E30 Zone

Just after some ideas really!

Im planning on taking my 320i cabby on a road trip to the south of france and then maybe Italy.

What kind of things do you think i should be preparing for with the car?

Im going to change the discs/pads, coolant, oil + filter, ATF and filter (once i work out which ATF to get!), spark plugs and air filter.

I was wondering if it would be worth doing the timing belt, waterpump and thermostat. Im just worried that im going to muck up the timing and the engine goes bang! Then no trip at all...


Anyone else done a substantial road trip down France and know any good routes?


Cheers

also going to do a road trip this summer to europe, drive on foreign soil for the 1st time

be handy if those who have done it before could give a little bit of advice on what preperation is good and what things are handy/essential must haves, to take and be prepared for and any other advice or info

Been doing this once, sometimes twice, a year for around fourteen years in the red touring in my sig., covering many tens of thousands of miles in total.
The only problems I ever had was a failed fuel pump (not a complete disaster, since the car also runs on LPG), and an aerial assault by a flying porker.
The porker incident required a days extensive bodywork repairs by the side of the road, but it drove home, all the way from Munich, on a wing and a prayer.

Yea i know of someone else who had a failed fuel pump on a similar journey. Maybe thats something to think about changing?

Check out Millau bridge.

Do the belt. I did it for the first time just following instructions and it was easy. I took two afternoons over it so I had time to check and double check everything. New thermostat, rotor arm and dizzy cap made a massive difference to the running and economy.

I've been driving e30s and e36s down to the south of France for years and only thing that ever happened to me was a seriously leaking steering rack. I didn't know at the time you could just keep it topped up with no ill effects - so I was quoted £1000 for a new one from the AA recommended garage "oh we'll have to order that from Germany blah blah blah".

Bought 5 containers of fluid and topped it up every 50 miles on the way home. Got it replaced in England for £300...

Advice - do everything you can first and carry loads of tools so you don't have to rely on the French to repair your car.

Also bear in mind their roads are glass smooth, so get your wheels properly balanced or it'll drive you nuts!

donnyboiler wrote:Check out Millau bridge.

On this years itinerary!
The porker destroyed one of my power steering pipes, so I had no power steering all the way back. All you need to do is cut the steering belt off and drive on. The lack of power steering makes very little difference in normal driving.

Ok then ill give the timing belt a go, i've read through the how to's from this site that have been linked into various posts.

Its going to be quite a big bill now for the parts but hopefully it will keep the costs down in the future and they all need to be changed anyway.

Millau bridge - Wow! Just googled it, i will definetly make my way over that!

When you go to the s.france have you used the motorways or b roads, i've been looked on viamitchelin.com and the tolls mount up pretty quickly!

I'm hopefully attempting this too, later this year.. Some good hints and tips.. Taking the toolkit sounds like a good bet for sure..

I'm off to the South of France and the Pyrenne's this September,a 'reccie' run for a future Zone Euro Roam....tool kit is all that is needed,even the French have scrapyards and BMW dealers if really nessesary!
Service your car to at least 'inspection 2' level,then go for it.

'N' roads all the way, apart from any free sections of motorway you can work in. The roads are empty in comparison to British ones, and every town has a massive free cap park in the middle of it.
French may have scrapyards, but you'll be lucky to find a BMW in it. Take any crowded French car park, remove all the French stuff, and there won't be many cars left in it!

I'll be in europe at the end of July with my touring. When I get to Monaco I plan to find the first Veyron in sight and park my shed next to it .
The 'ring is worth a visit, as is the Millau bridge. Stelvio is worth visiting too.

Take a good road map,and try not to get lost in the centre of Amsterdam[if you go]
What a nightmare that was

I cant make my mind up where to go in Germany this year, the Romantic Rd looks interesting.

Oh and people in Europe dont hog the middle lane like this country.

spook wrote:I cant make my mind up where to go in Germany this year, the Romantic Rd looks interesting.

The German Alpine Road is supposed to be good too. I'm hoping to go there soon.

+1 I'm driving to croiata and back this summer. I was just going to do a full fluid service but any other tips would be great.

m0gsia wrote:+1 I'm driving to croiata and back this summer. I was just going to do a full fluid service but any other tips would be great.

Be a good idea to carry a spare fuel pump relay,it's small,but it's failure can bring you to the hard shoulder very quickly!

we went to italy in a 320i cabby.

the year later we went to croatia, although not in a proper car you cant move for old scrap in croatia and slovenia, one of the most common old cars is the renualt 4

driving in Itaily is certainly Interesting plenty of old alfas, fiat 500's, old fiat pandas (produced till 2004 in italy), fiat 126's, old lanicas etc and the mafia, Executive cars such as top spec alfas, bmw's and mercs with Blue lights on the top full of guys with suits on

also pop into venice, it doesnt smell of shit

Re: the car, i would do cambelt if it needs doing and a usual service. take plenty of tools with you and a can of WD40, jump leads too

CAmbelt and head replaced 10k ago Yeah I'll bring the usual tools , jump leads and the normal fix all fluid :)My touring is going to be rammed lol 4 peoples worth of stuff for living for 3 weeks on the road and tents.

Best thing to take along is AA or RAC breakdown card, easy to carry, invaluable if you have a problem.

I've done a few routes, and really depends upon how much you want to drive but our best one was as follows;

Calais - Reims, stop over at Mercure, Abbeville or Hostellerie St Louis, Bollezeele, both really good, esp. Bollezelle.
Reims is superb, particularly the old GP circuit just to the west of the city, you can walk around the old tribunes.
Reims - Annecy, via Epernay, if you're in the Cabrio, best to pick up a couple of bottles of Mercier, en-route.
Annecy is a really nice stop over, day trip to Geneva is easy.
Annecy - Nice via the Verdon gorge and the Sainte-Croix Lake - stunning blue body of water, great swimming or boating up into the gorge.
We stopped outside Nice at the Chateau St Martin, Vence, superb place - if you go, they have a gastronomie menu, expensive but superb.
Obviously while you're in the area, Monaco's a must although you can also make Maranello and the Ferrari test track at Fiorano - it's only about 4hrs from Monaco.
Then from Nice, heading west - Avignon and Carcasonne are great stop overs - good food, great scenery, Millau is a must, although you have to head East again from Carcasonne.
Tours and the Loire Chateaux would be superb in a Cab, we flew in a light aircraft first, then decided on a few of the Chateaux to visit, there are so many really nice ones.
Finally, we found a great stop over just north of Paris - the Hotel Mont Royal, Chantilly is built on an old Roman Villa, just north-east of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle, great surroundings and again great food.

That might be too much for you and we took three weeks to do it but it was just sublime, you could just take what you want from it, either way - enjoy your holiday!!!

best regards,

Darren

If you really want breakdown cover, I've been advised to check out ADAC. Supposedly better all round than the British offerings.

We've been discussing this here:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=160870

Oh, ADAC also do free recovery off the the 'ring should you stop in there, which is well worthwhile and not too many extra miles on the way back.

Cheers for all the replies!

@ Autopia - Thanks for the route advice, all the places you've mentioned sound great.

Im not sure when my timing belt was last done, the car hasnt come with any history so im going to order a cambelt kit from ECP, seems reasonably priced. Anyone else used this part and recommends it?

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_3 ... -Belt-Kits

Then ill get it fitted on Monday, hopefully i'll get it right, if i end up making the pistons and valves meet im not going to be a happy bunny! But its something i've always wanted to do! Plus im not paying for labour when im free.

I looked at some AA Euro breakdown but its really expensive!

Catalyst wrote:I looked at some AA Euro breakdown but its really expensive!

I'm sure ours was about £80 or somewhere just over £90 if you wanted to add upto £500 worth of parts cover.