Welcome to King Kong's E30 build thread!
This build thread is meant to journal my build experience, the friends and relationships that are made along the way, the people to avoid within this community, and an open honest account of what it takes/took me to restore a car that I have always loved since high school.
In the late '80s and early '90s I instantly gravitated towards the E30... but never had the funds to buy one... As school and life happened, 25 years later, I began to look for an E30. I quickly found out that I knew nothing about the car, except that I loved the design and the iconic aesthetics of the E30.
Countless days searching on the internet for information about E30s and hours at a time every night reading forum threads, posts, classifieds, and local sale listings, I finally felt comfortable to make a purchase.... that is what I thought.
In early October of 2015, I ran across this local Craigslist ad:
I was very excited!! Looked like an awesome car... I immediately called the seller... Talked to him about the car for about 20 minutes on the phone and was reassured that everything listed on the ad was true and that he also had a carfax that he emailed to me. I made an offer, $3500...yes.. it was a bit low from his asking, but I knew he would counter. Well... he stood firm at $5,000 and said basically he had another higher offer on the table. So, I felt a little disappointed but decided that I'll just have to keep searching.
2 hours later, he called me back and said if I am willing to pick up the car that night, he would sell it to me for $4,000. This was a Friday night, and I live in Orange County.... it would literally take 2 hours to drive up to North Los Angeles to get the car. I decided to agree and had my brother take me up to LA to see and pick up the car. It was 9pm when I first saw the car.... Yes... I was overly excited, the car was running, and everything looked decent. The seller seemed to be a young college student that had inherited the car from his father. He mentioned he had lost the pink slip to the car but had all the paperwork transfer info ready to hand to me (I actually got on the phone with his father and spoke to him to confirm this information). The Carfax showed no accidents and and two ownership transfers (originally from his Uncle, to his Father, then to him). All the maintenance records and paperwork he mentioned would be sent to me along with a missing fog light. The final item was the smog check that he assured me was done 4 months ago and passed.... but I would still need to get one because 3 months is the limit for smog checks in order to transfer title. So foolishly without seeing all the signs that told me I should have walked away, I trusted him and paid for the car, took the car into my possession, and took a photo of his ID.
I drove the car to the local gas station.... I was actually still so amped about finally owning an E30. I even took these two photos and posted it up on the R3V Facebook page while getting gas!!
That night, while on the freeway, I noticed the temp gauge was on high and the check engine light was lit... I texted the seller and he said the gauge was broken and the car is perfect. By the time I got home, the car was steaming out of engine bay and leaking.... I messaged the seller, and all he could say was that the car was perfectly fine when he had it. Well, I am sure you guys all know what comes next out of these stories....
The car is missing an AC compressor or AC unit... AC hoses are attached to... NOTHING
Car is leaking coolant
I also did my own full Carfax report...
Car actually had a minor accident when it hit a fixed object.
The following day, I towed the car to a family mechanic.... it was determined that the car had a blown head gasket. It would not pass smog and title could not be transferred. Brought this to the seller's attention and always got an excuse of why it happened. I tried to work it out with him after one week but it was going no where and I could have pursued ways to get my money back or what not... but I decided to just keep the car and the unresponsive seller would eventually get what he deserved from his dishonesty. He is actually a R3V member as well!!
November 2015
Finally got the car to pass the smog check... completed the title transfer and received the pink slip to the car (Also learned that the seller stole registration stickers for the past 4 years to put on the car...good thing I explained the situation to the DMV, they took the original plates with the stickers and the back charges and fines/penalties are going to be attached to his fathers DMV record when he gets his registration bill...that's going to be a big one).
So, this is how I came to owning my first E30. After reading what I am posting, it sure sounds pretty discouraging... but the real story, excitement, and journey is about to begin!!!
This build thread is meant to journal my build experience, the friends and relationships that are made along the way, the people to avoid within this community, and an open honest account of what it takes/took me to restore a car that I have always loved since high school.
In the late '80s and early '90s I instantly gravitated towards the E30... but never had the funds to buy one... As school and life happened, 25 years later, I began to look for an E30. I quickly found out that I knew nothing about the car, except that I loved the design and the iconic aesthetics of the E30.
Countless days searching on the internet for information about E30s and hours at a time every night reading forum threads, posts, classifieds, and local sale listings, I finally felt comfortable to make a purchase.... that is what I thought.
In early October of 2015, I ran across this local Craigslist ad:
I was very excited!! Looked like an awesome car... I immediately called the seller... Talked to him about the car for about 20 minutes on the phone and was reassured that everything listed on the ad was true and that he also had a carfax that he emailed to me. I made an offer, $3500...yes.. it was a bit low from his asking, but I knew he would counter. Well... he stood firm at $5,000 and said basically he had another higher offer on the table. So, I felt a little disappointed but decided that I'll just have to keep searching.
2 hours later, he called me back and said if I am willing to pick up the car that night, he would sell it to me for $4,000. This was a Friday night, and I live in Orange County.... it would literally take 2 hours to drive up to North Los Angeles to get the car. I decided to agree and had my brother take me up to LA to see and pick up the car. It was 9pm when I first saw the car.... Yes... I was overly excited, the car was running, and everything looked decent. The seller seemed to be a young college student that had inherited the car from his father. He mentioned he had lost the pink slip to the car but had all the paperwork transfer info ready to hand to me (I actually got on the phone with his father and spoke to him to confirm this information). The Carfax showed no accidents and and two ownership transfers (originally from his Uncle, to his Father, then to him). All the maintenance records and paperwork he mentioned would be sent to me along with a missing fog light. The final item was the smog check that he assured me was done 4 months ago and passed.... but I would still need to get one because 3 months is the limit for smog checks in order to transfer title. So foolishly without seeing all the signs that told me I should have walked away, I trusted him and paid for the car, took the car into my possession, and took a photo of his ID.
I drove the car to the local gas station.... I was actually still so amped about finally owning an E30. I even took these two photos and posted it up on the R3V Facebook page while getting gas!!
That night, while on the freeway, I noticed the temp gauge was on high and the check engine light was lit... I texted the seller and he said the gauge was broken and the car is perfect. By the time I got home, the car was steaming out of engine bay and leaking.... I messaged the seller, and all he could say was that the car was perfectly fine when he had it. Well, I am sure you guys all know what comes next out of these stories....
The car is missing an AC compressor or AC unit... AC hoses are attached to... NOTHING
Car is leaking coolant
I also did my own full Carfax report...
Car actually had a minor accident when it hit a fixed object.
The following day, I towed the car to a family mechanic.... it was determined that the car had a blown head gasket. It would not pass smog and title could not be transferred. Brought this to the seller's attention and always got an excuse of why it happened. I tried to work it out with him after one week but it was going no where and I could have pursued ways to get my money back or what not... but I decided to just keep the car and the unresponsive seller would eventually get what he deserved from his dishonesty. He is actually a R3V member as well!!
November 2015
Finally got the car to pass the smog check... completed the title transfer and received the pink slip to the car (Also learned that the seller stole registration stickers for the past 4 years to put on the car...good thing I explained the situation to the DMV, they took the original plates with the stickers and the back charges and fines/penalties are going to be attached to his fathers DMV record when he gets his registration bill...that's going to be a big one).
So, this is how I came to owning my first E30. After reading what I am posting, it sure sounds pretty discouraging... but the real story, excitement, and journey is about to begin!!!
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