Winter car: e30 content!

Although we all know that the most loved car here is the miata, the e30 must be a very close second! And I recently came into the position of one.

Heard through a friend, about a deal from a friend of a friend who i personally happen to somewhat know. Selling running BMW e30 for 100$ CAD (equivalant to about 2$ US hehehe ). Reason: license suspended for 6 months. Anyways, proceeded to get in touch with the guy, offered more cash to get the car despite some girl being in front of me. She did not call back, I told him Id buy it. No knowledge other than the car seemingly runs fine as my friend went on a roadtrip in it. So driving down to pay for it, my friend is asking me: Color? No idea. Mileage? No idea. Model? No idea. Its a running e30 for 150$!

Well, boy was I pleasantly surprised. My favorite e30, in my favorite color! 318is in red! Why? Its the lightest car, and my background is miatas.

The good: idle is puurfect. Slight hesitation upon throttle application though. Shifting is buttery smooth. Original bmw wheels off the car, 3 with new tires, one corded. Cheap, tasteless wheels with some cheap performance rubber on the car (first thing to go!). 150$ purchase price

The bad: No muffler. Needs new tie rod ends and rear brakes need some kind of work (pads/rotors). Service light is on... and I have zero experience with these cars. Body a bit rough in some places, mostly bumper crack and lining coming off one corner.

The plan:

1)Convince parents its not a junker and let me keep it on their brand new home's driveway. Convince them it wont be another turbo miata escapade to soil their driveway.

2) Fix problems and basic maintenance. Im thinking after selling those ghastly wheels I might even come out even!

3) Depending on health of car: If not amazing use for winters. If seems healthy make it my autox car and stop using the DD. Basically make it lighter, breathe slightly better and grip/ brake a lot harder.

I will post pics after I take delivery (hopefully tomorow) and wash her. Super stoked to have a rwd option back in the family. Thanks for sharing in my joy.

Any hints, pitfalls, connections and resources oh GRM gurus? I will probably be looking over the recent spec e30 from my issues for ideas.

Nice score!!! While I'd enjoy an E30 325i[s], I'd gladly take a late 318is. Less power, but lighter and better on gas. If the car doesn't work out, I'll give you $300 for it. ;)

what year and how many miles? The thing to look out for on the M42 is the timing chain tensoner, its goes soft and the chain slaps around inside. There is a Dowing/Atlanta supercharger you could pick up, though it is pretty spendy, it does get you up to like 190hp, but then you are talking about bigger injectors, high grade fuel pump, stuff like that... If you wanna keep it as a sort of daily driver/ Autocross sneak attacker, then pick up a set of H&R cup springs and Koni yellows and a set of poly bushings, makes it handle better than a Dyson vacuum cleaner...

The light on the dash may well be the service indicator light - it was BMW's idea to remind people that an oil change or inspection was required. It doesn't mean anything's broken, it's just time for a service. If the car still has the owner's manual it should be explained in there. The computer calculates how many miles the car has driven and how long it's been since the last service, along with some other factors, and then the light comes on. After you do the service you reset the light.

Depending on the year of the car, the service indicator circuit board may have some nicad batteries on it; they eventually fail and then the service indicator lights won't work right - they may come on and off randomly, or you just won't be able to reset them. The batteries can be replaced, you can get a new circuit board, or you just put a piece of tape over the lights and ignore them.

Your first purchase should be the Bentley e30 repair manual, they're very good. You can get them on Amazon or from many of the BMW aftermarket parts supply houses.

+1

My Bentley manual lives in the car.

Also, brakes on all 4 corners are a 2 hour job. Stock rotors with good pads are more than adequate for Auto X.

Does the ABS work? If the light is on, then the whole system shuts off.

you will probably want an LSD for it if its going to be a winter car. My 325e was pretty useless in the snow. (going to run studded snows this winter and see if it helps.. it should) (and gonna try to find an LSD) (BTW, know anyone with a manual swap kit for an 85 325e on the cheap?)

If it is the "CHECK" light it can be a plethora of different things from a burned out license plate bulb to low oil, check the lights on the service board on the ceiling, typically when all of those lights are resolved, then your "CHECK" light will go out too.

If it's the "Brake Lining" light then it means that your pad wear sensors (left front and right rear brakes) are either broken or burned through, or there is a wiring issue (or all three).

If it's the purty colored christmas lights along the bottom of the cluster you're talking about, if you take the cluster out and take it apart there is a seperate little circuit board with the LEDs you can just remove. Solves that annoyance permanently.

Apex, I don't know where you are located but CR's BMW Wholesale (google it) sells swap kits for a pretty fair price.

Thx for all the great info. Cant wait to see how it drives.

rwdsport wrote: The plan: 1)Convince parents its not a junker and let me keep it on their brand new home's driveway. Convince them it wont be another turbo miata escapade to soil their driveway. 2) Fix problems and basic maintenance. Im thinking after selling those ghastly wheels I might even come out even! 3) Depending on health of car: If not amazing use for winters. If seems healthy make it my autox car and stop using the DD. Basically make it lighter, breathe slightly better and grip/ brake a lot harder. .... Any hints, pitfalls, connections and resources oh GRM gurus? I will probably be looking over the recent spec e30 from my issues for ideas.

Tip - Don't ruin your parent's expensive, clean new driveway with that junker or piss off the new neighbors with an eye sore of a car.

Other than that, have fun with it.

What is wrong with using the DD for autox?

This thread is worthless without pics!

There's a guy selling an E30 318is, around here for $2500. Seems to be in good shape, want to check it out, but no time

I have a 318is and I love it. Just got back from a 1,000 mile round trip. No problems and 32 mpg. And the awesome sport seats are much easier on my back than my Miata's seats.

You got a deal no matter how you look at it. But if it's straight and rust free, it's a keeper. Also check out this site: http://www.m42club.com/forums/

Our 325i (open diff) is pretty much unstoppable on Hankook W409 Ipikes. I've never driven a better car in the snow, and it's much more stable than the protege on (admittedly very cheap) no-name snow tires.

Nathan

njansenv wrote: Our 325i (open diff) is pretty much unstoppable on Hankook W409 Ipikes. I've never driven a better car in the snow, and it's much more stable than the protege on (admittedly very cheap) no-name snow tires. Nathan

Thats comforting to hear, as I said, my 325e was pretty useless in the snow, but I was banking on it being the Khumo SPT's that were on it. I have to drive up a hill on a gravel road in the winter and it took a few attempts at a running start last winter. I have fond memories of just how unstoppable our old aerostar was with studs, so I am gonna go studded all around on it (I am in the mountians and do know the rules with them.)

DDavidv, I am just over in Cumberland MD, are you coming out for the Polish Mountian hillclimb this weekend by any chance? I will look into CR.

I'm off hill climbs for the time being. May start again next year.