My '89 325i Project

[RLloyd]

Finally popped my e30 cherry :D

Longtime BMW family and I've had five of my own, currently in a 95 M3.

Anyway, I saw this car for sale and everything in my body told me to buy it. It's not the prettiest or the cleanest I've ever seen, but as a project car I was very pleased with the overall condition. A few weeks later and my name is on the title.

Specs:
- 1989 325i Coupe
- 5 speed
- 265,000 miles

On the fritz currently is a driveshaft/differential problem. It clunks very loudly, vibrates, and makes so much noise its hard to hear the engine. It was involved in a low speed "whoops" that bent the lower valence, oil cooler, and core support. The fan contacted the radiator and wouldn't go back on, so the previous owner just removed it. It's fine as long as the car doesnt sit too long in traffic.

There's a few things here and there, but for the price I was happy. Enough talking, onto the pictures:







The proverbial trunk-full-o-parts








Didn't say it was perfect;)














Can't say exactly what I want to do with it yet or when it will be done. Most likely a slow but satisfying project. Thanks for looking.

[RLloyd]

First progress...

When I bought the car, I was just about to graduate and go off to Europe for my grad trip...London, Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Munich (BMW Museum), and finish off at the 24hr at Nurburgring.

One of the exhibits in the Museum:


And a shot at the ring:


But I digress..

Finally moved out of my apartment at school and brought the E30 home :)


With it's stablemate (my DD):


Now mechanically speaking, it's not great. While I was moving the car back at my old apartment, it literally BLEW a spark plug out of the head I had no idea what the sound was and I heard a rattle in the engine compartment (turns out it was the spark plug :rofl1) I limped over to an auto store and got a spark plug but it doesn't seem to torque tight into the head, perhaps the threads got stripped. At least it settled in and I could make the 2 hour drive home without the thunderous open header sound from one cylinder. It leaks oil, I still need to figure out what to do about the driveshaft, and it has 265k on it...shit is going to happen.

For the future, Im planning on an OBD1 M52 setup, maybe if I get lucky I can score an aluminum block M52. First I need a job and some cashflow before I begin dreaming of that.

For the meantime, if she can't go nicely, might as well make her look nice :)

First shipment:


Next was some euro trim:




And the new and improved front fascia:


I also picked up a replacement rear taillight, the one that came on the car wasn't very good, and I just mounted up my euro plate filler. Also in the works is a used iS spoiler that I am rattle canning with some black plastic paint at the moment, as well as some OEM chrome kidneys on the way (can't stand black kidneys).

I used peanut butter on the trim and mirrors (WOW that stuff works) although I don't have pictures yet, but what a difference. Should be getting a shipment from AutoGeek soon so I can begin the process of trying to restore the paint as best as I can

[E30_(1st Musk)_]

nice! good to see that your off on a good foot

[lambo]

I like where this is going. I need some euro grills and trim...and lots of other euro stuff lol

[RLloyd]

nice! good to see that your off on a good foot

Thanks! I'm actually in Agoura, SFV is a 15min drive.

I like where this is going. I need some euro grills and trim...and lots of other euro stuff lol

Tischer BMW for the euro trim and abrahams for the grilles, turn signals, and plate filler. I think it was somewhere around $200 for everything shipped and it made a big difference cosmetically :D

[RLloyd]

Some more updates:

I got the car up on the lift and pretty much everything from the tranny back needs to be replaced. Driveshaft is screwed, guibo, U joints, everything. I bought the car with a singing diff, so that had to be replaced anyway. Not a problem, S3.73 in the future I hope.

My job situation is a little unsure currently. I have a possible opening in Columbus, Ohio. If thats the case, I don't know if I can keep the car or not, sell it, sell my M3, who knows. Basically this is the perfect car for a 24V swap, so if the drivetrain is shot, what does it really matter? We will see how things progress.

Anyway, on to some pictures.

Got these on, love them.

DSC_0020 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

The old grilles and kidneys, they will be mounted on a wall eventually.

DSC_0021 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

Then came the interior clean up. Everytime I looked between the seat and console I could taste my last meal again, so I decided to finally do something about it.

God this seat is so crap

DSC_0025 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr


DSC_0027 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

A bit of a storage closet on the inside

DSC_0028 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

Plate filler and iS lip installed a while ago

DSC_0033 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

And with the rest of the stable. 3 BMW's forces alcohol consumption to be entirely of two buck chuck. Priorities straight?

DSC_0032 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

After, and 51 cents richer

DSC_0034 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

Back in for the time being until I figure out what the future will hold for the car.

DSC_0035 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

Doesn't mean it cant look decent though. When I bought it, the car was oxidized to hell and had very little shine. Honestly, it was probably to far gone to completely resurrect and spend lots of dough on professional products. So I made use with what I had on hand and did my best.

DSC_0277 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr


DSC_0284 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

This may be a little hard to see, but the door is untouched and the rear panel is after some work. It definitely brought out more of the alpine and sanded of the 20+ years of AIDS, the clap, crap, and other disregard from the previous owners.

DSC_0287 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

After

DSC_0311 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

Getting some of the shine back

DSC_0288 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr


DSC_0302 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

This photo cracks me up. This needs some addressing in the future

DSC_0293 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

Thats it for now, I still need to roll it out of the garage and do the rest of the car.

[squidmaster]

nice.
amazing paint for 265k.

[E30_(1st Musk)_]

Thanks! I'm actually in Agoura, SFV is a 15min drive.



Tischer BMW for the euro trim and abrahams for the grilles, turn signals, and plate filler. I think it was somewhere around $200 for everything shipped and it made a big difference cosmetically :D

yeah then your really close to me! im very close to calabasas..

nice progress! wish a detail like that would work on my car.

keep up the great work

[RLloyd]

Alright well since its been either 110*+ or freak thunderstorms yesterday, I haven't been able to roll it of of the garage to get the space I need to detail the entire car. So, here is just a few before and after shots. Huge difference.

Guess the before and the after lol. You can see just how oxidized / swirled / crap the paint was...

DSC_0322 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr


DSC_0325 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

My dear, dear friend over the last couple years, he makes everything better.

DSC_0328 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

Forgot to add / take pictures of the mirrors when I did them. 100% peanut butter treatment. I am amazing how well it works, I did it on the mouldings as well. Its been a good month so it will need another application soon, but compared to my before picture in the first post, night and day. Picture is a bit blurry.

DSC_0350 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

And I finally picked up the correct size nuts from the hardware store to secure the iS lip on permanently.

DSC_0319 by rml.lloyd, on Flickr

In other news, I am bidding on a driveshaft on ebay. If all goes well, I will that, a new CSB rebuild kit from pelican, and a 4.10LSD in the near future.

[mr.vang]

nice... really make me want to grab an e30. hopefully i'll buy one tomorrow.

[rares]

looking good, keep it up...

[freeride53]

I don't understand what you mean by peanut butter..but car looks good.
There are a fair amount of aw cars in the jy's around here, I think a new valence would be in check..
Good luck though, car looks great.

[timofeylbelarus]

nice dude i will need to polish my 318i maybe it'll look as good as yours, good work

[RLloyd]

Thanks for the kind words.

I don't understand what you mean by peanut butter..but car looks good.
There are a fair amount of aw cars in the jy's around here, I think a new valence would be in check..
Good luck though, car looks great.

Literally, you put creamy peanut butter on a rag and polish black trim with it. The oils hydrate the trim/mirrors unlike armor-all or similar products, which tend to dry out the trim from my experience. But my mirrors are unpainted. Obviously if you have painted mirrors the pb trick won't work.

This car will never be a daily driver, I would like it to become a 24v auto-x/track car eventually. Im trying to now focus on getting her running properly. The valence does bug me a bit though. I'd consider buying another if I could get one for cheap preferably with a spoiler on it.

[drutt23]

Good progress so far man. I'm kinda in the same boat as you at the moment. I'll be picking up a 92 325i on Wednesday to swap the M50 into my E30. Keep up the good work!!