***Editors Note: I chose this car because with the recent influx of Tourings, I immediately thought about Winstons car. His OCD is amazing and slightly scary but the outcome is always something nice. I remember he had the E34 M5 and it was similarly impressive. Congrats Winston, and to everyone else, enjoy!!***
Factory options:
Type code AG51
Type 325I (EUR)
Dev. series E30 (5)
Line 3
Body type TOUR
Steering LL
Door count 5
Engine M20
Cubical capacity 2.50
Power 141
Transmission HECK
Gearbox MECH
Colour DIAMANTSCHWARZ METALLIC (181)
Upholstery SILBER STOFF (0270)
Prod. date 1988-12-13
Order options
No. Description
215 POWER STEERING,DEPENDING ON ENGINE SPEED
219 SPORT LEATHER STEERING WHEEL
288 LT/ALY WHEELS
314 HEATED WINDSCREEN WASHER NOZZLES
324 FRONT-UND HECKSPOILER
400 SLIDING SUNROOF MANUAL
413 LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT NET
428 WARNING TRIANGLE
498 HEADRESTS IN REAR, MECHANIC. ADJUSTABLE
681 DACHANTENNE
Color:
Diamondschwarz Metallic
Interior color & modifications:
Interior was stripped out and replaced with all new parts.
Custom Recaro LS-B interior using black pleather with red stitch diamond quilt pattern and matching rear seats by Velocity Upholstery
Podi e30 vent gauge
Justrack custom oil temperature gauge
Engine modifications:
The car was rewired to be OBD2 s52
Exterior modifications:
Mtech 2 front valence
Exhaust:
Rogue Engineering exhaust
Transmission:
Getrag or ZF??
Differential:
S3.25 swapped later to a S2.93 for lower revs on the highway
Suspension:
Ground Control Touring coilovers
Ireland Engineering 22/19 swaybars
Z3 quick ratio steering rack
Wheels:
Azev Type C
front is 17x8.5 et15 with 215/40/17
rear is 17x10 et20 with 235/40/17
Story behind the car:
This wagon would never be in my hands if I never sold my e30 convertible to begin with, but at the time it felt like the right thing to do. Moral of this story is never, ever sell an e30 you are in love with for ANYONE, you WILL regret it.
The condensed version:
Sold the convertible because the fiancé doesn’t like sitting in it and getting a tan, and I needed the parking spot for her car. A few months later I break up with said fiancé and I’m missing the vert badly. Took the money from the sale and bought an e34 M5
I always dreamed of owning. Spent 8 months restoring the M5 and I just didn’t fall in love with it. Put the M5 up for sale and came across this s52 swapped e30 wagon on a local BMW forum. I thought this car might get my mind off of the vert, so I meet up with the seller, took it for a test drive and bought it 30 minutes later. I ended up giving the seller a ride home, as he didn’t expect me to buy the car from underneath him that afternoon!
Now that we got that out of the way… I have always liked wagons. They are very practical, can haul lots of stuff and if you can set it up the right, it can look so sweet.
So here is the story of Betty, my e30 wagon.
***full build thread here ***
I always like to setup my cars in such a way that when people walk by, happen to notice it, will then stop and stare. The person checking out the car doesn’t know exactly what it is that caught their eye, but it is something about how everything fits together in a nice, tight, clean package. I call it OEM+ styling, or the form I think the car should have left the factory setup as.
The wagon came on a square set of Azev Type C wheels, 17x8.5 in size rolling on 215/40/17 tires. I loved how the soft shape of these chunky 5 spoke wheels contrasted with the lines of the e30 body.
I then fell in love with the idea of having a wider rear wheel so I could run a fatter tire. The wheel would poke out a bit, and have more lip to work with the extra booty in the back.
Finding wheels wider than 17x8.5 in 4x100 bolt pattern was a lot harder than I expected. I searched wheel sites all over the world, JDM car forums, buy & sell forums and found nothing that would work. Then one day I stumbled across a picture of 5 wheels for sale, and they happened to be a staggered setup of Azev Type C! The problem is the picture was from a buy & sell site in Belgium, so how the hell do I confirm the wheels are still available AND if they are the right offset?
I call Levent @ Gutenparts to see if anyone in his network can help me out and he tells me his brother Turk happens to be in the Netherlands. A few phone calls later and Turk confirms the wheels are still available and the offset of the rear wheel is ET20, which is PERFECT! Turk goes on a road trip, helps me acquire the wheels, packages them up and sends them to me. Unbelievable!
While I wait for the wheels to arrive I started stripping out the interior of the car to check for any hidden damage or rust, see what needs to be repaired and then put everything back together. This way I have peace of mind knowing that I am working with a clean, solid base.
When it comes to cars I hate finding out water found a way in, so when I reached down to lift up the passenger side carpet and saw this I wasn’t very happy
So out comes the carpet
6 hours and 20lbs of sound deadening later
After driving around without and sound deadening for a couple of weeks I had enough of the noise. The sound deadening products I have selected are Dynamat Extreme, 1/4" Dynaliner and 3/8" Dynapad. For the doors I will use 1/8" Dynaliner to replace the vapor barrier.
Some people like installing the Dynamat in big sheets, I prefer to cut them down into smaller pieces and them fit them together.
Everything done today took 7 hours, I used up 6 sheets of Dynamat and have 50% of the car done.
Adding Dynaliner and Dynapad
Replacing a factory vapour barrier with Dynaliner
Now that the car once again has sound deadening I decided to do something very, very crazy… I am going to send my car on a 3000 mile journey from the West Coast to the East Coast to have A/C retrofitted in, the car rewired to be OBD2 and whatever else the boys at Gutenparts and do "while we are in there, while it is here".
Why Gutenparts? Because they have the same level of OCD as I do!
Betty’s arrival in October at Gutenparts!
Engine out and getting cleaned
Old Subframe Waiting for AKG Subframe, IE Sways and AKG Swap Mounts
Cleaning engine bay
Finding some very creative workarounds from the previous owner… like this washer setup for the shifter
Interior cleaned out.
I wish I could have done this before I did the Dynamat installation as it would have made things so much easier.
Rewiring the fusebox for A/C
The car came with a OBD2 harness from an Auto, had been cut up pretty bad to convert to OBD1. We just got in the fresh manual OBD2 harness we will use to start over.
Engine block cleaned up
New Rogue Pulleys and Rogue Hoses
Heat shield blasted and coated with ceramic
Wires rewrapped
AKG reinforced and powdercoated subframe ready for reinstall.
Engine ready to be installed
New black carpet being installed
Engine and transmission back in place
Removing the old underhood insulation and washer fluid hose
New dash in and interior coming back together
The Podi PVG-e30 vent gauge (voltage, coolant temp and oil pressure)
Valve cover arrived
Castro airbox arrived
New rebuilt S2.93 differential with Z3 finned cover
I hired and flew a couple of my friends to bring the wagon back to me and the work Guten did was fantastic! However, the position of the Rogue exhaust tips bugged me as they were not centered. So I took her to CTS Turbo and had their fabricator Scotty work his magic.
As you can see in the picture below the right hand exhaust outlet points right into the rear valence. You can also see the 'white spots' where the exhaust tip contact wore through the black paint.
So the exhaust tips were cut off and reused, but in order for them to clear the rear valence the tips had to be shifted down and on an angle.
These are some beautiful welds!
The exhaust tips are now centered in the exhaust opening and on a staggered angle.
Remember the wheels coming from the Netherlands? Well they arrived and were obviously packed by a car enthusiast!
And the 17x10 I’ve been anxiously waiting to see!
Time to bolt them onto the rear and see how they fit!
Replaced the IS front valence with a Mtech-2 one to clean things up
The reupholstered interior that came in the wagon that I think looked a bit bland
I drive a lot and the best upgrade I did to my Audi was to replace the stock comfort seats with Recaros, so I decided to do the same to the e30.
I found a set of VW Mk2 Recaros and took them to Tim @ Velocity Upholstery to get rebuilt and reskinned. After a lot of daydreaming about how they should look, I decided to continue with the red & black theme in the engine bay with the seats.
The rear seats came with headrests which had to be removed every time you want to fold the seats down, and also had attachments to provide seating for a 3rd person in the center. I had the rear headrests deleted and made the rear seating only for two people for better aesthetics.
Guten installed a new black carpet, however, it was made for a sedan so the rear seat trim piece doesn’t work for the wagon. So I measured out the old grey rear trim piece and had Tim graft on the black piece for a perfect fit.
The rear seats bottoms were recarpeted with black carpet to match the new black carpet.
With the most of the interior reinstalled I start working on the small details. The wagon only has power front windows, so I used a 4 button center console from a vert and relocated the heated seat switches below the window switches.
Transferred my old school chrome Momo shift knob and matching red shift boot to the wagon, which designates Betty as my primary moneypit vehicle.
My friend Ritchie helped me repaint the cluster needles orange and installed satin silver trim rings. I didn't think painting the needles would have made such a difference to how the cluster looks.
Purchased a 320mm Momo Monte Carlo with red stitching to replace the Sparco steering wheel
Found a new Momo BMW horn button
And this polished aluminum Zender e-brake handle
Installed these pieces along with the matching shift boot made by Velocity Upholstery
With most of the interior reinstalled the wagon is more hospitable, however, it is far from finished.
Still on the to do list are making new matching door cards, reskin all of the trunk trim panels with black carpet, find floor mats, install the old school stereo pieces I have collected, but I haven’t done anything to the wagon in over a year. So what happened?
Well remember my vert I sold that I missed so badly? I got her back! But that’s a story for next time.
Factory options:
Type code AG51
Type 325I (EUR)
Dev. series E30 (5)
Line 3
Body type TOUR
Steering LL
Door count 5
Engine M20
Cubical capacity 2.50
Power 141
Transmission HECK
Gearbox MECH
Colour DIAMANTSCHWARZ METALLIC (181)
Upholstery SILBER STOFF (0270)
Prod. date 1988-12-13
Order options
No. Description
215 POWER STEERING,DEPENDING ON ENGINE SPEED
219 SPORT LEATHER STEERING WHEEL
288 LT/ALY WHEELS
314 HEATED WINDSCREEN WASHER NOZZLES
324 FRONT-UND HECKSPOILER
400 SLIDING SUNROOF MANUAL
413 LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT NET
428 WARNING TRIANGLE
498 HEADRESTS IN REAR, MECHANIC. ADJUSTABLE
681 DACHANTENNE
Color:
Diamondschwarz Metallic
Interior color & modifications:
Interior was stripped out and replaced with all new parts.
Custom Recaro LS-B interior using black pleather with red stitch diamond quilt pattern and matching rear seats by Velocity Upholstery
Podi e30 vent gauge
Justrack custom oil temperature gauge
Engine modifications:
The car was rewired to be OBD2 s52
Exterior modifications:
Mtech 2 front valence
Exhaust:
Rogue Engineering exhaust
Transmission:
Getrag or ZF??
Differential:
S3.25 swapped later to a S2.93 for lower revs on the highway
Suspension:
Ground Control Touring coilovers
Ireland Engineering 22/19 swaybars
Z3 quick ratio steering rack
Wheels:
Azev Type C
front is 17x8.5 et15 with 215/40/17
rear is 17x10 et20 with 235/40/17
Story behind the car:
This wagon would never be in my hands if I never sold my e30 convertible to begin with, but at the time it felt like the right thing to do. Moral of this story is never, ever sell an e30 you are in love with for ANYONE, you WILL regret it.
The condensed version:
Sold the convertible because the fiancé doesn’t like sitting in it and getting a tan, and I needed the parking spot for her car. A few months later I break up with said fiancé and I’m missing the vert badly. Took the money from the sale and bought an e34 M5
I always dreamed of owning. Spent 8 months restoring the M5 and I just didn’t fall in love with it. Put the M5 up for sale and came across this s52 swapped e30 wagon on a local BMW forum. I thought this car might get my mind off of the vert, so I meet up with the seller, took it for a test drive and bought it 30 minutes later. I ended up giving the seller a ride home, as he didn’t expect me to buy the car from underneath him that afternoon!
Now that we got that out of the way… I have always liked wagons. They are very practical, can haul lots of stuff and if you can set it up the right, it can look so sweet.
So here is the story of Betty, my e30 wagon.
***full build thread here ***
I always like to setup my cars in such a way that when people walk by, happen to notice it, will then stop and stare. The person checking out the car doesn’t know exactly what it is that caught their eye, but it is something about how everything fits together in a nice, tight, clean package. I call it OEM+ styling, or the form I think the car should have left the factory setup as.
The wagon came on a square set of Azev Type C wheels, 17x8.5 in size rolling on 215/40/17 tires. I loved how the soft shape of these chunky 5 spoke wheels contrasted with the lines of the e30 body.
I then fell in love with the idea of having a wider rear wheel so I could run a fatter tire. The wheel would poke out a bit, and have more lip to work with the extra booty in the back.
Finding wheels wider than 17x8.5 in 4x100 bolt pattern was a lot harder than I expected. I searched wheel sites all over the world, JDM car forums, buy & sell forums and found nothing that would work. Then one day I stumbled across a picture of 5 wheels for sale, and they happened to be a staggered setup of Azev Type C! The problem is the picture was from a buy & sell site in Belgium, so how the hell do I confirm the wheels are still available AND if they are the right offset?
I call Levent @ Gutenparts to see if anyone in his network can help me out and he tells me his brother Turk happens to be in the Netherlands. A few phone calls later and Turk confirms the wheels are still available and the offset of the rear wheel is ET20, which is PERFECT! Turk goes on a road trip, helps me acquire the wheels, packages them up and sends them to me. Unbelievable!
While I wait for the wheels to arrive I started stripping out the interior of the car to check for any hidden damage or rust, see what needs to be repaired and then put everything back together. This way I have peace of mind knowing that I am working with a clean, solid base.
When it comes to cars I hate finding out water found a way in, so when I reached down to lift up the passenger side carpet and saw this I wasn’t very happy
So out comes the carpet
6 hours and 20lbs of sound deadening later
After driving around without and sound deadening for a couple of weeks I had enough of the noise. The sound deadening products I have selected are Dynamat Extreme, 1/4" Dynaliner and 3/8" Dynapad. For the doors I will use 1/8" Dynaliner to replace the vapor barrier.
Some people like installing the Dynamat in big sheets, I prefer to cut them down into smaller pieces and them fit them together.
Everything done today took 7 hours, I used up 6 sheets of Dynamat and have 50% of the car done.
Adding Dynaliner and Dynapad
Replacing a factory vapour barrier with Dynaliner
Now that the car once again has sound deadening I decided to do something very, very crazy… I am going to send my car on a 3000 mile journey from the West Coast to the East Coast to have A/C retrofitted in, the car rewired to be OBD2 and whatever else the boys at Gutenparts and do "while we are in there, while it is here".
Why Gutenparts? Because they have the same level of OCD as I do!
Betty’s arrival in October at Gutenparts!
Engine out and getting cleaned
Old Subframe Waiting for AKG Subframe, IE Sways and AKG Swap Mounts
Cleaning engine bay
Finding some very creative workarounds from the previous owner… like this washer setup for the shifter
Interior cleaned out.
I wish I could have done this before I did the Dynamat installation as it would have made things so much easier.
Rewiring the fusebox for A/C
The car came with a OBD2 harness from an Auto, had been cut up pretty bad to convert to OBD1. We just got in the fresh manual OBD2 harness we will use to start over.
Engine block cleaned up
New Rogue Pulleys and Rogue Hoses
Heat shield blasted and coated with ceramic
Wires rewrapped
AKG reinforced and powdercoated subframe ready for reinstall.
Engine ready to be installed
New black carpet being installed
Engine and transmission back in place
Removing the old underhood insulation and washer fluid hose
New dash in and interior coming back together
The Podi PVG-e30 vent gauge (voltage, coolant temp and oil pressure)
Valve cover arrived
Castro airbox arrived
New rebuilt S2.93 differential with Z3 finned cover
I hired and flew a couple of my friends to bring the wagon back to me and the work Guten did was fantastic! However, the position of the Rogue exhaust tips bugged me as they were not centered. So I took her to CTS Turbo and had their fabricator Scotty work his magic.
As you can see in the picture below the right hand exhaust outlet points right into the rear valence. You can also see the 'white spots' where the exhaust tip contact wore through the black paint.
So the exhaust tips were cut off and reused, but in order for them to clear the rear valence the tips had to be shifted down and on an angle.
These are some beautiful welds!
The exhaust tips are now centered in the exhaust opening and on a staggered angle.
Remember the wheels coming from the Netherlands? Well they arrived and were obviously packed by a car enthusiast!
And the 17x10 I’ve been anxiously waiting to see!
Time to bolt them onto the rear and see how they fit!
Replaced the IS front valence with a Mtech-2 one to clean things up
The reupholstered interior that came in the wagon that I think looked a bit bland
I drive a lot and the best upgrade I did to my Audi was to replace the stock comfort seats with Recaros, so I decided to do the same to the e30.
I found a set of VW Mk2 Recaros and took them to Tim @ Velocity Upholstery to get rebuilt and reskinned. After a lot of daydreaming about how they should look, I decided to continue with the red & black theme in the engine bay with the seats.
The rear seats came with headrests which had to be removed every time you want to fold the seats down, and also had attachments to provide seating for a 3rd person in the center. I had the rear headrests deleted and made the rear seating only for two people for better aesthetics.
Guten installed a new black carpet, however, it was made for a sedan so the rear seat trim piece doesn’t work for the wagon. So I measured out the old grey rear trim piece and had Tim graft on the black piece for a perfect fit.
The rear seats bottoms were recarpeted with black carpet to match the new black carpet.
With the most of the interior reinstalled I start working on the small details. The wagon only has power front windows, so I used a 4 button center console from a vert and relocated the heated seat switches below the window switches.
Transferred my old school chrome Momo shift knob and matching red shift boot to the wagon, which designates Betty as my primary moneypit vehicle.
My friend Ritchie helped me repaint the cluster needles orange and installed satin silver trim rings. I didn't think painting the needles would have made such a difference to how the cluster looks.
Purchased a 320mm Momo Monte Carlo with red stitching to replace the Sparco steering wheel
Found a new Momo BMW horn button
And this polished aluminum Zender e-brake handle
Installed these pieces along with the matching shift boot made by Velocity Upholstery
With most of the interior reinstalled the wagon is more hospitable, however, it is far from finished.
Still on the to do list are making new matching door cards, reskin all of the trunk trim panels with black carpet, find floor mats, install the old school stereo pieces I have collected, but I haven’t done anything to the wagon in over a year. So what happened?
Well remember my vert I sold that I missed so badly? I got her back! But that’s a story for next time.
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