Caporegime
Now I know what you are all thinking, but no this isn't the same as all of my other failed car purchases. "Why's that Acme?" I hear you ask. Well, I have wanted an E30 for years, and recently my situation changed in such a way that it was no longer a ridiculous prospect to buy one. So I started looking!
I wasn't too fussed what it was so long as it had a 6 cylinder engine. I had my heart set on a 1984 320i which had been converted to a 2.8 stroker, but it sold. I then had my heart set on a 1990 320i Touring which has been converted to an M50B25, but it was a shed and the seller was shady. Then one day while browsing, I saw this come up for sale just a few miles up the road:
A little rough around the edges and a tad pinker than I had hoped for, but I gave the seller a ring. A nice chap, retired, who seemed to care little about what the car sold for because all he wanted was for it to go to a good home, and not be broken for spares. I arranged to meet him the next day, gave it a look over, and had done the deal a few hours later. It was mine for a mere £1000 with a full years MOT and a lot of service history!
A few issues were noted when I viewed it, a bit of rust in the usual places but no severe rot (22/01/18 - This turns out to be false!!), an oil leak which looked like it had been left for years, and the paintwork condition were the three main concerns, but it just gives me something to do, and I have plenty of time and spare cash from my original budget to get it sorted out. It drove beautifully on the drive home with no issues to report, and despite being on 194,000 miles, the engine pulled like it was brand new.
I gave it a bit of a spruce up, a good clean and a bit of cutting compound on the pinkest parts, and set about buying a few bits and pieces for it.
First was the interior, a refurbished "comfort leather" interior, out of a 1988 E30 Touring, as well as a new gearstick gaiter, gearknob, and mats. I still have the lower dash panel to fit, an MTech 1 steering wheel to go on, and the headliner will be re-trimmed. I haven't yet decided if I am going to fit the vinyl door cards, because I quite like the 'anthracite' cloth cards. Here is my progress so far:
Additional / progress pics:
I bought the leather interior as a job lot combined with some 15" BBS alloys, which were a factory option when the car was new. Here are a couple of the car as it looks now:
Additional pictures, and the mirror which has now been replaced with a slightly better condition unit:
You can see here the extent of the stone chips on the lower valance, and the front foglights are destroyed. The one on the right had quite a lot of water in it, now drained, which is why it looks a bit yellower/rustier. You can also see where I have further polished and waxed a single section of the bonnet, as a test area, to see if it fades back to pink.
Rust! Not that bad at all all things considered. I think. Erm...
One area of concern on the front inner wing, but the rest should be fairly straight-forward to repair. I haven't removed the SE sill covers yet so I'm not sure quite what horrors await me there, but I suspect some cutting and welding will be required.
I also bought an original Acculux re-chargeable glove-box torch for £6 in tatty, non working condition from eBay. Some progress with that:
Clearly the rechargeable cell had leaked, so that part went in the bin.
Soaking in some contact cleanery type stuff, also gave them a bit of a scrub up.
I also cleaned the casing, which is now white again! And I am buying a new re-chargeable cell, and will be fitting it back together, and re-soldering a few bits.
Anyway, there is my progress so far! I have also changed the plugs, adjusted the throttle cable, cleaned various things, and ordered some gaskets, rubber seals and filters which will all be fitted during its service which I hope to do very soon.
I will also adjust the tappets at the same time, though they should be OK because the head was re-built around 70,000 miles ago.
This one is here to stay, a proper project, with a proper budget, and I am a very excited Acme...
I wasn't too fussed what it was so long as it had a 6 cylinder engine. I had my heart set on a 1984 320i which had been converted to a 2.8 stroker, but it sold. I then had my heart set on a 1990 320i Touring which has been converted to an M50B25, but it was a shed and the seller was shady. Then one day while browsing, I saw this come up for sale just a few miles up the road:
A little rough around the edges and a tad pinker than I had hoped for, but I gave the seller a ring. A nice chap, retired, who seemed to care little about what the car sold for because all he wanted was for it to go to a good home, and not be broken for spares. I arranged to meet him the next day, gave it a look over, and had done the deal a few hours later. It was mine for a mere £1000 with a full years MOT and a lot of service history!
A few issues were noted when I viewed it, a bit of rust in the usual places but no severe rot (22/01/18 - This turns out to be false!!), an oil leak which looked like it had been left for years, and the paintwork condition were the three main concerns, but it just gives me something to do, and I have plenty of time and spare cash from my original budget to get it sorted out. It drove beautifully on the drive home with no issues to report, and despite being on 194,000 miles, the engine pulled like it was brand new.
I gave it a bit of a spruce up, a good clean and a bit of cutting compound on the pinkest parts, and set about buying a few bits and pieces for it.
First was the interior, a refurbished "comfort leather" interior, out of a 1988 E30 Touring, as well as a new gearstick gaiter, gearknob, and mats. I still have the lower dash panel to fit, an MTech 1 steering wheel to go on, and the headliner will be re-trimmed. I haven't yet decided if I am going to fit the vinyl door cards, because I quite like the 'anthracite' cloth cards. Here is my progress so far:
Additional / progress pics:
I bought the leather interior as a job lot combined with some 15" BBS alloys, which were a factory option when the car was new. Here are a couple of the car as it looks now:
Additional pictures, and the mirror which has now been replaced with a slightly better condition unit:
You can see here the extent of the stone chips on the lower valance, and the front foglights are destroyed. The one on the right had quite a lot of water in it, now drained, which is why it looks a bit yellower/rustier. You can also see where I have further polished and waxed a single section of the bonnet, as a test area, to see if it fades back to pink.
Rust! Not that bad at all all things considered. I think. Erm...
One area of concern on the front inner wing, but the rest should be fairly straight-forward to repair. I haven't removed the SE sill covers yet so I'm not sure quite what horrors await me there, but I suspect some cutting and welding will be required.
Nearside rear arch
The worst of the two jacking points
Inner front wing, on the divide between the arch and the engine bay, above the chassis leg. Visible on the other side as well.
A random little bit on the floorpan
Both front footwell corners look like this. Not too bad, no visible holes all the way through, though the passenger footwell gets a little bit damp directly above this point. Can see here that I really need to take the sill covers off to inspect the full extent of rust on the front of the sills/lower front wings as well.
Nearside rear passenger door, may scrub up.
Don't think I'll be scrubbing this up! (near rear towing eye, very common)
Nearside rear arch. I thought it was just surface blistering, but I gave it a forceful prod and oh...
Near corners of rear lights under tailgate. Bit unusual! Need to take the lights out and see if it extends further.
Bits of the tailgate
Underside of bonnet
Blister on drivers door corner, may scrub up.
Behind headlight. Not too bad.
The worst of the two jacking points
Inner front wing, on the divide between the arch and the engine bay, above the chassis leg. Visible on the other side as well.
A random little bit on the floorpan
Both front footwell corners look like this. Not too bad, no visible holes all the way through, though the passenger footwell gets a little bit damp directly above this point. Can see here that I really need to take the sill covers off to inspect the full extent of rust on the front of the sills/lower front wings as well.
Nearside rear passenger door, may scrub up.
Don't think I'll be scrubbing this up! (near rear towing eye, very common)
Nearside rear arch. I thought it was just surface blistering, but I gave it a forceful prod and oh...
Near corners of rear lights under tailgate. Bit unusual! Need to take the lights out and see if it extends further.
Bits of the tailgate
Underside of bonnet
Blister on drivers door corner, may scrub up.
Behind headlight. Not too bad.
I also bought an original Acculux re-chargeable glove-box torch for £6 in tatty, non working condition from eBay. Some progress with that:
Clearly the rechargeable cell had leaked, so that part went in the bin.
Soaking in some contact cleanery type stuff, also gave them a bit of a scrub up.
I also cleaned the casing, which is now white again! And I am buying a new re-chargeable cell, and will be fitting it back together, and re-soldering a few bits.
Anyway, there is my progress so far! I have also changed the plugs, adjusted the throttle cable, cleaned various things, and ordered some gaskets, rubber seals and filters which will all be fitted during its service which I hope to do very soon.
I will also adjust the tappets at the same time, though they should be OK because the head was re-built around 70,000 miles ago.
This one is here to stay, a proper project, with a proper budget, and I am a very excited Acme...
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