I graduated from school a while ago with a degree in vehicle design and was on the Formula SAE team. I focused on composites fab, but I have always loved cars. I figured it was time for a lighter RWD car.
I bought it about 5 months ago and have loved. I have done a decent amount to it to get it back in shape and I am happy to answer any questions about the work I have done so far. It still needs some work, the body is a 5/10 but no rust. It is meant to be my daily beater, but I am starting to want to make it nice :)
These are some excerpts from my blog on cars and other awesome things.
feel free to read the whole thing on my site.
Im due for another post as I have done a bit since this last blurb.
Enjoy!
So why did I want the older, less powerful, arguably uglier car? Well for me it has always been a dose of ease-to-work-on-myself, with a dash of character and utility. I had driven my brother’s e36 M3 convertible and really enjoyed it but didn’t like the heavy dose of cheap plastics and higher maintenance costs. For a while I wanted an e30 Touring (wagon), but those are not sold in the States and not cheap enough to import with my budget.
This meant for me it was the 4 door model to stay practical-ish. The e30 is a smaller foot print, lighter, simpler and easier to work on than the newer BMW 3 series. It has a long standing spec racing series (Pro3) just for the e30 so parts, knowledge and aftermarket support almost rival that of some Honda and JDM makes. This helped create a demand for parts that has kept them affordable and plentiful, especially for a German make. It’s been easier to get OEM and quality aftermarket parts for this than my Corvette and Ford Focus and its a 28-year-old car. It has a smooth inline six-cylinder engine putting out around 170 hp and similar torque numbers weighing in at 2800 pounds. So while it’s no hot rod, it has enough for daily hooning and getting up to speed on the highway. It also helps that I have countless friends that between them all have owned almost every generation of BMW and are a wealth of information.
With the decision being made about what car and why, next is the car I purchased and the break down of its condition. While I am still learning more about it and finding out things that need fixing, its initial impressions of the first drive left me doubting the legend that precedes it.
It had blown front shocks, disconnected power steering and no AC. So it was hot to drive, slow to take my driving inputs and caused me to balk at the possibility of buying. On top of that the shifter is very vague and has a long throw. All of this put together was very underwhelming. It did have 148k-ish miles (speedo is off and on), rebuilt head, new valves and all the accompanying parts and machining needed to repair a broken timing belt, new tires and no obvious rust. It is a white 4 door with a 5 speed and open differential. After the drive I told the buyer I would be in contact but didn’t sleep well that night trying to determine my next move.
I had just finished up with a lot of work on my current daily driver, an SVT Focus. I was a bit burned out working on cars and was looking at this as a possible project that would mean many more hours in the garage. On top of that, this was my first and only time driving an e30. I had missed an opportunity to drive a mint example months earlier. So I had nothing to compare my initial impression too. I had many friends tell me they are great toss-able cars, but that they are older and use older tech so don’t expect a 4 door Lotus Elise out of it. I came to the conclusion that with my budget I would have to throw out a low number and if the seller bit, then I would have to buy, if not then the decision was made for me. It was the first time I was looking to buy a car I wasn’t in love with after driving it, so it was easier for me to detach and take emotions out of the buying decision.
I gave the owner a range I was thinking, and he came back below my range! So at that price I could afford to fix the first issues and flip it for no loss and possibly a profit, so I figured what the hell, let’s do this!
Obligatory image to break up text 🙂
So the exchange was made, it was driven home and instantly parked in the garage for a month of wrenching on it after work. Right off the bat I had determined that I wanted to unlock this cars potential as a fun daily driver. So it needed new suspension bits and had a long standing oil leak that coated the bottom of the oil pan and tranny. I figured with its age, it would be good to put in fresh bushings and mounts. As I dug into this the list grew of little things that needed fixing. The list is below of the things fixed or replaced in the past few weeks.
Differential mount, Transmission and Engine mounts, power steering belt, Bilstein sport dampers, H&R race springs, Front sway bar end link, Rear sway bar end link, Steel Front Control Arm,Tie Rod Assembly, Shock Mount Gasket, Differential Mount Bushing, e46m3 Rear Shock Mount, Trailing Arm Bushings, rear sub frame Mount Bushing, e30 m3 offset Control Arm Bushing Set, Upper Strut Mount, Steering pump rebuild kit, Oil filter housing rebuild and seals, Oil pan gasket, Intake Boot, New stainless lines, front, rear, and mids, New rotors and Stoptech sport pads, Brake fluid flush, Rear exhaust gaskets and rubber mounts, Needed key as I broke the cheap one in non functioning passenger lock, Throttle cable, Sunroof lever, Antenna seal, and a Recaro SRD seat 😀
After all of this, the things that need to be done eventually are AC recharge, power steering pump and reservoir, Fan blower Resistor (it only works on high), new passenger side door lock, ABS fuse, a dent to the rear that may cause water leakage issues around the tail light, get a spare tire and wheel. I am sure I will find more little things on such an old car, but for now that’s it.
BTW huge shout out to Steve @ Blunttech for helping me source most of my parts. They are very knowledgeable, the prices are some of the lowest, shipping is often free and fast, and they are great at helping guide any decisions you may have. I don’t typically give shout outs, but these guys were recommended by a buddy of mine who has had some cool e30 builds, and they were so helpful. They also have a boosted s52 e30, and are currently having a V0 e30 built 😀
The next desired modifications for my e30 are a new steering wheel that is smaller and better looking, a better shifter and eventually some new wheels and tires. The stock steering wheel is not exactly a work of art or practical and the stock shifter is very vague, with lots of slop and a long throw.
I do have a Z3 steering rack and conversion bits on order as the original steering rack has a ratio that reminds me of driving a U-haul truck. This makes the car feel much slower to change direction even with the new tight suspension and will make slaloms at auto cross races very frustrating.
Below are some of the pictures from the work done and once the steering rack is in I will update with a review of the car and my impressions of the suspension coupled with the new steering rack.
Until then happy hooning!
Rear End is out! Was a bit of a hassle but again online tutorials (Dan Cronin and Blake of Blake’s Garage) helped a great deal.
New Oil Pan Gasket. It was needed BADLY. Baked on and OG from factory, leaking like crazy.
Checking valve cover gasket, it was new so it stayed. Valve adjustment is next project, just need to quit being lazy and pick up feeler gauge.
10 minutes into first drive and POP! Yeah, diagram didn’t show a washer on the bottom side of the strut mount which I thought was funny. Got that sorted out with help from Steve @ Blunttech. Also installed ECS tunings reinforcements on top of rear struts.
So, yeah, rough idle much? There was another couple of tears just as large in the folds on the top as well.
Mmm, M3 offset bushings for mad gripz yo! But seriously, better turn in 🙂 pressing these in was a breeze and keeping them lined up wasn’t difficult.
Old Front spring next to new HR Race spring. I mean, yeah, its lower and stiffer now 😉
Trick to getting sub frame out. Force threaded this bolt into the old bushing, then from the top beat on it with a 5lb. hammer with a 12″ socket extension. Worked really well.
Pushing sub frame bushing out.
Brake Bleed time! Sexy new brakes and suspension! Ever since I did a lapping day at the Nurburgring little things like the track outline (just above the brake caliper) on these dampers puts a smile on my face.
Rebuilt Vickers Power steering pump. Pretty easy, but I found some scoring internally and eventually ended up having to get a new ZF style pump that will be installed with the z3 steering rack.
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CHEERS!