Yesterday afternoon my 1990 325i showed in a truck from California. A few weeks ago I purchased jamierod's beautifully clean E30, I had dreams of driving it back to Philadelphia, but the pesky pandemic and small transmission leak prompted me to arrange to have the car shipped using Intercity Lines. I really can't recommend them enough for vehicle shipping, the car was picked up and delivered well within their estimated time frame, and when it showed up it had a car cover and a clear plastic sheet covering it within a covered trailer.
It has been almost 9 years since I sold my '91 Miata which was a mostly track focused daily driver, and in the last year or so I've had itch for something small light and fun to drive. The craving to own a fun car that I could work on again grew out of being invited to join Pink Octopus Racing's Lemon's team and help build the Lexus LS430 race car, and then one of my very good friends replacing his beat up Passat with a '20 Jetta GLI. My daily driver is a '12 Prius C and it is virtually maintenance free. It has 124k miles on it and all its ever needed is an oil change every 10k miles, washer fluid, and headlight bulbs. I wanted something I could tinker with on the weekends. As much as I would have loved to own a Miata again, I needed something that would allow me to bring my wife and both our dogs on road trips. An E30 was the clear answer.
My first time seeing any part of the car in person, I was super excited.
jaimerod totally undersold just how clean it really is
All the way out with the Philly skyline in the distance. The car started right up and the Stromung catback sounded amazing as it backed out the trailer.
Only 71,107 miles!
After a lovely drive up and down Kelly Drive along the banks of the Schuylkill and quick excursion onto the curvier roads in Fairmount Park I was completely smitten! The H&R Springs and Bilstein HD's handled Philly's torn up roads really well and car felt so sharp and responsive in the corners.
Before I realized it I had driven almost 40 miles, so I decided to take advantage of the remaining daylight so that I could take a closer look at everything.
The front sport seats have new shocks and have been reupholstered, I really like the Condor boot covers, and the Garagistic cupholder is a nice convenience. The radio is stuck on CODE, so I will need to pay a visit to a dealership soon to retrieve the unlock code.
The car is so unbelievably clean. The interior is immaculate and the engine has been recently detailed. I didn't have enough time yesterday evening to put it up on jackstands and really take a deep dive, but that is the plan for next Saturday.
My plans with the car are to keep improving it in small ways in an OEM+ mindset. The tires are definitely a week spot right now, I really wish there were better tires available in 195/65R14 because I love the 14" basketweaves. Unless a set of 15" euroweaves fall into my lap, I think the Ronal LS's will work for me wrapped in a decent summer tire. Coming from a Miata I would like to tighten up the shifter with Garagistic's OEM Supreme short shifter to get rid of some of the slop. Once I get it up on jackstands and really look around there might be some maintenance items I can attend to.
It has been almost 9 years since I sold my '91 Miata which was a mostly track focused daily driver, and in the last year or so I've had itch for something small light and fun to drive. The craving to own a fun car that I could work on again grew out of being invited to join Pink Octopus Racing's Lemon's team and help build the Lexus LS430 race car, and then one of my very good friends replacing his beat up Passat with a '20 Jetta GLI. My daily driver is a '12 Prius C and it is virtually maintenance free. It has 124k miles on it and all its ever needed is an oil change every 10k miles, washer fluid, and headlight bulbs. I wanted something I could tinker with on the weekends. As much as I would have loved to own a Miata again, I needed something that would allow me to bring my wife and both our dogs on road trips. An E30 was the clear answer.
My first time seeing any part of the car in person, I was super excited.
jaimerod totally undersold just how clean it really is
All the way out with the Philly skyline in the distance. The car started right up and the Stromung catback sounded amazing as it backed out the trailer.
Only 71,107 miles!
After a lovely drive up and down Kelly Drive along the banks of the Schuylkill and quick excursion onto the curvier roads in Fairmount Park I was completely smitten! The H&R Springs and Bilstein HD's handled Philly's torn up roads really well and car felt so sharp and responsive in the corners.
Before I realized it I had driven almost 40 miles, so I decided to take advantage of the remaining daylight so that I could take a closer look at everything.
The front sport seats have new shocks and have been reupholstered, I really like the Condor boot covers, and the Garagistic cupholder is a nice convenience. The radio is stuck on CODE, so I will need to pay a visit to a dealership soon to retrieve the unlock code.
The car is so unbelievably clean. The interior is immaculate and the engine has been recently detailed. I didn't have enough time yesterday evening to put it up on jackstands and really take a deep dive, but that is the plan for next Saturday.
My plans with the car are to keep improving it in small ways in an OEM+ mindset. The tires are definitely a week spot right now, I really wish there were better tires available in 195/65R14 because I love the 14" basketweaves. Unless a set of 15" euroweaves fall into my lap, I think the Ronal LS's will work for me wrapped in a decent summer tire. Coming from a Miata I would like to tighten up the shifter with Garagistic's OEM Supreme short shifter to get rid of some of the slop. Once I get it up on jackstands and really look around there might be some maintenance items I can attend to.
, but you put it on the inside of the frame rails
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