Project Daily: The Tale of Two E30's
Hey Everyone,
I’m finally getting around to making a thread for my 1987 325iS that I picked up earlier this year. Expect a wall o’ text and then the majority of the build thread.
Origin Story
First off lemme give ya’ll a little back story, I picked up my first BMW(E46) in 2010 as a junior in college. The way this BMW drove was so smooth and was like riding on a cloud. It had immediately hooked my Dad and I on the Ultimate Driving Machines.
Fast forward to 2016 and an E90 later I graduated from college and found a job as a Network Engineer in the Atlanta area. The E90 had started giving me issues so I decided to pick up a 2014 Grey 328i. Now I’m not sure if most know, but commuting in the ATL SUCKS! I live about 40 miles away from my job and most of that is stop and go traffic. On top of that the 80-mile round trip was starting to rack up the miles on the F30 so I decided to try and score a Daily Driver. Back in the day I had frequented e46fanatics and followed a couple users on there (Neil1138, Kpeng, etc.) who had picked up E30’s as Dailies and I had always wanted to do the same.
Now as I said before I needed a Daily Driver, but deep down I really wanted something to track around (DD was the cover to the GF). My boss at work has a Z3 that he takes to track and auto-x and I had gone a few times and really wanted to be able to experience some of the thrill that tracking can offer.
The Past
Earlier this year in April I started looking around the interwebs for one. I’ll admit I was very anxious to get into an E30 and I didn’t take my time finding the right one for my needs. Alas I found a 1987 Bronzit 325iS on Craigslist that already had a few things checked off the list.
The Foundation
• 1987 325iS 5spd w/ 327k miles (I know, miles… WOW)
• H&R Racing Springs
• Bilstein Struts
• Stainless Steel brake lines
• M3 Control Arms and Steering Rack
• KAMotors Intake
• 2.93 LSD
• Ireland Engineering Subframe
• Magnaflow exhaust
The top end had been sent to the machine shop and head gasket replaced about 5k miles before my purchase. After a phone call and a couple exchanged txts I agreed to come and take a look and drive it. I’m not gonna lie the exterior was rough. The whole front end seemed to be off the car, the hood was replaced and unpainted and there we’re multiple dings around the car. The interior had also been semi stripped as the PO was going to turn this car into a pure track car. Well I had drove an hour out there so I decided to give it a test drive anyways and to my surprise it drove extremely well, shifted well, and felt overall extremely solid.
Was I seriously thinking about purchasing this?!?! Yes, yes, I was… I had the money burning a hole my pocket and the two other E30’s remotely close to me we’re sedans which I wasn't feeling. I had the car taken to two different shops to get checked out, Market Motor Works and Balanced Performance Automotive, both shops that actively work on E30’s. Both came back with the same reply. Cosmetically she needs some work, mechanically she’s all there and in great shape. I worked with the PO and got the car along with all the parts the PO had collected for a really good price that would allow me to slowly start putting her back together.
I’ll start to move through the thread a little faster here with just update pictures of what I did and a brief synopsis.
Car was missing the whole front end so I went ahead and bought new grilles and put those in as well as a new BMW Emblem
Beauty and the Beast
Previous owner had a new front right fender to replace the one on the car.
Found some new brackets on ebay for the front iS apron and got it all mounted back up.
Received some Euro Bosch Smiley’s and wired those up
Replaced the faded locktite strip for the front and rear windshield.
Before:
After:
Door cards back on the car + an engine bay shot since I haven’t posted one yet
Picked up some E38 Style 5’s 16x8 for $150! Plan is to have these filled and redrilled
So, I was not happy with the overall condition of the exterior of the car. The clear was peeling, the car was multiple shades of Bronzit and Black. I decided I was going to get the car repainted. I had originally wanted a calypso-rot and if I was gonna get it repainted might as well have it done in a color I like. A family friend works at a body shop and got me a good deal so I dropped the car off and waited patiently for two weeks.
Dropped in once to snag some pictures, they also fixed up some of the dents, dings, and where the car had been rear-ended at one point in its life.
And all done! It turned out great!
Next thing on the list was getting the Style 5’s Filled and Drilled. Took them to a shop that I had heard was able to do this and had heard good things about. Well the experience was anything but good. In the end, I probably ended up putting more money than I should have into these wheels. They’re on the car and look great now though so that’s all that matters. Using 10mm spacers all the way around with 70mm stud kit I picked up from VAC Motorsports. Tires are Yokohoma s.drives
The Present
That brings us up to the present. Like I said before ATL traffic blows…. Like really blows. Sitting in traffic for 2 ½ hours a day with no A/C and a 5spd was starting to wear me down. I frequent the local craigslist for parts and cars because I’m an addict and stumbled across this!
I saw this ad had been posted for 5 hours and I had to have this car. I called up the owner and got him to agree to hold the car until I could see it the next day since I was the first caller. The next day when I saw/drove it I was sold. It was everything I wanted and needed. It was bone stock, but everything was working. It was an Automatic which kinda sucked, but hey I’d be sitting in traffic anyways so who cares. I snagged the VIN and purchased the Carfax and started going through the maintenance history. Everything was looking good except for one thing… Carfax was saying this was a 1988 325? Not a 325i or 325e just 325… did some research and learned that this is usually the badging for the Super Eta’s. Didn’t deter me since I know this could be the base for a badass stroker build down the road. The car was resprayed by an earlier owner and the hood is really the only part that doesn’t look great so will go ahead and get that done when I swap the front bumper
The Future
So now I have two E30’s and an F30 haha. Not sure what I’m going to do with either of the E30’s. Functionality over performance is starting to become more of a necessity. Track days are few and far between with my work schedule and overall I think I’ve transitioned to wanting a car that’s more comfortable and a true Daily Driver than a weekend warrior.
The Calypso I think i'm going to to sell, but there’s some stuff I want to do before I put it up on the market like put all the trim pieces back on, shifter refresh, etc. I also picked up some Euro Bumpers that I was going to have powder-coated black, but not sure if i'll continue down that road. Will probably try to sell them with the car.
The Alpine I’m kinda torn between making it OEM+ or just doing what I want with it. It’s definitely not a track car with the eta, but i'd like to stroke it out down the road to make it more fun to drive. Can’t decide if I should swap the Black interior outta the Calypso into this one as could make selling the other one more difficult. We’ll see as i'm not in any rush either way. I'll try to keep this thread updated with both cars, but the Alpine should see most of the work from here on out.
Immediate Plans:
• Suspension refresh
• Black out chrome window trim
• Matching plastic front bumper with Euro trim all around
• Swap Style 5’s
• Sport Seats if I stay OEM+ or Corbeau if I do whatever I want down the road.
• Black Interior (Swap from Calypso or find new?)
Not so immediate plans:
• Stroker build
• 5 spd swap (after I move closer to work)
Anyways sorry for so much reading! Hope ya’ll enjoyed my story and any comments or suggestions I’m all ears!
I’m finally getting around to making a thread for my 1987 325iS that I picked up earlier this year. Expect a wall o’ text and then the majority of the build thread.
Origin Story
First off lemme give ya’ll a little back story, I picked up my first BMW(E46) in 2010 as a junior in college. The way this BMW drove was so smooth and was like riding on a cloud. It had immediately hooked my Dad and I on the Ultimate Driving Machines.
Fast forward to 2016 and an E90 later I graduated from college and found a job as a Network Engineer in the Atlanta area. The E90 had started giving me issues so I decided to pick up a 2014 Grey 328i. Now I’m not sure if most know, but commuting in the ATL SUCKS! I live about 40 miles away from my job and most of that is stop and go traffic. On top of that the 80-mile round trip was starting to rack up the miles on the F30 so I decided to try and score a Daily Driver. Back in the day I had frequented e46fanatics and followed a couple users on there (Neil1138, Kpeng, etc.) who had picked up E30’s as Dailies and I had always wanted to do the same.
Now as I said before I needed a Daily Driver, but deep down I really wanted something to track around (DD was the cover to the GF). My boss at work has a Z3 that he takes to track and auto-x and I had gone a few times and really wanted to be able to experience some of the thrill that tracking can offer.
The Past
Earlier this year in April I started looking around the interwebs for one. I’ll admit I was very anxious to get into an E30 and I didn’t take my time finding the right one for my needs. Alas I found a 1987 Bronzit 325iS on Craigslist that already had a few things checked off the list.
The Foundation
• 1987 325iS 5spd w/ 327k miles (I know, miles… WOW)
• H&R Racing Springs
• Bilstein Struts
• Stainless Steel brake lines
• M3 Control Arms and Steering Rack
• KAMotors Intake
• 2.93 LSD
• Ireland Engineering Subframe
• Magnaflow exhaust
The top end had been sent to the machine shop and head gasket replaced about 5k miles before my purchase. After a phone call and a couple exchanged txts I agreed to come and take a look and drive it. I’m not gonna lie the exterior was rough. The whole front end seemed to be off the car, the hood was replaced and unpainted and there we’re multiple dings around the car. The interior had also been semi stripped as the PO was going to turn this car into a pure track car. Well I had drove an hour out there so I decided to give it a test drive anyways and to my surprise it drove extremely well, shifted well, and felt overall extremely solid.
Was I seriously thinking about purchasing this?!?! Yes, yes, I was… I had the money burning a hole my pocket and the two other E30’s remotely close to me we’re sedans which I wasn't feeling. I had the car taken to two different shops to get checked out, Market Motor Works and Balanced Performance Automotive, both shops that actively work on E30’s. Both came back with the same reply. Cosmetically she needs some work, mechanically she’s all there and in great shape. I worked with the PO and got the car along with all the parts the PO had collected for a really good price that would allow me to slowly start putting her back together.
I’ll start to move through the thread a little faster here with just update pictures of what I did and a brief synopsis.
Car was missing the whole front end so I went ahead and bought new grilles and put those in as well as a new BMW Emblem
Beauty and the Beast
Previous owner had a new front right fender to replace the one on the car.
Found some new brackets on ebay for the front iS apron and got it all mounted back up.
Received some Euro Bosch Smiley’s and wired those up
Replaced the faded locktite strip for the front and rear windshield.
Before:
After:
Door cards back on the car + an engine bay shot since I haven’t posted one yet
Picked up some E38 Style 5’s 16x8 for $150! Plan is to have these filled and redrilled
So, I was not happy with the overall condition of the exterior of the car. The clear was peeling, the car was multiple shades of Bronzit and Black. I decided I was going to get the car repainted. I had originally wanted a calypso-rot and if I was gonna get it repainted might as well have it done in a color I like. A family friend works at a body shop and got me a good deal so I dropped the car off and waited patiently for two weeks.
Dropped in once to snag some pictures, they also fixed up some of the dents, dings, and where the car had been rear-ended at one point in its life.
And all done! It turned out great!
Next thing on the list was getting the Style 5’s Filled and Drilled. Took them to a shop that I had heard was able to do this and had heard good things about. Well the experience was anything but good. In the end, I probably ended up putting more money than I should have into these wheels. They’re on the car and look great now though so that’s all that matters. Using 10mm spacers all the way around with 70mm stud kit I picked up from VAC Motorsports. Tires are Yokohoma s.drives
The Present
That brings us up to the present. Like I said before ATL traffic blows…. Like really blows. Sitting in traffic for 2 ½ hours a day with no A/C and a 5spd was starting to wear me down. I frequent the local craigslist for parts and cars because I’m an addict and stumbled across this!
I saw this ad had been posted for 5 hours and I had to have this car. I called up the owner and got him to agree to hold the car until I could see it the next day since I was the first caller. The next day when I saw/drove it I was sold. It was everything I wanted and needed. It was bone stock, but everything was working. It was an Automatic which kinda sucked, but hey I’d be sitting in traffic anyways so who cares. I snagged the VIN and purchased the Carfax and started going through the maintenance history. Everything was looking good except for one thing… Carfax was saying this was a 1988 325? Not a 325i or 325e just 325… did some research and learned that this is usually the badging for the Super Eta’s. Didn’t deter me since I know this could be the base for a badass stroker build down the road. The car was resprayed by an earlier owner and the hood is really the only part that doesn’t look great so will go ahead and get that done when I swap the front bumper
The Future
So now I have two E30’s and an F30 haha. Not sure what I’m going to do with either of the E30’s. Functionality over performance is starting to become more of a necessity. Track days are few and far between with my work schedule and overall I think I’ve transitioned to wanting a car that’s more comfortable and a true Daily Driver than a weekend warrior.
The Calypso I think i'm going to to sell, but there’s some stuff I want to do before I put it up on the market like put all the trim pieces back on, shifter refresh, etc. I also picked up some Euro Bumpers that I was going to have powder-coated black, but not sure if i'll continue down that road. Will probably try to sell them with the car.
The Alpine I’m kinda torn between making it OEM+ or just doing what I want with it. It’s definitely not a track car with the eta, but i'd like to stroke it out down the road to make it more fun to drive. Can’t decide if I should swap the Black interior outta the Calypso into this one as could make selling the other one more difficult. We’ll see as i'm not in any rush either way. I'll try to keep this thread updated with both cars, but the Alpine should see most of the work from here on out.
Immediate Plans:
• Suspension refresh
• Black out chrome window trim
• Matching plastic front bumper with Euro trim all around
• Swap Style 5’s
• Sport Seats if I stay OEM+ or Corbeau if I do whatever I want down the road.
• Black Interior (Swap from Calypso or find new?)
Not so immediate plans:
• Stroker build
• 5 spd swap (after I move closer to work)
Anyways sorry for so much reading! Hope ya’ll enjoyed my story and any comments or suggestions I’m all ears!
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