I have an E 30.

[Nader393]

Doing the splits

I've been keeping an eye out for these "wind splits," and when a nice guy in Portland was selling his, I snapped them up (thanks, Seth!). Yeah, it's a farkle, and the look isn't for erryone, but I think they balance out the front spoiler's splitter and the rear M-tech1 spoiler, especially on a white car.

There are surprisingly few pictures out there of e30s wearing the wind splits, so lets change that!:

[1843lamp]

As you have said ,probably best look on a white car.

[Nader393]

Splits are so awesome, and this being America, I had to take it to the next level: Shark fin!

So the question now is not "Should I do this?" It is "Where should I do this?" Putting it on top is obviously awesome. But might have some clearance issues in parking garages. Back on the trunk is cool, too, but less homologous to the ocean predator. Hmm, decisions, decisions...

[Nader393]

Shark fin didn't work out. Was doing 140 mph when it blew off. But man, the car was stable while it was on!

Came home, fin-less, and the ole Carrera was there to console. These two really are good friends.

[Nader393]

1991 was a good year for cars...

[c0rbin9]

I like this thread. :up:

[Nader393]

Haven't posted in a while, because the car is pretty much done, and AWESOME! It's been one of my two daily drivers for the last couple years. Fast, tight, sharp, quick steering, short shifting, rev-happy, and ANGRY. A while back, I drove someone's bone-stock 325, and in comparison it felt soft and slow.

Almost forgot, I put in this beast of a battery a while back. The biggest AGM you can fit. Should have put a banana in there for scale. Big, quality batteries are the German way (as of the '80-90's). You should see the Interstate in my Carrera. It's enormous, and it's been going strong for 16 years, even after draining it flat twice. 16 years. Hope to get similar service from this Diehard.

[Nader393]

And after all the hyperbole, I might be putting this beast on the market soon. I have a chance at another BMW I want more, and this would have to go. Watch this space...

[Das Delfin]

I just put an AGM in mine! Same make as yours, just the group 48 variety because my group 91 has been great but I wanted an AGM because i'd relocated the batt to the back of the car.

[ahrensNW]

Dang man, haven't seen an update on this car in awhile. This is one I regret selling for sure.

[Nader393]

Hi Hank. If the owner prior to you had done some more sorting, you would have kept it. It had lots of loose fasteners in critical areas, leading to sloppy steering, suspension clunks and rattles, drivetrain vibration, etc. Car is now solid.

In fact, it almost pisses me off how good it is when I switch from the Porsche or Ferrari into this, and reminds me how it's just as much fun to drive, more comfortable, and carefree. So good, in fact, I'm going to keep it after all. Don't know what I was thinking in that moment of weakness.

[coldweatherblue]

Sweet car, nice thread lulz.

Cool to hear you still enjoy the E30 compared to the Carrera. I would love a 3.2L / G50 911 but would have to buy another house or store it elsewhere as the garage is full at the moment so doing everything to stay happy with the E30 haha.

[ahrensNW]

That's good to hear. I remember that car being fun to drive, even with it being a bit of a mess.

Once my 318is is sorted we'll have to meet up and swap cars for ashort drive or something.

[Nader393]

Sweet car, nice thread lulz.

Cool to hear you still enjoy the E30 compared to the Carrera. I would love a 3.2L / G50 911 but would have to buy another house or store it elsewhere as the garage is full at the moment so doing everything to stay happy with the E30 haha.

My G50 Carrera is excellent, but if I were to spend $40+K on an occasional use sports car, I'd choose the Ferrari 348 over the Carrera. Much more special, and way more reliable than the reputation it holds. Their values are steadily rising, whereas the Carrera topped out a year or two ago. Enthusiasts are catching on. Until recently, the 348 was one of the best kept secrets in high end sports cars.

[Nader393]

For some reason, I've never unbolted the wheels from this car. I've also been dealing with dull braking for the last two years. I finally got around to addressing that. My thought was that the prior owner who resto-modded this car in the first place (two owners ago before me) may have installed racing pads, because the brakes were slow to grab when cold, then better when hot. Not a good setup on a street car.

My first surprise was the wheel bolt torques. On almost every wheel, there was a mix of undertorqued (about 30 ft/lbs or so) and super-overtorqued (probably 120 ft/lbs) bolts. The tight ones weren't even rusted, someone intentionally cranked them down like that. Lucky the wheels aren't cracked.

My next surprise was that there were decent street pads installed; Hawk HPS. But the calipers were barely fastened, using an assorted mix of low strength, and galled screws. Biggest surprise was when I stuck that 7mm allen wrench into the driver rear caliper, and found that both glide pins were nonexistent. So the caliper was just hanging out in space. Crazy. Also (delightfully) surprised that O'reilly's keeps those glide pins in stock.

Did I mention before that this car was a loose mess when I got it? Under-torqued and missing fasteners throughout the steering and drivetrain. Knowing that, I should have checked the brakes sooner.