Proud owner of my first E30 (Now also a restoration thread!)

[Oats]

Hello!

I've been lurking the forums for about a month now, but I think it's time I jumped in and became a part of this community. :D

I was looking for a replacement for my W123 DD with terminal rust issues, when I came across this on CL for $800:



I know you're not supposed to get a not-quite-running car as a DD, but I couldn't help myself... Can you blame me?

1985 318i, Delphin Metallic, 5-speed manual, 129k miles. Aside from the paint, the body is in great shape with only a few small dings and minimal rust(getting that taken care of before it becomes too much of a problem... I don't need a repeat of the Mercedes). The interior needs some TLC, but it's not terrible.

Thanks to looking at thousands of pictures on this forum and bimmerforums, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do with the car. Unfortunately, I'm on a shoestring budget and I have very limited knowledge when it comes to cars.

On the bright side, my brother is a mechanic, so he can help me get it running like a champ, and I'm hoping you guys will be able to help me out as well :)

A few more pics:

DBs and a broken fog light.


Being picked up from the PO.


The interior actually looks good from 15 feet


I hope this is the actual mileage, and that the speedometer isn't just broken.


The sunroof is crucial... the paint will be taken care of soonish.


I'm going to attempt a dash repair, since a replacement is way out of my price range and I don't really want to get a cover for it.


Blurry pic of dirty engine bay.




That's all for now!

[Neil1138]

Odo gears are probably broken judging by the overall condition of the body. But good pickup!

[MattAvino]

There's something about the patina of worn and faded delphin that looks really cool to me.

[Norwegian]

good luck! :D

[Cosmic Serpent]

yey :):):)
another E30 in b-burg :):):), btw if you need any body/interior parts there was a red 325e @ d&m salvage, iv got some pics of it if you want them:)
congrats, im still quite new to e30s but if you need any help im more then happy to lend a had/wrench.

[E30_Pare]

There's something about the patina of worn and faded delphin that looks really cool to me.

Dunno what your talking about. I hated my faded delphin.

[ColdAccord]

welcome. Used dashboards sell in the $80 range, likely easier than attempting repair

[Oats]

Odo gears are probably broken judging by the overall condition of the body. But good pickup!

Thanks! Your Chalkboard E30 thread is one of the many threads I've read in its entirety, and if I were anywhere close to OK I'd pick your car up in a heartbeat... love it!

I'm expecting broken gears, but hoping for the best.

There's something about the patina of worn and faded delphin that looks really cool to me.

I kind of agree :)

good luck! :D

Thanks!

yey :):):)
another E30 in b-burg :):):), btw if you need any body/interior parts there was a red 325e @ d&m salvage, iv got some pics of it if you want them:)
congrats, im still quite new to e30s but if you need any help im more then happy to lend a had/wrench.

I was hoping there would be someone around that's local! I think I may have seen your car once at the YMCA Thrift Shop? If so, love the car... super clean.

How long ago did you see the 325e? I went up there about three weeks ago and they said they didn't have any BMWs.

I'm probably going to need lots of help, so any assistance you can provide will be more than welcome :) If I can be of assistance to you, I'd be happy to help as well.

welcome. Used dashboards sell in the $80 range, likely easier than attempting repair

Thanks! I haven't looked super hard, but the best I've found was on ebay for $100 + $40 shipping... That's a reasonable price from what I've seen, but I still kinda want to try and repair and refinish it myself, just to say I did. I can be OCD about things looking just right, I'm just a bit concerned about the dash removal/installation.

The car is getting a new exhaust this week, followed by an O2 sensor and I believe spark plugs... That should be all it needs to get it running, then I can start getting it properly sorted from there :D

[MattAvino]

Dunno what your talking about. I hated my faded delphin.

Yeah, I don't expect people to agree. Just something I personally kinda like.

[Cosmic Serpent]

There are a couple more e30s round hear, but i haven't met many of the drivers, and with the exception of one or two i dont think they know what they have:(
yep thats me :) my r3v thriftiness extends past my car :) and thank you.
yeah its been a while... so they may have crushed it :( i had to beg them to not crush any more e30s that came in, the guy who dus the crushing has a perversion toward crushing bmws (he needs help). but it was @ the very top of the hill, also they told me, there is a guy just down the road from them who has quite a collection of e30s (i never went and checked it out b/c i felt weird about showing up unannounced). they probably just didnt wanna deal with you :( cuz there has been a 525 there for about 2 years, so telling you there wasn't any bimmers was probably to get rid of you:( they can be kinda rude. Did you go out in to the yard? if not im happy to roll with ya next time as they kinda know me. if memory serves me well, the dash in the E was pretty good one or two smaller cracks, but the seats were really quite nice, if they were sport they would of already been mine:)
Pm me and ill give you my #

[Oats]

There are a couple more e30s round hear, but i haven't met many of the drivers, and with the exception of one or two i dont think they know what they have:(
yep thats me :) my r3v thriftiness extends past my car :) and thank you.
yeah its been a while... so they may have crushed it :( i had to beg them to not crush any more e30s that came in, the guy who dus the crushing has a perversion toward crushing bmws (he needs help). but it was @ the very top of the hill, also they told me, there is a guy just down the road from them who has quite a collection of e30s (i never went and checked it out b/c i felt weird about showing up unannounced). they probably just didnt wanna deal with you :( cuz there has been a 525 there for about 2 years, so telling you there wasn't any bimmers was probably to get rid of you:( they can be kinda rude. Did you go out in to the yard? if not im happy to roll with ya next time as they kinda know me. if memory serves me well, the dash in the E was pretty good one or two smaller cracks, but the seats were really quite nice, if they were sport they would of already been mine:)
Pm me and ill give you my #

Yeah, I've seen a couple other white ones that look like they're just beaters, and there's one almost identical to mine(except in much better condition) pretty close to where I live(Foxridge).

I do get the feeling that they just didn't want to deal with me, even though I prefer to just mind my own business out in the yard. Once it warms up I'd like to go up there again, since I haven't been in a few years now. I do have a decent mental inventory of things I want/need to replace, but I'll make a shopping list to take with me. Also, could you send/show me the pics? That would give me a much better idea of what I may be able to pick from it.

PM and # sent :D


The only thing slightly car related I've done today was pick up some cassettes from thrifting today, in case the head unit I was going to install is actually busted and I'm stuck with the stock tape deck for a while...



The Ace of Base is for a friend

[Cosmic Serpent]

nothing wrong with ace of base, it is period correct :P Good old thrift store never disappointing.
pics and pm sent.
where do you live? i see you have a garage.
yeah they can be dicks... but there prices aren't to bad
oh btw the pics i sent you, the car is missing the heater core valve, and chrome door trim and a few switches, i think that's all iv taken off of it.

[Oats]

nothing wrong with ace of base, it is period correct :P Good old thrift store never disappointing.
pics and pm sent.
where do you live? i see you have a garage.
yeah they can be dicks... but there prices aren't to bad
oh btw the pics i sent you, the car is missing the heater core valve, and chrome door trim and a few switches, i think that's all iv taken off of it.

True :P

I live in Foxridge, so no garage :( ...The garage pics are at the PO's house.

I like them because they seem to be the only yard you can actually go into, which is most of the fun in my opinion.

Thanks for the pics! Any chance you're free to go up there tomorrow? I'd like to get a closer look at the interior.

[Cletonius]

Welcome. Looks like a solid starting place!

[Cosmic Serpent]

True :P

I live in Foxridge, so no garage :( ...The garage pics are at the PO's house.

I like them because they seem to be the only yard you can actually go into, which is most of the fun in my opinion.

Thanks for the pics! Any chance you're free to go up there tomorrow? I'd like to get a closer look at the interior.

that sucks iv been trying to find people with garages... i hate working on my car in the snow and rain that always seems to come when i need to do something :( oh and the wind, i hate the wind.
yeah theirs no point in a yard if you have to pay for them to remove the part for ya.
as for tomorrow im free after about 2:30 or so
just shoot me a txt or call and we can meet up if that works for you.