Back where I belong.

[Kristuphir]

Really purdy IS there.
Some times I wish I had an automatic in mine............... Like when I drive to SmellA on business.
Great find, and welcome back.

yeah i'm kinda worried that i'll start liking it, or something.

nah.

[SandyEggoE30Girl]

Really purdy IS there.
Some times I wish I had an automatic in mine............... Like when I drive to SmellA on business.
Great find, and welcome back.

[JJe30]

I have no idea how I missed that. lol

[Kristuphir]

clean. sometimes i wish my e30 was bone stock... then i hit a 90deg lefty @ 40 and remember why im modding it:p .

Definitely know what you mean there. When I move, I'll have 20 miles of canyon carving required on my way to and from work every day :D so we'll see what i think then...

[Kristuphir]

Priority #2 mechanicish-stuff-wise will be to make good use of the 5-speed that I keep tripping over in my garage, and get rid of that slushbox...

Yup. Just gotta get the other parts together from the World's Best Junkyard for E30s, which i live 10 minutes from.

[golde30]

clean. sometimes i wish my e30 was bone stock... then i hit a 90deg lefty @ 40 and remember why im modding it:p .

[E30FreaK89]

Looks real clean. Do you plan to change it to a manual?

yes do you ill tell you from experience that an auto in a e30 is shity!!
but it looks like a great start!!

[JJe30]

Looks real clean. Do you plan to change it to a manual?

[Kristuphir]

I've hung around r3v for a number of years, somehow managing not to rack up a huge post count. Guess I've just spent all this time learning and searching my little heart out.

I had an '89 325is for a couple years - it was pretty sweet, I built up the suspension and had the interior looking perfect, etc. Problem was, I had been walking to work for that whole time, and pretty much right as I was done making it a fun little go-kart, I started having to commute. So basically I spent all that time making my car into a shitty commuter, and then had to drive 50 miles a day in it on bumpy-ass SoCal roads. That got old quick, so I sold it and got an E34 535 with a 5-speed...cushy and comfortable it was, but then I moved and STOPPED commuting again, and the E34 just never grabbed me the way the E30 did. So I sold that, and went through a weird phase which I'm just getting out of - I've had a 5.0 Mustang, a 1959 Ford F100, an International 4x4 pickup, a '72 Volvo, and a cherry '79 Accord in the last...gulp...year. Wait, less than a year. christ.

Anyhoo, now i'm commuting again and the Accord, which is a neat little thing, just isn't my style. I'd been looking feverishly for a cheap eta or 318is for the last few weeks, but happened across this on craigslist and couldn't pass it up, practicality be damned.

It's an '87 325is. Originally Bronzit, so let the slavering hordes of bronzit-haters run rampant. But the PO had it repainted in like what you would get if you combined Bronzit and Lachsilber, and I think it looks pretty classy.

It needs detailing:



So does the interior (actually not anymore, I spent all afternoon on it, but these photos are from before that). Still has a mounting point for the commie-era phone, and I already tore out the period "remote mounted" radar detector:


This should clean up nicely:


It's got these ridiculous Pioneer 3-ways - the original owner had it upgraded at the dealer I think:


The flashlight and original documentation, all of it, from the sadly departed Vasek Polak BMW Porsche in Hermosa Beach, of the badass BMW race team fame:


And the best, BEST part:


That's right, baby. I am the 3rd owner, and the previous two were old ladies. The car came with a sheaf of dealer maintenance records, though they get a little spotty in places - for instance, the PO says the timing belt was changed at 60K, but there's no record of that, so guess what I get to do next weekend?

The 2nd owner had it from 10K and had it religiously (and expensively) maintained by mechanics, but in typical old lady fashion...well, let's put it this way, I don't think the car's ever seen a coat of wax. Hence the paint job 3 years ago, which now needs a cut and polish because guess who didn't learn her lesson the first time?

Priority #2 mechanicish-stuff-wise will be to make good use of the 5-speed that I keep tripping over in my garage, and get rid of that slushbox - Although I have to say it's not nearly as bad as I imagined. Makes the car noticeably more doggy though, and not in the throw-it-a-frisbee, nose-in-the-crotch kind of way.

This thing's clean. And driving it is SO DIFFERENT than my old one. It's quiet, smooth, tight...and took it up on the Crest today and I'd forgotten how much fun these things are to drive, even stock, even with an automagic. It's not perfect, it needs things here and there, but it's so nice...I think I got me a keeper, especially for the price. And EVERYTHING works except the AC isn't cold anymore, surprise surprise.

I can't make it all fancy quite yet as my girl and I are saving for a house right now, but after that's taken care of...look out. At the very least the poor thing needs some euro bumpers and those silly chrome weaves painted...all in good time, all in good time.