1989 325i Convertible Canada

[Suhff]

I've lurked here for a few years but decided to make an account and share my E30. This thread will help me keep track of things I do. I bought my E30 at the beginning of summer and drove it until october. Now it's just parked in my garage so I'm starting to get to work and learn a few things. I'm a university student with only hand tools so we will see how this goes...

Here is my car as I bought it. 1989 325i 245xxxkms



Has the usual E30 issues. Ticking valves, cracked dash, slightly ripped seats, clear coat peel. But almost no rust at all! Drives amazingly. The gears are ridiculously tall.

My plans:
-find a decent convertible top/frame to swap on
-timing belt/waterpump maintenance
-valve adjustment
-I would love a black interior
-basketweaves
-lower a little?
-enjoy

I would reccomend to anyone tucking bumpers to just remove them and compress the shocks. It is super easy and way better than backing into a wall.


Took out the trunk shock to replace. I've been using a stick to hold the trunk up.


It is cold working in my garage. There is my subaru wagon. Thing is a beast.


Removed the seats to clean underneath. Ew...
Anyone know what that black box is underneath the passenger seat?? I looked up the codes on it but I can't figure it out. My best guess is some sort of car phone?


Decided to remove my shitty top since hopefully I will be buying a frame with a decent top for 50 bucks.

Started by removing the rear seats...


Taking out two screws and moving this panel makes the job way easier.


There are 3 bolts on each side of the frame. Extensions were needed to reach them obviously. Before lifting out the frame make sure to count the shims under each bolt and detach the latch wire from the frame.


And it is out! I plan to clean everything really well and vacuum before I put stuff back together. I have a whole bunch of parts on the way to do timing belt/water pump and a bunch of seals. Thanks for reading.

[aegul44]

screw the black interior. That tan interior is beast with blue exterior. Definitely needs some lowering.

[dishwab]

Where do you live? Looks beautiful

[Suhff]

The tan interior is definitely starting to grow on me :) carpet just needs a good shampoo.

Thanks! I live in Kelowna British Columbia. Summers are awesome here.

[GCAutosports]

Yea my favorite inteiror is tan and not to brag but ive worked on mine quite a bit

[Suhff]

That looks awesome! Pretty much what I'd like to achieve. Did you shampoo the carpets? Any tips on getting the door cards clean? Mine have a bunch of dirt/grime in the wrinkles.

[loemerich]

For the door cards I used engine degreaser straight up. Use gloves to protect your skin. Spray on, work in with a bristle brush with a rotating motion to get the grime out of any grooves. Wipe off with a paper towel while wet. Repeat if needed. Wipe off with water. Sounds strange but worked well for me.

[Suhff]

Thanks :) just bought a can of engine degreaser yesterday so that works!

[loemerich]

Top view of door card. Top half after cleaning, bottom half before cleaning.

[BimmerIsLife]

Keep putting in work man! Looks like you live in the Okanagan? I'm from Kelowna. Not really much of an e30 scene going on as far as I know, but join bcbimmers.com if you haven't already!

[GCAutosports]

That looks awesome! Pretty much what I'd like to achieve. Did you shampoo the carpets? Any tips on getting the door cards clean? Mine have a bunch of dirt/grime in the wrinkles.

Well i took of the carpet completly because thats a tradition i do on every car i get but i just used a small spray of degreaser and power washed it same with the doors. I'd the same to my seats if they werent leather but to those i just got a hot water rag and when at it and then cured them with some leather conditioner before they dried so the leather woudnt go hard

[Suhff]

I finally got to insure the e30 a week or two ago. It has been a blast! Replaced the timing belt, tensioner and water pump. Also removed the AC and flushed the coolant. After I started up the engine it seemed to run extremely rough and would misfire and die if I took my foot off the gas pedal. I ended up buying a new distributor cap and rotor. That helped it idle a lot better but it was definitely still rough. I was really worried I had screwed up the timing so I quickly tore it back down and of course the timing was lined up perfectly. Ended up adjusting the valves and installing a new gasket. That seemed to help a bit as well. The valves definitely seemed overly tight. At this point I took it for a few drives and that seems to be what it needed because it started running just like it had before I parked it for the winter. Oh yeah, I also drove to Vancouver and bought a soft-top on frame and installed it... spent a little more than I wanted but it is pretty much new. I still need to take some pictures with the new top. Here are just some random pics.


Cleaned some rust off of my seat while I had it out.

Old filthy leaky waterpump out.

Random gross engine pic.

Yes I cleaned that before putting the new water pump on.

New top on, terrible picture.



Adjusting the valves... No pictures but degreased the valve cover while it was off. Will definitely be painting it eventually.


Developed a pretty major coolant leak from the throttle body warmer thing.


Fixed it later that day with a 3/8 hose splice... Just bypassed it and connected the two hoses.


Hopefully I'll take some nice pictures soon. Reaaaaaaaaaaaally need new tires.

[Garage30]

The colour combo will be money when you get it all cleaned up! I have a really nice black leather sports interior in my vert, but tan has grown on me a lot.