I'm new...

[shiraz]

Thanks guys:D I used to be a member at bf.c and I still am at TDF if you guys are familiar with those forums...so I know all about forum assholes and I try not to take stuff too seriously!
I am really excited to have found an e30 forum though...e30s are kind of their own little entity and to be honest there is so much I don't know about my car it scares me.

Which is why I'm here!

Shiraz is actually the name of my horse...he is named after my mom's favourite wine. Horses are the other half of my life, aside from my car.

So there are some things I want to do to my car that I DEFINITELY need help with...I have a really good mechanic so I know the work will be done right, I just don't know what exactly is the best stuff to put on my car...it will need a completely new exhaust system except for the cat, and I dont want to end up with it sounding like a riced out civic or a big rumbly truck. It also could use some side skirts and a rear apron...nothing huge and ugly though just to fill in some of the air space between the car and the ground...the back end sits up kind of high because it has h&r sport springs and it would just look way better with a rear apron. The other thing I would like to do is put angel eyes in it...but I haven't been able to find a kit that will work in my car, so I'm not sure one exists that will work without having to do a ton of modifications.

I don't know how to do ANY of this. First off I am a girl so that doesn't help. Secondly there are like...two nice e30's in town where I live so it's not like I can go learn from other people who have them. Thirdly (is that a word?) I don't have a body work guy yet so I want to know as much as possible before I go looking for someone who is gonna rip me off because lets face it, I'm a girl, alot of car guys assume I am young and stupid and that I know nothing about my car...people have tried in the past to screw me over and I want to make sure I know enough about what I want to do that I can tell if someone is lying to me about it.

Sorry for the essay but I have TONS of questions, and I'm not sure where to start, so I kind of just...wrote everything I could think of.

:D

[Ray Smoodiver]

TDF

Not enough Shiraz threads over there, too many Palomino and horse-face-girl threads.

[shiraz]

Carly is a nice girl! I think they feel weird talking about me because I'm a couple years younger than her...but I'm 19 so technically I'm fair game I suppose.

[NC325iC]

... dont say angel eyes or you will probly be shot at... just a hint i thought id give to you. what you would much rather have are the euro headlights (theyre kinda like the angel eyes for older cars)

you say you have handr springs in it already, what kind of shocks did you put in?

and another lucky thing you have by coming here, some people on here know the book time for maintanance work, by that i mean they can tell you how much time bmw says it should take a mechanic to do certain repairs, so if your mechanic wants to charge you 10 hrs for something that should only take 2 then you can call him on it.

welcome
Chris

[shiraz]

... dont say angel eyes or you will probly be shot at... just a hint i thought id give to you. what you would much rather have are the euro headlights (theyre kinda like the angel eyes for older cars)

you say you have handr springs in it already, what kind of shocks did you put in?

and another lucky thing you have by coming here, some people on here know the book time for maintanance work, by that i mean they can tell you how much time bmw says it should take a mechanic to do certain repairs, so if your mechanic wants to charge you 10 hrs for something that should only take 2 then you can call him on it.

welcome
Chris

Thank you...I kind of am leaning towards euro smoked ellipsoids now. I'm kind of indecisive about it, plus my headlight wiring is giving me trouble and I have no idea what to do about it (so it is going to see the mechanic on friday). I'm not worried about my mechanic...my dad was a professional detailer so he has been in the car business a long time, and he takes his 86 635csi there and trusts them to work on it...which is a BIG DEAL because he is one of those obsessive "car guys". Not that there is anything wrong with it...I don't mind taking my shoes off before I get in his car lol.

Yes I have H and R sport springs...I have no idea about the shocks. I can look it up, it was done before I bought it, and I have all the records. It also has M3 control arm bushings, I have no idea what those do so if someone could explain that to me that would be excellent:D Oh I am so uneducated This was a car I went looking for...It took me 8 months to find one this clean locally. It was already lowered 2 inches, had the H and R springs and M3 control arm bushings, and an AC schnitzer solid billet aluminum short shift kit...and a dinan chip. Those are all things I would have had done myself had I bought one completely stock...but since it was already done I kind of didn't learn as much about it as I would have if I'd had it done myself. So I am kind of playing catch-up now.

[Jand3rson]

M3 control arm bushings are offset, increasing the forward caster of the front wheels, meaning it moves their position forward in the wheel well.

They're good for improved handling, that's cool that it was already done.

[shiraz]

M3 control arm bushings are offset, increasing the forward caster of the front wheels, meaning it moves their position forward in the wheel well.

They're good for improved handling, that's cool that it was already done.

Thank you for explaining that to me :)


So I found my folder full of records for the car...I killed my toe finding it but anyways I am looking through it and it says BMW M-technik sport suspension. Is that stock or...? And would that explain what shocks it has? I am kind of embarrassed at how little I know about my car. But that's why I'm here;)

[Jand3rson]

So I found my folder full of records for the car...I killed my toe finding it but anyways I am looking through it and it says BMW M-technik sport suspension. Is that stock or...? And would that explain what shocks it has? I am kind of embarrassed at how little I know about my car. But that's why I'm here;)

The 325is/es came with slightly upgraded suspension, consisting of stiffer springs and better shocks, that being the sport suspension.

I'm willing to bet that whoever swapped out the springs for the H&R's most likely did the shocks too, just hard to know with what kind. You could always pull them, and possibly find out what brand they are.

[shiraz]

The 325is/es came with slightly upgraded suspension, consisting of stiffer springs and better shocks, that being the sport suspension.

I'm willing to bet that whoever swapped out the springs for the H&R's most likely did the shocks too, just hard to know with what kind. You could always pull them, and possibly find out what brand they are.

I am still looking through everything and I haven't seen anything that says anything about shocks. hmm.

If they are stock, should I upgrade them? If it's not too expensive I probably will anyways...I have a bit of money to spend on the car so I am trying to decide what to do to it.

[Jand3rson]

I am still looking through everything and I haven't seen anything that says anything about shocks. hmm.

If they are stock, should I upgrade them? If it's not too expensive I probably will anyways...I have a bit of money to spend on the car so I am trying to decide what to do to it.

You should most definitely upgrade them. Stock shocks with lowering springs is never a good idea. Thankfully, you've got H&R Sports, which aren't super low. Anything lower would have blown out stock shocks by now. A good set of Bilsteins will do wonders.

[NC325iC]

just look at them,(shocks) if theyre yellow theyre bilsteins which are imo the best shocks out there. if you find out they are bilstein sports or HD then dont worry about shocks youll be set for a long time.
and h&r is correct, you dont have to right H and R, i just hate having to look for the shift key and whatever number you have to push, call me lazy whatever i dont care.

on more of a detailing side, you said your dad was a detailer so i assume your paint must be super clean, any good pics of it. i love detailing cars if i had the stuff to detail my car id probly detail my car once a week. this past weekend i took my whole interior out carpet and all and cleaned it up a good bit and layed down some fatt matt sound deadener. not that that has anything to do with this thread i just wanted to say it.

alright i think thats enough random crap from me tonight

[shiraz]

You should most definitely upgrade them. Stock shocks with lowering springs is never a good idea. Thankfully, you've got H&R Sports, which aren't super low. Anything lower would have blown out stock shocks by now. A good set of Bilsteins will do wonders.

I was gonna say, I've heard good things about Bilsteins, is that what I should get...but you beat me to it! Is it expensive to have them put in?

I looked through all the records and it doesn't say anything about shocks anywhere...just M sport suspension in a couple places and nothing else. I can't seem to find the receipt for when the h and r springs when in either...but we had it verified that that's what they are when it was in the shop last. I think I will ask them what the hell kind of shocks I have when it goes in on friday for its oil change/headlight issues/dying seatbelt clicky thing.

Ok here is another question. I want to re-do the exhaust system and do some body work on the car (rear apron/side skirts/smaller bumpers). Is it worth it to do it on an 87, with 239,000 kms on it? Alot of people are telling me it's not...but this car has been kept up so well, it's not giving me any reason to think it's going to crap out on me anytime soon...but I keep hearing, buy a 90 or a 91 with lower mileage, then do all this stuff to that one.

Is it worth it to spend the money on the car I already have, or is it gonna die soon?

[Jand3rson]

just look at them,(shocks) if theyre yellow theyre bilsteins which are imo the best shocks out there.

My Konis are yellow, so are many other shocks.

I was gonna say, I've heard good things about Bilsteins, is that what I should get...but you beat me to it! Is it expensive to have them put in?

I looked through all the records and it doesn't say anything about shocks anywhere...just M sport suspension in a couple places and nothing else. I can't seem to find the receipt for when the h and r springs when in either...but we had it verified that that's what they are when it was in the shop last. I think I will ask them what the hell kind of shocks I have when it goes in on friday for its oil change/headlight issues/dying seatbelt clicky thing.

Ok here is another question. I want to re-do the exhaust system and do some body work on the car (rear apron/side skirts/smaller bumpers). Is it worth it to do it on an 87, with 239,000 kms on it? Alot of people are telling me it's not...but this car has been kept up so well, it's not giving me any reason to think it's going to crap out on me anytime soon...but I keep hearing, buy a 90 or a 91 with lower mileage, then do all this stuff to that one.

Is it worth it to spend the money on the car I already have, or is it gonna die soon?

Shocks are easy as hell to install, you and a friend could do them in less than an hour. Seriously, not trying to sound like an ass here, but buy yourself a Bentley manual, and try to learn to do work on your car yourself. E30's are very easy to work on, and you'll save yourself a shitload of money.

I wouldn't worry about putting money into the car, and being afraid it's not going to last. The M20 is a pretty hardcore engine with a bombproof block, and will go well over 300k miles if properly maintained. When it does finally give up the ghost, a new (replacement) one can be had for not a lot of money, and easily swapped in in a weekend.

[NC325iC]

your car should be fine, i would say if the engine dies just fix it but if you pay someone that can get pricey. as far as the cosmetics go, imo the RD rear apron is the best one, its easy to install so whoever you get to do it should be able to do it easily. i dont know about side skirts as bmw had to make it so i can have the same side skirts as any other car.

but yeah def check and see if you have billys already just look or have someone look at the back shocks and if theyre yellow then you most likely have bil sports
edit: damn didnt think about koni yellows, had to go and ruin my shit didnt you

[shiraz]

just look at them,(shocks) if theyre yellow theyre bilsteins which are imo the best shocks out there. if you find out they are bilstein sports or HD then dont worry about shocks youll be set for a long time.
and h&r is correct, you dont have to right H and R, i just hate having to look for the shift key and whatever number you have to push, call me lazy whatever i dont care.

on more of a detailing side, you said your dad was a detailer so i assume your paint must be super clean, any good pics of it. i love detailing cars if i had the stuff to do it myself id probly detail my car once a week. this past weekend i took my whole interior out carpet and all and cleaned it up a good bit and layed down some fatt matt sound deadener. not that that has anything to do with this thread i just wanted to say it. but i dont so i have to do it like once a year or so... oh well.

alright i think thats enough random crap from me tonight

I am pretty sure my shocks aren't yellow, although they are probably VERY dirty so they might be hiding under alot of brake dust and gross road crap. I will run outside and check in a minute.

As for the paint...my dad only had a look at it once, we are kind of "estranged" if you will...my parents got divorced when I was 13 and he was an asshole for a long time, you know how it is...I used the car as a way to get talking to him again, ALL we talk about is the car...but not very often. I feel bad begging him to detail it...I don't want him to think I ONLY talk to him because he knows about the car. It's just all we have in common and all we can't argue about! /emo

It really does need a serious cut wax and polish...it's old and has surface scratches everywhere, some rock chips on the front and one BIG scratch that might buff out a bit. I think it will come back pretty nice once I get it done though...I honestly don't have the patience to do more than a quarter panel of it myself but I know a guy who will do a good job, I just have to find a day when I can spare the car for most of the day.

And speaking of sound deadener...think my trunk would rattle less if I put some on my trunk lid? I have two 12" subs back there and they rattle like shit from outside the car :( The rest of the car is so damn heavy it's not bad...the sunroof rattles a little but I just open it and it's fine. The subs are ported through the ski bag into the cabin of the car but the trunk really does rattle like crazy so I've been thinking about putting dynomat all over the trunk lid and seeing if that helps. Needless to say my tool kit came off a long time ago, and my spare tire came out to make room for an amp rack.