Just picked up - E30 Touring 320i (S50)

[greggearhead]

So what was the price out the door?!

That's between him and me. Bad form to publicize it, IMO.

[Honeybadger6]

I've heard nothing but good things about Alex. He's got a 91 325ix I have my eye on, just don't know if I'm wanting to buy one with 256k miles for my first e30 to last me a long time as a nice DD. Everything they put out seems to have great quality. Congrats on the purchase!

[greggearhead]

Alex is a super nice guy, and he is totally honest about the cars he sells, both the good things and the bad things. I try to be the same way, so really appreciate that.

[Blackout]

:crazy: Paychecks well spent.

[greggearhead]

Just used it to drive up to a car buddy's 80th birthday party. He lives about 10 or 15 miles up a somewhat curvy mountain road from me. Oh, I love this car. I can't wait to put more cold-friendly tires than the RE71's, but they are fun to spin and throw it sideways now. Also, the suspension is awesome. I wouldn't mind raising the front just a touch to get some oil pan clearance, and I'm sure it will still handle awesome. I've had lots and lots of 'fun' cars with stiff suspension and bolstered seats, and I can already tell, this one is a keeper on several levels.
1. Kinda rare, at least interesting to car nerds like me.
2. The swap work is all done - Engine, trans, brakes, etc.
3. Utilitarian - I love wagons. I'm often hucking wheels or seats or something, and have an 8yo so I need a real back seat and space for cargo. I won't be hauling engines in it, but still. It's not 'just' a track car.
4. I can track it! It's totally set up for doing an autocross or track day. I'm seriously considering putting a trailer hitch on it to tow a motorcycle or track tires, etc. As much as it wouldn't go with a clean look, it would fit with the utility of it.
5. Makes me smile. I look back every time I walk away, and that will only increase as I tweak it to my taste.

[jeenyus]

awesome car. The euro S50 i think makes it even cooler. cool find.

[z168]

Theres gotta be more pics. Engine and interior shots please

[greggearhead]

Sometimes it's the little things. more pics soon.

[Sophia69IS]

Much want and much jealous, also happy for you and that this went to someone who will take care of it.

[vasilis m3]

Nice car! More photo's please! :)

[lukeADE335i]

Nice! So jealous of all wagons (even though we get Euro models down here in Australia, we never got the wagon until the e46).

e30s make great tow vehicles for small trailers, and the tow bar will suit the wagon's utility just fine :) Mine is still our only tow car.

[greggearhead]

Used it to run errands yesterday, and I love this thing. it's a nasty little bitch - in a good way. Super stiff, which I don't mind. It's a little lower than I would like because of the oil pan clearance and the fact it will likely scrape on a speed bump. Yeah, I'm old, not cool anymore, heh. Maybe I never was...



I did pull the front wheels and turn up the ground control coilovers - a grand total of one turn per side, because that's the top! So it's as tall as it can be without different coilovers or spacers above the strut mounts. I like the looks, but maybe I should just buy an oil pan and modify it for more clearance. The pic above is raise - it came up about 10-13mm.

I also had it at my Cars & Coffee event today, and it got a good amount of appreciation. There was everything from a BMW M6, E21, E30 iX (Japanese import), a Heinkel scooter, some Bugs, an E type Jag, etc.



Then my daughter & I ran to pick up some early metric E28 M5 wheels (just cause they were cheap and I'm a wheel whore). Coming back home there was nice tight/sharp merge onto a 55mph highway, so I romped on it (I romp on it everywhere) and with a pickup up ahead, I quickly reeled him in, then kinda coasted past him and got back in the right lane and cruised. The speedo isn't working, and I forgot to setup my Phone speedo after loading the wheels. As I looked ahead - it seemed pretty weird for a 5 lane highway with a center turn lane to have a car parked in the middle, in the shade of a huge tree. Yep, was a cop - sheriff. Now, I didn't know my speed, but I was really just cruising along, and the radar "Your Speed Is" trailer told me I was doing 58 in the 55 just after seeing him, but I was sweating for a bit. He TOTALLY stared me down. I think my grey hair and car seat in the back may have helped, plus while I am SURE he heard me, he could see me until I came around the pickup - and my acceleration run was done. Heh.

The drivers sport seat, doesn't incline/recline, so I pulled the hinge cover and saw the lever wasn't moving the thing it was supposed to. I used some brake cleaner, some WD40 and then tried working it a bit. It's not perfect, but at least it can move with a little encouragement now. The front right part of the seat mount wiggles/has play, so I will likely pull the seat and see if I need to weld something up.

[greggearhead]

Oh, since one of the foglights was cracked, I ordered some yellow ones, and they came in. If I can find time this week, I'll get them mounted with some LED bulbs.

[325isman]

Perfect find

[greggearhead]

OK, so I'm getting it ready for summer semi-daily duty, and realized the oil cooler setup just wasn't going to work.

1. It's way too low for the oil fittings to the lowest, furthest forward thing on the car. They would get torn off sometime, just a matter of when.
2. The oil cooler is HUGE. Like I've never seen an engine that needed an oil cooler that large.
3. The hoses are routed poorly, IMO. The are very long, rub on neighboring hoses and bodywork, and are the braided steel stuff that acts like a hacksaw blade on anything they touch.
4. The connections at the oil housing are 90 degree units - I had to remove one to replace the voltage regulator. That's unnecessary.
5. Cooler is hard mounted to the body - for an aluminum cooler, that's a no-no.

So, what will I do?
1. I'll replace the fittings at the housing with 45 degree ones so that it can easily go over the top of the alternator.
2. Replace the hoses with rubber units.
3. Replace the cooler with a smaller (11x8") unit and mount it upside down from current configuration so that the outlets are at the top
4. Route the hoses through the opening under the headlight next to the cooler - NOT under the front radiator support.
5. Add cushion mounts