Yes folks, that makes three; I officially have 'the bug'. I saw this on craigslist Saturday and thought for sure it'd be gone before I could get it. I lucked out, as second in line, after the first buyer never showed up.
When I first saw it I couldn't help but think, "Where's the coke?". The CP wheels are straight out of the 80's and in horrible condition (not like I care, they're getting replaced). The interior smelled like an ashtray and four lights were illuminated on the check panel. The brake lining, oil service, and inspection lights were also lit. There's a major exhaust leak somewhere, the passenger brake light is broken, there's a horrible car phone antenna on the third brake light, the power steering rack makes a horrible noise, and the trunk leaks.
Now onto the good things about the car:
First - It's a 5-speed cabrio with 120k original miles and the previous owner owned it for eight years.
Second - The top was recently replaced and looks great.
Third - It just had a $700 clutch job. Don't ask me how one spends $700 on a clutch job somewhere other than the dealer, but I have the receipt.
Fourth - The interior has potential. The only rip in the interior is on the back of the rear seat, a very common problem for cabrios. It's not even really a rip since the stitching just came out. The leather is cracked but I think I might be able to make it look decent. The dash is in perfect shape, though I will have to replace the shift boot, steering wheel, and shift knob.
So, yesterday I went and picked it up. Before I left I wanted the guy to show me how to correctly put the manual top up and down, so I didn't damage it. He shows me how to put it down, then can't get it to go back up. He's trying to release the piece that covers the top when it's down but for some reason the drivers side won't release. It's dark and he doesn't have a flashlight so after watching him tug on it for 15 minutes I say forget it, I'll figure it out when I get home (about 15 miles away). Let me tell you, driving home in the dark, in 40 degree weather, with the top down, is not only extremely embarrassing but very uncomfortable. Even with the windows up and the heat on full blast that cold wind hitting my eyes almost killed me. I get home and realize there's a safety latch on the driver side; I guess the guy forgot about it.
As I got closer to home I hit some stop lights. I noticed when I stopped for a few seconds the check engine light would come on, but then go off whenever I blipped the throttle. "F*ck, another problem!", I thought. I went home and pulled the code via the pedal method and it came up as 1222, Lambda Control 1; I was HAPPY, as I knew the exhaust leak was the likely culprit since it was up near the manifold.
Since it was too dark to do anything to it by the time I got home I reluctantly bid it ado for the night and went home.
Jenny and I planned to get up early to work on the E30's today but we somehow slept in till 10:30. After breakfast we picked up the cabrio and took it to the exhaust shop. I found out the piece of flex pipe below the manifold blew out, I was missing a stud (not sure if it's a head stud or elsewhere) and a bolt that attaches one of the manifolds to the beginning of the exhaust (unless that's where the stud is supposed to be), and my muffler is TOAST. They quoted me a total of $425 to fix everything, which is way more than I was willing to spend to patch up the existing exhaust system. I placed a call to Mr. Funk, who is taking very good care of me and my exhaust needs.
We took the car back to my parents and I took these photos, so I'd have visual records of what I began with.
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We then began disassembling the interior, piece by piece. This guy smoked in the car for six years, so there were ashes in every imaginable nook and cranny. After most of the interior pieces were removed Jenny began doing her thing. I was working in the engine bay, checking and topping off fluids, resetting the oil and inspection lights, etc. When I went to check on her I was shocked. It looked amazing! every stain came out of the carpet, the dash looked fantastic without the layer of ash, and she had cleaned every inch she could (including door jambs and behind the rear seats). The interior was finally starting to shape up!
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After some pointers from fellow r3v members I moved to the trunk, where I had a serious leak and standing water. I'm SO happy BMW took the appropriate measures to rust-proof the spare tire well and jack area. I imagine that water and muck had been in there for at LEAST a few months from the smell. I grabbed the shop-vac and got most of it out, then proceeded to remove the trunk panels in order to locate the leak. After checking the seals twice I realized it might be the third brake light. Sure enough, the gaskets were shot. I unscrewed it and found water sitting underneath. I went ahead and removed the whole light, something I was planning on doing anyway. I'm going to take it to a body shop and see how much they'll charge to fill the holes and paint them, since I prefer original body parts.
Tomorrow we'll be back at it; we're planning on putting the interior back in after conditioning it. If anyone has any tips on what leather conditioner I should use please PM me, though it has to be something I can get locally. I'm going to post pics of the seats eventually and see if I can use something like leatherique to restore them, but for now I'd just like something cheap.
After the interior we're going to wash the exterior, but I probably won't be able to detail it since it's going to be raining and I don't have clay. Hopefully sometime soon though!
I'm not sure exactly what my plans for this car are as of yet. I need to take care of basic maintenance first, then maybe I can start with the mods. It'd be REALLY nice to get a set of matching wheels and tires. I'll probably start with interior tidbits such as a shift knob, shift boot, and steering wheel. If anyone is selling any of these in good condition for *cheap*, PM me. Plastic bumpers are definitely in this cars future, but they're too costly for me at this point. I was going to change the suspension because I thought the car was too low but it's actually not too bad, so I may keep it. I still have no clue what suspension this car has, any ideas?
I'll keep this thread updated with the latest progress :D
When I first saw it I couldn't help but think, "Where's the coke?". The CP wheels are straight out of the 80's and in horrible condition (not like I care, they're getting replaced). The interior smelled like an ashtray and four lights were illuminated on the check panel. The brake lining, oil service, and inspection lights were also lit. There's a major exhaust leak somewhere, the passenger brake light is broken, there's a horrible car phone antenna on the third brake light, the power steering rack makes a horrible noise, and the trunk leaks.
Now onto the good things about the car:
First - It's a 5-speed cabrio with 120k original miles and the previous owner owned it for eight years.
Second - The top was recently replaced and looks great.
Third - It just had a $700 clutch job. Don't ask me how one spends $700 on a clutch job somewhere other than the dealer, but I have the receipt.
Fourth - The interior has potential. The only rip in the interior is on the back of the rear seat, a very common problem for cabrios. It's not even really a rip since the stitching just came out. The leather is cracked but I think I might be able to make it look decent. The dash is in perfect shape, though I will have to replace the shift boot, steering wheel, and shift knob.
So, yesterday I went and picked it up. Before I left I wanted the guy to show me how to correctly put the manual top up and down, so I didn't damage it. He shows me how to put it down, then can't get it to go back up. He's trying to release the piece that covers the top when it's down but for some reason the drivers side won't release. It's dark and he doesn't have a flashlight so after watching him tug on it for 15 minutes I say forget it, I'll figure it out when I get home (about 15 miles away). Let me tell you, driving home in the dark, in 40 degree weather, with the top down, is not only extremely embarrassing but very uncomfortable. Even with the windows up and the heat on full blast that cold wind hitting my eyes almost killed me. I get home and realize there's a safety latch on the driver side; I guess the guy forgot about it.
As I got closer to home I hit some stop lights. I noticed when I stopped for a few seconds the check engine light would come on, but then go off whenever I blipped the throttle. "F*ck, another problem!", I thought. I went home and pulled the code via the pedal method and it came up as 1222, Lambda Control 1; I was HAPPY, as I knew the exhaust leak was the likely culprit since it was up near the manifold.
Since it was too dark to do anything to it by the time I got home I reluctantly bid it ado for the night and went home.
Jenny and I planned to get up early to work on the E30's today but we somehow slept in till 10:30. After breakfast we picked up the cabrio and took it to the exhaust shop. I found out the piece of flex pipe below the manifold blew out, I was missing a stud (not sure if it's a head stud or elsewhere) and a bolt that attaches one of the manifolds to the beginning of the exhaust (unless that's where the stud is supposed to be), and my muffler is TOAST. They quoted me a total of $425 to fix everything, which is way more than I was willing to spend to patch up the existing exhaust system. I placed a call to Mr. Funk, who is taking very good care of me and my exhaust needs.
We took the car back to my parents and I took these photos, so I'd have visual records of what I began with.
We then began disassembling the interior, piece by piece. This guy smoked in the car for six years, so there were ashes in every imaginable nook and cranny. After most of the interior pieces were removed Jenny began doing her thing. I was working in the engine bay, checking and topping off fluids, resetting the oil and inspection lights, etc. When I went to check on her I was shocked. It looked amazing! every stain came out of the carpet, the dash looked fantastic without the layer of ash, and she had cleaned every inch she could (including door jambs and behind the rear seats). The interior was finally starting to shape up!
After some pointers from fellow r3v members I moved to the trunk, where I had a serious leak and standing water. I'm SO happy BMW took the appropriate measures to rust-proof the spare tire well and jack area. I imagine that water and muck had been in there for at LEAST a few months from the smell. I grabbed the shop-vac and got most of it out, then proceeded to remove the trunk panels in order to locate the leak. After checking the seals twice I realized it might be the third brake light. Sure enough, the gaskets were shot. I unscrewed it and found water sitting underneath. I went ahead and removed the whole light, something I was planning on doing anyway. I'm going to take it to a body shop and see how much they'll charge to fill the holes and paint them, since I prefer original body parts.
Tomorrow we'll be back at it; we're planning on putting the interior back in after conditioning it. If anyone has any tips on what leather conditioner I should use please PM me, though it has to be something I can get locally. I'm going to post pics of the seats eventually and see if I can use something like leatherique to restore them, but for now I'd just like something cheap.
After the interior we're going to wash the exterior, but I probably won't be able to detail it since it's going to be raining and I don't have clay. Hopefully sometime soon though!
I'm not sure exactly what my plans for this car are as of yet. I need to take care of basic maintenance first, then maybe I can start with the mods. It'd be REALLY nice to get a set of matching wheels and tires. I'll probably start with interior tidbits such as a shift knob, shift boot, and steering wheel. If anyone is selling any of these in good condition for *cheap*, PM me. Plastic bumpers are definitely in this cars future, but they're too costly for me at this point. I was going to change the suspension because I thought the car was too low but it's actually not too bad, so I may keep it. I still have no clue what suspension this car has, any ideas?
I'll keep this thread updated with the latest progress :D
:firehop:
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