Dad's 1990 325is

[E30RoadKing]

Hey there r3v, it's been almost three years since I've posted on the forums, so I've decided to chronicle the life of my 1990 325is. I'll try and be as detailed as possible, especially moving forward. If this is in the wrong section, I apologize, let know and I'll try to rectify it as soon as possible. This is the first thread I've started like this where I'm documenting something rather asking a question, so bear with me.

[E30RoadKing]

So the story starts in 1996. My dad buys my mom this 1990 325is at the local BMW dealership from the Certified Pre-Owned lot. The car had maybe 52,000 miles on it, and was pretty minty. It even came with dealer installed BMW keyless entry, which I've never seen in another E30 before. Pretty cool. My mom drove the car for about a year in a half before she realized that the coupe was not great for transporting an infant, so my dad started to drive the E30 as his daily and my mom leased an E34 525i. My dad drove the E30 from about 1998 to early 2001, then he parked it. I have a lot of early memories in that car, but most of my memories are of it parked in my driveway from 2001-2011 when my dad moved out, and then from 2011-2013 while it parked in his driveway at his house. Here are some pictures of it before it was parked.

[E30RoadKing]

In the above post you'll see me washing the car sometime in the year 2000, I was three. In the second picture, you'll see my uncle riding my 2001 Honda 50cc dirt bike while my dad and I stand in the background next to the E30. This was at my uncle's automotive shop. The third picture is in front of the house we lived in from until 2000. Front and center is my dad's E24 6 Series, off to the right is the E30, and way in the back is my mom's 1996 525i.

[E30RoadKing]

For some reason, my dad parked the car in January 2001 when the December 2000 inspection ran out. It was off the road until summer 2013 when I was about to get my license. I originally wanted an Chevrolet and was completely indifferent to BMWs or sports cars in general. I wanted either a third gen Camaro or a late model K5 Blazer, but my mother didn't approve, and at the very least I needed a car with an airbag. So I gave up on anything I considered fun and would settle for whatever I could get. My dad was a car salesman at the time, and had a 2002 Nissan Maxima for $1100. I genuinely considered that over spending the money and time getting the E30 road ready. In the end, the only reason I didn't buy the Nissan was because someone bought it first. So I went back to the E30, and I wasn't disappointed or anything but I wasn't excited either. I ended up spending about $800 on it to get it road ready, and half of that was just tires.

At one point I got pretty discouraged because one of the injectors wasn't firing and we couldn't figure out why. Then one night, I'm sitting in my room reading and my younger brother walks in and tells me that my dad was outside and he wanted me to come out. I was confused, but I went outside to see my dad standing next to the running E30 in my driveway. He had managed to get the injector unstuck and thought it would cool if I could drive it right away. I'll never forget that moment because it was the first time I ever drove the E30, and it was the exact moment that I became a car enthusiast and hooked on BMWs.

I'll post some pictures of how dirty the car was after a decade of sitting and I think I have one from the first day I drove it after I got it inspected. Once I get to the present day with this story, I'll start documenting the work I'm doing today, I have a lot of cool plans for the rest of the Winter into early Spring as I get her ready for the local Cars and Coffee season opener and the big Doylestown Car Show that's usually in the mid-summer. Let me know what you guys think so far, I'll update later this week.

[nando]

Cool story (serious).

It's interesting to see the difference in generations as E30s age. Your picture, at age 3, is not long before I bought mine as an adult - and when this very community began.

I hope my boys have the same fond memories of my E30 - they love it now, and covet when I give them an old shift knob or hood emblem...

[E30RoadKing]

Thanks for the input, I really do appreciate it. My dad was actually kind of hesitant to give me the car, it's the only one he ever really cared about, and this is coming from a man who would totalled muscle cars in the 80s that would probably be worth 6 figures if he kept them in the same condition he kept this car. He even gave me an old leather wrapped shift knob that I believe is from a 2002 (it's the threaded mushroom style). I put it on my 1980 633CSi and then later my 1979 320i. I made sure to keep it before I sold either of them. I'm actually thinking about threading my current shifter to take a threaded knob and seeing if I can get it to fit in this.

[TFJR]

This is a great story! Looking forward to seeing more pictures. My dad is the reason I'm so into cars. He at one point owned 12 cars sitting in front of our house. Looking forward to hearing more... I'm hoping your next update mentions doing the timing belt after getting it road worthy :)

[2mAn]

I like where this is going....

[Codym42]

This is awesome! Very similar to the story of my 318is. My dad bought it in 2005 and I started driving it when I got my license in 2010.

Can't wait to see more pictures and updates.

[E30RoadKing]

One important detail I forgot to mention was that this exact car was the one they brought me home from the hospital in. That's the main reason I'm so attached to this car, because my first exposure to this big beautiful wide world was in the backseat of this glorious machine.

[E30RoadKing]

So here are the pictures of the E30 the day we decided to get it road legal for my junior year of high school. As it sat here in late spring of 2014, we had not touched the car since 2010, when it was flatbed towed from my mom's house to my dad's. From January 2002 to January 2010, it hadn't moved, but it was occasionally started and minor repairs were made. I think in that 8 year period, the fuel pump and heater control valve were replaced. You'll notice it is incredibly dirty and sad, but overall very clean inside and out, with the only bit of rust being on the rear lower valance. The interior was apart for the heater control valve job but everything was there, and I mean everything, and it was put back together before it's first registration and inspection since 2001. You could not understand my excitement at this time. The only thing that was actually missing was that plastic strip on the rear bumper. All three pieces from the dealer set me back in the neighborhood of $150, and besides $400 in tires, this was the biggest expense in getting the car road ready.

[E30RoadKing]

... I'm hoping your next update mentions doing the timing belt after getting it road worthy :)

Another memory I'll never forget, it was a Friday in February 2014, and I had to go through the whole day at school knowing that I was a few short hours from driving MY new BMW E30. Surely on my way to being the coolest kid in school, right? So my mom picked me up from school at the end of the day, new registration and license plate in hand, and she dropped me off at my uncle's shop where it was getting inspected. While I was waiting, there was a kid in the shop getting sold work done to what I think was a XJ Jeep Cherokee. He noticed the E30 parked right outside and excitedly asked if it was mine. I told him it was, and he pretty much gushed over how "fucking cool" that thing was. This was the first of many times people would go out of their way to talk to me and enthuse about the car. Here are some pics from that day, one of my dad giving it a final once over on the lift, and then one pic before I put the plate on it and drove her home.

[TheWipprSnappr]

That's the main reason I'm so attached to this car, because my first exposure to this big beautiful wide world was in the backseat of this glorious machine.

For real though, that's awesome.

[E30RoadKing]

For real though, that's awesome.

Thanks man, I really think so too.

Here are some pics from the first weekend I had her home.
Peep the faded wheel cap emblems. I replaced those, the front and rear roundels and various other doo-dads around that time. Faded front blinker lens, the ratty automatic shifter cover, some interior bulbs here and there, a new glove box inner latch, etc. Nothing major. You might also notice that mount for a phone. That's not a smartphone mount, that is a mount for the dealer installed car phone! Everything is still hooked up, but I drove around without the phone plugged in for awhile because the analog system didn't work. I ended up plugging it in later purely for decoration. This car had all the dealer installed add ons from back in the 90s. Car phone, Alpine key-less entry, and I even sourced an OEM BMW/Alpine trunk mounted 6 CD changer in my senior year of high school. It still works, so naturally instead of putting in a janky aftermarket stereo, I still rock the original Alpine

[ttrousdell]

I have really enjoyed reading about the history of this car. I hope you bring it back to its original beauty and 5 speed swap it. Nice to see another nice e30 in PA and keep updating.