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Coast to Coast, an e30 American adventure

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    Coast to Coast, an e30 American adventure

    Now, I am unsure if this is something that you guys will be interested in but I figured I would put up a post, if people are interested I will update it along my route with everything we see and do.

    The original plan was 3 weeks to do an American adventure. That then extended and extended and then we figured sod it, lets leave our lives and do it over 3 months. This will more than likely be our only chance to leave our jobs and do a trip like this.

    We are going to start in California and end in New York, the Mrs really wants to see the Rockefeller tree which goes up at the end of November so the plan

    Land in Oakland (San Francisco) on 05th September.
    Fly home from New York 04 December.

    Here is the planned route, it may change slightly but I would love to hear your opinion and any suggested places to visit.

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    The original plan was to ship my e36 328i touring over to do the trip, but its just 2 years shy of your 25 year rule so that put a solid and sudden stop to that idea. Sucks.

    Before I started building my e36 at home in England I originally really wanted an e30 coupe, prices just kept getting crazy for even rotten pieces of crap and I just stopped looking.

    We was hunting for cars to do this trip in, we was thinking something American as it will be fitting for the trip especially being from England would be cool to do it in something we don't get here back home... my concern is, I really don't know these cars at all and what common problems they may have or even if anything goes wrong I just wouldn't know where to look. However, I am super comfortable with BMWs I know them really well and also most of my contacts in America are BMW related so I feel like if I did get an issue then I will have a contact who may be able to help...

    So after months of browsing craigslist nothing jumped out at me, I found a few cars that I liked but nothing that got me that excited I narrowed it down to wanting something retro and BMW with the new plan of then shipping it back home after the trip (if it survives).

    I came across an add for plenty of e30s and a good buddy of mine went and checked a few out but all turned out to be lemons and just wasn't what was advertised and getting sick of looking and feeling bad for wasting my friends time I stopped searching for a bit. At random I clicked on the saved link which was "Sacramento CL cars" on my phone, the first add on the home screen was a white early model 325e coupe... looked on it and the car was a bit tatty on the outside and inside, but it had a ton of recent maintenance work done to it... could this be the one found all by chance. My dad always said in previous times that the right car will find you... and this just so happened.


    its had all the coolant system overhauled new timing belt and a tune up and a load of other bits.

    came with a front valance (not fitted) and a few other parts included sport leather front seats in a reasonable condition. Dash is cracked to hell but that's to be expected being a Cali car, I am going to try and find one of them dash carpets and if anyone has any bits going let me know. It does have that missing door card in the photos just wasn't fitted and something hit the passenger side meaning the passenger front fender and door are Bronzit.

    so I guess this is a little about the pre-trip build for the car. Any suggestions welcome!!

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    next photo stolen from the previous owners Instagram, unsure if he is on here...

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    Seeing as the car had a bronzit door my friend managed to hunt down a good condition white door with glass and working electric motor just a couple of miles from his work!! what a bonus,

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    Also managed to find a pair of good condition white front fenders which a buddy of mine is collecting tonight.

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    Also got a couple other bits for the car such as a set of euro smiley lights and euro grills sitting at home. also MattB from 2m is sorting me out a set of shiftboots, great guy is Matt!!

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

    I am unsure if i am going to bring the lights and grills with me before the trip and fit them whilst i am in America or just leave them at home and fit them when i get back...

    Now a few bits I am still after for the car is a set of early model seat belt buckles!! the previous owner had fitted a set of sport seats from a late model it appears and the buckles do not match the belts so after a set of early model buckles as on a trip like this safety is first and I wouldn't let my wife go anywhere without her belt on let alone myself.

    Also wouldn't mind one of them dash carpet/rugs as previously mentioned.
    Last edited by benwalsh91; 07-14-2018, 02:31 AM.

    I drove my e30 from California to London!

    #2
    the seat belt buckles are the same so those you won't need to worry about.

    some people are going to come on here and try and talk you out of the 325e car. don't listen to them. its still a great motor. they a re going to complain about hp and low red line and blah blah blah but don't worry about it, the eta motor is a fine motor and will be enjoyable to drive. all the e30s in my driveway are 325e cars and they still drift the corners and pass on the highway with no problems. but, they get 30 mpg while on the highway so don't listen to the people who hate on the eta motor.

    I have the door card stuff but all mine is black with the houndstooth inserts so it won't work for yours.

    you guys will have a great trip in that car. I have done cross texas drives in e30s and they were comfortable and nice. and people stop and talk to you at the gas station about how much they love them.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by superj View Post
      the seat belt buckles are the same so those you won't need to worry about.

      some people are going to come on here and try and talk you out of the 325e car. don't listen to them. its still a great motor. they a re going to complain about hp and low red line and blah blah blah but don't worry about it, the eta motor is a fine motor and will be enjoyable to drive. all the e30s in my driveway are 325e cars and they still drift the corners and pass on the highway with no problems. but, they get 30 mpg while on the highway so don't listen to the people who hate on the eta motor.

      I have the door card stuff but all mine is black with the houndstooth inserts so it won't work for yours.

      you guys will have a great trip in that car. I have done cross texas drives in e30s and they were comfortable and nice. and people stop and talk to you at the gas station about how much they love them.
      Thank you for your response, actually one of the factors which pushed me to buy this car is in fact because it's an "e" car I am driving 10,000 miles almost so fuel efficiency will be nice! plus I rarely drive that "spirited" especially not in a foreign country or with the wife in the car so a 325e fits the bill for me. when I get the car back to England I will look into doing the is head swap and all the other bits but that can wait and I can actually do more research closer to the time. I'm more of a cruise in the slow lane type of guy.

      I have a spare set of door cards, its off in the photo because the door locks are yet to be swapped and a few other bits but we got all them thankfully.

      I drove my e30 from California to London!

      Comment


        #4
        Cool! didn't know you had got an e30 already. It'll make the trip better than any american car would anyways. Is it up north currently?

        Originally posted by superj View Post
        the seat belt buckles are the same so those you won't need to worry about.
        Not true, early early models (pre-86 iirc) had different style receptacles than the later ones, and they don't interchange. If the release button is just on top, it's a later style one, if the button goes down the side, they're early.
        Byron
        Leichtbau

        Comment


          #5
          Im sure as you're driving the car across the country you can slowly add cool mods along the way. I would have a set of euro bumpers waiting when you get back and maybe you can convince some european that "its cool to be different" and sell them the NA diving boards along with the cowcatcher

          Theres plenty of things to do in LA no matter when you arrive. I will keep my eye on this
          Simon
          Current Cars:
          -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

          Make R3V Great Again -2020

          Comment


            #6
            Looks like you are swinging by the Grand Canyon. Excellent idea!
            My previous build (currently E30-less)
            http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=170390

            A 2016 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4x4 Offroad in Inferno is my newest obsession

            Comment


              #7
              :popcorn:
              sigpic

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by benwalsh91 View Post
                The original plan was to ship my e36 328i touring over to do the trip, but its just 2 years shy of your 25 year rule so that put a solid and sudden stop to that idea.
                Can't you bring a car with a temporary permit with you when traveling? The 25 year rule is for importing and titling non-US-market cars. I'm thinking of the world-traveling Land Rover people who ship their Defenders in and out of the US.

                Great trip! I love these kinds of things. Parts of that would be too hot for me - I'm sort of a northern tier guy.

                I have this trip cooking in my brain (much much smaller endeavor than yours!) - a 1000 mi loop through the mountains of SW Montana, Wyoming, and 10 minutes in Idaho. All back roads, spectacular valleys, little towns, good food, a staggering pass at 11,000 feet, and a cruise through Yellowstone Park. Planned for a few friends with old Alfas, old Porsches, a Mini, and maybe a Subaru sag wagon! Follow famous rivers, explore family history sites, soak in hot springs, and enjoy incredible geography with the top down.

                Click image for larger version

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                Last edited by LateFan; 07-12-2018, 10:32 AM.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by E30SPDFRK View Post
                  Cool! didn't know you had got an e30 already. It'll make the trip better than any american car would anyways. Is it up north currently?



                  Not true, early early models (pre-86 iirc) had different style receptacles than the later ones, and they don't interchange. If the release button is just on top, it's a later style one, if the button goes down the side, they're early.
                  Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
                  Im sure as you're driving the car across the country you can slowly add cool mods along the way. I would have a set of euro bumpers waiting when you get back and maybe you can convince some european that "its cool to be different" and sell them the NA diving boards along with the cowcatcher

                  Theres plenty of things to do in LA no matter when you arrive. I will keep my eye on this
                  Hell yeah my heart is with old school bmw metal. I’ve had a ton of cars in the past from nice model Audi’s to skylines but I always find myself coming back to the bmw brand so I knew I made the right choice.

                  Already purchased the e30, it’s currenrlt sitting at my friends farm just outside of Sacramento.

                  I won’t lie, I personally really like the diving boards and the front valance. But American parts are just unheard of over here so it’s nice to be different. And this is actually my honeymoon so it’s nice to keep the car US spec and keep hold of them memories. When I bring it back to UK I will restore it but try and keep the American stylings on the car just make it super clean with an oem+ taste.

                  Originally posted by MR E30 325is View Post
                  Looks like you are swinging by the Grand Canyon. Excellent idea!
                  Can’t do an American road trip without passing through Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. We decided to then head north through Utah because it’s so damn beautiful, we also pass by pikes peak from Colorado to Texas. Be rude not to go drive it!!

                  Originally posted by Mike36 View Post
                  :popcorn:


                  Originally posted by LateFan View Post
                  Can't you bring a car with a temporary permit with you when traveling? The 25 year rule is for importing and titling non-US-market cars. I'm thinking of the world-traveling Land Rover people who ship their Defenders in and out of the US.

                  Great trip! I love these kinds of things. Parts of that would be too hot for me - I'm sort of a northern tier guy.

                  I have this trip cooking in my brain (much much smaller endeavor than yours!) - a 1000 mi loop through the mountains of SW Montana, Wyoming, and 10 minutes in Idaho. All back roads, spectacular valleys, little towns, good food, a staggering pass at 11,000 feet, and a cruise through Yellowstone Park. Planned for a few friends with old Alfas, old Porsches, a Mini, and maybe a Subaru sag wagon! Follow famous rivers, explore family history sites, soak in hot springs, and enjoy incredible geography with the top down.

                  [ATTACH]122447[/ATTACH]
                  Oh yeah living in England I’m used to rain clouds and being screwed royally by the tax man. But you can learn to love.

                  I’ve done a few trips similar to this but across Europe but I never truly documented this and I’ve always kind of wished I did so I am going to do my best with this one. You got to find the time to take a break from the working life and loose yourself in the backgrounds. It’s sometnjng about a bendy road, good music and a great co pilot. Memories last forever! Money comes and goes.

                  I am glad you guys are on board with this. It’s going to be one hell of a ride.

                  I drove my e30 from California to London!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    This looks like an awesome trip but youre skipping philly? I've dreamed of doing a drive of this scale in my e30 but i can't swing it until next summer at least. It would be nice to organize some coast to coast e30 trip with a bunch of cars but i think im on the wrong coast.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Looks like a good trip. Hope you can keep us updated on how its going once you start.

                      Originally posted by kyleconstantine View Post
                      This looks like an awesome trip but youre skipping philly? I've dreamed of doing a drive of this scale in my e30 but i can't swing it until next summer at least. It would be nice to organize some coast to coast e30 trip with a bunch of cars but i think im on the wrong coast.
                      Grab on to the E30CCA group next year if they do another trip from East coast to Washington for the picnic.

                      Instagram: Reichart12

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Amazing idea!
                        I must admit that most State and Federal parks in the USA rock. Beautiful locations, nice amenities, well maintained and affordable. We love to road tripping the US westcoast from Canada.

                        Can’t quite tell but I’d visit Mohave desert (plane boneyard+occasional supersonic booms and Joshua Tree. I love San Diego. Amazing beaches -Mission, Ocean, Pacific, Blacks and La Jolla+glider port. Always amazed at how they just lift off the ground like that....Love the open air bars in the area. damned good tacos too.
                        I’d also suggest the Florida Keys. Driving over the bridges with water on either side....epic feeling.
                        Sounds like you are doing this right with your partner. This will be a good adventure to follow. makes me want to get going on my swap to crete my own route!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by kyleconstantine View Post
                          This looks like an awesome trip but youre skipping philly? I've dreamed of doing a drive of this scale in my e30 but i can't swing it until next summer at least. It would be nice to organize some coast to coast e30 trip with a bunch of cars but i think im on the wrong coast.
                          Ive actually been doing lots of work to the route and adding extra places in, we now have 60 points of reference rather than the 47 (iirc) points in the above photo but Phili is definitely there! i need to check out where the fresh prince was born and raised.

                          Originally posted by Reichart12 View Post
                          Looks like a good trip. Hope you can keep us updated on how its going once you start.



                          Grab on to the E30CCA group next year if they do another trip from East coast to Washington for the picnic.
                          I certainly will keep you guys updated, and when the car comes back home to England (unless i can find a way to stay out there permanently) We plan on doing a european road trip in 2020 so i will keep updating things for many years to come.

                          Originally posted by pondhopper View Post
                          Amazing idea!
                          I must admit that most State and Federal parks in the USA rock. Beautiful locations, nice amenities, well maintained and affordable. We love to road tripping the US westcoast from Canada.

                          Can’t quite tell but I’d visit Mohave desert (plane boneyard+occasional supersonic booms and Joshua Tree. I love San Diego. Amazing beaches -Mission, Ocean, Pacific, Blacks and La Jolla+glider port. Always amazed at how they just lift off the ground like that....Love the open air bars in the area. damned good tacos too.
                          I’d also suggest the Florida Keys. Driving over the bridges with water on either side....epic feeling.
                          Sounds like you are doing this right with your partner. This will be a good adventure to follow. makes me want to get going on my swap to crete my own route!
                          I actually spoke a couple of days to Nicholl (my wife) about the plane boneyard and going to visit it and it is a posibility but i think its going to be one of those, if we have time to do it we will make our way there so that won't be decided till very last minute, although we are doing this trip for 3 months it seems like we have a crazy amount of stuff to fit into this trip. we also decided that we are going to need another vacation just to recover from this.

                          Joshua Tree is on the hit list whilst we are going from Palm Springs to vegas we plan on stopping off and spending some time there!!

                          San Diego may also be another last minute trip, a work colleague of mine done LA and San Diego and she didn't really have many positive things to say about SD so we decided to stay a little longer in LA but we may venture down there.

                          Florida Keys is also on the list of places to go, we are spending a full week in Florida as i have a really good group of friends there and we are going to be venturing out quite a lot and Nicholl mentioned about doing the Keys whilst we are down in Miami.

                          I drove my e30 from California to London!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I’m a southern guy and I’m really happy to see your commitment to the southeast coastal regions and the smoky mountain region around north Georgia and Tennessee.

                            I just took my family up to the northern Michigan area (sleeping bear dunes national park and Mackinac Island.). The Great Lakes are astounding, especially up north far away from Chicago and Detroit. Maybe someday you’ll be inspired to get up there.

                            Your US e30 is identical to the ‘87 I got for my son’s first car and it puts a smile on my face to see love for an eta.

                            I will be keeping track of you and would volunteer to support you with any needs you have when touring my southeast quadrant. All my best to you.
                            My son has the 1987 325e, 2 door, 5speed
                            I daily the 1989 325i, 4 door, 5speed

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by benwalsh91 View Post
                              I won’t lie, I personally really like the diving boards and the front valance. But American parts are just unheard of over here so it’s nice to be different.
                              I can't like this enough.



                              It looks like your itinerary may have you in the Smoky Mountains (and some of the best driving roads in the country) around the same time as the Fall Brodeo, which is usually the first weekend in November. Check the Southeast Regional sub-forum for information on past events.

                              Either way, it looks like you have a stop planned in Nashville so don't hesitate to reach out!
                              Originally posted by kronus
                              would be in depending on tip slant and tube size

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