Dear r3v,
Hi. I don't do much in the way of build threads, but considering this one was narrowly saved from the brink of death, I figure I should document some progress. This will be a very slow and lengthy build and will not be rushed in any way. I have what they call "obsessive-compulsive disorder" and have to have things right. It's kind of an issue. I also have a hoarding issue...but that's neither here nor there :)
A little back story on me, for those who care. If you don't, skip to the bottom of this post. I've been into classic BMWs for the better part of a decade. They were a very cheap, fun, reliable car at the time, and you couldn't beat their looks. My red car was a $100 find when I was working at a wrecking yard in high school. Sold it, but it came back to me a few years later. Owned at least 40 E30s in the last 4-5 years, including my unicorn build ('89 Lachs 330is, but I'll get to that in a separate post), but always lusted after a cabrio. With my Lachs car finally on the road, I decided to get ready for a cabrio build. I had a pretty clean '87 Lachs cabrio that I was going to widebody and S52 swap, but then this happened the other night. My brother and I really were big into E30s in high school and always had big dreams of owning an Alpine M-Tech cabrio. Unfortunately for him, I beat him to buying one :)
I was trolling CL last week, as I regularly do 15+ times a day, when I saw an ad for a '92 M-Technic cabrio. The ad was short and had no pics. Emailed but got no response. On my way back from the E30 picnic this last Sunday, my good friend Roman (henna30) emailed me a link for the same car, but now had an ad with pictures! I emailed again and got a phone call within an hour. The seller was a close friend of the owner and was helping him sell it. I was told it hadn't ran since 2008, the suspension was tired, someone slashed the brand new cabrio top, the interior was pretty dry and cracked and the passenger side rear fender pod was broken beyond repair. Great. He then offered up that it was a factory 5-speed car, with the 770 appearance package, and that the owner was a lawyer who bought the car brand new and it was his first "real" car purchase. That made me feel better. We chatted on the phone for a bit, and made arrangements for me to see the car the next day after work.
Monday was a very long day for me. I couldn't get the thought of the car out of my head. The whole day, I was spacing out and not able to focus. As soon as 5 pm hit, I was out of there and racing home to change. As soon as Kristin, my gf, arrived home, we jumped in Eleanor (my Lachs 330is) and headed out to SW Portland to view the car. We pulled up to the seller's house and I knew as soon as I saw it, this car was going to be mine. I walked up and greeted the seller and started my inspection. The car had all original panels and hasn't appeared to be in any major collisions, but there was some clear peeling on the bumpers, which indicated a respray to me. Fine. Seats weren't ripped, but weren't great either. Fine. Top had a hole sliced in the back corner and the window was cut. Fine. Engine hadn't had a timing belt service since at least 2004. Fine. Among all the other small, stupid, typical E30 issues, the car was super solid body wise, and was exactly as the seller described it. As I stood there admiring the car - the gorgeous Lotusweis interior, the finish of the Alpine basketweaves, the asthetics of the M-Tech kit - I thought to myself "what the hell am I doing here right now? Why am I taking on yet another giant project?", as I literally just finished my two year long build not even a week ago. As a wise man once said: "Life is simple - you make choices and you don't look back."
I try to haggle a little, but I knew the car was worth the asking price in parts alone. Kristin gave her approval (she's a keeper) and I consulted my board members (aka my closest friends) as to their thoughts. While they agreed with me that I was a nut job for taking on another giant project, they did agree the car was a fair price for what it was. I didn't want to risk losing it. I hardly slept that night, so the next morning, I called the seller and we agreed on a number. I met up with him and made the deposit the next night. When I got there, he had the original window sticker for me, along with the original Oregon license plates and plate frames from Don Rasmussen, right here in Portland. The owner was a lawyer and really really liked the car, but just didn't have the time or energy to spend on making it what it was back in 1992. We met last night, made the final transaction, got the keys and title, and by noon today, the car arrived by flatbed at the shop.
Here's the details:
08/1991 Alpinweis 325ic with manual trans
S770a package - M-Technic appearance package with Lotusweis interior
170k miles
One owner, clean title
Factory limited-slip, mint dash, factory 6 disc CD changer
Sweet white M-Tech basketweaves
Sitting since 2008
I'm very excited to tear into this. Unfortunately, I am dead out of room at the shop and home, so I need to free up some space first. I plan on ordering a timing belt and misc tune up kit next week. Unfortunately, between working 50 hours a week and trying to have somewhat of a life, it doesn't leave a whole lot of time for projects, so this will be a pretty slow build. I'm just happy I was able to save it from an untimely demise or the hands of a 16 year old kid who couldn't wait to slam it on sick BC coilovers and dope replica rimz.
Will have a few more pics to upload once photobucket stops being a dirty whore
Hi. I don't do much in the way of build threads, but considering this one was narrowly saved from the brink of death, I figure I should document some progress. This will be a very slow and lengthy build and will not be rushed in any way. I have what they call "obsessive-compulsive disorder" and have to have things right. It's kind of an issue. I also have a hoarding issue...but that's neither here nor there :)
A little back story on me, for those who care. If you don't, skip to the bottom of this post. I've been into classic BMWs for the better part of a decade. They were a very cheap, fun, reliable car at the time, and you couldn't beat their looks. My red car was a $100 find when I was working at a wrecking yard in high school. Sold it, but it came back to me a few years later. Owned at least 40 E30s in the last 4-5 years, including my unicorn build ('89 Lachs 330is, but I'll get to that in a separate post), but always lusted after a cabrio. With my Lachs car finally on the road, I decided to get ready for a cabrio build. I had a pretty clean '87 Lachs cabrio that I was going to widebody and S52 swap, but then this happened the other night. My brother and I really were big into E30s in high school and always had big dreams of owning an Alpine M-Tech cabrio. Unfortunately for him, I beat him to buying one :)
I was trolling CL last week, as I regularly do 15+ times a day, when I saw an ad for a '92 M-Technic cabrio. The ad was short and had no pics. Emailed but got no response. On my way back from the E30 picnic this last Sunday, my good friend Roman (henna30) emailed me a link for the same car, but now had an ad with pictures! I emailed again and got a phone call within an hour. The seller was a close friend of the owner and was helping him sell it. I was told it hadn't ran since 2008, the suspension was tired, someone slashed the brand new cabrio top, the interior was pretty dry and cracked and the passenger side rear fender pod was broken beyond repair. Great. He then offered up that it was a factory 5-speed car, with the 770 appearance package, and that the owner was a lawyer who bought the car brand new and it was his first "real" car purchase. That made me feel better. We chatted on the phone for a bit, and made arrangements for me to see the car the next day after work.
Monday was a very long day for me. I couldn't get the thought of the car out of my head. The whole day, I was spacing out and not able to focus. As soon as 5 pm hit, I was out of there and racing home to change. As soon as Kristin, my gf, arrived home, we jumped in Eleanor (my Lachs 330is) and headed out to SW Portland to view the car. We pulled up to the seller's house and I knew as soon as I saw it, this car was going to be mine. I walked up and greeted the seller and started my inspection. The car had all original panels and hasn't appeared to be in any major collisions, but there was some clear peeling on the bumpers, which indicated a respray to me. Fine. Seats weren't ripped, but weren't great either. Fine. Top had a hole sliced in the back corner and the window was cut. Fine. Engine hadn't had a timing belt service since at least 2004. Fine. Among all the other small, stupid, typical E30 issues, the car was super solid body wise, and was exactly as the seller described it. As I stood there admiring the car - the gorgeous Lotusweis interior, the finish of the Alpine basketweaves, the asthetics of the M-Tech kit - I thought to myself "what the hell am I doing here right now? Why am I taking on yet another giant project?", as I literally just finished my two year long build not even a week ago. As a wise man once said: "Life is simple - you make choices and you don't look back."
I try to haggle a little, but I knew the car was worth the asking price in parts alone. Kristin gave her approval (she's a keeper) and I consulted my board members (aka my closest friends) as to their thoughts. While they agreed with me that I was a nut job for taking on another giant project, they did agree the car was a fair price for what it was. I didn't want to risk losing it. I hardly slept that night, so the next morning, I called the seller and we agreed on a number. I met up with him and made the deposit the next night. When I got there, he had the original window sticker for me, along with the original Oregon license plates and plate frames from Don Rasmussen, right here in Portland. The owner was a lawyer and really really liked the car, but just didn't have the time or energy to spend on making it what it was back in 1992. We met last night, made the final transaction, got the keys and title, and by noon today, the car arrived by flatbed at the shop.
Here's the details:
08/1991 Alpinweis 325ic with manual trans
S770a package - M-Technic appearance package with Lotusweis interior
170k miles
One owner, clean title
Factory limited-slip, mint dash, factory 6 disc CD changer
Sweet white M-Tech basketweaves
Sitting since 2008
I'm very excited to tear into this. Unfortunately, I am dead out of room at the shop and home, so I need to free up some space first. I plan on ordering a timing belt and misc tune up kit next week. Unfortunately, between working 50 hours a week and trying to have somewhat of a life, it doesn't leave a whole lot of time for projects, so this will be a pretty slow build. I'm just happy I was able to save it from an untimely demise or the hands of a 16 year old kid who couldn't wait to slam it on sick BC coilovers and dope replica rimz.
Will have a few more pics to upload once photobucket stops being a dirty whore
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