Sorry that this is a non-e30 thread, but this is the only forum I still visit regularly and build threads have really helped me in the past for record-keeping and "how/why did I do this?" type of situations. I will have some nice e30 updates in the coming weeks
I do like e30's, I've owned my '88 since 2003 and it's been through many phases, but I must say I'm undeniably an e34 guy at heart. The first car I bought with my own money was an e34 535i 5 speed, black on black, high miles but fantastic condition. I built a set of HRE 505's for it, bought some cheap coilovers, and thought I was pretty cool at the time. Keep in mind, this is 2008 or so, when rare wheels were cheap and forums were still cool. Here's a picture of that car, brings back memories:
Sold that car, bought it back, parted it out and put the motor (m30/m90 hybrid) into my e30 for it's first swap. I had a few other e34's before putting a bunch of time into a cirrus blue 535i 5 speed. I got this project about 90% complete before selling the car cheap because it just wasn't "special" enough- I wanted an M5.
Bought a pretty beat up but really cool euro m5. I thought it would be my forever car, but I was kind of at a turning point career-wise and didn't have the spare time or resources to make it great. Sold it cheap and truly regret it, the car would be amazing if I still had it now but it's getting some good attention with it's current owner.
Anyways, fast forward to now. It's been a crazy year, sold my house in Atlanta and moved to Charlotte for a job. Went from 2 car garage and lots of space/local resources to living in an apartment in a town where I don't know anyone. I sold my 4th consecutive e39 M5 to help cover some home sale/moving costs, and planned on replacing it with an e90 m3 or e60 m5. I drove a few of those, wasn't blown away and decided that I needed to look at e34 m5's again. Time to buy the e34 I always wanted, the perfect car- great cosmetics, great history, doesn't need much... I'll just drive, maintain, and enjoy it.
Pretty early into that search, I got a message from a guy in Charlotte that had 2 e34 m5's he would consider selling and he sent me this picture:
2018-04-08_11-55-50 by jbraswell, on Flickr
Trouble.
Naturally, I bought both of the e34's, sold one to a friend who was also in the market and bought an inexpensive, high mileage e39 m5 as my daily driver. Perfect! The e34 was pretty rough cosmetically, it was a one owner car up to May 2017 and it sat outside in Tennessee for quite some time. Mechanically it was alright, but it was clear after driving it that it needed most things you'd expect a car that had been sitting would need. The motor is pretty solid, not much to worry about there but not much maintenance history either. Transmission grinds going into 2nd at high rpms, I'll probably end up swapping in a G260/265 at some point since G280's are no longer rebuildable and prices have gone crazy. The car is stock except for an EAT chip and B&B exhaust. Took a couple pics of my apartment parking lot situation upon getting the car home (the 4.6is is mine too)
2018-04-08_09-29-47 by jbraswell, on Flickr
2018-04-08_09-29-56 by jbraswell, on Flickr
2018-04-08_09-30-20 by jbraswell, on Flickr
The apartment complex wasn't too happy about all of my awesome cars, so at this point I had no other choice but to pony up for the super overpriced apartment garage. Once this happened, I started buying stuff
2018-04-08_09-27-45 by jbraswell, on Flickr
2018-04-08_09-29-19 by jbraswell, on Flickr
My plan is to work on the car in phases:
Phase 1- Suspension/Mechanical "necessities"
Phase 2- Paint and body
Phase 3- Interior
I do like e30's, I've owned my '88 since 2003 and it's been through many phases, but I must say I'm undeniably an e34 guy at heart. The first car I bought with my own money was an e34 535i 5 speed, black on black, high miles but fantastic condition. I built a set of HRE 505's for it, bought some cheap coilovers, and thought I was pretty cool at the time. Keep in mind, this is 2008 or so, when rare wheels were cheap and forums were still cool. Here's a picture of that car, brings back memories:
Sold that car, bought it back, parted it out and put the motor (m30/m90 hybrid) into my e30 for it's first swap. I had a few other e34's before putting a bunch of time into a cirrus blue 535i 5 speed. I got this project about 90% complete before selling the car cheap because it just wasn't "special" enough- I wanted an M5.
Bought a pretty beat up but really cool euro m5. I thought it would be my forever car, but I was kind of at a turning point career-wise and didn't have the spare time or resources to make it great. Sold it cheap and truly regret it, the car would be amazing if I still had it now but it's getting some good attention with it's current owner.
Anyways, fast forward to now. It's been a crazy year, sold my house in Atlanta and moved to Charlotte for a job. Went from 2 car garage and lots of space/local resources to living in an apartment in a town where I don't know anyone. I sold my 4th consecutive e39 M5 to help cover some home sale/moving costs, and planned on replacing it with an e90 m3 or e60 m5. I drove a few of those, wasn't blown away and decided that I needed to look at e34 m5's again. Time to buy the e34 I always wanted, the perfect car- great cosmetics, great history, doesn't need much... I'll just drive, maintain, and enjoy it.
Pretty early into that search, I got a message from a guy in Charlotte that had 2 e34 m5's he would consider selling and he sent me this picture:
2018-04-08_11-55-50 by jbraswell, on Flickr
Trouble.
Naturally, I bought both of the e34's, sold one to a friend who was also in the market and bought an inexpensive, high mileage e39 m5 as my daily driver. Perfect! The e34 was pretty rough cosmetically, it was a one owner car up to May 2017 and it sat outside in Tennessee for quite some time. Mechanically it was alright, but it was clear after driving it that it needed most things you'd expect a car that had been sitting would need. The motor is pretty solid, not much to worry about there but not much maintenance history either. Transmission grinds going into 2nd at high rpms, I'll probably end up swapping in a G260/265 at some point since G280's are no longer rebuildable and prices have gone crazy. The car is stock except for an EAT chip and B&B exhaust. Took a couple pics of my apartment parking lot situation upon getting the car home (the 4.6is is mine too)
2018-04-08_09-29-47 by jbraswell, on Flickr
2018-04-08_09-29-56 by jbraswell, on Flickr
2018-04-08_09-30-20 by jbraswell, on Flickr
The apartment complex wasn't too happy about all of my awesome cars, so at this point I had no other choice but to pony up for the super overpriced apartment garage. Once this happened, I started buying stuff
2018-04-08_09-27-45 by jbraswell, on Flickr
2018-04-08_09-29-19 by jbraswell, on Flickr
My plan is to work on the car in phases:
Phase 1- Suspension/Mechanical "necessities"
Phase 2- Paint and body
Phase 3- Interior
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