm this or can someone verify this just by looking at them. Not sure about the width of the wheels but tires are 195's.

[N2MYE30]

If you take the cap off, you should be able to read the wheel size, 15x7 ET24, somewhere which would confirm the size aka "euroweaves." The correct tire size is suppose to be 205/55. Nice car! :up:

pic for reference...