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Finally got my E30!

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    Finally got my E30!

    Hey everyone,

    I finally found my E30 after searching for 9 months. She's pretty mint and I feel like I got a crazy good deal thanks to all the great information and people on this forum!

    Introducing my 1990 BMW 325i in Bronzit and manual transmission with just under 70k miles.

    Let me know what you guys think!


    #2
    Looks very clean! Congrats! What do you plan to do with it?

    Comment


      #3
      dang, i dont like bronzit but thats a great canvas to start with! congrats! looks super clean
      "In God we trust. All others must bring data." -W. E. Deming

      /// 1987 325is /// Project Thread
      Past: 87 is, 88ix, 88 i, 87 ic, 89 ix, 17 others.

      Comment


        #4
        I tried to drive it to work today when fuel started gushing from the bottom of the car. I bought some fuel line and fixed it, but what a perfect introduction to an E30, lol.

        I'd like to improve handling first. I'm doing some research but it's a lot to sort through. Any suggestions?

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by jaimerod View Post
          I tried to drive it to work today when fuel started gushing from the bottom of the car. I bought some fuel line and fixed it, but what a perfect introduction to an E30, lol.

          I'd like to improve handling first. I'm doing some research but it's a lot to sort through. Any suggestions?
          been there done that. In a 7/11 parking lot in boston. in January. My hands have never hurt so much from that sub-freezing gasoline!

          Im sure you going to get a myriad of opinions but you really can't go wrong with bilsteins and H&R springs. I love them. I also always replace the front control arm bushings. I prefer poly bushings but they do tend to squeak alot. Ive used the offset M3 bushings and they give a nice firm steering response as well. I would have the trailing arm bushings and subframe bushings done if they look tired but thats not a cheap venture unless your doing it yourself.

          It looks like your weaves are pretty decent, but an easy handing improvement is to increse rim size so you have a smaller sidewall profile (shorter sidewall) which makes a very noticable reduction in tire sway, especially going from 14s to 16" rims.

          First things first, change the timing belt unless you can be 100% sure its been done in the last few years. Its not that hard to change if you are handy with a wrench and can follow a write-up.

          Alot of the enjoyment I get from e30s is simple stuff like a great tight shifter. I had a z4 lever and all new bushings in my last one and every shift was like racking a round in a bolt action rifle, smooth and crisp. I love that.

          Also, dollar for dollar, sport seats bring more enjoyment than most of the other things I've spent money on, but I guess im all about the tactile experience of driving. :)
          "In God we trust. All others must bring data." -W. E. Deming

          /// 1987 325is /// Project Thread
          Past: 87 is, 88ix, 88 i, 87 ic, 89 ix, 17 others.

          Comment


            #6
            I picked up a set of tan sport seats for $150 out in San Diego this weekend. They look pretty good but have 1 tear in the driver seat. I'm going to try and do the upholstery myself but it does look like a challenge and the air springs look to be pretty pricey but in desperate need of replacement.

            Any recommendations on where I should get the new skins and air springs? I am thinking LSeat because they are pretty inexpensive and real leather, but I have no clue about the air springs.

            I'm going to try to do the timing belt myself in the next couple of weeks. From what I found on YouTube it doesn't seem too difficult. I am thinking about getting the kit from Turners or FCP Euro.

            Any tips are appreciated!

            Comment


              #7
              for the seat shocks, just look at the various ones for sale here in the classifieds. I found a full set for under $100, still brand new. Im in the same boat with the sport seats, and I plan to use lseat.com covers also. Some people have used others, but there has also been many on here who've been able to recover the seats with great results. A lot easier if you dont rush.

              As far as suspension goes, it depends on your budget and goals. I personally am not a fan of any of the chinese coil options, Id prefer a H&R Race/ IE3 (350fr/500rr IIRC) spring with some Single adjustable Konis and thats what I wouldve gotten for my current E30 if I didnt have a smoking deal on some GC Coils (375ff/550rr). A good street spring rate is in the 3-400 range up front and 5-600 in the back. I even had a 500fr/700rr and it wasnt too bad, but that car was more oriented towards track/ canyon duty than daily driving.

              Where are you located again? LA? Im in Inglewood
              Simon
              Current Cars:
              -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

              Make R3V Great Again -2020

              Comment


                #8
                2mAn I'm in Irvine now, but I used to live in Lawndale and Gardena a few years back. Thanks for the suggestion. I found the air springs in the classified and will probably go with those.

                I am thinking of going with just shocks right now because a buddy of mine wants to do autocross, and for my first time, I want to try the stock class. I am itching to get modifying so I may just take your suggestions and get springs and go into a modified level. I also heard good things about BC Racing coil-overs but I don't want to weld. Modbargains did my other car so if I go with coil-overs I might hit them up. What do you think about BC Racing coil-overs?

                BTW, timing belt seems to be freshly changed! At least that's what the sticker says and I'm included to believe it. It looks legit. However, the car mileage shows it was changed just under 1k ago and the sticker looks to be a bit old school. What do you guys think?

                Comment


                  #9
                  I would autocross it bone stock and you will see how much the car needs and modify accordingly. It will take a LOT for an E30 to be competitive in autox so you might as well build it to suit your needs. I think El-Toro still has auto-x, check out motorsport.reg if you're a BMW CCA (OR BETTER YET THE E30 CCA!) then you can autox with CCA at Quallcomm stadium in San Diego
                  Simon
                  Current Cars:
                  -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                  Make R3V Great Again -2020

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I took the car to autocross about a month ago, bone stock and it was so much fun. Seems like there is so much body roll I am going to start tumbling into a ditch.

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                    I dropped the car using the Turner Kit with the Bilstein Shocks and Eibach springs. It rides so much nicer now and looks so sweet in it's newly dropped stance. I also added a Red46 sump armor skid plate just in case because the ground clearance isn't very good anymore.

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                    I bought a lip and primed and painted it. I think it looks much better than the matte black lip it had on before. I also added the euro grills for what I think is a more aggressive look.
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                    What else... Oh! I managed to finally get the sport seats upholstered which took about 14 hours of work on my part. It was pretty hard, but the results turned out pretty amazing IMHO. If you look carefully you can see the Garagistic cupholder that I bought.
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                    I'll post more when I think of what to do next.

                    Any suggestions for a little bit more go? I added a Turner Chip when they were on sale for $175 which was nice, but I'd like something a bit more.





                    Comment


                      #11
                      I also got my Stromung Exhaust installed, but I must have did something wrong because it's crooked and hanging too low. I'll probably take it to the muffler show sometime soon to get them to fix it for me. It sounds pretty good tho!

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                        #12
                        Awsome updates man! Dont the sport seats make it feel so much better? The upholstery looks great and the painted lip is a nice touch Keep it up
                        "In God we trust. All others must bring data." -W. E. Deming

                        /// 1987 325is /// Project Thread
                        Past: 87 is, 88ix, 88 i, 87 ic, 89 ix, 17 others.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Very nice job on the seats (and everything else)! I picked up my seat shocks (air springs) from one of the sellers on R3V. Installation is pretty straight forward.

                          Regarding the Stromung (good choice) fitment, you'll want all the hardware and clamps lose before tightening it down. If yours is hanging low you may need new upper muffler straps/hangers/donuts. You can probably bend the existing upper muffler straps to get the rear muffler positioned where you want it, then tighten everything down.

                          Keep up the good work!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Awesome update! Car is coming along nicely. Make sure you make it out to the Dockweiler gtg later this month!

                            Id suggest looking into some lighting upgrades. Theres a lot of ways to go about it, because anything is an improvement over the stock sealed beams.

                            Glad you're enjoying the car and spending money wisely on quality stuff
                            Simon
                            Current Cars:
                            -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                            Make R3V Great Again -2020

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
                              Awesome update! Car is coming along nicely. Make sure you make it out to the Dockweiler gtg later this month!

                              Id suggest looking into some lighting upgrades. Theres a lot of ways to go about it, because anything is an improvement over the stock sealed beams.

                              Glad you're enjoying the car and spending money wisely on quality stuff

                              I made some mock-ups of some lighting and front end updates I'm thinking about just to see what it would look like. What do you think?
                              Attached Files

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