My 1988 e30 325ix - Garage'd

[jeenyus]

I just got this car recently. Coming over from a B6 Audi. I still have the Audi as I love it and I can't let it go, but during it frequent down time I needed something else to drive that was AWD for our UT winters. I came across a 1988 325ix in our local classifieds. It was for sale from the second owner with 167k on the clock. It's a manual and from what I am understanding, this is a pretty rare car. I got an email from BMW that state in 1988 there were only 56 IXs in a manual transmission ever sent to the US. It really needs some TLC and replacements, updates and valve adjustments. The car came with Bilsteins and a Mangaflow exhaust (also needs to be fixed). I am really happy with the purchase at this point and really look forward to making this car look great! I love keeping things OEM+ (as some call it) and with the e30 already looking so good stock...




Below just for kicks is a picture of my Audi.

[litu]

Nice ix :)

[Vincent Brick]

I can't say I have ever seen a white iX, or one with early bumpers. Very cool.

[jeenyus]

Any that can point me to an ES or IS lower valance? I've looked and they seem hard to come by for too cheap.

[Northern]

I don't think the early iS or eS valences fit over the late model valence.

If you want some ideas, look into the oem iS front lip, and plastic bumpers.

[E30 Wagen]

Nice iX, I'm jealous.

Any that can point me to an ES or IS lower valance? I've looked and they seem hard to come by for too cheap.

Those "cow catcher" airdams are for the early cars (83-87) only.

[spdracrm3]

nice early alpenweiss coupe (like the wheels),welcome to the IX world . i have its later twin

[slayback]

nice looking IX i have a black 89 5speed ix good to see another one

[jeenyus]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I really am looking forward to putting this car to its potential. I love the I6 engine. Any links for euro parts or parts for the e30 specifically? I'm used to ecstuning.com or sights similar to this who sponsor the AZ forum. Direction is always appreciated.

[Styleprojekt]

Welcome to the BMW world, Zane. BMW's are awesome in so many ways but also disappointing in so many others, hold on to your Audi, trust me ;)...either way, E30's are a lot of fun to work on and congrats on getting an IX for the snow.

[jeenyus]

So this weekend I was able to do some work on the e30 to make it look a little more clean than how the previous owner left it. I started off the weekend by getting some tint put on.

The tint turned out great. I went with 20% in the backs and the legal limit in the fronts. So far so good!
I then took the front grills off, the kidney grills and the headlights. When I bought the car there was a considerable amount of over spray on these parts. I then realized that the front had been painted by someone and it was done a little under-par to my standards personally... I will take care of that soon though.

When I was taking off the kidneys and examining the mass amount of rust on the front end of this car I noticed something hiding back behind the fan nestled against the radiator. At first I thought it was a big piece of rust, but once i poked it i noticed it was dirt... OR SO I THOUGHT!
Below is the first sight of it...

I started to pull it out...

...but it wasn't exactly what I thought it was...

This is a mud wasp nest... it even had little wasp still in it! I'm super happy that I got that taken out and it makes me whatever what other surprises I will find.

I then took my time and painted some parts just on the front of the car to clean up the over spray and freshen up the car a little bit...



It turned out pretty good. I did Satin black on the grills and gloss black on the surrounding for the kidneys and the headlights. The headlights had rust on them and were not looking their best...

This is how I left the car after this.


This week I am getting a lower lip, fuel filter, rear sway end links, control arm bushings and a fuel breather cover (mine is deteriorated)

It's comin' along!

[jeenyus]

Here is a picture I just took of the front end. Just to get a better view of how it turned out. Now on to the bumpers!

[park123xyz]

Nice iX, Im looking to buy one here soon. When you bought it did you do anything to check to see if the transfer case was in good shape?

[Mlarsen]

Any relation to the defunct snowboard company Jeenyus? Nice iX!

[jeenyus]

Nice iX, Im looking to buy one here soon. When you bought it did you do anything to check to see if the transfer case was in good shape?

Negative. Are you talking about the rear for the AWD?

Any relation to the defunct snowboard company Jeenyus? Nice iX!

Yes. When I was younger I was obsessed with them. I try my best to keep the dream alive. I always like when people recognize the brand though. Maybe statute of limitations will allow me to steal the logo and start it back up.