New member, finally an E30!

[crash n' burn]

Whats up? I'm Patrick. I'm stationed in Germany right now and after a year of searching, I finally found myself a good e30. Don't get me wrong, I'm a die-hard Nissan guy, and have been for the past 10 years. I've always wanted an e30 though, and I've been searching far and wide for a 6cyl 2dr since I got here; ended up driving 500km round trip to get this; paid a great price and got a car full of parts with it. TLDR, so I'll just stop here and throw out some specs.

88' 325I, Diamantschwarz Metallic coupe. My buddy was awesome and has access to BMW's vehicle database and printed me out the broadcast, build sheet, and vehicle history. Shes a little rough around the edges, but there's nothing wrong with that. Runs a little rich, and needs a little gas to get it started, but that'll get fixed quick. Nothing out of the ordinary with it, little rust under the battery tray and on the pass. side door. Did I mention, everything works..i know right..shocking. Still not bad for a car thats survived in Germany this whole time. Picture time! Don't mind the wheels.






super clean underneath


Rust was hit with that awesome neutralizer they sell on the economy.

[george graves]

Diamantschwarz is a great color. Welcome.

I'm a die-hard Nissan guy, and have been for the past 10 years.

LOL. What do Nissan guys get a hard-on for now-a-days anyways?

[jllphan]

Nice pick up, never seen fogs like that -- must be a euro thang.

[crash n' burn]

LOL. What do Nissan guys get a hard-on for now-a-days anyways?

???? I've been working on the s, z, f, and b chassis since I was 16. I love them.

Nice pick up, never seen fogs like that -- must be a euro thang.

Ha. No. The car originally had fog lights, but they were cracked. PO had the idea of taking them out and putting in the blank panels from the salvage yard until he got new ones.

[crash n' burn]

Ok, sorry for ghosting; been busy working on some stuff. Since I've been driving the car for a week now, I think I've finally decided where I'm going to start with it. I've always had a "from the ground up" philosophy when it comes to my projects....but, the suspension is bearable..for now. The shifter has some super bad slop that I can also address at a later date. My plan is not to really mess with the M20, but I can't swap a 24V and take it back to the states, so that'll have to wait as well.

The cold/hot hard start issue is now a problem. It didn't want to fire up for me this morning. I hear the fuel pump priming when the key is on accessory, then it shuts off and takes a second to turn back on when I go to crank it; normal? It's been taking a solid 15sec with giving it gas to finally fire off. After that, it has a pretty terrible idle for about 30-45 seconds, then it smoothes out and the idle jumps up to around 15-1700rpms from what I’m hearing(inop tach).

Now though, it just doesn't want to even do that. I'm still not very familiar with the specifics of the E30, but from what I know and read, I'm chasing down some spark issues. Thoughts?

[crash n' burn]

Super. V/C leak is worse than I thought. Cleaned them all up and soaked them in gasoline to clean them(temporary fix); son of a bitch if it didn't start right up. Idles smoothly, doesn't run as rich either.

[crash n' burn]

Been super busy with other things, specifically the holidays and buying my wife a super sweet present, an F30! I tell you what, I'm loving this new bimmer. I'm a little jelly it's my wife's car; even if its the loaner until I pick ours up from the factory.



Soooo back to the e30. Thing is a beast in the snow, found out it dows indeed have an LSD. However, I guess I didn't knock on wood hard enough when I said everything works. Pretty sure my SI board took a dump, the Tach no longer works. My fuel gauge started going a little crazy and kind or reads accurately. And best of all, the truck lock decided it didn't want to work anymore. I went to pop the trunk one afternoon and it went in about half way and is now stuck like a rock.

Best of all, my temporary fix didn't last as long as I'd hoped. So back to square one. It's ridiculous how I live in Germany and can't get a hold of parts for this car; online it is....except I have to wait for them to get here.

Went to talk to a local BMW mechanic and enthusiast, we've decided that with the mix of the car havingoooo back to the e30. I guess I didn't knock on wood hard enough when I said everything works. Pretty sure my SI board took a dump, the Tach no longer works. My fuel gauge started going a little crazy and kind or reads accurately. And best of all, the truck lock decided it didn't want to work anymore. I went to pop the trunk one afternoon and it went in about half way and is now stuck like a rock.

Best of all, my temporary fix didn't last as long as I'd hoped. So back to square one. It's ridiculous how I live in Germany and can't get a hold of parts for this car; online it is....except I have to wait for them to get here.

Went to talk to a local BMW mechanic and enthusiast, we've decided that with the mix of the car having 280+tkm on it, neglected regular maintenance, and the P/O using thinner oil, the valve stem seals are seeping a little bit of oil into the cylinders and along with running rich, I'm fouling the plugs and possibly washing the cylinders out causing hard starts. The car runs strong and pulls hard, never skips a beat when it's running, so neither of us is suspecting a HG issue.

Thoughts? Sorry for the novel.

[crash n' burn]

Ok. Soo I got super busy with finishing up the semester and what not. That and nothing worth mentioning you could say; kind of forgot I post here.

Finally took delivery of my new F30 though! Thing is sooo nice to drive. Pretty damn fun in sport mode with the m-sport package.



Ive been busy chasing down my hard start and running rich issues. I replace all of my ignition components, rebuilt my injectors, new coolant temp and O2 sensors. Been running like a dream ever since.

Corroded points on the cap


No lip to speak of on the rotor


Adjusted my valves so it didn't sound like a tractor anymore, and got rid of my sweet flaking purple valve cover


Then I finally installed my foglights and depos with HIDS. Also reconditioned my.grills and threw on some black kidneys for now.


And now I'm stock piling parts to rebuild the suspension. rear stuff is on its way shortly.