Kyle's Regrets and Mistakes

[KyleHugo]

They're more than just memories made, Adele.

Hello, Everyone, my name is Kyle and for the entirety of my E30 ownership, I have been luck to have had this forum around for all the technical advice and inspiration that has helped me make terrible financial decisions for the past few years.

I recently just moved to Windsor, Ontario, from Calgary. Back in Calgary, I had the following 325e, that I gave away to a good friend before I moved:

MFn Starboy Sideways by Kyle Hugo, on Flickr

DSC_1443 by Kyle Hugo, on Flickr

The Hills - Remix by Kyle Hugo, on Flickr

It was pretty beat up when I picked it up, however by the time I put it into the care of it's new owner, it was still pretty beat up, but had the fake BBS wheels, Ground Control Coilovers, DEPO headlights, a 325i wing, and a Renown steering wheel among other misadventures.

I missed the above car to the point that when I moved to Windsor to go back to school, so I began looking for one to replace it. Unfortunately, I came across this:

Untitled by Kyle Hugo, on Flickr

I got it home less then 10 hours ago, and I already pretty much entirely regret every decision that brought it into my possession. I really want to get it back on the road, however, I think at this point the sensible thing to do would be to cut my losses and part it out. We shall see.

[Shock(/\)ave]

Unfortunately, I came across this:



I got it home less then 10 hours ago, and I already pretty much entirely regret every decision that brought it into my possession. I really want to get it back on the road, however, I think at this point the sensible thing to do would be to cut my losses and part it out. We shall see.

Well that sure went sour quickly! What's wrong with it other than the obvious rust, misaligned panels, ruined paint and trim?

[KyleHugo]

Well that sure went sour quickly! What's wrong with it other than the obvious rust, misaligned panels, ruined paint and trim?

Most of the brakes don't exist, and the water pump pulley somehow failed and sent the fan through the rad.

Not including seats and a windshield, I think I'm looking at somewhere around 1200$ in parts to get it rolling again if I'm lucky

[parkerbink]

I like the '77 Celica.

[Shock(/\)ave]

Most of the brakes don't exist, and the water pump pulley somehow failed and sent the fan through the rad.

That's it?! I bought our 528e with brakes so bad I had to rely on the emergency brake (which I made sure was good) the entire way home (over an hour's drive). It had almost no brake fluid left in it.

Not including seats and a windshield, I think I'm looking at somewhere around 1200$ in parts to get it rolling again if I'm lucky

Download the Bentley manual, then come out to the cruise and meet next weekend to meet some E30 people. We have a great local community, and I'm sure you'll make a wrenching buddy or two if you're a good guy.

Hang in there! ;)

[KyleHugo]

One more of my old Cosmosblau 325e back from Calgary. This was right after the coils went in right before I parted ways with it.

Starboy_YYC_2 by Kyle Hugo, on Flickr

Starboy_YYC3 by Kyle Hugo, on Flickr

[MR E30 325is]

Egh, you're good!

Stick to it and you'll be back in action in no time.

[KyleHugo]

Weirdly, I am back in action just 7 years later. I ended up getting the car back early this fall. It's was a daily driver for those 7 years and it really shows. That being said I'm excited to pick back up where I left off!



Anyone have 325e exhaust recommendations?

[parkerbink]

Congratulations!

[Panici]

So you sold it and bought it back 7 years later? That's awesome.

[iXBeater]

Weirdly, I am back in action just 7 years later. I ended up getting the car back early this fall. It's was a daily driver for those 7 years and it really shows. That being said I'm excited to pick back up where I left off!



Anyone have 325e exhaust recommendations?

That's super-cool! Let's document where it is now so we can see all the (future) progress!

[2mAn]

Weirdly, I am back in action just 7 years later. I ended up getting the car back early this fall. It's was a daily driver for those 7 years and it really shows. That being said I'm excited to pick back up where I left off!



Anyone have 325e exhaust recommendations?

Is that a MK1 Rabbit GTI front lip?? haha

[KyleHugo]

At the beginning of this year, toupe fiasco decided to start a trade war with Canada because ?????. In a panic, I bought a load of parts pre-tarrif to complete some much yearned for maintenance items on my E30. So come mid June, I pulled it into the shop for a quick two week rebuild on the following:

Starting with the brakes, I replaced all the pads, rotors, parking brake shoes, cables, hardware etc.



I even went as far as to install these fancy billet lever arms on the parking brake. having now driven the car, I can confirm they're fantastic at exactly nothing.



I also went and installed all stainless steel braided lines from turner / ECS. In the process of doing that, I found all of the hard lines were in terrifying shape, so I went and replaced them. The long one between the master cylinder and the rear brake tee fitting was a journey I hope to never repeat.



In addition to all that, I for some reason decided to swap to an E32 master cylinder because the internet said it was worth it. That was dumb on my part as the rest of my brakes are still stock. I did however nicely sandblast the calipers and recoat them prior to rebuildng them. (Turns out; this does not improve stopping performance.)

[KyleHugo]

Moving on from that, I found the driveshaft center bearing had left the chat. So the only rational thing to do was to rebuild the entire driveshaft:



While I was all up in there, I found my shifter was cosplaying as the Edmund Fitzgerald:


As that was simply not it, I was lucky enough to find a complete DSSR kit locallly. This also gave me the chance to update from the early model sheet metal plate style shifter to the cast aluminium bar style shifter:



Not pictured are the hours spent struggling trying to replace the shifter selector seal and output shaft seal on the transmission.

With all that said and done in mid october, it was finally ready to take out for the summer:

[KyleHugo]

Two days after it finally emerged into the wild, the outer CV in the drivers side axle exited stage left, which called for a prompt axle replacement. I learned real quick that the ABS tone ring has to be bashed off on non ABS cars.


With that all sorted it was back to hoodrat shit as usual, including going to spectate a rally event near me this past weekend. As I already put my Evo IV away for winter, figured I would take out the E30. 15 km on a gravel forestry road, how bad could it be??


Turns out, how bad it could be was a living nightmare, and I am scared to examine my front suspension. So I simply won't... until next year.