The Adventures of an E30

[mRodiek]

Sooo Im sitting here at JMP waiting for my exhaust leak to get fixed & I figured why not make a thread? Im trying to get to know names/faces so I thought this may be a good way to start!

Im newish to E30s & the euro car scene in general but I love it so far. I picked up my 88 325is in October for a solid price from another R3V member & all it needed was paint, the reason I call it a "budgeted" build is because I will be doing everything I want to with quality parts but I will be looking for good prices. For example I picked up my plastic bumpers for $40. I want a clean car with good taste that will rip through the track/canyons, suspension, wider wheels, cool paint, & eventually more power down the line.


Yeah yeah STFU & post pics lol

When I first picked her up





Then this crap happened, which was OK because those tires were on the way out anyway

So I went ahead & picked up some Star Specs, which I love

Then plastic bumpers

& brembo brakes/PBR pads



New gaskets

Some extra seats

& Momo goodness




I leave for Chicago then Europe for a month next weekend so it'll be on hold for a bit, but when Im back I will be doing some more work!

[hpdrifter87]

coming together nice.....subscribed

[mRodiek]

I decided to throw the whole "budgeted" idea out the window and do what I want to the car, because I want to.

Not too much has happened but here are some notes:

I started meeting some R3V members at the Van Nuys meet & Carbeque etc



I did my first track day at Streets of Willow & it was fun as hell, even though my fan beat the shit out of my radiator on my 3rd run and ended my day. So I swapped in a new thermostat, IE radiator, and hoses.











Riding next to Tanner Foust

Post Slide/Spin fucked radiator

An unfortunate end to my first day at the track

Newww IE radiator though



New Plates finally came in, my Dad had these on his muscle cars back in the day in Chicago

& taught my Girlfriend to drive stick, She wants an E30 now too




& some of this in between

[MattAvino]

if you dont throw budget out the window like you did, it will eventually fall out the window anyway.

excellent e30

[mRodiek]

if you dont throw budget out the window like you did, it will eventually fall out the window anyway.



excellent e30

Very true lol now I spend what I want but savings & school come first so its still farther down the priority list ;)



Not much to post or update yet but I have new Polyurethane subframe bushings & motor/trans mounts coming in soon so that should provide some news!

Heres a video my buddy made when he came to visit from Chicago, we had a blast drinking & going to the canyons (seperate nights lol). We dont have mountains back home so whenever friends visit I take them up for a drive, most of this is shot with a GoPro on top of my car.

Cali 2011

[mRodiek]

Helping a buddy with his Starquest, for those of you who dont know (because I had never heard of em before lol) its a 2.6L Turbo RWD Widebody stock made in 2 forms- the Mitsubishi Starion & the Chrystler Conquest.


Picked up AKG Red Poly Bushings for the subframe/diff/trailing arms and IE poly motor/trans mounts.

This is why the motor was sliding into the radiator...





IE v Stock



Anybody know if this is right? I dont really like the coils touching each other, HR sports/Billie Sports

[DaNewz Is]

Sub'd. Nice project you have there. I love finding GOOD cheap parts myself. I also made the mistake of letting my girl drive my car and she wants a e30 vert now. I like your friends quest, really clean. I had a yellow quest and tan starion myself. They're fun cars.

[mRodiek]

Sub'd. Nice project you have there. I love finding GOOD cheap parts myself. I also made the mistake of letting my girl drive my car and she wants a e30 vert now. I like your friends quest, really clean. I had a yellow quest and tan starion myself. They're fun cars.

Id like for her sell her 7th gen Civic & get one! Ha

The starquest is an awesome car, Id LOVE to get one but lack of parts etc.. Hes got huuge plans for it, Ill prolly post more about it as he progresses

[george graves]

Sub'ed. I live the spirit of this project!

[bernzpeed]

Helping a buddy with his Starquest, for those of you who dont know (because I had never heard of em before lol) its a 2.6L Turbo RWD Widebody stock made in 2 forms- the Mitsubishi Starion & the Chrystler Conquest.


Picked up AKG Red Poly Bushings for the subframe/diff/trailing arms and IE poly motor/trans mounts.

This is why the motor was sliding into the radiator...





IE v Stock



Anybody know if this is right? I dont really like the coils touching each other, HR sports/Billie Sports

what's up with the springs? are those the right ones or are your shocks toast?

[george graves]

Benzspeed. Learn to edit your quotes - you didn't need to quote the whole post.

[mRodiek]

Sub'ed. I live the spirit of this project!

Thanks! I love the process of learning the ins & outs of a car, its part of the fun.

[mRodiek]

what's up with the springs? are those the right ones or are your shocks toast?

The springs & struts are fine, I hope. This is the culprit, seems to be a common problem with these cars.

The strut mounts went bad or were installed wrong, it turned out to be the annoying clunking from my rear end too. Ill be fixing that tomorrow, yay for new parts! lol

&no multiquote option on the tapatalk app sucks.

[iwantspeed]

I recommended these

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1531-e30-e36-e46-aluminum-rear-shock-tower-mounts-pair-for-cars-with-12mm-shaft-rear-shocks.aspx

[mRodiek]

I recommended these
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-15...ar-shocks.aspx

Thanks for the suggestion but after doing some research I decided to go with the Ireland Engineering ones.

I found 3 options made the most sense
E46 Strut Mounts -$20ea
Turner MS- $100pair
IE-$70pair.

I installed my trans mounts only to find that one of the brackets from the trans>bushing is BROKEN off & the PO stuffed a bunch of washers in there to hold it on. I took it for a test drive & she drives fine but I wont be risking it unless absolutely necessary until I get the fork bracket welded back on.

IE v stock

I talked to IE & they said it doesnt matter which way goes up? I put this side down

The one with the bracket

& a widebody RHD W20 MR2 @ CSUN for the BOB concert last weekend.