vbhargava

At the request of @YoungCR I am putting up information about my recent GREAT experience with a transport company. I always buy used cars from non-rust states so transport services are becoming more necessary. 
In full transparency, I went through a broker for this one but plan to go direct and save money next time. It cost me $1000 (most companies quote $1200) to ship a car from the Bay Area to Madison WI. Going direct I was told the price would come down to between $800 and $875. My driver, Alex, makes California <--> WI runs every week and I really appreciated that he was a fellow enthusiast, see Instagram. 
Their trucks appear to be newish and can support lowered cars w/o damage. The driver was professional, polite & kept me informed. I'm not 100% sure they have enclosed trailers but it's worth asking them. 
Contact Information:
GIGI LINE INC
2719 Seiler Dr
Naperville, IL 60565
MC Number: 895783
Phone: 847-378-8901
Email: gigiline.inc@gmail.com

Headed over to Accumoto for a suspension consultation. Ended up raising the car 1 inch all around for a more comfortable daily ride and less twitchy backroads experience. Car is feeling much better and just needs to go back for an alignment next week. 


 

Turner Motorsports but bought through ECS. Contact @patsbimmer1 to order ECS parts at a good price. 
My only piece of advice for the install is to make sure you have good sharp drill bits. I went and bought new ones near the end and it would have saved me at least 1 hour. #facepalm

New pedals and windshield washer pump! Pretty simple but taking off the wheel well liner can be a pain.

Nice! Its all in the deah - tails.

Everything looks great! Especially the air vents.

New pedals and windshield washer pump! Pretty simple but taking off the wheel well liner can be a pain.

Turner Motorsports but bought through ECS. Contact @patsbimmer1 to order ECS parts at a good price. 
My only piece of advice for the install is to make sure you have good sharp drill bits. I went and bought new ones near the end and it would have saved me at least 1 hour. #facepalm

ProjectCoCo got some serious love this weekend. 
New passenger fuel sender unit New drivers fuel sensor o-ring Garagistic rear shock mount reinforcement M-tech 1 steering wheel with new M color band New headlight knob New glovebox lever/handle New windshield washer reservoir and pump New cowl grates

ProjectCoCo got some serious love this weekend. 
New passenger fuel sender unit New drivers fuel sensor o-ring Garagistic rear shock mount reinforcement M-tech 1 steering wheel with new M color band New headlight knob New glovebox lever/handle New windshield washer reservoir and pump New cowl grates

Nice subtle improvements. Those minor details count

New pedals and windshield washer pump! Pretty simple but taking off the wheel well liner can be a pain.

If you want to do the devils dance, you can buy a AC kit with a gauge and check the pressure. Leaks are not as common but they can happen. Oring kits are cheap;
https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-BMW-E30-318i-A-C-O-Ring-Kit-Rapid-Seal-Kit-Santech-09-7598-641/360574067494?epid=664090535&hash=item53f3e3a326:g:RO8AAOxyepRRyTtj 
and fairly simple to install but be prepared to pay someone a lot of money to recharge it or convert it. 
The other big fail point is the compressor clutch itself. This tends to be an easy fix, simply by removing a spacer or shaving down the clutch plate. I just recently did this on 2 of my vehicles and have strong AC once again. Best part is it cost me nothing besides a good hour of my time.
 

If it has to be bone stock, I'm gonna go with an E53 X5 4.8is. They aren't slow, they handle nicely for an SUV, nice stereo for blasting fuck the police by NWA. Plus some ground clearance. Inconspicuous enough in silver. Drop it in a bad neighborhood after you lose the coppers and it will be stripped and on blocks within the hour. 
Also I have a thing for the 4.8is. 

 
If a modified Bimmer, this:

The old fluid motor union x5 build. Why? It looks neato.
I guess what I'm saying is an E53.

My bad I missed this. Still interested in the boots?

Ditto.
20w- anything is an archaic spec that belongs back in the 50-60's. Only guys using it are into old muscle cars with sloppy clearances, because some of the oils are blended to protect flat tappet push-rod valvetrain.  Or they like to see 100psi. on the gauge on cold starts and think it's a good thing.  
Most older BMW engine clearances are designed to run a 10-13cSt oil viscosity. Or ~30weight oil running @100c. All oils start much thicker when cold.
Running a thicker oil doesn't make sense unless you run the oil hotter the 100c. A 20w50 will be ~20cSt @100c but it will thin to ~12cSt at 120c. engine thinks it got 0w30 in it. It's happy.
The cold end of the scale looks much worse. A 0w30 is 65cSt @40c while the 20w50 is 180cSt at 40c. It takes that much longer for the oil to warm up and flow throughout the engine.
This is not even looking below freezing. In those temps the extra drag can defeat a good battery and starter. You're trying to pump molasses through a coffee straw.
The 0w40 synthetics are a good compromise of performance and protection. With a 75cSt cold and ~13 cSt hot. It's on the thick side of spec.@100c thinning to ~8cSt @120c still giving you some track protection, without relying on the additive package to keep the bearings from seizing for 2-3 times longer on cold start.
everyone says that most of your wear comes from cold starts, so why use an oil that will take twice as long to warm to running temp.  If you need to run your oil that hot add a oil cooler, or as a last resort run a 5W-50 (115cSt cold, 18.5cSt hot). Not as a first step.
Oil analysis
Oil analysis is a great way to know engine health.  Like a blood test for your car. But, it's meaningless by itself.  You need multiple samples to get a true picture of engine health. If you put on a lot of miles and change the oil on a schedule with the same brand/type of oil,  it can save you allot in showing you true extended drain intervals for your environment/ driving style.
In a garage queen that gets an oil change every year and runs 1k mi. it's pointless unless your looking for a piece of mind. by getting a baseline and getting follow up test you can know nothing changed. on a 1million dollar car it's worth something, on a 200k mi daily, not so much.
 
 

I run 20w-50 Castrol GTX, it's the recommended summer weight per the manual and Castrol I believe was BMW's recommended oil at that time. Otherwise, some people say that Valvoline VR1 in the same weight is a good choice due to higher concentration of ZDDP. I don't stress too much about it personally, I can't imagine there would be huge difference in wear whichever way you go as long as you stick to the recommended oil weights and oil change intervals.

from the manual:

personally, i've never run 20w in anything.
i also believe that brand names, additives, blah blah blah is marketing b.s. and the difference in quality doesn't justify the extra costs. get the right weight in whatever fits in your budget.

I have a leather shift boot with the m stripes if you want it.

I think I'm going to have to do this, I really dislike the silver ring. I'll take the boots if no one else needs them, mine are pretty nasty.

Finally got rid of the white w/M stitching shifter and parking brake boots. Picked up a CATuned set and it fit great. If anyone wants the old set I'm happy to give them away. 

Now its time to upgrade the shifter knob. What's your favorite for the E30? 

Minor update: Replaced the ECU with a 173 unit so that I can chip/tune and upgrade the injectors. 
Odometer stopped working so replaced the OEM gears w/Garagistic gears. Pretty easy fix that doesnt require removing the steering wheel but blew out a bulb in the process. 


 

I would love to purchase a California/Arizona car in the future and either ship it to drive it back. Looks like a really clean example. Early model verts have a great look.

Headed over to Accumoto for a suspension consultation. Ended up raising the car 1 inch all around for a more comfortable daily ride and less twitchy backroads experience. Car is feeling much better and just needs to go back for an alignment next week. 


 

Headed over to Accumoto for a suspension consultation. Ended up raising the car 1 inch all around for a more comfortable daily ride and less twitchy backroads experience. Car is feeling much better and just needs to go back for an alignment next week.