Less rust and hopefully some reliability- the Midwest Daily iS

[AWDBOB]

*Pages 1-3 Cliff notes* Project Daily started out as an iX and I found out it was swiss cheese underneath before I invested too much into it. Fast forward to page four.

I've been itching to daily an iX forever, but all of the ones I've had were too nice to put through winter months. I need a van for various reasons, so I will no longer need my Forester.

This means.........I can daily whatever I want.....which of course is an E30.

I was originally searching for an '88 iX since they're fully loaded, manual coupes, but I'm too cheap and they're hard to find so naturally, I settled.

The universe delivered me the perfect car: a rusty low mile '89 cream puff winter machine. I was scrolling through the Vintage page on FB, and saw a post asking if anyone had interest in "a project 325iX in the midwest". That was exactly what I was looking for. Turns out, the owner of a BMW shop in Ohio (and avid enthusiast) had been using this 325iX as his winter car up until he unfortunately passed away in the Spring. I sought out more information, and struck a deal.

When I picked up the car, we were checking out the registration expiration and it ended up being on his birthday. The wife, who was so pleasant, despite the situation, said that meant that I was supposed to have the car. It was a nice experience.

Anyway, she's got 130k on the clock, and runs great. It was repainted poorly, has rust in all of the normal places, but everything structural was taken care of. Crack free dash, no lights, everything works, etc. It has brand new blizzaks on it, too (and iX weaves with caps).

They replaced the starter, battery, fuel tank, pump, lines, repaired brake lines, rebuilt the rear suspension with eccentric TA bushings, etc.

They also had a body shop weld in new rear spring perches, which is nice.

Plans:

I have no plans to make this a super nice car. I just want to drive, maintain and enjoy it. I'm going to grind down and seal off the existing rust to prevent it from spreading further. It needs a timing belt and a tuneup. The head gasket leaks a bit of oil, etc.

I know the forums are dead, but I thoroughly enjoy posting my progress up on here with my E30 endeavors.

Anyway, here are some photos. The paint was so contaminated I had to clay it twice (first time I've ever had to do that). Should've used ironX but I didn't have any.

So far I just washed and clayed the car, and polished the hood- I'll finish the rest of the car soon. I bought myself a Rupes machine for my birthday and it makes polishing a treat. I'm using a meguiars microfiber cutting pad with Rupes medium polish. Sealed with the new TurtleWax Hybrid Ceramic OTS stuff.



Pre-wash (look how dark the paint is)

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hZdDHk]


Post-wash and clay:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


Working:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


The hood all sealed up:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[Slybeanx]

Looks nice!

[paynemw]

thanks for keeping the forums alive!

[amcp]

Keep it up. Always enjoyed your posts.

[AWDBOB]

Looks nice!

thanks for keeping the forums alive!

Keep it up. Always enjoyed your posts.

Thanks, gents. Excited to get her refreshed a bit and cruising proper! And re: the forums.... there is nothing on social media that will compare to a build thread. It's becoming a lost art, really.

I spent the rest of the day checking the car out, inspecting things, and finishing the paint correction/ceramic coating. Good for 12mo, and it looks so different compared to how I got it. The paint has more depth, albeit still a poor paint job.

Some notes/thoughts:

-This wing is hideous. Searching for a "drivers quality" E28 MT1 wing since this trunk lid has various non-oem mounting holes already. Send me a PM if you have one you want to get rid of.
-The passenger front outer ball joint has play
-Strut housing gland nuts are destroyed from someone trying to remove them and failing
-Steering rack has some play
-CABs are worn
-Drivers rear door is torn apart for a fix. It's the only door that doesn't lock, so I'll need to figure that out sooner than later since it's a daily.
-Head gasket is leaking from the passenger front where they normally do. I'm going to deal with that after the first of the year.
-Rust encapsulator is ordered. I'm going to polycarbide down the areas that need attention and seal it the best I can to stop the rust from spreading.
-Left turn signal works but doesn't illuminate from the dash
-Both rear windows are inop
-At the house I have belts, vacuum hoses, timing belt/wp/tensioner/etc, cap/rotor, plugs, various gaskets/seals, etc. I'm just going to have to add the head gasket to the mix, which isn't too bad.
-I HATE comfort seats. I have a decent tan drivers sport seat I'm going to toss in until I find a pair of black sports seats.

I'll take care of the engine first, which is an easy job. And then I'll accumulate parts for the front suspension and do all that at once.

After coating:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


I put some 303 on the minty dash:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

And started putting the interior back together:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


Dirty engine bay. This will get freshened up when I address the above issues.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[BreadMan]

Likewise, always enjoyed your build threads! Excited to see this one come together.

[kid325e]

Looks like a nice foundation that deserves to be saved! Congrats on finding the iX!

[e30austin]

Nice work, Bobbie!! I have a driver quality E28 spoiler. Text me if you want some pics :)

[Poorhouse]

Nice score!

There is a couple here that daily a pair of very clean iX's year round. My hat is off to them, and you for taking that on.
I love my E30 but I enjoy bombing around every day in my Tundra. Big V8, auto, heated leather, etc.
I'm getting old...

[rzerob]

Subscribed. I have been winter daily driving my ix for almost 10 years now. I love it. I plan on tearing it down for a driver resto sometime next year. And a few upgrades. Mine has more than 100k than yours so it needs addressed before I start to flintstone it. But it will always be my winter beater.

[mike.bmw]

Subscribed! This thread may talk me into doing the same thing. :-)

[AWDBOB]

Likewise, always enjoyed your build threads! Excited to see this one come together.

Looks like a nice foundation that deserves to be saved! Congrats on finding the iX!

Thanks, gents! I do feel like this car deserves another life, which I hope to give it.

Nice work, Bobbie!! I have a driver quality E28 spoiler. Text me if you want some pics :)

Thanks, man! As always, it's a pleasure doing business with you.

Nice score!

There is a couple here that daily a pair of very clean iX's year round. My hat is off to them, and you for taking that on.
I love my E30 but I enjoy bombing around every day in my Tundra. Big V8, auto, heated leather, etc.
I'm getting old...

I could certainly see how that would be appealing to some. I am so analog and weird about cars....my Forester is a 5sp FXT with the Sports package. I can't stand driving anything that doesn't make me work for it, however inconvenient it is at times.

The iX, however, I don't think will be TOO much of a compromise. I'm going to keep it at stock height and will be adding heated seats, adding some RAAMMat and ensolite in the right places, etc. I think it'll be one hell of a daily!

Subscribed. I have been winter daily driving my ix for almost 10 years now. I love it. I plan on tearing it down for a driver resto sometime next year. And a few upgrades. Mine has more than 100k than yours so it needs addressed before I start to flintstone it. But it will always be my winter beater.

I was just talking with mjweimer yesterday, and he has a buddy who daily drove an iX for 100K. My brother has been driving his iX daily for well over 5 years now. I have repaired so many... the maintenance is a non issue. It just seems like such a great car in it's stock form to cruise and enjoy, in all of the seasons.

Subscribed! This thread may talk me into doing the same thing. :-)

My first E30 (and only E30 that I have used as a daily) was a clapped out iX. Much worse than this car. But I loved that thing so much that I have always dreamt in the back of my mind of picking up another one to daily. I think if you find the right candidate, it will be nothing but bliss!


I celebrated our first snowfall with a proper cruise. It was everything I had hoped it would be.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[Albie325]

I know the forums are dead, but I thoroughly enjoy posting my progress up on here with my E30 endeavors. And re: the forums.... there is nothing on social media that will compare to a build thread. It's becoming a lost art, really

As little traffic as there has been lately, it's threads like yours that keep us coming back. I 100% agree with you regarding social media, and love flipping though the build threads from start to finish. Keep it up!!!

I've always been interested in an IX as I will eventually need something with AWD. I've wanted an older Wrangler for forever, but if I came across an IX like this one I'd have a similarly tough time pulling the trigger as you did. Something about an AWD e30 in the snow that seems so appealing

[BreadMan]

Thread hijack in progress.

Are those of you winter driving your IXs doing fluid treatments to undercarriage? I have a clean but not perfect 88 IX and I can’t bring myself to even mount snow tires anymore.

I feel shame winter driving it, but it’s a shame not to drive it, too.

[jeenyus]

Bobby, you buy some many cars. I love it! This one looks fun! I am finishing up my rust project now, keeping my ix as the daily for the time being. They are too fun in the snow and I actually have felt more secure in the ix than my Audi. Maybe that's the inclusion of snow tires in the winter, but either way they are tanks in the snow.

Edit: I know you know this.