Willy's 91' E30

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  • Big Willy
    E30 Addict
    • Jun 2009
    • 552

    #1

    Willy's 91' E30

    I am making this thread to cover the progress of my E30.

    Intro

    I inherited my 1991 325i 2 door Alpinweiss from my mother who bought the car new off of the lot from the BMW of San Francisco. Although it is my first car I have no intentions of ever selling it, I'm in love with the shape and the driving characteristics the E30 has to offer.

    Although it only had about 89,000 miles when I first received it, the body, and suspension had seen better days, however the engine is in supreme condition contrary to the engine bay picture shown below. After reading many tutorials and buying the Bentley Manual and 101 Performance Projects for your BMW books, I began to realize how easy it was to replace parts and become the weekend mechanical that I see myself become in the future. So I have started replacing many of the parts that need replacing and fixing small problems while still bringing some of the more technical projects to my local repair shop. I will be posting updates, hopefully frequently, and welcome feedback on anything.

    I plan to go with a simple but effective look, I am using kamotor's car as inspiration. I eventually will pick up another E30 for track/rally beater events. I want this car to last as long as possible, since I've been driven in it since birth.

    Pictures:



















    Sorry about the blurry engine bay, will get a better picture.



    Ugly Gaps, soon to be fixed





    Accompanied in the garage with a 1985 Porsche 911





    Bump in the rump


    Now nice and straight


    Some bends in the rocker


    Straightened out, and dirt weight reduction


    Front Valence was a bit tweaked



    Now much better


    Filling in pin-holes, road rash, ect. with some glaze


    Then primed



    Big tweak with the front valence under the "kidney" grill





    Fixing it with some elbow grease, and a nail gun, you can see how much of it was filled with bondo


    Better, but still in need of tweaking



    More progress



    Had to take the front valence off to get a better angle



    Now just need to straighten it a little more then bondo


    I think an update is appropriate.This week I will be wet sanding the entire car in preparation for the re-spray scheduled for next Thursday. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:







    Also have the mud guards mounted, been a great help in keeping the clean car from mud, a little low in the back though.










    Nearly there, will be able to get it perfect when wet sanding.


    Huge improvement from before.




    Also have a helmet that I have been preparing to re-spray the same color of as the car. The Euro-spec headlights also need a rebuild, may also smoke the highs, depending on how much extra time I have this week.


    Going to be working on the bumpers and trim tonight and tomorrow, since it is predicted to snow tomorrow, and a cramped garage is a little hard to do a guide coat. I will also start to be masking off the windows for the guide coat.

    Thanks for reading, will update the original post and make another post in this thread as it progresses.
    Last edited by Big Willy; 10-30-2015, 06:23 PM.
    instagram
  • iwantspeed
    No R3VLimiter
    • Dec 2007
    • 3164

    #2
    very nice
    welcome to r3v


    -
    Project
    Parts for Sale
    Feedback
    YouTube Channel

    Comment

    • Mfever
      E30 Enthusiast
      • May 2007
      • 1058

      #3
      dont refinish your bcaps... stick to the bbs rs idea. looks great. keep up the good work. also i would go with race set up.

      Comment

      • kamotors
        R3V OG
        • Nov 2007
        • 7102

        #4
        nice car, nothing wrong with bottle caps if you like to play in the dirt:)


        7speedshop.com

        Comment

        • Big Willy
          E30 Addict
          • Jun 2009
          • 552

          #5
          Originally posted by kamotors
          nice car, nothing wrong with bottle caps if you like to play in the dirt:)
          That I do, Idaho allows for some fun rally experiences, I plan to run a couple rallyXs this summer on a closed track with my car.
          instagram

          Comment

          • Big Willy
            E30 Addict
            • Jun 2009
            • 552

            #6
            (6.03.2010) Be-lated update of new purchase of basket weaves, and front-end suspension re-fresh. Bought 2 Lemforder tie-rods, and M3 CABs from Blunttech.

            Basket weaves:



            Locking-Plate of Nightmares:



            [Also updated the OP with more pictures.]
            instagram

            Comment

            • Kershaw
              R3V OG
              • Feb 2010
              • 11822

              #7
              looks good. 3rd pic is amazing.
              AWD > RWD

              Comment

              • Big Willy
                E30 Addict
                • Jun 2009
                • 552

                #8
                Originally posted by Kershaw
                looks good. 3rd pic is amazing.
                Thanks, I liked it so much I printed it and framed it in my room.
                instagram

                Comment

                • MR E30 325is
                  No R3VLimiter
                  • Dec 2008
                  • 3299

                  #9
                  Nice project! It looks like a great place to start!

                  Welcome to the E30 addiction!
                  My previous build (currently E30-less)
                  http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=170390

                  A 2016 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4x4 Offroad in Inferno is my newest obsession

                  Comment

                  • trackjunkie21
                    No R3VLimiter
                    • Jan 2010
                    • 3962

                    #10
                    Great car. And love the low mileage!
                    Your signature picture has been removed since it contained the Photobucket "upgrade your account" image.

                    Originally posted by Wh33lhop
                    VANOS: sometimes you just need to go full retard.

                    Comment

                    • Big Willy
                      E30 Addict
                      • Jun 2009
                      • 552

                      #11
                      RallyX Update: Really enjoyed this, and the more fun while I still have stock suspension. Threw on some fairly new snow tires on my new basket weaves and went down to the first Snake River (Local Chapter) SCCA RallyX.

                      Pictures:








                      Videos:



                      Last edited by Big Willy; 06-26-2010, 09:39 AM.
                      instagram

                      Comment

                      • Big Willy
                        E30 Addict
                        • Jun 2009
                        • 552

                        #12
                        Much needed update:



                        Bump in the rump


                        Now nice and straight


                        Some bends in the rocker


                        Straightened out, and dirt weight reduction


                        Front Valence was a bit tweaked



                        Now much better


                        Filling in pin-holes, road rash, ect. with some glaze


                        Then primed



                        Big tweak with the front valence under the "kidney" grill





                        Fixing it with some elbow grease, and a nail gun, you can see how much of it was filled with bondo


                        Better, but still in need of tweaking



                        More progress



                        Had to take the front valence off to get a better angle



                        Now just need to straighten it a little more then bondo
                        instagram

                        Comment

                        • Big Willy
                          E30 Addict
                          • Jun 2009
                          • 552

                          #13
                          Original Post Updated
                          instagram

                          Comment

                          • CHIF8008
                            No R3VLimiter
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 3447

                            #14
                            dang, a lot of work put in the body. good work
                            -FREEDOM- is cruisin at 80, windows down and listening to the perfect song-thinking "this is it"
                            -The Beauty in the Tragedy-
                            MECHANIC SMASH!!- (you all know you do it)
                            Got Drop?? ;-)
                            Originally posted by JinormusJ
                            But of course
                            E30s are know to be notoriously really really really ridiculously good looking

                            Comment

                            • moe30
                              Mod Crazy
                              • Jun 2010
                              • 721

                              #15
                              Good build so far

                              Comment

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