Noob: My 325iC Arrived Today

[lovemy318]

why is there an upside down door handle in the back?

[talltorontoguy]

Welcome to R3V! I'm sure you're going to love your car! Mine was exactly the same but in much worse shape - you did well! You will put it all together and get it perfect, and then pull it all apart again and start over. See before and after pics below.:D

Moderators... Should we get a vert subforum going? There seems to be more and more vert owners on r3v.

BEFORE (last summer's "after" picture)





AFTER (this year's "before" picture, taken Jan 19)

[VacMan]

why is there an upside down door handle in the back?

You use it to pop the "top cover", the lid of the compartment that the top sits in when it's down.

[funcrew]

OK, so it looks like all the wear items except for oil filter & tires are what the car came with 20 years ago. Here's some additional pics of fun stuff I've found so far:

Ignition Rotor:


Brake Rotors:


Air Filter (I always tell my wife not to fall for the lube shop's sales pitch on air filters, but this proves it's possible to take that policy too far):


Headlights:


Any advice on getting a new headlight? I don't want to change anything; just get a headlight without such a goldfish bowl effect to it.

[Wishno87]

you could just take the lens off and reseal it

[funcrew]

you could just take the lens off and reseal it

I didn't realize they came apart. Any tips on sealant & procedure?

[Wishno87]

well if you look up the thread for the DIY smoking of your headlights it tells you how to take them apart. basically take the bucket out and put it in the oven to soften the glue and pry it off. refer to the DIY for exact directions though

[alpinweiB]

nice buy. sounds like my car (except mine's not a cabby) but as far as the care that was taken of it-makes me want to shudder. oil was never changed. neither was the filter. had a busted up air damn and pathetic bent up rims. the intake manifold had 6 nuts holding it on...go figure. water pump had 2 bolts holding it on...also awesome. leaked like a sieve. anyways, patch it up and treat it well. have fun. these cars are awesome


edit: forgot to mention they didnt change the timing belt. soo i think we all know what happens when that belt goes SNAP. but you wont make that mistake

[scabzzzz]

Wheres the obligatory r3v bumper swap and is lip comments?

But no seriously, you should do that. Would look uber hot. And then some dished out rims. Uber sexy time actually.

Once you complete that list of basics, IMMEDIATELY move on to Suspension components. All bushings, shocks, struts, sway bar links etc.. Its probably the most rewarding upgrade for an E30.

[pe2one]

enjoy your new cabby

[VacMan]

Looks like you're making some progress. :D

[eyagel]

I didn't realize they came apart. Any tips on sealant & procedure?

remove headlight, remove all plastic clips and what-not, place in oven (middle tray thing) set to 375, when timer goes off wait a minute then take them out, carefully pry at lense using like 2 screwdrivers or whatever..then to reseal just use some silicone.

[M42Technik]

That kid is going to grow up loving E30's.

Good luck on your project!

[NC325iC]

your release lever problem may be because there isnt any trim around it, the pin that holds the handle to the rest of it where it hinges likes to wiggle itself out, use a flat head to push it back down


doing the top isnt that hard if you can get your hands on the tape bmw made on how to do it, my dad got his hands on an original and i think he sent it to some guy that was gonna make it into dvds or something like that

[NC325iC]

your release lever problem may be because there isnt any trim around it, the pin that holds the handle to the rest of it where it hinges likes to wiggle itself out, use a flat head to push it back down