It's been over a year since I entered the E30 world and I think it's probably time I start a thread.
It all started September of 2017 when my buddy and I picked up this 1985 325e for the right price of a 6 pack of beer. The previous owner affectionately named her Belinda Carlisle, though we ended up calling her Hoopty. The plan was to strip as much weight as possible and have it be a shitty autocross car.
She was beat to shit, full of rust, barely running, and just garbage in general, but we loved it. Got it running with some trial and error and plenty of junkyard parts. Was a great primer in learning how these M20s work.
Anyways, pictures! Bringing it home.
1
Looking beat but up and running. We started driving it around and fell in love with it. Coming from lifted Jeeps and trucks my whole life, this was the first manual, RWD car I'd ever driven. I was hooked pretty quickly.
2
I became a regular on here and my aspirations got too large. I bought my buddy out of his half of the car so I could take the reigns. Did the brakes on all 4 corners and started driving it around a lot, even taking it to work here and there. Got a new hood and some grille pieces on it and spent some time polishing the paint up. Started to actually look decent if you squinted hard enough that you couldn't see the rust spots.
3
Picked up another E30 for the low price of $0, an 84 318 this time. It was left at a shop with a blown head gasket in 1997. It sat in the same spot untouched until I showed up and dragged it home. I sweat all the way home at 40 mph with those dry rotted tires.
5
Swapped a fender and all 4 doors over from the donor car, upping me from 1 working power window to 3. Also stole the black door cards and rear seat (which is in absolutely incredible shape, like it's been in a time capsule). Swapped in some cheap bucket seats off Craigslist to replace the trashed tan comfort seats and a secondhand Grip Royal steering wheel. It was a night and day difference and I loved having an interior that was decent.
6
It all started September of 2017 when my buddy and I picked up this 1985 325e for the right price of a 6 pack of beer. The previous owner affectionately named her Belinda Carlisle, though we ended up calling her Hoopty. The plan was to strip as much weight as possible and have it be a shitty autocross car.
She was beat to shit, full of rust, barely running, and just garbage in general, but we loved it. Got it running with some trial and error and plenty of junkyard parts. Was a great primer in learning how these M20s work.
Anyways, pictures! Bringing it home.
1
Looking beat but up and running. We started driving it around and fell in love with it. Coming from lifted Jeeps and trucks my whole life, this was the first manual, RWD car I'd ever driven. I was hooked pretty quickly.
2
I became a regular on here and my aspirations got too large. I bought my buddy out of his half of the car so I could take the reigns. Did the brakes on all 4 corners and started driving it around a lot, even taking it to work here and there. Got a new hood and some grille pieces on it and spent some time polishing the paint up. Started to actually look decent if you squinted hard enough that you couldn't see the rust spots.
3
Picked up another E30 for the low price of $0, an 84 318 this time. It was left at a shop with a blown head gasket in 1997. It sat in the same spot untouched until I showed up and dragged it home. I sweat all the way home at 40 mph with those dry rotted tires.
5
Swapped a fender and all 4 doors over from the donor car, upping me from 1 working power window to 3. Also stole the black door cards and rear seat (which is in absolutely incredible shape, like it's been in a time capsule). Swapped in some cheap bucket seats off Craigslist to replace the trashed tan comfort seats and a secondhand Grip Royal steering wheel. It was a night and day difference and I loved having an interior that was decent.
6
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