Esquire E30
After owning EP3 Si for almost 4 great years it was time for a change. E30 was my first route. So after spending days and weeks of searching e30 on r3vlimited, craigslist and many other websites . I found a vert one hour away from me. Arranged the meeting same day and went to see the car. Owner kept the car in storage for long time. That’s why mileage was pretty low for the age. (114k). Vehicle was taken care of well by all previous owners, all services records were documented, passed to next owners. Including the first bill of sale from 1987 but unfortunately something came up for previous owner and he moved to Maine and left the car behind. I guess it was the point car started seeing bad days. His friend was driving it but he didn’t take care of it well. Left it outside during winter, tried to fix many stuff in ghetto way (duck taping broken shift knob, using a stick to hold trunk (blown strut), pushing passenger window up with hand,(turns out just the switch) many other stupid things..).
It wasn’t in terrible shape but I would say bad condition. He was asking more than it was worth as he thought it was in a condition as he left it. After couple minutes of checking the car I listed the things that needed immediate replacement. Glad owner was a cool guy and I got it lower than what I was willing to pay.
First picture on the way home. In the picture paint doesn't look bad but trust me it wasn’t in good shape. You will understand what I mean in below section.
(First night)
Put it the garage stared at it for half hour and made a do to list. Paint was my first concern since his friend let the car sit outside for long time.
I was extremely busy with my finals so didn't have chance to do anything till next weekend. In the mean time, I ordered parts.
First Weekend. Project begins
1.Painted headlight grill, and third brake light cover in gloss black.
2. Replaced front and rear rotors-pads
3. Fixed stock radio (it was stuck in tape mode)
4. Detailed interior especially the seats.
5. Detailed exterior. Compound, polish and Wax. (Came out better than I expected)
Paint before and after. That difference between fender and windshield pillar.
6. Replaced BMW emblem on hood and trunk
7. Installed BMW ZHP 5 speed shift knob with M stitched shift boot
8. Installed Mtech I steering wheel
9. Installed wind deflector
10. Muffler delete
11. Wrapped headlights with yellow and smoked film.
12. Fog light delete
13. Painted bumper plastics, kidney grill, headlight trim
14. Tucked front and rear bumpers
I start to feel like project was getting better. One day I was going down hill and this retard truck driver jumped on the road, pressed on the brake pedal, Fucking nothing, feels like sponge, sinks to the floor, quickly downshift to third gear, then 2, and then first gear but still wasn't going to stop and lastly pulled the hand brake all the way up for the dear life of e30. while I was doing all this shit, truck was standing in place looking at me like total idiot. Glad I was able to save it.
15. Went to my friend's shop with no brakes and replaced the brake master cylinder.
After driving the car for couple week, this time my clutch pedal sunk to the floor in the middle of the night. Looked for the leaks but no leaks found. Waited for truck driver for an hour, got tired of it and left the car on the street of somewhere.
16.Next morning, towed it to the shop changed clutch master and slave cylinder. God, what a pain in the ass job. Next, time I am paying someone to do it. It just not worth to time and effort.
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