Bought a POS, this is R3Vs fault

[Northern]

I was thinking that upside down tie rod was an April Fool's easter egg lol

oh and that crazy noise?… I dunno, it hasn’t returned, but I did discover some tools in the engine bay I forgot about because MrBurgundywas supposed to bring a hood strut for me, so I lost one of the 2 retaining clips… his $$ is still zip tied to it from a month ago when he was supposed to bring it here when I was out of town lol

Sounds like a ban-worthy offense if I've ever heard one.

[BadDays]

I had a great time, chasing Simon was an absolute blast. Mike asked me if I've done anything with the car lately and I had to think, no, no real changes since the engine swap several years ago. It's been a great handling car the whole time.



I looked at the hosts/crew and thought Damn this kids look real young. And I think that's a key element that the last set of hosts had.. they had more life experience, and it showed.

I overheard the intro to the video, the girl was saying "if you're free on a Friday morning..." and that opening line has been lingering with me all day. I've known about the GVBC for years and years but never went because I had a job... like a normal person, 9-5. And I worked nights to bring in more. Now, for the first time in my life, I'm handling business on my own and at my own schedule, I finally got to go up there.
So what she said kind of pissed me off. Like the appeal of this drive on this day is that most people are working, so it's less crowded than the weekend. And the more affluent members of society can afford to go up. So I don't want to hear this young girl telling the young generation "hey, despite the increasing difficulty of being able to survive in this economy, especially for young people like this audience is, you might want to consider driving up here and see what rich people do." No ma'am, most of your audience isn't free on a Friday morning.

And on top of that, they came late. I saw quite a few cars leave by the time they got up to Newcombs. I'm usually late to everything and not a morning person, so seeing people (whose goal was to capture the essence of the event) arrive after me really threw me for a loop. You kids missed it. Omg. /rant

I should visit California when the gas prices aren't trying to compete for Gamestop's stock market price during covid! Sounds like a blast but yeah I'm right around their age and yet I feel so disconnected from modern social media execpt for Tiktok, You know it feels like when Top Gear lost it's original trinity and now nobody wants to bother with the new seasons? Yeah it feels like that with the new hosts on Donut and how Alex + Ethan left Carthrottle to pursue their own channels, Anyways i know how it feels to not be able to find the time to do anything these days. (PS, Someone bring Simon a hood strut!)

I need to figure out how to get my hood to go forward when i pull the latch again.

[MrBurgundy]

I thought he was fucking w me

but then i remembered he has two kids and a wife

and hes texting me at 1030pm

it was real

[Chilezen]

He'll text you at 2:30am when the little one won't let him sleep, but it's not going to be a pleasant text

[2mAn]

I almost text you guys at 3:30 this morning... I know one of you is probably awake at that hour

[Chilezen]

What, at this hour? No such thing!

[2mAn]

Got a pic from Friday, I liked this one even though the one on the way back Kev was way closer haha


With the track day coming up next weekend, I have my focus on the important thing... tunes. I currently have 1 speaker working using some old speaker cable. I will replace the old cable with some newer, better quality cables and unfortunately the MB Quart speakers I bought a while ago arent the right size, so I have to find a way to get the correct size, not sure why I was convinced the stock speakers were 4"

I also got this done finally.. the RTS Auto- Child Seat Tether. Car seat is now 100% secure. That top tether is a legit mod.



I have a few main things I also want to address is the slow windows, I'll see if I can at least get the driverside window to move faster than a snail pace.

[Northern]

sheeit, 3:30am your time I'd already be done my first coffee at work.

[prisonerofdoom83]

Got a pic from Friday, I liked this one even though the one on the way back Kev was way closer haha


With the track day coming up next weekend, I have my focus on the important thing... tunes. I currently have 1 speaker working using some old speaker cable. I will replace the old cable with some newer, better quality cables and unfortunately the MB Quart speakers I bought a while ago arent the right size, so I have to find a way to get the correct size, not sure why I was convinced the stock speakers were 4"

I also got this done finally.. the RTS Auto- Child Seat Tether. Car seat is now 100% secure. That top tether is a legit mod.



I have a few main things I also want to address is the slow windows, I'll see if I can at least get the driverside window to move faster than a snail pace.

Have you ever taken the window motor apart? It’s not too bed some penetrating spray then some grease works wonders

[e30m3s54turbo]

I love the pic going on a canyon drive.
That pic motivates me to drive my blk e30. 👍👍👍

[2mAn]

Had my first track day with NASA at Buttonwillow, running the Classic course in their typical 13CW configuration. I've run this track only once before, nearly 9 years ago with the Aluminum Monster. I knew I wouldn't match the time I got with that car, but was very curious how much fun I would have... Plenty of fun was had. I plan to run with NASA as much as possible going forward to slowly move up with them to potentially (though not likely lol ...SpecE30)


I was going to make some kind of video but I suck and nothing worked properly. Mic was muffled, GoPro track footage was on time-lapse instead of normal... BUT my Harrys Lap Timer actually worked on one session.



Didn't really get too many 'clean runs' but overall I think I may have been able to go ~10-15 seconds faster if there was no traffic. There was a lot of traffic though... still had fun.



at the end of the day I happened to notice my tires being well-used... hopefully they will still be good in the canyons as I dont plan on replacing them anytime soon haha



and the only pics I took of other cars...

This S54 swapped Wagon was nice. Perfect Dad mobile for SoCal.







Finally... the sad reality of HPDE. I was pitted next to this guy who had done plenty of events with NASA. Nearly the last session of the day and the mistake was made... Buttonwillow has a fun set of S-turns followed by 'Sunset' turn which puts you onto the front straight. Cars go off here all the time, usually because of not decreasing their speed to make the 90* left turn. They always suggest just going straight off and not trying to save it. He tried to save it which brough him back onto the straight and heading for the barrier wall. Sad, but driver was ok



Last car update for now, a car-nerd told me that my YOM plate has the wrong colored sticker for the month and showed me where to get one... so now I got one.

[Panici]

Boy do I love the look of the E30 compared to all the other round cars in line with you.

Judging by those tires you were moving pretty well!
Fun is what it's all about, glad you had a good time and the car survived.

[2mAn]

Boy do I love the look of the E30 compared to all the other round cars in line with you.

Judging by those tires you were moving pretty well!
Fun is what it's all about, glad you had a good time and the car survived.

Oh yea, it was a good ol time... Trying to figure out what picture to purchase to memorialize the event, link to pics here

I also tried something because I love doing stupid things in the name of science (and the state of gas prices lol) . I learned that upon arrival at Buttonwillow, If I fill up the tank I can run 4 20min sessions AND drive the ~125 miles home on that same tank of gas. Fuel light turned on just a few miles from home.

The other thing that I discovered is that I need AWDBOB to send me a care package containing the M20B25 cruise control module that goes under the hood, a blank piece for the dash and these other inner glovebox trim we had previously discussed.
Send me a PM with your demands, Sir

[Panici]

Trying to figure out what picture to purchase to memorialize the event

You are only picking one photo?

These are my three faves, with the first one being my choice if I could only pick one!

https://www.caliphotography.com/i/media--2FApr-18-2026-Nasa+--28Sat--29+--5B--5Bd61f2ef246--5D--5D--2FHPDE+1-2--2FSession+1--2FCML_0572_Apr1826_1007AM_CaliPhoto.jpg/all

https://www.caliphotography.com/i/media--2FApr-18-2026-Nasa+--28Sat--29+--5B--5Bd61f2ef246--5D--5D--2FHPDE+1-2--2FSession+1--2FCML_0284_Apr1826_1003AM_CaliPhoto.jpg/all

https://www.caliphotography.com/i/media--2FApr-18-2026-Nasa+--28Sat--29+--5B--5Bd61f2ef246--5D--5D--2FHPDE+1-2--2FSession+3--2FCML_0191_Apr1826_206PM_CaliPhoto.jpg/all

[2mAn]

You are only picking one photo?

Yes, no reason to buy several...

Cross-posting this here, but made its own thread just in case someone actually searches for similar answers down the road. Basically, the never-ending project of trying to un-fuq the E30, I am trying to identify a bunch of various connectors.

Group 1 is behind the dash in the glovebox area.

This group sort-of looked like it would go behind the HVAC panel, but the blue connector should be for the Cruise Control Module, the others... no idea.


Pretty sure I have a few of these identified. 2 wires for glovebox light, rectangle connector for the flashlight, but the rest?...


Finally theres this. No clue at all. These wires/ connector are literally coming off the ECU!



Now we switch to under the hood. This group is on the passenger side. I believe the boot-ed 2 pin connector is for the coolant that would've gone on the side of the radiator IF mine had the original early model setup, but mine has the late model radiator and reservoir. The long-ish chewed up connector SHOULD be for the exterior temp sensor, yes?

Those 2 wires Im holding... no idea?... Notice anything else?




Now, switch to the driverside. Similar connector to the pass side, but theres a bridged connector too...


and after a few minutes of searching around via links provided by AWDBOB, and some more browsing on ebay, I found an actuator and it turned out to be SUPER local to me... went and got both the actuator AND the module for $80 which seems like the right price...


Starting from here:


We move under the dash to this connector.


The other side is under the engine bay right now, but I still need some more time to find the hole in the firewall I need to feed it through...


So for now, it sits here...

The Actuator connects to here and basically heads to the throttle body. Notice the tight fit to the garagistic strut bar... yes, I broke the plastic trying to bend the metal.


Theres the module which is mounted in the glovebox area to the blue connector pictured above. Here it is "mounted"


SO what else is needed for this to work?... (1) Plug it in, after finding the hole and routing the wiring to the connector, (2) Who knows! ... that might be it! ...(3) fix more broken stuff and find the homes for all those loose wires...