Joey's iS

[JinormusJ]

Following my last e30 I sold, my prized 1990 325i, I thought I'd lay off e30s for a while. I wasn't really looking for an e30 after this one cause of life circumstances. Enough with the monolog..! PICTURES JOEY!!



Funny how you stumble across the exact thing your looking for when you stop looking. After my friend and board member e30ruben told me about an e30 for sale in Redwood (about 130 miles from my house) on Sunday, Monday night we already made preparations to see it. $700 later, $120 for a new battery, and two aspirins for the headache, I was driving myself a project on the brink of the grave; my 1989 Lachsilber 325is



Right off the bat, you can tell its not terrific, but for 7 big ones, I'm not complaining

I've got 99 problems and a bumper makes one







Bondo on my fog light..??



Paint is a little faded in the rear left quarter



IS trunk lip has gone to crap





Looks like they haven't been cleaned in YEARS

Interior is pretty ratted out as well.. It was horribly dirty and had the nastiest seat covers over the front sport seats.. Ugh. Cleaned out the papers and tore the covers off only to find:



FUBAR..!!



Passenger isn't terribly bad..




Carpets are every color of the rainbow. Definitely not tasting that junk..



My biggest pet peeve... Trash down here.. Mind you, this is AFTER I cleaned most of it out

Hoodlums!



Speaking of the dash :(





All good baby, all good



THESE ALWAYS GO MISSING!!



Gonna replace that Brake Lining bulb eventually.. ODO gears busted, and the fuel temp gauge does some crazy zjeg, but overall everything else is good cluster-wise



My e30 has a nipple! Remnants of a crappy aftermarket alarm system



Premium Sound and Pop-Out windows make me happy :mrgreen:

Overall, it's looking like a fixer-upper.. Engine-wise too. Basic m20, it's got some oil stains for the valve cover and such; Oil pan is spotless bone dry though. Can't say the same for all the ghetto-rigging in the bay though..



What the freak? I don't even. LOL
The torment continues upon inspecting the rest of the engine



Zip ties!!



Random Home Depot tubing and wires for the Radiator Coolant overflow line. Fantastic!



Bypassed heater core! YIPPEE!!!



Spark plug wire supports are completely broken



Ghetto Aftermarket Alarm is Ghetto
...and broken



WTF is this???



Not milkshake... But.. Rusted water possibly..? Judging by the upkeep and ghetto mess, I wouldnt doubt the PO put straight up water in the cooling system



This battery was gone; look at the residue on that contact.. YUCK!



But hey, at the end of the day, these guys make it worth it:








Got quite the project ahead of me, but I'm happy about it. With all it's messes and imperfections, its the exact year, model, and color I wanted.

Oil change today, then taking a much needed vacation; coolant and heater box woes to come

[e30trooper]

GL bro

[oliver.r]

what a fucking disaster, good luck bro, reminds me of my car when i got it

[lambo]

Zip ties!!

I ziptied my fan shroud back on too...

[Exodus_2pt0]

I ziptied my fan shroud back on too...

That makes 3 of us.... Well, it was like that when I got it... Then I removed the whole thing.

[mucoyekul87ETA]

Looks like it needs some love, gl man.

Seriously though, a perfectly complete tool kit, the condition of the rest of the car tells me they must not have known where to find it lol.

[ttrousdell]

what a fucking disaster, good luck bro, reminds me of my car when i got it

^this. looks like you have bbq sauce in the coolant reseviour. I hope you can bring this thing back.

[bmw325csi]

That makes 4 of us.

Good luck. Looks about right for what you paid. Between all of our friends on the forum and the PyP, you will be fine.

[RUFFLZ]

idk I woulda ran man.. paint's lightweight gone on some of the panels and it's an auto

you brave tho!

[JinormusJ]

GL bro

Shanks Shawn :D

Looks like it needs some love, gl man.

Seriously though, a perfectly complete tool kit, the condition of the rest of the car tells me they must not have known where to find it lol.

I am honored to be your first post sir.

I ziptied my fan shroud back on too...

Hmm.. I guess its not that much of a stretch after all... Last time I fixed my shroud, I made sure to grab the little plastic fasteners from the yard beforehand. I knew zipties were Gods gift to e30 enthusiasts everywhere, but I didn't exactly think you guys would be using them here haha

what a fucking disaster

Looking at it now, under the scalpel, and in broad daylight: I completely agree. One day at a time though.. one day at a time. The engine runs, and the body is mint; thats all I care about. everything else is just little fixes here and there

^this. looks like you have bbq sauce in the coolant reseviour. I hope you can bring this thing back.

Gonna try; I like how my last one came out, and I have a huge OCD attention to detail kind of personality, so while this one is gonna be tougher than my first, it'll come out fantastic no doubt

That makes 4 of us.

Good luck. Looks about right for what you paid. Between all of our friends on the forum and the PyP, you will be fine.

Thanks for the vote of confidence; from my first one, and bouncing around working on my friends e30s, I think I've learned enough myself to rescue her from the grave. Plus, it always helps to know people. ALWAYS :)

idk I woulda ran man.. paint's lightweight gone on some of the panels and it's an auto

you brave tho!

If one never risks failure, he will never aquire great success.
Shiro-RUFFLZ-San, heed my words..!

[dvid3k]

Looks like a fun time to me, That carpet definitely looks delicious.

Me thinks you have my cars twin, different year but the same right down to the auto transmission. I bid you good luck with your project. I eagerly await the weekend so I can get some work done on my project.

[IRON-E]

I ziptied my fan shroud back on too...

Lol, that makes me #5 because i'd rather have the shroud nice and zip tied, than bouncing all over because it's missing that clip.

[325ix]

Lol, that makes me #5 because i'd rather have the shroud nice and zip tied, than bouncing all over because it's missing that clip.

Let's make it 6 then.

It might be easier to count the number of us who doesn't have it zip tied.

[Exodus_2pt0]

the body is mint;

Sold.

I wish I could find a mint body 4 door that everything else sucks on for a few hundred bucks. I would rather transfer all of my parts over than repair every damn thing wrong with the body of mine.

[TFJR]

Looks like quite the project! Best wishes with it - there is light at the end of the tunnel. I agree that is the best year and best exterior color. The color of the coolant & the carpets is what scares me.