Charlie’s first E30 - 325i-C

[CharlieVu]

What up everyone,



My name is Charlie, just picked up my first e30 and went with the 325i-C. Everything was all original from a 55 year old lady whom has had it for a while as her cross country drivee. She was sad to see it go and would only accept my offer under one condition, that I made sure to keep it within a “good family”.



Looking forward to many good reads and DIY’s, tips/tricks, and photos.



Will be replacing all maintenance parts first then maybe a 5 speed swap but I’m in no rush because I’m actually pretty happy with the sport mode. (Made the 2 hour drive home quite fun)











Thanks for having me! Looking forward to meeting you and your builds.



Location : Aurora



Cars I’ve owned: 1993 civic si, 2000 integra GSR, 2002 wrx fp18g, 2007 civic si, 2013 bmw 328

Currently own: 2017 4runner trd off-road premium
and as of today 1990 325ic

[Mistaken]

Nice!

[Mwishlist]

Looks great! Nice, all original cars are getting harder and harder to find.

[2mAn]

Whats this sport mode that I hear about???? and why doesnt my autotragic have it?

[CharlieVu]

S = super

S (mode) under (D) don’t you have it? Rpm jumps 1500ish when I slap it on lol

[2mAn]

Mine goes P-R-N-D-3-2-1

[vtechnik]

Mine goes P-R-N-D-3-2-1

Same ^^^ and I have an 88 325is, my friend's 87 325e has a S mode on his though. Maybe it was an option?

[2mAn]

Whatevsss mines getting thrown in the ocean soon lol

[Mwishlist]

I added sport mode to mine, but I think it might be broken. It has 5 gears and I have to manually shift?

[2mAn]

I added sport mode to mine, but I think it might be broken. It has 5 gears and I have to manually shift?

haha this is the sport mode I want on mine...

Charlie. Typically the first thing you will hear from E30 owners is to do the timing belt and water pump if you dont know when its last been done. Im hoping the 55yo lady had records that show when it was last done. Also, the first thing r3v owners will tell you to do is post pics of your GF, but in this case, I think a pic of the 55yo lady will suffice... we are sick

[Mwishlist]

haha this is the sport mode I want on mine...

Charlie. Typically the first thing you will hear from E30 owners is to do the timing belt and water pump if you dont know when its last been done. Im hoping the 55yo lady had records that show when it was last done. Also, the first thing r3v owners will tell you to do is post pics of your GF, but in this case, I think a pic of the 55yo lady will suffice... we are sick

Nice! Yeah, timing belt needs to be done if you can't verify when it was last done for sure. I did the timing belt, water pump and a basic tune up. Then the brakes all around pretty much first thing on mine.

I thought I read an article not too long ago, maybe on Jalopnik but I can't find it, about someone driving an E30 with the sport mode auto and they were shockingly impressed with how well it worked.

[CharlieVu]

haha this is the sport mode I want on mine...

Charlie. Typically the first thing you will hear from E30 owners is to do the timing belt and water pump if you dont know when its last been done. Im hoping the 55yo lady had records that show when it was last done. Also, the first thing r3v owners will tell you to do is post pics of your GF, but in this case, I think a pic of the 55yo lady will suffice... we are sick

Ahaha that’s fair. Here’s the most recent of the new girl friend!

[CharlieVu]

Nice! Yeah, timing belt needs to be done if you can't verify when it was last done for sure. I did the timing belt, water pump and a basic tune up. Then the brakes all around pretty much first thing on mine.

I thought I read an article not too long ago, maybe on Jalopnik but I can't find it, about someone driving an E30 with the sport mode auto and they were shockingly impressed with how well it worked.

Yes! Sport mode is so much more responsive than in drive! (D, S, 3,2,1) my buddy who owns an e30 ix was pretty impressed and a bit jealous of the sport mode after we took the car for a spin.


Update: Parts I’ve purchased and will be changing out in a couple weeks:
Timing belt
Tensioner
PS belt
AC belt
Water pump
Fluids
Thermostat
Rear Kyb shocks n top hats (used)
Spark plugs (5077)
Valve cover gasket (victor reins)
Shaft plugs (victor reins)
Head bolts (victor reins)
0-40w Mobil 1
Bosch filter
Intake filter
Late model taillights pulled from yard(mine came with a broken early model)
Rocker panel trim

Lmk if I’m missing anything else you’d recommend

[2mAn]

Late model taillights pulled from yard(mine came with a broken early model)

Late model taillights wont work.

I would just buy a replacement driver side one. Hopefully you didnt spend too much on the lights.

[CharlieVu]

Late model taillights wont work.

I would just buy a replacement driver side one. Hopefully you didnt spend too much on the lights.

They should, came off the same year n model. I assumed they are called late cause they look different n are named that way on eBay lmao!