E30 Zone

Hello Guys/Girls

I am new to the car scene and plan to restore ( if you can call it that) my cabby as good as I can get it.

I was just wondering what tools you have come across that you find are essentials/god-sends?

1) Air compress??? 50L???

Brands and models would be helpfull

10, 13 and 17mm spanners are a good start .

Trolley jack.

Breaker bar
Substantial hammer

Gaffee tape 'n' P.38.

Sorry , I'll stop now.

As above:

Breaker Bar/scafold pole

but depending what your doing:

Mig welder
Decent Trolley Jack, not £20 halfrauds job lol
engine stand (worth weight in gold)
WD40/Plus gas

OH and a decent pair of gloves to minimise "spanner rash"

Camera, to remind you where all the bits came from.

A full socket set would be my first port of call.

Hammerite, or some similar alternative....you'l spot the brown stuff everywhere over time.

Sandpaper - to grind out (above mentioned) rust.

set of Torx sockets for head bolts and gearbox.
6-sided 22mm socket for crank bolt amd steering wheel
15mm socket for steering rack
32 and 30mm sockets for front and rear hubs
7mm ring spanner for brake nipples
7mm Allen key set for brake calipers,

alexdejonghe wrote:A full socket set would be my first port of call.

When I bought my E30, I got a full metric socket set (3/8") from Halfords and built my collection up from there. Those, a decent set of screwdrivers, a variety of needlenose pliers and a breaker bar have solved almost all the mechanical stuff on my car. And a cheapo 2-quid multimeter. And I keep returning to that socket set, it's probably my most-used piece of kit.

I only bought the welder and compressor when I started doing serious bodywork repairs, and that was a massive investment compared to the hand tools. If you don't want to chuck a thousand pounds into tools, stick with spanners and sockets and leave the bodywork to a pro.

georgee wrote:Hello Guys/Girls

I am new to the car scene and plan to restore ( if you can call it that) my cabby as good as I can get it.

I was just wondering what tools you have come across that you find are essentials/god-sends?

1) Air compress??? 50L???

Brands and models would be helpfull

I do not have a compresser in my kit,and I have re-built two E30's at home....

A pair of drive on ramps and a pair of axle stands are essential kit.I would love the luxury of a car lift....
Never buy cheap tools,I still use the half inch drive socket ratchet that I bought 40 years ago,almost worn the chrome plate of it now,though...

Ratchet spanners are handy.

Some cover so you can dodge the rain. A heated garage would be nice, a gazebo would do.

Duke137 wrote:scafold pole

You fooking girl

town325i wrote:

Duke137 wrote:scafold pole

You fooking girl

Filler spreader innit

town325i wrote:

Duke137 wrote:scafold pole

You fooking girl

You told me that you ape

opps should have mentioned I have the following

set of 2 & 3 ton(slightly tallers I am a fat bum) jack stands
el cheapo trolly jack.... I cant get it under the front of the car
Halfords 100 piece "professional" socket/spanner set...torex as well
Halfords "professional" screw driver set
torque wrench but only 60-200 so I need another
wheel chocks ....cam in a cheap kit with the stands and jack
oil filter wrench
bmw toolkit (spark plug wrench yipee)
multimeter
various size allen keys

not exactly tools but:
wd40,copper ant-seize spray .penetration spray, 2 other things that if I didn't read these forums would all seems interchangeable tome. oh water repliant spray a lot of 3n1 sprays basically I am going to stop buying stuff from halford now oh smoe carb cleaner no brake cleaner (out of stock)
32mm silverline( I am sure these are crap) spanner.
needle nose pliers (but might get some long handle ones)

so far it seems like a breaker bar is all I don't have. well that an a clue of what I am actually doing.

I will start a "restoration" thread tomorrow so you can all have a good laugh at my pain and suffering

Morat wrote:Some cover so you can dodge the rain. A heated garage would be nice, a gazebo would do.

i got a garage but you can't swing a cat in it. I can bearly get in and out of the car. the doors scrap the walls.

I was looking at small gazebo's to put out the front..so that will be on the list.

I brought a "cheap" halfords car cover for when the car is not in the garage or is looking to naked for public viewing

Duke137 wrote:

town325i wrote:

Duke137 wrote:scafold pole

You fooking girl

You told me that you ape

Yes well your half the size of me

town325i wrote:

Duke137 wrote:

town325i wrote: You fooking girl

You told me that you ape

Yes well your half the size of me

Have you had your hair cut yet

capri_rob wrote: Substantial hammer

A hammer works surprisingly well on e30's.

I have a mac ratchet set and drive on ramps. And a angle grinder which I haven't got to use yet other bits and bobs

everything else is borrowed or stole.

bab-91 wrote:

capri_rob wrote: Substantial hammer

A hammer works surprisingly well on e30's.

I have a mac ratchet set and drive on ramps. And a angle grinder which I haven't got to use yet other bits and bobs

everything else is borrowed or stole.

Haha, same with me!


Most of the tools I have are my uncles which I've taken from his garage whilst he was away on holiday......he hasn't realised theyre missing yet!

Other bits I haven't got but are invaluable for work on E30's :

Some pliers with angled tips ( like these )
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KNIPEX-55598-ANGL ... 483fec60ee
For pulling handbrake cables through

Stillsons for undoing the locking collars on suspension struts

Spring compressors

And unless I've missed it how the frig has nobody mentioned molegrips yet !

Grrrmachine wrote: And a cheapo 2-quid multimeter.

Essential for some electrical fault finding, but 90% of the time will give misleading readings and is better left on the shelf.
A far better tool, most of the time, is a 12 volt bulb attached to a couple of pieces of wire.
My own version is an E30 indicator repeater bulb holder (from the front wing) with the two pin plug cut off, the cable sheath stripped back, and a couple of small croc. clips attached to the wires.

anyone else done this like me- in my boot i have a little bag, with just essential tools in ive came across, few screwdrivers, rachet etc with all the bits ive came across needing/common e30 sizes,and a few other bits n pieces, saves using my mint owm tool kit

really need to bite the bullet and buy a nice tool kit, been meaning to a while now

saw,i think,it was this in halfords the other day, didnt think it was a bad price,concidering an emty red chest i was looking at, was £40 odd anyway, any good ? or rubbish

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PLPz1

Good selection of stuff in that box but there's probably a lot that you'll never use and for £50 for that many tools you do have to wonder what the quality will be like.

Better spending your £50 on quality items you'll actually need to use on a regular basis - no point buying a socket set with 50 different sockets if you only ever use 10 of them.

Ratchet spanners are also useful.

thats what i thouught , although having 3 motors, well 4 as it stands at moment, a good all round set would be handy, currently got all the common ones i use in the boot as mentioned above, and a big old plastic box thing in the shed, with a load of random/old sockets etc all jumbled in, and it means a rummidge through to find one i come across sometimes i need-and sometimes seem to have everyone but that one i need ,dont want/need amazing quality/expense, but just something that does the job and covers all bases

polsta wrote:saw,i think,it was this in halfords the other day, didnt think it was a bad price,concidering an emty red chest i was looking at, was £40 odd anyway, any good ? or rubbish

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PLPz1

Looks pretty cheap tbh, The sockets and spanners will be usable for light occasional use but the pliers and screwdrivers will probably brake very quickly! Even the draws will be very rough and get stuck.

Halfords do a a couple of sets reduced to £100 that don't look bad (one is an ali case with a mixture of tools and the other just a large socket set). You could have used my trade card if you was local.

Or just buy as you need them, its a dear hobby buying quality stuff but a must imho!

No one suggested some cheap chinese feeler gauges yet !

Essential for M20 ownership.

Common sense..Which only a few people seem to have nowadays.

Common sense isn't common!

these are a must for any E30 owner,

Have you tried to get a trolley jack under a car which has been lowered,has got a puncture if your by yourself your F---ed you can't lift the car and push the jack under so I have piece of 2x2 block of wood cut to a foot and then place this next to the flat tyre drive the car on to the 2x2 wood thus putting jack under the car with ease.

Halfords Professional range are your friend!