Time to stop lurking...'92 325iC

[DesktopDave]

I've been messing around with E30s for about ten years now, figured I should introduce myself & share a few projects with R3v.

I just picked up a pretty ratty cabrio. She's a '92 5-speed in my favorite color combination, lagoon green over natural leather. I always wanted a 'vert, and I couldn't pass this one up. She's pretty scruffy, questionable history, but very solid. The only rusty spots I could find are under the battery, in the rear driver's pocket, and a bit of bodywork on the upper rear passenger's quarter that had flaked off.

Here she is as I found her, waiting for a jump start:


She has all the typical trouble spots..cracked dash, worn top, sun-damaged leather:


I've been spending some quality time getting her back up and running. I'll post a few pics as I go. :D

[DesktopDave]

Figured I should share this too, the most urgent repair on my list:

[DesktopDave]

This is an unusual project for me, since the car arrived under her own power. They usually arrive or depart on a rollback, LOL. I gambled against a broken timing belt or other major catastrophe and (delicately) drove her home. I spent a few days cleaning her up and fixing little stuff.

Luckily, I already had quite a few parts on hand. I have a pretty good inventory from parting out rusted hulks; rust absolutely murders cars around here. Good thing too - those little parts always end up the most expensive in terms of time and money. I happened to have some window switches, a muffler hangar, headlight bulbs, OEM style fuses, non-airbag check control panel, even that little halogen bulb (W5W?) for the interior light!

Brake light switch, timing belt, tensioner, waster pump, v-belts and some OEM tonneau linkage parts are on their way.

I'm parking a few useful links here too. I need to get the car ready for the road first, but the eventual goal is to get the power top functional again. It's currently non-op due to several missing/broken parts...and I have no clue about how it works. It'll be a learning experience.

Links:
Project album for this car.
RealOEM top diagrams.
Troubleshooting & E36 PDFs.
More roof info and troubleshooting.
More documentation and PDFs on the 'vert top.
More info on the top and microswitches.
Realignment procedure.

[DesktopDave]

She does have a few battle scars:



Clearcoat on the hood and trunk is wasted too. That's OK with me. I don't like garage queens. They're so much work and driving them is a mixed blessing. Why worry about every pothole?

[DesktopDave]

A little bit of history came along with the car. I bought it from the owner's widow; she and her son didn't have the time or skills to fix the car. The motor is newer than the car, the clutch was newly installed (in 2007 anyway), and the chassis only has 119K miles.


I'm only missing a few parts from what I've seen so far. I wish the car came with a few more options, but I'm still pretty happy with the low mileage and clean chassis. Most of the trim is intact. The toolkit is a rusty mess (3rd brake light gasket is leaking) but it still has most of the original tools. If I manage to seal that up I'll swap in a good tool kit from my other E30. It even has the original spare tire, jack, chock and the BBS wheel cover removal tool.
:D

[DesktopDave]

I'm looking for some parts too. Anyone parting out a cabrio?

Here's what I need:
Refer to this diagram on RealOEM. The parts I need are 3,10,11,14,16, 18 and 20. It's the entire upper rod and the crank lever, along with the fastening nuts, screws and washers. The crank is hidden under a small cover on the passenger side. If the cover is in good shape I'm interested in that too, along with the filister screws.

BMW part numbers for the linkage I need:
54348112787 (pull rod)
54348134530
54348121719
54348106995
54348106993 (lever)

Here's some pics of the damage. Tips are appreciated (since I don't know what I'm doing).

[DesktopDave]

I've done a bunch of work on the car this past month. New timing belt, idler pulley, water pump, v-belts. I also replaced that strung-out guibo.

Then I cleaned. And cleaned. And cleaned. It's not there yet, but at least it smells fresher. Still has water leaks in the top and trunk. I found an easy solution...just park it in the garage with the top down. Always ready for the sun, LOL.

[Gerta]

Hey Dave! Good to see you on here! My wife has a 325ic as well, so welcome aboard!

[DesktopDave]

Hey Dave! Good to see you on here! My wife has a 325ic as well, so welcome aboard!

Thanks! I figured a few familiar ppl might be hanging out here! It was high time I started posting stuff at R3v, right?

[Gerta]

Yeah, R3V is a ton more active than m42club. I see BMWman is on here too quite a bit, so it feels like home.

[phenryiv1]

In.

[TimeMachinE30]

Nice. Da burgh nnat.

[pilotskillse30]

I am partial to laguna Green myself. Also under the knife getting lots of work.

[8ball]

I knew I had seen that car. It's still showing for sale on CL. I hope you talked him down a good bit. I'm tracking down parts for my vert as well. I'll pass stuff along as I find it.

[DesktopDave]

Thanks fellas. I'll have some more updates this weekend. Timing belt, water pump and some new fluids should get the car on the road.