Soldato
Early start at 2am
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Show Us Your Motors!
- Thread starter Lopéz
- Start date
Same, the front of my G22 no longer offends me!
Wanted one of these since I passed my test but at the time could never afford one when they were cheap so had to slum it in a 320i, now they have rocketed in price I got one, may I present you an original BMW Motorsport E30 325i Sport (LSD / Short Ratio) with a whopping 170HP assuming they are all still there.
Collecting at weekend, always was the dream to get a Dolphin grey 325i Sport, my favourite E30 of all time as the E30 M3 does nothing for me, that silky smooth six and sound track is everything. The red swayed me, just looks incredible in person and a front grill that is perfectly sized.
No real plans apart from bring it back to originality styling wise, so chrome grill, silver/chrome wheels and maybe raise the suspension up and just make it spot on mechanically, been looking on and off now for a couple of years but never came across the right one that ticked the boxes and was rot free, but also semi sensible money.
The big bonus of this one is it has both a sunroof and air conditioning which is hard to find in these, but it don't work, but compressor kicks in, so hoping a re-gas and some new seals will see it functioning again.
Plan is to restore make it original and use it more or less as a daily.
Collecting at weekend, always was the dream to get a Dolphin grey 325i Sport, my favourite E30 of all time as the E30 M3 does nothing for me, that silky smooth six and sound track is everything. The red swayed me, just looks incredible in person and a front grill that is perfectly sized.
No real plans apart from bring it back to originality styling wise, so chrome grill, silver/chrome wheels and maybe raise the suspension up and just make it spot on mechanically, been looking on and off now for a couple of years but never came across the right one that ticked the boxes and was rot free, but also semi sensible money.
The big bonus of this one is it has both a sunroof and air conditioning which is hard to find in these, but it don't work, but compressor kicks in, so hoping a re-gas and some new seals will see it functioning again.
Plan is to restore make it original and use it more or less as a daily.
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Don
Gorgeous!
Underboss
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Caporegime
Finally he buys an interesting car. 
Correct colour too. And no chav mods. In fact the only issues I see are missing boot badges and the front M badge being in the wrong place. Optionally the black grille is a bit marmite.
Very rare to find them not totally Essex boy plastic eyebrow and M Power sticker clad these days.
Nice.
Also the sunroof is only a bonus if you like difficult to repair looming rust issues. Mine is being removed when I have it's work done.
Slicktops are generally more desirable in E30 land. Happy to answer any questions you might have, and offer a shoulder to cry on when you find all the rot you don't know is there yet.
Correct colour too. And no chav mods. In fact the only issues I see are missing boot badges and the front M badge being in the wrong place. Optionally the black grille is a bit marmite.
Very rare to find them not totally Essex boy plastic eyebrow and M Power sticker clad these days.
Nice.
Also the sunroof is only a bonus if you like difficult to repair looming rust issues. Mine is being removed when I have it's work done.
Slicktops are generally more desirable in E30 land. Happy to answer any questions you might have, and offer a shoulder to cry on when you find all the rot you don't know is there yet.
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Soldato
Haha that blue thing was mental and also did a rolling burn out at the petrol station just after the tunnel. Looks like a similar crossing to me. 6:36am
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Associate
- Joined
- 8 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 1,236
Oh that 325 is a beauty - looks a great example, enjoy!
Finally he buys an interesting car.
Correct colour too. And no chav mods. In fact the only issues I see are missing boot badges and the front M badge being in the wrong place. Optionally the black grille is a bit marmite.
Very rare to find them not totally Essex boy plastic eyebrow and M Power sticker clad these days.
Nice.
Also the sunroof is only a bonus if you like difficult to repair looming rust issues. Mine is being removed when I have it's work done.
Slicktops are generally more desirable in E30 land. Happy to answer any questions you might have, and offer a shoulder to cry on when you find all the rot you don't know is there yet.
Only 6 previous owners and current owner for 17 years who has a photo book of all panels getting chopped / replaced that had issues including the roof as it did go.
Sunroof a bonus for me and AC great to have.
Am sure it will still have some issues but scuttle, arches and jacking points all solid.
Chrome grill is ordered along with a load of other stuff from BMW as even though current owner has kept it well serviced I’d like to do it myself for peace of mind so all filters ordered including fuel filter. Will do all fluids, engine, steering,gearbox, diff and it had a timing belt and water pump less than 1000 miles ago. Shall get the tappets/lash all adjusted spot on and just for sake of making sure it’s all spot on get new original distributor cap and arm along with leads. Shall check the fuel and brake lines replace as necessary and do brake fluid change. Might also fit a set of correct but more modern Bosch injectors too unless that is a no no. Was gonna use a decent 10W-40 synthetic oil and all BMW original filters and plugs, leads etc.
Will also do what is required to get the AC working again.
Gonna be a fun project. Current owner has re-bushed the car and it’s on H&R springs but will either try to go back to original or maybe get a set of KW’s as want to keep ride nice but it handles very nice and will set the alignment up etc.
Shall also modernise interior a little, see if I can get some cup holders and a modern radio with CarPlay and good speakers with rear camera so put a bit of modern tech in it to make it just a lovely thing to drive but with some modern bits. Though it has no cooling issues might just refresh all coolant hoses and radiator as I remember it maybe been a weak point?
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Caporegime
I'm not sure about the radiator being a weak point, I haven't had any issues with mine, although I did refresh the cooling system recently.
One common thing that happens is the top hose gets slightly deformed and the clutch fan wears through it, mine is zip tied out of the way neatly to make sure that doesn't happen.
For diff oil its 75W140 and you can use either Castrol Transmax Limited Slip (used to be called Syntrax), or back in the day they used Castrol Racing B373. The Transmax is fully synthetic, and the B373 is mineral. I am replacing my Transmax with B373 soon because I have a bit of diff noise and I am wondering if it is because of the fluid.
Timing belt is important, they do actually have a tendency to snap on the M20 engine, unlike many other cars which can go for many many years past their service interval.
It sounds like you may not need to because of the pictures you have! But of you want to do a proper rust search so you can take any preventative measures, you really need to have the carpet out so you can see the footwell corners from the inside, as well as the headliner so you can inspect the roof skin where the sunroof tray is bonded to it, they like to corrode there, and if unchecked it will eventually bubble through to the outside. Its also worth removing all of the plastics in the rear boot pockets and checking for rust and water ingress. They suffered from that even when new, mine has all new seals and gaskets around that area and still has water ingress... Most people drill a drain hole, especially if the battery is in the boot pocket instead of the engine bay. Its also worth removing the plastic/fibre covered panel on the firewall which the wiring loom runs along (which covers the heater motor) so you can check in there for corrosion around the firewall bracing. And obviously it would be beneficial to look behind the body kit too, because that hides a huge amount of common places like the sills, door bottoms, the lower front wings, and the rear valence around the towing eye.
One common thing that happens is the top hose gets slightly deformed and the clutch fan wears through it, mine is zip tied out of the way neatly to make sure that doesn't happen.
For diff oil its 75W140 and you can use either Castrol Transmax Limited Slip (used to be called Syntrax), or back in the day they used Castrol Racing B373. The Transmax is fully synthetic, and the B373 is mineral. I am replacing my Transmax with B373 soon because I have a bit of diff noise and I am wondering if it is because of the fluid.
Timing belt is important, they do actually have a tendency to snap on the M20 engine, unlike many other cars which can go for many many years past their service interval.
It sounds like you may not need to because of the pictures you have! But of you want to do a proper rust search so you can take any preventative measures, you really need to have the carpet out so you can see the footwell corners from the inside, as well as the headliner so you can inspect the roof skin where the sunroof tray is bonded to it, they like to corrode there, and if unchecked it will eventually bubble through to the outside. Its also worth removing all of the plastics in the rear boot pockets and checking for rust and water ingress. They suffered from that even when new, mine has all new seals and gaskets around that area and still has water ingress... Most people drill a drain hole, especially if the battery is in the boot pocket instead of the engine bay. Its also worth removing the plastic/fibre covered panel on the firewall which the wiring loom runs along (which covers the heater motor) so you can check in there for corrosion around the firewall bracing. And obviously it would be beneficial to look behind the body kit too, because that hides a huge amount of common places like the sills, door bottoms, the lower front wings, and the rear valence around the towing eye.
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Associate
He may of also got a very stern telling off from some very angry policemen for making too much noise in Arnage who thankfully didn't see his burn out...
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Associate
Sky kind of shows how random the weather has been here so far. Currently sat on the start line getting a bit wet.
Some random jag I saw.
Some random jag I saw.
Caporegime
I have never been to Lemans but it is something I will look to do in the near future. Hopefully when my car is rebuilt so the missus and I can drive together. Can you actually get decent viewing or is most of it blocked off from view now?
My father was working in Poland during the 80's and he used to drive back and stop off to watch Le Mans in the evening and being able to spectate on the Mulsanne straight but I believe that is basically impossible now?
My father was working in Poland during the 80's and he used to drive back and stop off to watch Le Mans in the evening and being able to spectate on the Mulsanne straight but I believe that is basically impossible now?
Associate
Currently sat here on the start line.
With the track being so big and the race being so long you can always find a decent spot. We always move around during it, heading back and forth from the camping.
You can get to part of the mulsanna straight, we normally head there at night as its pitch black other then when the cars go past.That and Arnage as at night the brake discs glow as there slowing down for the corner which is a cool effect.
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Soldato
I’m just waiting for the bus from Mulsanne to Arnage. Managed to get a grandstand seat so watched start from there and helicopter dropped the trophy off right infront of us.
Associate
Put my fear of heights to the test in the evening.
My car is technically in this photo
Bit of nighttime viewing
My car is technically in this photo
Bit of nighttime viewing
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Associate
Buses were a lot better this year, queues didn't take long at all. Much better then 2 years ago when we got on them.
Underboss
its there somewhere !
think those would be better suited into daily encounter as technically it isn't your car in picture
think those would be better suited into daily encounter as technically it isn't your car in picture
Caporegime
its there somewhere !
think those would be better suited into daily encounter as technically it isn't your car in picture
Maybe he bought the helicopter?