My really low budget 1990 E30 DD 325I Alpine II

[Ricky_J]

Hi guys,
I'm pretty new at this and not really use to it, I've been looking for a while at other people projects and since I always loved E30's, decided to get my own project started.

Little introduction, I grew up in Switzerland and my father at the time had a red 318I. By the time I was around 5 or 6 my father got rid of his 318I to get himself a red 318is. The car had no option whatsoever but I immediately fell in love with it.

As soon as I turned 18, I end up buying his car. I drove it for about 4years until this happened.







I ended up selling the car for almost nothing. The shell was hit pretty bad and didnt want to fix it.

[Ricky_J]

The new Project

Later on I ended up moving to the USA. Drove a bunch of different cars 2 240SX. One coupe with KA24 and a Hatch with SR20DET, then I sold them and ended up driving a 2000 Ford explorer for a really short amount of time. And last I had a Legacy outback for about 4 years.

December 2011 I ended up finding a white 325I. I always wanted one that color but never really found anything special.
I purchased the car for way more than I really wanted to spend on it but couldnt let that one go.

I don't have pictures of the car when I picked it up but this is what it look like when I started to take it apart.

[Ricky_J]

Here are couple of pictures of the tear down
I did discover couple of surprises.
The front rad support was hit, the fuel tank was hit, the headlight harness was butchered and a crappy alarm system was partially installed which was removed right away.
The rust on the battery tray, I was aware of it since it was the first thing i checked ;) and i also knew about the rear valence being pushed in.

[efficient]

damn thats alot of work. good luck!

[Ricky_J]

Pulled the driveshaft out I think the center bearing my need replacement



Don't know what the guy was thinking about when he decided to do this





Couple of 2x4 were sitting in my back yard to I try to pull the valence back out. Not the greatest work I've ever seen but not bad for a start

[Ricky_J]

damn thats alot of work. good luck!

Thanks I definitely need it lol

[Vivek]

How loud was the muffler delete? Or did you never even start the car? Good luck with the build.

[Ricky_J]

After months of sitting in my backyard I felt bad for the car, specially sitting under couple of feet of snow.
I cleaned and modified my garage to be able to fit my car back into it.
Not a easy task but got it partially done.

Now the car is sitting in a warm and comfortable place. Makes it easier for me to work on it too. Specially at night.

Carpet out


Engine and trans ready to come out as well


Please don't pay attention to the mess around it lol

The car is now waiting for a donor for a 5speed swap.
Depending on what I found it will be either M20 or M50. I was taking my time to work on it up to now but early this week my Daily driver decided differently took a dump and left me with this E30 completely apart. So this will be my challenge for the next couple of weeks. Find a swap and put it back together.

[Komzorz]

Nice dude! Keep going! I remember when my project was pretty rough a year ago, but now I'm really enjoying my efforts. It's totally worth it!

[Ricky_J]

For those who wonder how the exhaust sound I have this little clip of it.

P.S. I want to assure you guys that I will not put it back in the car lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_pV_fKz3WI

Sorry for the link. It was brought to my attention that it was not working. Link is now fixed

[Ricky_J]

Nice dude! Keep going! I remember when my project was pretty rough a year ago, but now I'm really enjoying my efforts. It's totally worth it!

Thanks. Yeah I miss driving it. They are awesome cars.

[Ricky_J]

Since I'm waiting on a 5speed swap or M50 swap ( i dont know yet ) I figured the carpets and rear deck could use a good cleaning and dyeing.





Nothing major but at least it keeps me busy

[Ricky_J]

After

[Das Swagg]

carpet

what did u use to dye it dm me please

[Ricky_J]

Carpet restoration process

People gave me a couple of weird look when walking to the register with all that.




Before



After




Now in the car





Next working on some Shadowline and refreshing side trims/door handles