visian

UUC Evo 3 SSK installed. Unfortunately, the DSSR could not be installed as the shift knuckle off the back of the trans was the wrong one, thought my car had the right one, but guess not. Poly bushings where the bitch clips inserts and Turner poly carrier bushing were also installed. Shifter feels super tight, notchy, directional. Was worried the throw was going to be too short for my liking, but this is the perfect amount for my driving style.
 
Only issues are that the shifter in neutral sits at maybe a 10-15 degree tilt towards the passenger side, not a huge deal, but a little annoying. Another thing, and maybe this is me only used to driving cars with factory shifters, is the 1-2 throw feels a little more difficult. If I had to rate the 1-2 throw, it would be maybe 4.5-5 out of 10 in terms of effort needed. Where as the others are more like a 3-3.5, compared to stock which I would say was like a 2-2.5. Only other thing, is that the ZHP weighted knob must not fit the profile of the shifter itself as it has maybe 5 degrees of rotational play in it. It doesn’t feel like it would come off, but it’s a little annoying that it rotates a little, and makes a little bit of clacking when going through the gears.
UUC did not include the six Allen head bolts that connect the collar to the carrier arm, so I bought some Phillips screws of the same pitch. They were a little longer than the ones that would have been included, so they had to be shimmed with some washers so the screws wouldn’t contact the ball the shifter pivots on. My only thought as to why the couple of things might be out of whack.
Overall, very pleased with it, even without the DSSR, it feels extremely tight and directional. For me, this car exceeds at the warm summer evening, back road, sunset country cruise with the radio(Bluetooth speaker in my case) playing some good tunes. Really hard to beat.

Car had a full paint correction done on by Auto Trim Design in Neenah. After getting the car to my parents garage, spent the next couple of days costing the car in Gtechniq Crystal Serum Light and then topped with EXO V3. This should last me probably over 2 years with proper washing and no winter driving. I also coated the wheels.
 Paint correction and the coating have made it very red. Pictures really don’t do it justice how good it looks. If you’re still using waxes on your cars, make the switch. It’s very easy to apply.
At Road America for Indy Car this weekend:

There's no nuts on the far outside studs, so it's going to naturally not lay flat. I'm not sure if the radiuses of the trunk lid and the spoiler match, but when I was trying to test fit it, it was either a finger sized gap between the spoiler and the length of the trunk, or this. Like I said, it was hard to tell where to place it given the studs don't allow you to lay it flat. And without turning my trunk lid into a piece of cheese, I'm fine with making some small modifications to make it flush at the ends.
I did the turn signal lenses during lunch today. Takes away from the stark contrast of the lenses, but the light still shines through very brightly.

This was one of those opportunities that I just couldn't pass up. Long time buddy reached out to me about his girlfriends mom wanting to sell her "old BMW". Asked for pics and was greeted by this 325is in incredible shape. Got the owners number and started talking about setting up a time to see the car. She had to ponder what the price would be as she had been back and forth about selling the car before. When she sent me over the price, I knew I was going to be buying it. Set up a time to see the car and came with cash even though I was only about 20 minutes from her house. Went out with my brother and drove it home that night. The previous owner really loved the car and was passionate about it.
Never drove in winter, always kept in one of their buildings on their property, and pretty infrequently driven. Came with all the service records from Auto Clinic where it has been serviced for the majority of its life. Has all the original manuals, radio ID cards, and even a complete tool kit. Crack free dash and a working odometer. Car hit a deer at some point, so the front clip is much more shiny than the rest, but the work was done by Dave Treichel at Zero to 60 so I know it was done to the highest level and it looks it.
Things to take care of: half the cluster does not work. Tach, fuel mileage, and temp gauge do not work. The other half works completely, so I don't know if that means it's an SI battery or if just all the gears on that side broke. Only other thing is that the driver window does not work, assuming it's just a regulator or maybe there is connection under the switch not connected.
My plan is to start cleaning it this weekend and get it up on stands to take a look under it. Want to rent a carpet cleaner that has a hand operated unit so I can pull the seats out and really clean it, looks like it might have some mildew or mold on it(probably from sitting in a barn for a while). Then start buffing and polishing the faded parts.
Plans: maintenance and minor mods including coilovers, wheels, strut braces, short shifter, and exhaust. I'll pick a couple bits off my other car like the euro grilles, euro clock, and euro plate filler. I plan to do the brakes this year as they are a bit squeaky. Depending on the condition under the car, I would like to do a full suspension and brake refresh this winter.
The car drives and rides great, been really enjoying the M20.

Since everyone else on here has white coupes I figured I'd join the crew!

I was sitting in Oregon on a job site and came across a posting for an E30 from Cali, claimed one owner vehicle, with some mediocre pictures. 
Chatted with the seller, got more pics, a video or two, and I sent him some money to hold the car for me to arrive. Two days later I show up to his place in California with a trailer, worked out a deal, and left with the least rusty E30 I've ever seen. 
I was surprised on arrival to find two spots on the exterior with clear coat gone, but only on the hood and trunk which is easy enough to work with. 

Service record of one shop its whole life, original owner on the title, and I've now become the second registered owner of it. 
Every vin tag matches, one or two door dings on the whole car, it is astounding. 

So what's the plan?
This is my long haul project car, the culmination of everything I've learned from working with E30's over the years. I am in no rush to get this completed as I want every facet of it to be exactly what I've desired. The intent is to completely remove the interior and replace it (interior is mediocre and tan) with black/grey things and custom seats that I've been working on. Driveline will be the S52 from my other E30, in a shaved and repainted engine bay. Suspension will be a hybrid of what I've got in my blue e30 and a mix of new parts. 

I promise this is (one) of the last E30's I will own...







California is always scenic, ft. E30 and Titan with lightweight clear coat mods. 











 

The ship has landed!

It was a guy on craigslist in Trevor, WI, close to IL border that had a couple storage garages full of parts. He's always parting out different bmws and has parts galore. I can look at CL again and see if he has another post to get contact info.

Had BMW Milwaukee North Body Shop install and paint new oem BMW rear glass and rear hatch.  Also, added a carbon fiber spoiler. 
Popped on some Pilot Sport 4S but ordered 255 rears instead of 275.  Well, popped a rear tire on Mother's day with the family so I fortunately got to get the 275 rears mounted!  The Mobile Tire Pit Crew is the JAM!  They come to your house and mount and balance on their truck.  Worth every penny!
Wagon is running great!  Pumping gas weekly, topping off oil biweekly and smiling daily 😄

Hi all! I’m looking for a closer knit community to share info on E30 maintenance, upgrades, swaps, etc. Based on a couple of you that I recognize from the E30 picnic, I think I’m in the right place!
Location-wise, I used to live in Stevens Point (alas my E30 from back then is long gone), my wife is from Mayville and we now live in northern Illinois. We frequently make it to WI and I’d be way down for meetups that allow me to get some miles on the car(s)!
My passion for BMWs runs deep. My first was an ‘86 735i and since then I’ve had (3) E30s, (1) E46 and (1) E34. In between some of these I lived in Munich and worked at MINI HQ (high point was launching the first Clubman!) - I speak German and had been lucky to visit Germany every year since until this one...
My current BMW is this 1989 325i with 43,000 miles. I sourced it from Japan, all of the ACS parts are original and *i think* were put on as soon as it was delivered in Japan. In my ownership I’ve swapped it to manual, installed some braces (front/rear strut; front sub X-brace) and replaced most every part that carried any type of fluid (the low miles came with the price of gunk and rot!), and now everything is clean, stiff and running like new! 
I look forward to meeting you!
B
 

Oil & filter change. 10w-60 Liqui Moly & Mann Filter.
Installed: Repaired sunroof with new OEM rebuild kit. Black suede headliner, a, b, & c pillars.  Black Nappa leather m5 front seats, front cards, lower dash and center console. Black carpet.  
Still need some grey items swapped to Black but getting there.
Endless Detailing polished the turd up today! I'm loving it!

Out in PA near Lancaster, I can't remember the shop exactly but it was recommended by a friend out there, would be quite the drive! I never had anything done by them so I can't comment on that part, just called them looking for parts and they seemed very knowledgeable. 

Did the Overcrest Rally with @The Full Banana over the weekend. Tom did most of the driving since I was technically the passenger and we were supposed to be in his 240. But we both had a blast and the e30 exceeded my expectations and was able to keep up with the 911s in the group we drove with most of the time. Got a lot of compliments on how quick we were on the roads. 
 
After about 400ish miles that made up the rally, the car came home with a significant number of rock chips, a season’s worth of tire removed, and very tired suspension. But it was all totally worth it.

Me going downstairs after reading this to check what I bought from oriellys
 

I knew someone took r2d2 you rat

SAABcentral.com is a pretty useful forum that has a lot of 900 content! I had a '91 900 for a bit a few years back (not in this area unfortunately so I don't know of anyone local), I miss looking at and driving that car but I really don't really miss the endless hunting for parts...

I actually do know a guy.  Can you send me info.

SteelBlue I periodically will get this in my e30 too, but not all the time and still haven’t identified any pattern. I’m glad someone else is getting this, I also am useless with car audio. Maybe we can pool our resources and figure it out!

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 
It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 
We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

the minute i get my hands on another e30 hood, youll be gettin a call from me
the question is: tictac, bastos, or fina 

I was hoping I'd make it but this weekend is starting to get complicated. Hope to still make it.
Sorry to hijack the thread but I did just buy tickets / camping for Road America Vintage weekend. @wasnt m3 i reserved site 104, are you in the carousel this year?

did some work on both cars today.
scored a sweet e28 mtech I spoiler already in alpine from andy - thanks dude.
new holes drilled

the center 4 holes are close enough to the stock locations that access from inside the trunk lid is easy

however, the outside two are much wider, so cutting the openings inside the trunk lid is necessary to get the nuts on there.

and voila!







had the same setup on my last e30 and loved it. photo circa 2012

on my roadtrip up north last weekend, some dickweed trailering a boat left stuff in the boat (life jackets, fishing poles, etc) while traveling on the freeway, and they proceeded to jettison while I was driving behind him. it cost me a high beam lens and some scratches. ordered a replacement DEPO set to get parts off and installed them.


i also deactivated the bumper running lights and hooked up my amber LEDs that I installed into the low beams when doing my retrofit.  here is the result:

last step is to get the fogs working independently

Someone was obviously driving a 1975 Concrete Curb LX

ok, whiskers.

Thanks lol.
And now that I've used it i have to agree. I can crank out stuff so fast, I finished all this in just a couple evenings.  Between the dryness, heater, and air flow, stuff dries in minutes instead of hours. Also, I totally look like Walter White when painting with my filter mask, underwear and slippers. I'm pretty sure if the neighbors peak in the window they will probably think I am actually cooking meth or murdering people in my plastic room.

 

got the rest of my gift from my secret santa (visian)
three awesome 13"x13" car prints from the artist Marc Carreras.  csl, 2002, and porsche rs
thanks dude! i will definitely frame these for the wall.