The $200 E30

[XW70]

This is my first post as i finally had a reason to join up!

Picked it up less than a month ago but sadly i havnt touched it other than a good clean as the PO was a pig :roll:, due to repainting the engine bay in my other car (1970 Ford Falcon).

The Bad:

• Its a 320 Automatic
• It has had a small punch in the rear left hand tail light area
• Its cranks, but doesnt run
• Its unregistered

A fair few issues, but for the price i paid i think its viable as im not scared of a little investment and work...

The Good:

• Its an E30 ( the falcon isnt the sportiest thing around)
• Its a coupe
• Its black (DS, which is in decent condition)
• Its a japanese import so it has the check panel and special japan-only rear plate filler
• It has Bilstein shocks
• It has an electric sunroof (im a sucker for sunroofs and this is my first car with one)
• It has sports front seats
• It came sitting on 4x100 16" BBS RS wheels:twisted:, which if im honest was the selling point for me
  

ANYWAY! pics..



oh baby

the damage.. Ive already (for free) got my hands on a replacement tail light

The non starting, non sporting M20B20..

Sports seats... will get recovered at some point


So plans for now..

I have had the injectors cleaned ultrasonically through a friend, and this weekend i shall put them in and change the main relay (no spark and 3 injectors strangely firing when the ignition is turned but not cranking). It was simply parked after it was hit, and will hopefully just need some TLC and basic fault finding to get it going.

My dad who has a fair amount of panel beating experience looked at the damage and said "piece of piss". It has (very) slightly creased the sub-frame around the spare wheel, and has pushed the quarters out a little but has not moved any of the pillars..
A slight pull will straighten the frame out, and as for the quarters we will do our best without complete replacement and repainting for now. The tail panel is also repairable without complete replacement.
It isn't going to be perfect, but it was cheap and it shall be a daily anyway.

After that, refinished BBS's (polished lip, gold centers) shall be given new tires, and i shall attempt to re-register it..

Pie in the sky plans include full suspension over-haul (GC's and bushes), brake upgrade, 2.7 stroker with cam, exhaust, GSXR ITB's yada yada, and of course the necessary 5 speed swap.

This thread may be a little slow (being a student doesn't help), but its here to motivate me and get you comments and ideas, so post up!

[priapism]

Pics of japanese check panel?

Congrats, nice score!

[Steeler325is]

Nice pick up! Like the wheels

[N2MYE30]

Your gonna need more than a tail light. Looks like a project back there.

Welcome aboard though. Keep updates.

[khalild]

ehhh, a couple well placed tow belts will fix that in a hurry.

Your gonna need more than a tail light. Looks like a project back there.

Welcome aboard though. Keep updates.

[nomansland92]

Nice find for 200 hundred bucks

Good luck and keep us up to date with progress

[e30rapidic]

$200 well spent...

[xphiledan]

that's a steal

[poopin04]

For a second there, you had me confused. I thought WA ment Washington state. Then I googled it and realized it's in Australia. So I'm a little less excited for you. Finding a RHD in the states is pretty hard.

Congrats on the steal though. Those rims are well worth more than 200 beans.

[slammin.e28]

For a second there, you had me confused. I thought WA ment Washington state. Then I googled it and realized it's in Australia. So I'm a little less excited for you. Finding a RHD in the states is pretty hard.

Congrats on the steal though. Those rims are well worth more than 200 beans.

This.

Looks awesome for $200 though!

[XW70]

Well finally i have some progress... Firstly alot more cleaning

The make shift workspace (we have too many cars taking up the others)


Lots of this...


Suprise CD (im not the biggest fan)



Over 22 bucks!


Alright on to the acctual work.As before the rear end had a decent hit which has bent the lower part of the beaver panel, mainly on the left hand side. its also pushed the spare wheel well in.



The irreparable bumper halfway between the car and the bin



from the exterior this is the worst of it really.



my dad working his panel beating magic


and this is after about 45 minutes work, still fairly ruff but not far off


not to bad i think, abit of fine adjusting, some filler and a coat of DS should have this looking decent again

Also did a little "mod" if thats what you could call it, removed the stupid metal plates in the ash tray for some more room!



Anyway, As for making it run, i have a CPS on order from Pelican that should be here next week. But we have a slight feeling the ecu is more the issue. Its getting really hot when the car is just on ignition, it is making the 02 sensor heater relay flip out and open/close constantly and we have noticed at one point it was randomly making 3 injectors fire.... But CPS first then we shall go from there!

[OniKyan]

For a second there, you had me confused. I thought WA ment Washington state. Then I googled it and realized it's in Australia. So I'm a little less excited for you. Finding a RHD in the states is pretty hard.

Congrats on the steal though. Those rims are well worth more than 200 beans.

Yeah but why on Earth would you want a RHD E30?

The entire chassis, as with most BMW's, was built for LHD. Engine tilts to the right, gas tank is on the right, brake booster is on the left. Which when sitting on the right hand side, creates an unbalanced car and the complex brake linkage system gives you a sloppy pedal.

If a LHD E30 was legal in Australia, I'd do that conversion in a heartbeat. RHD really sucks the life out of an E30.


With that been said, $200 was a steal and good luck finding a 5 speed conversion.

[poopin04]

Yeah but why on Earth would you want a RHD E30?

The entire chassis, as with most BMW's, was built for LHD. Engine tilts to the right, gas tank is on the right, brake booster is on the left. Which when sitting on the right hand side, creates an unbalanced car and the complex brake linkage system gives you a sloppy pedal.

If a LHD E30 was legal in Australia, I'd do that conversion in a heartbeat. RHD really sucks the life out of an E30.


With that been said, $200 was a steal and good luck finding a 5 speed conversion.

I can't even touch your argument. I've never seen RHD E30 in person :-(

[HighschoolE30]

So jealous of the RHD!

[amcink]

So jealous of the RHD!

It's an Australian car therefore a RHD