*As this isn't the beginning of the project, the first post could get quite winded, my apologies from the get go*
Hello everybody!
I'm Kiefer, I love my 1987 325e. Feels good to have that off my chest, so I figure with recent planning and realizing that I actually have done quite a bit to bring this car that was once disregarded and uncared for by the PO, to something that i have a blast drive and can feel proud to drive. Having owned more then my fair share of vehicles at the young age of 20, ranging from a mk3 VW (ewww) to a 1980 yota wheeler with 22re FI swap and fully built. This is the first one that I will be doing extensive work to, as my finical's finally allow.
Having a friend or two that have previously owned e30's, and spotting an ix on craigslist, I decided that my destiny was set. Little did I know :giggle: Well that guy must of decided he really didn't want to sell the car, cause he ignored my attempts to see the vehicle. From that I ended up finding what was labeled a 1987 bmw 325is. At this point I had already visited the forums and decided IX=not so good, so I set out to see what was supposed to be a 87is. When I got there, some things mortified me, but for some reason I was drawn to it. She was in bad shape, cut stock springs, blown CSB (which the PO said was a simple 40 dollar part
) among other things. But I quickly handed over 1600 dollars, and the car was mine. After bouncing down the freeway, shooting sparks from the cat the whole way down i5, I finally made it home, BMW in possession. Here she is as was (After I did what i could, ex: taking the embarrassing garden surround lip )
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I immediately set to fixing the CSB, found a bushing for a good price locally, and figured I could do it myself. In hindsight, should have listened to what i saw online and got a new shaft, or even got a quote when i looked at new shafts from driveshaft services of portland instead of closing the window. But at the time, I tried myself and just couldn't separate the driveshaft. Ended up going and paying 350.00 to have the "good" place down the street do it. Terrible idea, as not only did they charge me for a bushing that I supplied them, brand new in the wrapper, but it has since gone out again. I know that this is because of the U-joints, and it was quickly swapped for a brand new driveshaft this time around.
During the process of fixing that, I became aware of something the PO seemed to "forget" to mention, there was a decent sized hole in the freaking oil pan. I was pissed! :hitler: I did not drive the car again until that was fixed. I immediately put the car on jacks, and went about learning how to pull the pan. I have a chiltons, and come from a family of big diesel mechanics so I have a general idea of what I am doing. Other thing is I am a big time lurker on the boards. Typically I don't post at all, just soak up knowledge where I can. So I'm rapidly learning!
Got the pan out in the morning after I started, and sent it to get hot tanked, then welded up. Had it back in much quicker then coming out, with a nice fresh gasket, and bolted it all back up. Needless to say I bought a RaceSkids plate right away. I also changed out the spark plugs, cap and rotor. The wires on there looked to be in good shape, so i left them for now.
Once it was back from the shop, I began to piece together more parts to fix the hack job on the suspension. The inner ball joints on the CA's were down right dangerous, I even had a rear spring shift and snap while on the way to install the new springs.
I got an Eibach prokit for the ix models to go with slightly higher spring rates (correct me if that is wrong?) used on the board, as well as Bilstein sport struts and shocks. While all this was apart, I decided it was time for new control arms, M3 control arm bushings, guibo (same time as new driveshaft came from Drive Shaft Services of Portland). So i set about installing all of that and impatiently waiting for shipping. Installation went straight forward, all though the inner ball joints are a pain!
By the time the suspension was completely done (this is my daily driver so I did it in pieces) I had gotten new wheels and sprayed the car flat green until I can figure out what I want to do with paint. My girlfriend decided to get me a set of 17x7 ESM style 003's with tires!
and since the car was spray painted white, complete with runs and all, I decided to sand that down and just spray paint it flat green until i can paint it, or roller job it green. Here it is at that point 
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The car was really starting to handle well, and i was really happy with it. But i decided that the stock comfort seats (which are for sale) didn't match the handling of the car anymore. I began looking at my options, ebay seats, craigslist, forums, but I came to the conclusion that two seats, base mounts, and side mounts for both sides, was out of my budget. Until I happened upon a craigslist ad in Portland. Two Corbeau GT seats with e30 hardware. I immediately worked out a way to get someone to drive down, and a week later I went down and picked those up, as well as Hounds tooth door cards and polyurethane motor and transmisson mounts. I already had a Momo Mod 07 wheel and I got the hub for my birthday, So I just got that all fitted last week, and couldn't be happier!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
So that is generally where I am at as of right now. I've been having issues with high idle at start up, and it drives very odd sometimes, just seems to bog out. So i found a good deal on a Dinan chipped ECU. As of my newest plans, this will be a temporary thing, for the winter until I decide between MS or the WAR package. Im hoping this will smooth out the motor, replacing the fuel pressure regulator seemed to help out a lot and cut down the occurrences, and I only run premium gas, which has helped as well. I will talk about the coming project and plans as soon as I have more time to sit down and type, as well as if there is interest.
Oh and as to the name of the car/thread, I picked this up off of the for sale section, and love it!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Hello everybody!
I'm Kiefer, I love my 1987 325e. Feels good to have that off my chest, so I figure with recent planning and realizing that I actually have done quite a bit to bring this car that was once disregarded and uncared for by the PO, to something that i have a blast drive and can feel proud to drive. Having owned more then my fair share of vehicles at the young age of 20, ranging from a mk3 VW (ewww) to a 1980 yota wheeler with 22re FI swap and fully built. This is the first one that I will be doing extensive work to, as my finical's finally allow.
Having a friend or two that have previously owned e30's, and spotting an ix on craigslist, I decided that my destiny was set. Little did I know :giggle: Well that guy must of decided he really didn't want to sell the car, cause he ignored my attempts to see the vehicle. From that I ended up finding what was labeled a 1987 bmw 325is. At this point I had already visited the forums and decided IX=not so good, so I set out to see what was supposed to be a 87is. When I got there, some things mortified me, but for some reason I was drawn to it. She was in bad shape, cut stock springs, blown CSB (which the PO said was a simple 40 dollar part
) among other things. But I quickly handed over 1600 dollars, and the car was mine. After bouncing down the freeway, shooting sparks from the cat the whole way down i5, I finally made it home, BMW in possession. Here she is as was (After I did what i could, ex: taking the embarrassing garden surround lip )
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I immediately set to fixing the CSB, found a bushing for a good price locally, and figured I could do it myself. In hindsight, should have listened to what i saw online and got a new shaft, or even got a quote when i looked at new shafts from driveshaft services of portland instead of closing the window. But at the time, I tried myself and just couldn't separate the driveshaft. Ended up going and paying 350.00 to have the "good" place down the street do it. Terrible idea, as not only did they charge me for a bushing that I supplied them, brand new in the wrapper, but it has since gone out again. I know that this is because of the U-joints, and it was quickly swapped for a brand new driveshaft this time around.
During the process of fixing that, I became aware of something the PO seemed to "forget" to mention, there was a decent sized hole in the freaking oil pan. I was pissed! :hitler: I did not drive the car again until that was fixed. I immediately put the car on jacks, and went about learning how to pull the pan. I have a chiltons, and come from a family of big diesel mechanics so I have a general idea of what I am doing. Other thing is I am a big time lurker on the boards. Typically I don't post at all, just soak up knowledge where I can. So I'm rapidly learning!
Got the pan out in the morning after I started, and sent it to get hot tanked, then welded up. Had it back in much quicker then coming out, with a nice fresh gasket, and bolted it all back up. Needless to say I bought a RaceSkids plate right away. I also changed out the spark plugs, cap and rotor. The wires on there looked to be in good shape, so i left them for now. Once it was back from the shop, I began to piece together more parts to fix the hack job on the suspension. The inner ball joints on the CA's were down right dangerous, I even had a rear spring shift and snap while on the way to install the new springs.
I got an Eibach prokit for the ix models to go with slightly higher spring rates (correct me if that is wrong?) used on the board, as well as Bilstein sport struts and shocks. While all this was apart, I decided it was time for new control arms, M3 control arm bushings, guibo (same time as new driveshaft came from Drive Shaft Services of Portland). So i set about installing all of that and impatiently waiting for shipping. Installation went straight forward, all though the inner ball joints are a pain! By the time the suspension was completely done (this is my daily driver so I did it in pieces) I had gotten new wheels and sprayed the car flat green until I can figure out what I want to do with paint. My girlfriend decided to get me a set of 17x7 ESM style 003's with tires!
and since the car was spray painted white, complete with runs and all, I decided to sand that down and just spray paint it flat green until i can paint it, or roller job it green. Here it is at that point 
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The car was really starting to handle well, and i was really happy with it. But i decided that the stock comfort seats (which are for sale) didn't match the handling of the car anymore. I began looking at my options, ebay seats, craigslist, forums, but I came to the conclusion that two seats, base mounts, and side mounts for both sides, was out of my budget. Until I happened upon a craigslist ad in Portland. Two Corbeau GT seats with e30 hardware. I immediately worked out a way to get someone to drive down, and a week later I went down and picked those up, as well as Hounds tooth door cards and polyurethane motor and transmisson mounts. I already had a Momo Mod 07 wheel and I got the hub for my birthday, So I just got that all fitted last week, and couldn't be happier!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
So that is generally where I am at as of right now. I've been having issues with high idle at start up, and it drives very odd sometimes, just seems to bog out. So i found a good deal on a Dinan chipped ECU. As of my newest plans, this will be a temporary thing, for the winter until I decide between MS or the WAR package. Im hoping this will smooth out the motor, replacing the fuel pressure regulator seemed to help out a lot and cut down the occurrences, and I only run premium gas, which has helped as well. I will talk about the coming project and plans as soon as I have more time to sit down and type, as well as if there is interest.
Oh and as to the name of the car/thread, I picked this up off of the for sale section, and love it!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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