I hate this car

[Cabriolet]

I really really hate this car

After selling my M3 in February, I picked up a 1990 325is from a local guy. I had done some work on the car and had blocked out all the problems it had.
This car is truly a story of damn you PO. His brother drove the car w/o oil for months. the actual PO is a really nice guy, just not a mechanic.

Engine is toast, cracked dash, blown wheel bearings, half shafts, slight overheating, partial re-sprayed and the rest of the paint is meh. Dents on the hood and driver’s door, came on ugly wheels, broken antenna, cracked rear bumper, ebay fogs, crap stereo with 2 working speakers, shrunk door seals, broken odometer, broken driver’s door lock, torn up tint, crap shift knob and car out of alignment. $5800

Pluses: koni shocks, z3 ps rack, good trans and diff, ie cat back, sway links, markd chip.

I’ve never driven a slower M20. It’s almost as bad as an M42. So now the fix up begins.
How I bought it
YL7A0283 by Eric Berger, on Flickr
Dropped it on IE3 springs, and then did some wet sanding.
YL7A2126 by Eric Berger, on Flickr
Then took some night pics
YL7A2163 by Eric Berger, on Flickr
Now for the real work.
YL7A2740 by Eric Berger, on Flickr
YL7A0765 by Eric Berger, on Flickr
Here is the stuff bought and going on the car

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApOG-2MOsCFVdDQ0YloydEhJemVBZ2hNU1U2bkxEdkE&usp=sharing

probably will be my last e30 purchase

[ak-]

Trying to enjoy a car that is half-assed or has broken bits here and there gets irritating!
I think we all can relate lol.

Looks like you've got some plans for it though 8) Onward!

[phreshkid]

You're doing God's work.






But seriously, you complain a lot.

[RUFFLZ]

But seriously, you complain a lot.

I agree.
No one forced this car down your throat; especially not for damn near 6k..

edit: maybe there was 3k in the trunk???

[Roysneon]

What were the wheels in the first pic?

[Cabriolet]

But seriously, you complain a lot.

I agree.
No one forced this car down your throat; especially not for damn near 6k..

i didnt follow my own rules on buying a car.
yes i complain bc i cant understand why people cant take care of their things.
the PO is a friend, and when i offered the cash sight unseen i had confused it with another car i had also worked on, that was way nicer. i should have backed out but i didnt. So, now, ill fixed it, sell it and and get a 4x4 truck.

but to be fair to the car, the e30 i have seen a lot of is the nicest e30 i've ever seen.

[QUKBMER]

Quit your bitching! This is how almost all e30's projects start off. Sorry just hate to see people whine about issue's. Resolve it by fixing it or sell it and move on to something else. Fixed !!!!

[Jb325is]

Wow that's a lot of money for that. It does look nice though. On the wetsanding, ideally you want to sand more evenly than that, or at least hit the bad spots with the heavier stuff and feather it out with finer grit on a DA or soft block. Car looks good though, keep it up!

[rturbo 930]

His brother drove the car w/o oil for months.

Lol. The PO of my car told me that it burned/leaked a quart a month, and that the oil light on the check panel was broken because it never went off.

Nope. Oil light works just fucking fine. And when I was driving it to school, 35 miles on the highway each way @85mph, I was adding something like 1-2quarts a week.

And now it knocks. And I thought I had a line on a new motor but the guy stopped responding. Ugh. I feel your pain. Gonna sell this car after I get it fixed up a bit.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Car actually doesn't look to bad until you say the price you paid I'm sorry op you got hustled. But hey I bought a pos rust bucket so I cant complain drive it like you stole it and make her your own.

[Cabriolet]

And now it knocks. And I thought I had a line on a new motor but the guy stopped responding. Ugh. I feel your pain. Gonna sell this car after I get it fixed up a bit.

sucks dude. a rebuild runs about 2k and really isnt hard to do on an M20. but there are some good guys around you that may sell you a good/better engine you could throw in on a budget.

[Dakotademon7]

I really like the rims in the very first pic

[ST1G]

Lol. The PO of my car told me that it burned/leaked a quart a month, and that the oil light on the check panel was broken because it never went off.

Nope. Oil light works just fucking fine. And when I was driving it to school, 35 miles on the highway each way @85mph, I was adding something like 1-2quarts a week.

And now it knocks. And I thought I had a line on a new motor but the guy stopped responding. Ugh. I feel your pain. Gonna sell this car after I get it fixed up a bit.

You know; they invented oil dip sticks for a reason.


Cabriolet I'm sure it will all work out in the end. I like a little bit of bitching myself.

[rturbo 930]

sucks dude. a rebuild runs about 2k and really isnt hard to do on an M20. but there are some good guys around you that may sell you a good/better engine you could throw in on a budget.

Don't have $2k to spend. Hoping to get it done for ~$500 all told. I thought I had one found for $350, but the seller isn't responding.

You know; they invented oil dip sticks for a reason.

My dad checked out the car and didn't notice I guess or maybe it didn't seem too low, I don't know. It was my first real car purchase and I didn't really know what I was doing. Paid way too much too :(

[lambo]

haha this reminds of a car I've been helping with. The kid bought this turbo M20 e30 for $6500-7000 (I can't remember exactly). And just to put the build in perspective... parts of the oil filter re-routing was held on by pieces of cut up seatbelt and wood screws. Yep.