My 1990 Brilliantrot 325is

[columbo_01]

Hello R3V -

After about a year of checking the "Cars for sale page" and Craigslist. Along with various other car websites. I finally found the car I was looking for. An ad popped up on craigslist and the buyer was actually 30 min from me. I contacted him immediately and arranged to see the car the following day.

To my surprise the car was in very good shape. After talking with the owner he gave me some background on the car. He had purchased the car from his friend, whom purchased it from the original owner. The gentleman I purchased it from only had it a year before deciding to part ways with the car. He stated he had to many projects going on and the E30 wasn't getting driven enough. Anyways, after about an hour and half of talking, I purchased the car and drove it home. Big smile on my face and all. I hope to keep it for many years to come.



Cool fact: This is the original license plate that was on the car since it was shipped from Germany! I'd like to believe that's true LOL

[Poorhouse]

Can't see pics..

[columbo_01]

First order of business

Mandatory oil change.
I've had an E34 in the past so the oil change on the E30 was pretty straight forward. Penn Grade oil was recommended to me by another forum member here so I thought I'd give it a try.


While I was under the car I noticed a pretty bad leak coming from the fuel pump lines. There was a pretty nasty mess on my garage floor too.



The fuel lines were in good condition. The clamp was very loose and just needed to be tighten. Problem fixed.




Also noticed this!


This will have to be addressed soon.

[columbo_01]

The seller had been meaning to do an antenna Z3 swap in the future - he never got around to it so that was included in the sale. The old motor on the original one died.
Out with the old



In with the new.


Looks a lot cleaner.

[mike.bmw]

Nice looking E30! Any big plans for it?

[columbo_01]

Nice looking E30! Any big plans for it?

Hi Mike-
Thanks. No big plans at the moment. I took it to RRT to have it looked at. The guys there are awesome and the tech said the car was in very good shape. Of course there is a list of things recommended to change but nothing to big. I see this car being an OEM+ vehicle in the future. Your car and Zeems is a prime example of that.

[mike.bmw]

Hi Mike-
Thanks. No big plans at the moment. I took it to RRT to have it looked at. The guys there are awesome and the tech said the car was in very good shape. Of course there is a list of things recommended to change but nothing to big. I see this car being an OEM+ vehicle in the future. Your car and Zeems is a prime example of that.

Cool, RRT is a good bunch and very knowledgable. I'm heading over there in the next couple weeks for an HPDE tech inspection and alignment.

Looking forward to future updates in this thread!

[Aleman]

Nice E30 man! How many miles & what'd you pay for it? Original paint and all?

[columbo_01]

Nice E30 man! How many miles & what'd you pay for it? Original paint and all?

Thanks Aleman-
Paint seems to be original. There are a few areas where its sun damaged, but a majority of the paint is decent. I know the car has been garaged its whole life so I'm sure that's helped.
Odometer stopped working at 189k but it's estimated to be at 194k. I actually just ordered the replacement gears to fix the odometer, so that'll be my next DIY.

[columbo_01]

So about 2 weeks ago I got around to finally replacing the odometer gears I ordered from Garagistic. When I purchased the car the odometer had been stuck at 189k. From the information I got from the seller - I estimated the mileage to be around 194k, so it was adjusted to such. While I had the cluster out I decided to replace all the bulbs, tighten the gas and coolant bolts, and give everything a proper cleaning.



The culprit!

After all was done I took an air can and gently blew the cluster to make sure no debris was left behind. Now I can document repairs properly!

[AWDBOB]

I love this car! It is my car's twin. Cluster repairs are always so satisfying. If you ever need small cluster stuff, shoot me a PM.

[Albie325]

Really nice car and looks like it already came with a few tasteful upgrades in the interior. I imagine a good cut/polish will liven that paint right up, in a nice and harder to find color no less. Sweet pickup!

[columbo_01]

I love this car! It is my car's twin. Cluster repairs are always so satisfying. If you ever need small cluster stuff, shoot me a PM.

Thank you! And I appreciate the offer on the parts. I'm really glad I decided to make the time to fix the odometer. A simple yet satisfying repair - I agree!

Really nice car and looks like it already came with a few tasteful upgrades in the interior. I imagine a good cut/polish will liven that paint right up, in a nice and harder to find color no less. Sweet pickup!

Previous owner upgraded the radio as well as swapping out the original airbag steering wheel for an M Tech 1. I believe at some point the seats were reconditioned using the Masters Smart Repairs kit. I plan on doing a proper polish soon but with kids, work and school its hard to find time!

[laidback93]

Subscribed! Nothing like a clean late model 'iS'

I see that you have the M Tech steering wheel. I still have the airbag wheel, but plan on swapping sometime in the future.

[columbo_01]

Beautiful Winter Day

I haven't done much since my last post. I've just been enjoying her really. She drives wonderfully and I love being in this car every second I am. I got a new job which requires me to drive a little bit further south then my previous job. So there is more scenery to my route now. So I stopped during lunch and snapped a few pics.