E30 Zone

That's it I've had enough!!!

After driving my car back from buying it in Edinburgh I've barely driven it 100 miles. I just keep finding things wrong with it.

So far, I've had to:

- fit clutch master & slave cylinders.
- fit electric heater valve.
- strip the interior out to find a leak.
- strip the boot out to dry it out after a leak.

And just after I thought I'd sorted the leaks etc I went to fit the interior today to find the heater matrix has s*** itself!

I spent ages checking the whole car out thoroughly for wet carpets etc when viewing it and found nothing, I'm beginning to wish I hadn't bought another E30. All I want to do is enjoy driving it and satisfy my detailing OCD.

Does anyone fancy coming and fitting a new heater matrix and I'll pay them? Because I'm about to lock the car in the garage and forget about ever buying it

Unfortunately mate, this is what happens with 20 yr old cars now
It's going to be worth persevering through it though. You know it's right then and you can just enjoy driving the sodding thing

Perhaps this is the car's way of telling you it wants to be driven,not polished!

what e30 have you purchased?............ as said above you get little problems like you have on an e30 because of there age but once you get these things sorted they are okay to drive and then you should have a problem free e30 for a while ...........

daimlerman wrote:Perhaps this is the car's way of telling you it wants to be driven,not polished!

Maybe but I haven't been able to polish it yet due to the weather and components shitting themselves.

don-king wrote:what e30 have you purchased?............ as said above you get little problems like you have on an e30 because of there age but once you get these things sorted they are okay to drive and then you should have a problem free e30 for a while ...........

It's an '89 320is.

I think my anger is out of pure frustration.

torch it and claim the insurance. itll cause you lots of grief otherwise.

fuzzy wrote:torch it and claim the insurance. itll cause you lots of grief otherwise.

Trust me mate, I've thought about it as it's got an agreed value on classic insurance.

Two coolant system failures?? Has the pressure cap been replaced under recall?

At the end of the day the 320IS is just as rare as an M3 really and almost depands as much running costs etc, you should not have brought a car like that if you were not willing to maintain it.

Hate to sound like i'm being a cock but i speak the truth

pac1982 wrote:At the end of the day the 320IS is just as rare as an M3 really and almost depands as much running costs etc, you should not have brought a car like that if you were not willing to maintain it.

Hate to sound like i'm being a c**k but i speak the truth

Still is a pisser though having one thing go after another. Also the 320is is heaps rarer than the M3. You got to remember over 17,000 M3's were actually made.

Felix79 wrote:the 320is is heaps rarer than the M3. You got to remember over 17,000 M3's were actually made.

Makes my point even more valid then

pac1982 wrote:At the end of the day the 320IS is just as rare as an M3 really and almost depands as much running costs etc, you should not have brought a car like that if you were not willing to maintain it.

Hate to sound like i'm being a c**k but i speak the truth

I am willing to maintain it, have you not seen the threads on my past E30's???
320is' are basically speaking a 325i Sport with a different engine, gearbox, diff' and a few other parts. The items I have changed are no different to any other E30.
A rather uneducated post I must say.

It's designed for the Italian market - what do you expect?!

Speedtouch wrote:It's designed for the Italian market - what do you expect?!

Perhaps it's come down with Fiat syndrome.

Brianmoooore wrote:Two coolant system failures?? Has the pressure cap been replaced under recall?

Hi Brian,

That's what I thought from reading up on this, so I replaced the pressure cap this week.

Thats a bummer Dan, sorry to hear you are having probs. If you want to satisfy your OCD by working on my car let me know. All panels are now straight so mintyness is only around the corner.

Not a good omen for potential 320is owners...

Dan, maybe you should just ignor the leaks, soggy carpets etc and let the car turn itself into a
flintstones mobile like most other e30 owners seem willing to do

just sounds like a bit of bad luck at the moment tbh, things that could go wrong on pretty much any e30 at this age. At least once they're done and sorted you'll know they're not going to need doing for a long long while.

Ignor ignorant posts, the 320is is no supercar, it's an e30 with a very nice engine, sure that engine is pretty pricey to fix, but overall it shouldn't cost much more to look after and keep in good health than any other properly maintained e30.

Dan320is wrote:

pac1982 wrote:At the end of the day the 320IS is just as rare as an M3 really and almost depands as much running costs etc, you should not have brought a car like that if you were not willing to maintain it.

Hate to sound like i'm being a c**k but i speak the truth

I am willing to maintain it, have you not seen the threads on my past E30's???
320is' are basically speaking a 325i Sport with a different engine, gearbox, diff' and a few other parts. The items I have changed are no different to any other E30.
A rather uneducated post I must say.

Not really uneducated to be fair, i think i do have a point it may share bits from other E30's but becuase yours is a 320IS its much more worth while sorting out the bits that are broken, if you were talking about a 316 i would see you point

DHFiS wrote:Thats a bummer Dan, sorry to hear you are having probs. If you want to satisfy your OCD by working on my car let me know. All panels are now straight so mintyness is only around the corner.

Bring it over mate.

i think the issue is how much has gone wrong in such a short time rather than if he's going to maintain it. he obvious is.

You were right in your first post Pac, you do sound like a cock.

Theo325 wrote:You were right in your first post Pac, you do sound like a c**k.

Furry muff matey i do try welcome to the club

Your just unlucky with it, thats all.....the best thing you could do is laugh it off like I do daily with my mini.

-Wipers decide not to work whilst im driving along and its pouring down in rain
-Theres been times where Ive left somewhere in the middle of the night to get home and the lights just didnt turn on
-It wouldnt turn on one night whilst being outside my gfs house (note the imbarassment i faced by her family as they could hear me from inside the house)
- rust is a permanent resident in the car

but all you could do is just laugh it off. I have used a e30 daily in the passed as a work horse and the damn thing just wouldnt stop going. I have learnt though not to have a classic as a daily driver as its an old car and things may well go wrong

harry_p wrote:Dan, maybe you should just ignor the leaks, soggy carpets etc and let the car turn itself into a
flintstones mobile like most other e30 owners seem willing to do

just sounds like a bit of bad luck at the moment tbh, things that could go wrong on pretty much any e30 at this age. At least once they're done and sorted you'll know they're not going to need doing for a long long while.

Ignor ignorant posts, the 320is is no supercar, it's an e30 with a very nice engine, sure that engine is pretty pricey to fix, but overall it shouldn't cost much more to look after and keep in good health than any other properly maintained e30.

Now I'm calm and not wanting to take my anger out on the car.

Your post hits the spot as usual mate

Sorry if my posts hit a nerve i suppose what i should have said was "you've got a cool and very rare E30 do what needs doing its worth spending the time and money because its a 320IS all cars of this age have bits going wrong all the time you;ve just been a tad unlucky lately

Got your text earlier Dan but was busy at work.
Now stop being a homo and get it sorted. It's only minor niggles and the car is stunning so well worth the effort to get right.

I'm finding out my rota for next month tomorrow so should have a day or two free this week to come and do some work if you need me to.

d6dph wrote:Got your text earlier Dan but was busy at work.
Now stop being a homo and get it sorted. It's only minor niggles and the car is stunning so well worth the effort to get right.

I'm finding out my rota for next month tomorrow so should have a day or two free this week to come and do some work if you need me to.

Thank you petal. Ed's coming over to do the matrix as I haven't done one before. Fingers crossed the matrix will be delivered so me and Ed can fit it before saturday.

I've nearly finished having a paddy, so much has gone wrong in such a short time frame. I just want to get to use all my detailing goodies on it.

Do you want these back Dan? Think you dropped them..





It's a pisser big time, esp in the short space of time, but it's a cheap and easy fix.. Imagine if you'd bought a French turd?!

Look forward to seeing it at BBB

Brianmoooore wrote:Two coolant system failures?? Has the pressure cap been replaced under recall?

I didn't know about this...how can I tell if mine has been done?

If the cap has a yellow underside, then it's the new type, but there was/is another make of the replacement cap that is black, like the original.
Your BMW dealer will be able to tell you if the cap has been replaced from the car's VIN, and supply you with a new one if it hasn't, but, since it's been thirteen years since it could have been replaced, there's no guarantee that it's still on the car.

Jhonno wrote:Do you want these back Dan? Think you dropped them..





It's a pisser big time, esp in the short space of time, but it's a cheap and easy fix.. Imagine if you'd bought a French turd?!

Look forward to seeing it at BBB

Thank you mate, my toys are now back in my pram along with my dummy.

If it was a french turd the only way to fix it is with a box of matches lol.

So you're going to BBB? I haven't met you yet. Dave talks about you all the time, I think he's got secret crush on you

It's no secret......