Hello E30’ers!
So, first off, my name is Jan, and I am located on Vancouver Island BC. What I will try to show people is the glimpse of my journey with my E30 Tourings.
My first Touring I bought in December of 2016. Its a hell of a story, I bought this car while it was not for sale, and the owner happened to have it in their family since new in 1989. They imported it from Germany to Canada in 2006 and it lived as a family member until they really didn't drive the car often anymore.
I am a rather particular car nut, and the touring was on my radar, although you do not see them often here. Let alone for sale. One day I saw this touring on the street and my lady pointed and yelled 'E30!' Sure enough it was, and as it came closer and passed by I was astounded to see it in wagon from. She then proceeded to say 'I think it had a for sale sign on it.' I stomped on the brakes, whipped a U-turn and tried to catch up, but sure enough... No for sale sign.
Two-years later as I am biking through town I came across this same car again. First time I saw a touring since the last one. The car and its owner pull into the local lumber shop, and I follow. I just catch a glimpse of the owner, and I lock my bike up. I wrote my name down on a sheet of paper with my phone #, and hound the store for the person I have never met before. Sure enough after a few minutes I find this man, introduce myself and pass along the words " if you ever want to sell your car, please let me know. I am very interested." I then hand him the piece of paper and he smiles and says, " well thank you Jan, I must say I can't see if being sold as its been in our family since new. My wife's father bought it, and passed it along to her once he had deceased.' At this point I really dropped all hopes, and just appreciated that it was a very special car, with a very special story.
A month goes by and while I am cycling again I get a honk from behind me and sure enough it is the E30 touring. I wave and dreamed of one day owning a car like this. 30-minutes later I pulled into the store my lady and I managed, and sure enough the owner was in the shop with his wagon outside. I rush inside, write my name down on a sheet of paper with my # and proceed to find him. I did, I then handed him the sheet again and said, please just keep it in mind. He responded "Well its funny you ask again Jan, after your last offer my wife and I talked about it, and we are kind of considering it. Its starting to develop some rust, and it never came with power steering, so my wife doesn't really enjoy driving it to much. We just don't want to see it rot."
Inside I am literally FREAKING OUT! I felt like a three-year-old child laying eyes on a bouncy pit. I try to hold my excitement, and he says the words "want to take a look at it?" ..... ummm
Anyway... I go outside with the owner and we look at the car. Its a 1989 318iT. In diamond Swartz. Its had the AMAZING 534-hp M40, 5-speed 240 trans, roll up windows, manual sunroof, original stereo, no power steering from the factory. Its perfect to me. Its exactly what I would have ever wanted.
Anyway... to make it shorter, a month later I bought the car. It was hard for them to let it go, but they knew it was in good hands. I to this day have connections with them about the car and the stages of work I complete on it.
So what happened from there?
Well.... I fixed all the rust on the car, repainted the lower rock guard around, replaced the struts with bilsteins+H&R springs, M3 front control arm bushings.
I bought some Kopi Alpina rims, and made a lifelong friend in doing so.
At this point my lady went to RMT school down island, and I stayed up island to pursue my own ventures. Katy took the touring and I kept our Subaru STI.
In the summer of 2017 a red touring came into our lives and we decided to buy it. It's a mess, but I am steadily bringing it back to good condition. It will be for sale soon to harbour the opportunity on my dream touring build.
Here are some photos of the car when I got it, to what it looks like now.
Our New E30 Wagon by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
BMW E30 Touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
89' Touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012051 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012052 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012053 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
E30 touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012055 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
E30 Touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
So, first off, my name is Jan, and I am located on Vancouver Island BC. What I will try to show people is the glimpse of my journey with my E30 Tourings.
My first Touring I bought in December of 2016. Its a hell of a story, I bought this car while it was not for sale, and the owner happened to have it in their family since new in 1989. They imported it from Germany to Canada in 2006 and it lived as a family member until they really didn't drive the car often anymore.
I am a rather particular car nut, and the touring was on my radar, although you do not see them often here. Let alone for sale. One day I saw this touring on the street and my lady pointed and yelled 'E30!' Sure enough it was, and as it came closer and passed by I was astounded to see it in wagon from. She then proceeded to say 'I think it had a for sale sign on it.' I stomped on the brakes, whipped a U-turn and tried to catch up, but sure enough... No for sale sign.
Two-years later as I am biking through town I came across this same car again. First time I saw a touring since the last one. The car and its owner pull into the local lumber shop, and I follow. I just catch a glimpse of the owner, and I lock my bike up. I wrote my name down on a sheet of paper with my phone #, and hound the store for the person I have never met before. Sure enough after a few minutes I find this man, introduce myself and pass along the words " if you ever want to sell your car, please let me know. I am very interested." I then hand him the piece of paper and he smiles and says, " well thank you Jan, I must say I can't see if being sold as its been in our family since new. My wife's father bought it, and passed it along to her once he had deceased.' At this point I really dropped all hopes, and just appreciated that it was a very special car, with a very special story.
A month goes by and while I am cycling again I get a honk from behind me and sure enough it is the E30 touring. I wave and dreamed of one day owning a car like this. 30-minutes later I pulled into the store my lady and I managed, and sure enough the owner was in the shop with his wagon outside. I rush inside, write my name down on a sheet of paper with my # and proceed to find him. I did, I then handed him the sheet again and said, please just keep it in mind. He responded "Well its funny you ask again Jan, after your last offer my wife and I talked about it, and we are kind of considering it. Its starting to develop some rust, and it never came with power steering, so my wife doesn't really enjoy driving it to much. We just don't want to see it rot."
Inside I am literally FREAKING OUT! I felt like a three-year-old child laying eyes on a bouncy pit. I try to hold my excitement, and he says the words "want to take a look at it?" ..... ummm
Anyway... I go outside with the owner and we look at the car. Its a 1989 318iT. In diamond Swartz. Its had the AMAZING 534-hp M40, 5-speed 240 trans, roll up windows, manual sunroof, original stereo, no power steering from the factory. Its perfect to me. Its exactly what I would have ever wanted.
Anyway... to make it shorter, a month later I bought the car. It was hard for them to let it go, but they knew it was in good hands. I to this day have connections with them about the car and the stages of work I complete on it.
So what happened from there?
Well.... I fixed all the rust on the car, repainted the lower rock guard around, replaced the struts with bilsteins+H&R springs, M3 front control arm bushings.
I bought some Kopi Alpina rims, and made a lifelong friend in doing so.
At this point my lady went to RMT school down island, and I stayed up island to pursue my own ventures. Katy took the touring and I kept our Subaru STI.
In the summer of 2017 a red touring came into our lives and we decided to buy it. It's a mess, but I am steadily bringing it back to good condition. It will be for sale soon to harbour the opportunity on my dream touring build.
Here are some photos of the car when I got it, to what it looks like now.
Our New E30 Wagon by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
BMW E30 Touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
89' Touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012051 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012052 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012053 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
E30 touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
P1012055 by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
E30 Touring by Jan Willem Wilderom, on Flickr
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