This thread has been a long time coming, I've been on the hunt for a worthwhile e30 project car ever since selling my 18 year owned e30 track car last year. Not only did I regret selling that car, but I also slightly regret taking it so far in one direction that it became completely impractical to enjoy on a daily basis (fully stripped, fully caged, etc etc). After watching prices skyrocket, I got a bit desperate and bought a few late model "project" cars that were a bit too ambitious to take on in my current life situation, then this thing popped up locally and I just couldn't resist-
It was clearly a flip, a bit misrepresented and definitely over-priced... then again who really knows what overpriced is for e30's anymore? It was solid enough for me and I took it home!
Details:
As I mentioned, my current situation doesn't lend itself to a full-on build right now. We bought a house in late 2021 and I am in the middle of a garage build project, which has been an excruciatingly slow going and drawn out process in the small town that I live in. I didn't plan to really dive into this car immediately, but after some closer inspection it was obvious that some of the swap details needed improvement. The flip-guy also informed me that he accidentally drilled into the radiator for some reason, which was true. Ended up ditching the custom radiator, and going for a more traditional e36 m3 setup.
Once I had that sorted, the car was at least drivable but steel needed a significant amount of work to be enjoyable
Initial impressions and issues list:
As it sits currently- threw on an iS lip and some 15" weaves from one of the aforementioned aborted projects. Tires are new 205/50 Conti Extreme Contact Sport. I've just been using it to tote around my MTB since I sold my Range Rover.
It was clearly a flip, a bit misrepresented and definitely over-priced... then again who really knows what overpriced is for e30's anymore? It was solid enough for me and I took it home!
Details:
- '90 325is
- ~205k miles
- E32 M60B40
- Getrag 420G 6sp
- 3.73 LSD
- H&R Race/Bilstein with some kind of fixed camber plate
- Recaro LSC / LSB seats
As I mentioned, my current situation doesn't lend itself to a full-on build right now. We bought a house in late 2021 and I am in the middle of a garage build project, which has been an excruciatingly slow going and drawn out process in the small town that I live in. I didn't plan to really dive into this car immediately, but after some closer inspection it was obvious that some of the swap details needed improvement. The flip-guy also informed me that he accidentally drilled into the radiator for some reason, which was true. Ended up ditching the custom radiator, and going for a more traditional e36 m3 setup.
Once I had that sorted, the car was at least drivable but steel needed a significant amount of work to be enjoyable
Initial impressions and issues list:
- TOO LOUD!- Dual 2.5" exhaust all the way back, one Dynomax muffler... Needs more
- No head unit
- Drivers lock cylinder broken and removed
- Paint faded/peeling- hood and front/rear bumpers
- Brakes- TERRIBLE. No bite and extremely inconsistent pedal feel
- Missing front swaybar bracket
- 3.73 too short, luckily the car came with a 3.15 torsen and I'm going to give that a shot
- Shift rod is rubbing guibo in reverse and slight drivetrain vibration @ hwy speeds. Need to see how everything is mounted in this car, I bet driveline alignment is not ideal
- E32 Oil filter housing not working well. Looking to change to an S62 Gulf oil filter housing for remote mounting and oil cooler addition. Have a line on a couple Bentley/RR versions of this part available for cheap in the UK
- General cosmetic tighten up- Clean up swap, mechanical refresh, etc
- Cosmetic refresh- Paint bumpers/hood, PDR and paint correction, floormats and interior freshen up, dash cap
- Track ready- 4pt Roll bar, seats/harnesses, hoping to get my old MCS 2-ways and 5 lug parts back on this car
- Sell on BaT for massive profit (just kidding)
As it sits currently- threw on an iS lip and some 15" weaves from one of the aforementioned aborted projects. Tires are new 205/50 Conti Extreme Contact Sport. I've just been using it to tote around my MTB since I sold my Range Rover.
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