This isn’t so much a project thread as a story, of a chance encounter that turned into true love. Yes, an E30 does get repairs, but as many of you can relate to, it’s about so much more than that.
When I was 19, my buddy Carl (he’s Sea Aych on the forum here) and I made the biggest mistake of our lives. We bought an E30. This is, for all intents and purposes, the continuing story of how I'm sinking deeper and deeper into this cesspool of misery, despair and automotive disaster. It's not anything particularly special, but it's become a worryingly large part of my life.
Before I begin, I should add a disclaimer: in this thread, you will see botched repair jobs that will make you cringe. You will likely laugh, and quite possibly get angry. What I aim to do, however, is to entertain you with the sheer ignorance and stupidity of my clueless attempts at fixing an E30, which, I dare say, have started to bear fruit. Be forewarned.
One sunny August afternoon in 2011, as I was working my summer job (having just finished my first year of university and attempting to earn some much-needed funds, administering the 2011 census for our government), I got a call from Carl, who at the time was working for me in another part of the city. He'd found a car for sale on the side of the road, and it was a BMW. He told me to get my rear end over there pronto, which, being a federal civil servant, I did only the next day.
Now, I should mention that I had reluctantly sold my pride and joy, a 1993 Audi CS90 quattro, which my dad had bought new in Austria and on which I'd learned to drive, and then driven into the ground. It wouldn't start very often, it would always overheat, and it needed quite a bit of bodywork. Anyways, I felt a bit lonely as it was carted away by its new owner.
Regardless, I went to see the new car that Carl had found. It was (mostly) blue, had a BMW logo and said 325i on the back. It had a stick shift, a bit of rust and was missing a headlight and rear turn signal. That was about the extent of my knowledge. We rang the doorbell, and a 70 year old Italian man came out, seeming surprised that anyone should be interested in the car. He'd owned it since 1989, said it had a flat 'batteria' and had never been crashed, despite half the hood, the driver's fender and half the driver's door being purple instead of blue. Most importantly, it had 179000 kms, about 112k miles, and the tires said ‘Turbo Lazer’. As I found out later, only 5 other cars in the world have this color combination for that year. Score!
Undaunted, we charged it up and I took it for a test drive. It started out poorly: I couldn't find 1st gear, so I foolishly presumed it had a dogleg box despite only having three other gears. More worryingly, as I pulled up to the first stop sign and applied the brakes, nothing happened. I should clarify: the pedal moved, but the car didn't slow. A quick downshift and application of the ebrake later, all was well. I turned around and went back.
Two hours and $350 later, the car was ours. The owner had been offered $600 for parts, but couldn't bring himself to part it. We drove it to my parents' place with the occasional misfire, along with no brakes. Luckily, they live in what was then the country.
Over the next few days, approximately $2500 was dumped into the car fixing odds and ends.
It had sat for about a year outside in grass, and it showed. As we fought rusted bolts and tried to find parts, a series of interesting problems appeared: as evidenced by the lack of braking ability, the rear pads were simply non-existent:
The muffler exploded (due to dust buildup) and had to be cut off (as I found out much later, the gas tank was slowly leaking—this will make me look far more badass and stupid given the method I used to cut it off:
It also had many, many rust spots. By far the worst was the passenger footwell, where the jackpoint had essentially given up and sodden off. Being pressed for time (Ontario has a limit of ten days on a temp permit, which we needed to drive it to inspection again after it predictably failed the first attempt.
The front seat frame was broken, so I had a friendly local E30 owner (Everlast) fix it, but needed a temporary replacement in the meantime:
You have to keep in mind, this all came from two blokes with zero idea of how to fix a car. Thankfully, I had a Mk4 Jetta as a DD, so repairs weren’t as critical as they later became. The biggest issue we ran into was the aforementioned rust. At first, we thought it could just be on the surface, so I spent a few hours cleaning it off:
However, it quickly became clear this was complete perforation on three different planes. We tried to learn to weld to patch it, through some practice on scrap metal—which failed:
As you can see, we were well-prepared in terms of safety:
Ultimately, we had to patch it with a sheet of metal, JB weld and a load of fibreglass, simply due to the 10-day permit expiring.
We finished late in the night the day after its expiry, and had to drive the (unplated) car to the other end of Ottawa at midnight to the inspection station;
“Oh look, Mr. Inspection Person, the car magically appeared here this morning! It must have been towed here!” Somehow they bought it and we passed...barely. I should add, at this point, that once the spark plugs were replaced, the oil changed, and the valves adjusted, the motor never gave us any problems. The clutch hydraulics failed though, which was fun.
Anyways, it was back to university 500 kms away for us in the fall, so the car went into storage. Next spring, I bought out Carl's part of the car, and took it all for myself. It was my problem now!
I drove it throughout the summer of 2012, even buying a set of basketweaves with (horribly dry-rotted) all-seasons to replace the aging winters. “They looked good,” I said to myself as I ignored the obvious and huge rust problem.
In the fall, I drove the car down to Toronto and moved my entire life in it as I moved in with my girlfriend. I replaced the driver’s fender with one that had not disintegrated and was blue, not purple. I must say, however, that I really like the brushed-steel look.
I drove the car throughout the winter. The salt took its toll—the gas tank developed a substantial leak and I had to replace it in my in-laws’ garage (cold!). Nevertheless, I replaced that, the CSB, a few odds and ends and even a 370mm MT2! I later restored and sold it, as I didn’t like the feel.
In the spring of 2013, I bought another set of wheels, 16” Rials, as it was cheaper than buying four new tires. I kept DDing it.
At the same time, my girlfriend asked me to find her an E30! She’s caught the infection too. She had three requirements: It had to be manual, not blue (mine is Royalblau) and not a convertible. Being the fantastic boyfriend that I am, I found her this:
A horribly broken, Royalblau 1988 vert (but hey, it has a hardtop!). And yes, as you probably guessed, it’s an automatic. I wonder why she still likes me...
Her car required substantial attention: new suspension, brakes, gas tank, engine (valve guide broke), interior, there’s a huge dent, etc. That got fixed, but it’s another story for another day. It spent a large part of the summer like this:
Fast forward to August 2013, when we got a house. It has a 2-car garage! Epic win! I can even have friends with E30s over now! (Here’s the one Carl eventually got for himself):
Mine got a little upgrade last fall:
Oh yeah, E36 sports, manual and cloth. Who cares about the 90s-tastic pattern!? Definitely a very good upgrade.
Now we’re truly addicted to E30s. We even go spotting abroad:
What a beauty...I realised that my car could no longer be a DD. I needed a winter beater. As luck would have it, I came across a killer deal on this piece of crap:
2002 540i, M-sport interior and suspension, 185k kms so about 113k miles, handles like a dream and has more power than I need on my daily commute. I actually shaved 6 minutes off said commute by being able to pass people. That V8 has inspired me...
As of today, my E30 is in storage again until spring. When it comes out, it’s getting new rear suspension bushings and bearings, along with total repair of the rust. I’m starting a new job, so funds will be tight for the summer, but next year...will bring an M60, E36 rack, new suspension and hopefully paint (finally). Credit goes to JGood for inspiration.
When I was 19, my buddy Carl (he’s Sea Aych on the forum here) and I made the biggest mistake of our lives. We bought an E30. This is, for all intents and purposes, the continuing story of how I'm sinking deeper and deeper into this cesspool of misery, despair and automotive disaster. It's not anything particularly special, but it's become a worryingly large part of my life.
Before I begin, I should add a disclaimer: in this thread, you will see botched repair jobs that will make you cringe. You will likely laugh, and quite possibly get angry. What I aim to do, however, is to entertain you with the sheer ignorance and stupidity of my clueless attempts at fixing an E30, which, I dare say, have started to bear fruit. Be forewarned.
One sunny August afternoon in 2011, as I was working my summer job (having just finished my first year of university and attempting to earn some much-needed funds, administering the 2011 census for our government), I got a call from Carl, who at the time was working for me in another part of the city. He'd found a car for sale on the side of the road, and it was a BMW. He told me to get my rear end over there pronto, which, being a federal civil servant, I did only the next day.
Now, I should mention that I had reluctantly sold my pride and joy, a 1993 Audi CS90 quattro, which my dad had bought new in Austria and on which I'd learned to drive, and then driven into the ground. It wouldn't start very often, it would always overheat, and it needed quite a bit of bodywork. Anyways, I felt a bit lonely as it was carted away by its new owner.
Regardless, I went to see the new car that Carl had found. It was (mostly) blue, had a BMW logo and said 325i on the back. It had a stick shift, a bit of rust and was missing a headlight and rear turn signal. That was about the extent of my knowledge. We rang the doorbell, and a 70 year old Italian man came out, seeming surprised that anyone should be interested in the car. He'd owned it since 1989, said it had a flat 'batteria' and had never been crashed, despite half the hood, the driver's fender and half the driver's door being purple instead of blue. Most importantly, it had 179000 kms, about 112k miles, and the tires said ‘Turbo Lazer’. As I found out later, only 5 other cars in the world have this color combination for that year. Score!
Undaunted, we charged it up and I took it for a test drive. It started out poorly: I couldn't find 1st gear, so I foolishly presumed it had a dogleg box despite only having three other gears. More worryingly, as I pulled up to the first stop sign and applied the brakes, nothing happened. I should clarify: the pedal moved, but the car didn't slow. A quick downshift and application of the ebrake later, all was well. I turned around and went back.
Two hours and $350 later, the car was ours. The owner had been offered $600 for parts, but couldn't bring himself to part it. We drove it to my parents' place with the occasional misfire, along with no brakes. Luckily, they live in what was then the country.
Over the next few days, approximately $2500 was dumped into the car fixing odds and ends.
It had sat for about a year outside in grass, and it showed. As we fought rusted bolts and tried to find parts, a series of interesting problems appeared: as evidenced by the lack of braking ability, the rear pads were simply non-existent:
The muffler exploded (due to dust buildup) and had to be cut off (as I found out much later, the gas tank was slowly leaking—this will make me look far more badass and stupid given the method I used to cut it off:
It also had many, many rust spots. By far the worst was the passenger footwell, where the jackpoint had essentially given up and sodden off. Being pressed for time (Ontario has a limit of ten days on a temp permit, which we needed to drive it to inspection again after it predictably failed the first attempt.
The front seat frame was broken, so I had a friendly local E30 owner (Everlast) fix it, but needed a temporary replacement in the meantime:
You have to keep in mind, this all came from two blokes with zero idea of how to fix a car. Thankfully, I had a Mk4 Jetta as a DD, so repairs weren’t as critical as they later became. The biggest issue we ran into was the aforementioned rust. At first, we thought it could just be on the surface, so I spent a few hours cleaning it off:
However, it quickly became clear this was complete perforation on three different planes. We tried to learn to weld to patch it, through some practice on scrap metal—which failed:
As you can see, we were well-prepared in terms of safety:
Ultimately, we had to patch it with a sheet of metal, JB weld and a load of fibreglass, simply due to the 10-day permit expiring.
We finished late in the night the day after its expiry, and had to drive the (unplated) car to the other end of Ottawa at midnight to the inspection station;
“Oh look, Mr. Inspection Person, the car magically appeared here this morning! It must have been towed here!” Somehow they bought it and we passed...barely. I should add, at this point, that once the spark plugs were replaced, the oil changed, and the valves adjusted, the motor never gave us any problems. The clutch hydraulics failed though, which was fun.
Anyways, it was back to university 500 kms away for us in the fall, so the car went into storage. Next spring, I bought out Carl's part of the car, and took it all for myself. It was my problem now!
I drove it throughout the summer of 2012, even buying a set of basketweaves with (horribly dry-rotted) all-seasons to replace the aging winters. “They looked good,” I said to myself as I ignored the obvious and huge rust problem.
In the fall, I drove the car down to Toronto and moved my entire life in it as I moved in with my girlfriend. I replaced the driver’s fender with one that had not disintegrated and was blue, not purple. I must say, however, that I really like the brushed-steel look.
I drove the car throughout the winter. The salt took its toll—the gas tank developed a substantial leak and I had to replace it in my in-laws’ garage (cold!). Nevertheless, I replaced that, the CSB, a few odds and ends and even a 370mm MT2! I later restored and sold it, as I didn’t like the feel.
In the spring of 2013, I bought another set of wheels, 16” Rials, as it was cheaper than buying four new tires. I kept DDing it.
At the same time, my girlfriend asked me to find her an E30! She’s caught the infection too. She had three requirements: It had to be manual, not blue (mine is Royalblau) and not a convertible. Being the fantastic boyfriend that I am, I found her this:
A horribly broken, Royalblau 1988 vert (but hey, it has a hardtop!). And yes, as you probably guessed, it’s an automatic. I wonder why she still likes me...
Her car required substantial attention: new suspension, brakes, gas tank, engine (valve guide broke), interior, there’s a huge dent, etc. That got fixed, but it’s another story for another day. It spent a large part of the summer like this:
Fast forward to August 2013, when we got a house. It has a 2-car garage! Epic win! I can even have friends with E30s over now! (Here’s the one Carl eventually got for himself):
Mine got a little upgrade last fall:
Oh yeah, E36 sports, manual and cloth. Who cares about the 90s-tastic pattern!? Definitely a very good upgrade.
Now we’re truly addicted to E30s. We even go spotting abroad:
What a beauty...I realised that my car could no longer be a DD. I needed a winter beater. As luck would have it, I came across a killer deal on this piece of crap:
2002 540i, M-sport interior and suspension, 185k kms so about 113k miles, handles like a dream and has more power than I need on my daily commute. I actually shaved 6 minutes off said commute by being able to pass people. That V8 has inspired me...
As of today, my E30 is in storage again until spring. When it comes out, it’s getting new rear suspension bushings and bearings, along with total repair of the rust. I’m starting a new job, so funds will be tight for the summer, but next year...will bring an M60, E36 rack, new suspension and hopefully paint (finally). Credit goes to JGood for inspiration.
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