So I suck at build threads but I thought I would finally show off my E30 and where it's at about four years into my ownership. Sorry for the length, think of it as a build thread in one post? 
First a little history, I bought a used e90 in 2011 and it was a great car. It totally made me fall in love with the brand, but my real passion is for older cars. So a few years later I started looking for an original e30 M3. Unfortunately, I started right when prices started going through the roof. So, instead I started looking for a five speed, late model, plastic bumper e30 coupe, which of course; led me to buying an automatic, diving board convertible instead. But after months of looking at rusted out or beat to hell hunks, this car was rust free and unmolested. So four years ago I bought my first E30 and my first car without a roof.
Here's a few pics from the day I got it home:
First things first, I redid all the brakes and bought a set of ESM-002 reps (I know, I know. At the time I just couldn't justify paying more for wheels than I paid for the car – hate if you must): :devil:
Then I refreshed all the suspension front and back and added some Ground Control coil overs thanks to a generous Black Friday deal.
I drove it about a year like this, constantly fixing little things and looking for either a 5 speed swap or an S52. Since the first time I started lurking on R3v my plan was an S52 swapped M-tech 2 car. About a year in, my search ended when Kingston posted an S52 and ZF320 he was selling for a friend. Kingston had recently swung through Louisville and met with some of the people on our local E30 FB page, so I knew he was a good guy. A few days later a pick up showed up on my doorstep from Kansas and the previous owner delivered the engine / trans right to my door.
The swap went pretty well. All in all I did it in one month of weekends and some week nights from pulling the M20 to starting the S52. I had a few minor hiccups, like hooking up the power steering reservoir backwards. But other than a few tiny things, it's been great for the last 18,000 miles. Although I am kicking myself for not painting the engine bay while I had everything out.
Fast forward a year of daily driving to last summer when a girl tagged me in a parking lot and bent the back diving board. Then this summer I had a small off-road excursion and bent the front diving board. The universe was clearly telling me it was time to get off my ass and get the M-tech 2 kit happening. I know it's not for everyone, but I love the look. However, just like the M3; I started looking for M-tech kits when the prices were starting to get crazy even for beat up examples. I had been slowly collecting pieces and finally bought the remaining ones through R3v. So for absolutely no financial sense, I took it in to get everything painted. Somewhere along the way a PO had repainted the car in a weird color that was close to Calypso but with an orange tint in sunlight, which I never liked. I wanted to go back to the original color with the new kit so that's what I just got finished. I also had the shop shave the antennae. I took the trim to a local powder coater and got it all done for $100 in matt black. I picked up the car last week after what seemed like an eternity in the shop and here is the finished result. Again, why didn't I paint the engine compartment when I did the swap?
Some pics right after the paint:
Finally, the weather broke and I was able to get some pics in the wild. These are actually my wife's wheels on the car from her old E30.
Few other things of note I've done to the car:
The few things I still need / want to do:
Other than that, knock on wood, I am super happy with the car. Thanks for taking the time to check out my build!
First a little history, I bought a used e90 in 2011 and it was a great car. It totally made me fall in love with the brand, but my real passion is for older cars. So a few years later I started looking for an original e30 M3. Unfortunately, I started right when prices started going through the roof. So, instead I started looking for a five speed, late model, plastic bumper e30 coupe, which of course; led me to buying an automatic, diving board convertible instead. But after months of looking at rusted out or beat to hell hunks, this car was rust free and unmolested. So four years ago I bought my first E30 and my first car without a roof.
Here's a few pics from the day I got it home:
First things first, I redid all the brakes and bought a set of ESM-002 reps (I know, I know. At the time I just couldn't justify paying more for wheels than I paid for the car – hate if you must): :devil:
Then I refreshed all the suspension front and back and added some Ground Control coil overs thanks to a generous Black Friday deal.
I drove it about a year like this, constantly fixing little things and looking for either a 5 speed swap or an S52. Since the first time I started lurking on R3v my plan was an S52 swapped M-tech 2 car. About a year in, my search ended when Kingston posted an S52 and ZF320 he was selling for a friend. Kingston had recently swung through Louisville and met with some of the people on our local E30 FB page, so I knew he was a good guy. A few days later a pick up showed up on my doorstep from Kansas and the previous owner delivered the engine / trans right to my door.
The swap went pretty well. All in all I did it in one month of weekends and some week nights from pulling the M20 to starting the S52. I had a few minor hiccups, like hooking up the power steering reservoir backwards. But other than a few tiny things, it's been great for the last 18,000 miles. Although I am kicking myself for not painting the engine bay while I had everything out.
Fast forward a year of daily driving to last summer when a girl tagged me in a parking lot and bent the back diving board. Then this summer I had a small off-road excursion and bent the front diving board. The universe was clearly telling me it was time to get off my ass and get the M-tech 2 kit happening. I know it's not for everyone, but I love the look. However, just like the M3; I started looking for M-tech kits when the prices were starting to get crazy even for beat up examples. I had been slowly collecting pieces and finally bought the remaining ones through R3v. So for absolutely no financial sense, I took it in to get everything painted. Somewhere along the way a PO had repainted the car in a weird color that was close to Calypso but with an orange tint in sunlight, which I never liked. I wanted to go back to the original color with the new kit so that's what I just got finished. I also had the shop shave the antennae. I took the trim to a local powder coater and got it all done for $100 in matt black. I picked up the car last week after what seemed like an eternity in the shop and here is the finished result. Again, why didn't I paint the engine compartment when I did the swap?
Some pics right after the paint:
Finally, the weather broke and I was able to get some pics in the wild. These are actually my wife's wheels on the car from her old E30.
Few other things of note I've done to the car:
- I painted the door handles, speaker covers and map pockets to all the same color, where they had faded into three different shades of tan
- Installed some drilled door handles (still not sure about those)
- Bought some Lloyds mats, did not know that the foot rest would be covered, but they look damn good
- Redid my gauge cluster with an 8k tach overlay, aluminum rings, red dials (painted poorly) and installed E30IG shift lights
- Luisi steering wheel (I want to get this recovered and padded but I need to find someone who can do it)
- Installed new seat heaters and moved all the switches to the main console
- Castro Motorsports air intake (customer service was not good, but the box is nice)
- Painted the rear tail lights all red
- X brace in the front (a must have for convertibles, seriously)
- Leather e-brake handle
- Pedal Haus pedals - they provided a narrow RHD foot rest pedal that works great for convertibles. You still have to fab up a mounting but fits perfect
- Depo Smileys, clear front turn signals and Euro grills
- Scorpion Exhaust - I wanted a nice exhaust note but nothing too loud and this ticks all those boxes and I swear has zero drone with the stock midsection, although it could be a tad louder
- UCC Evo 3 Shifter - LOVE this shifter, got it barely used from someone on R3V
- E36 steering rack - second best upgrade ever
- Bluetooth audio - So I think one of my first threads on here was hiding an aux switcher / control in the cigarette lighter. I'll have to find it but basically everything looks totally 90's stock cassette radio. I really wanted to stay stealth cause I do leave the top down sometimes and although some head units sort of match the interior, I like the look of stock and the functionality of using my phone for everything music wise
- Installed a Curb Alert. I need to find a better mounting point, but I wanted to make sure that I keep the M-tech II valance in one piece as long as possible
- Refreshed the entire AC system although I have yet to have it filled
The few things I still need / want to do:
- Repair the cracked dash – I think I'm going to be the R3v guinea pig and buy the style 2 stitched leather cover from ebay. We had a second e30 with a crack free dash that cracked within a year. Seeing as the new ones are NLA I think next winter I am going to pull the dash, work on the cracks then cover it. I may do it sooner but I've been without the car so long for paint I just want to drive it right now and not work on it
- I've had such good results with the aftermarket seat heaters I am thinking of putting in an aftermarket lumbar support for long drives
- Real wheels – I couldn't justify BBS or Real Borbet A's back in the day when they cost more than our cars did, now I've dumped so much money in this car I can't afford nice wheels. But eventually, I want to get some legit Borbet A's or BBS, still not sure
- Clean up / detail the engine bay a bit
Other than that, knock on wood, I am super happy with the car. Thanks for taking the time to check out my build!
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