E30 Zone

Hi there, I've been snooping around your site for a while now, had a long love affair with E34s, and a keen interest in E30s (with little active involvement), but rising petrol costs (I'm a self employed gas engineer using my 525 for work- youch) have made two fewer cylinders considerably more attractive.

Some of you may remember I sold a timewarp black 320i through this forum a while back. I bought that for a weekend car, but couldn't justify running that and a 525, and didn't have the heart to make the E30 a working vehicle. Wouldn't have looked right turning up at customers' doors in that anyway. So I drove it a couple of times and sold it on. It went to Ireland- no surprise there it seems. Sorry to appear like I was using my new membership to sell a car, but I've actually been actively looking at this forum for a long time, way before that car, honest...

So! A couple of weeks ago I saw what appeared to be a bit of a peach of a 318i touring down in Brighton. Won it on ebay, and used a train ticket to London which i had incidentally to go and get it. It's not quite perfect, it carried a dog in the boot so back windows are a bit scuffed. It also has a tiny oil leak somehwere at the rear of engine/gearbox, and a small but visibly repaired scratch across one door. Apart from that I have failed tio find fault with it. The service history with the car is just incredible- seems to have been owned by your typical retired old boy. I'm excited!

Here's the ebay pics of the car- not taken any myself yet, but will as soon as I get the chance:



It has 80000 miles, one owner, original steels (well until yesterday anyways), factory aircon (with receipts for charging!), sunroof, beige cloth (worn front seats of course but I have beige comfort leather winging it's way towards me as we speak). My E34s have both been bought on a whim, with little in the way of history etc. First one was an m20 nightmare, second is a mechanically sweet but bodywork-poor M50- I didn't intend to keep them long so the condition didn't matter too much. Because of the condition and history of this E30, however, It's going to be the car I keep for a long time, dump some cash on, and look after.

The questions:

I want to do an M42 conversion on it (it was bought to be fuel efficient after all), I'm in Newcastle upon Tyne, anyone nearby who might want to take it on? Please don't mention John Morgan at Prestige german, he cost me my M20 by being negligent. Anyone fancy a weekend in the garage? I will happily pay well. There seems to be a tinkerer in chester-le-street? And maybe Teeside? Anyone? There's also a well loved red iS along the road from me (parks outside a garage on Chillingham road for those with the knowledge), I figured the owner of that must be on here- any ideas?

My new hoops have pointed out how high the car sits. Anyone got -40mm springs for sale nearby? At 80000 should I be replacing the dampers too? They don't seem so bad but I know stiffer springs will accentuate any wear in them. If so, original Mtec ones?

Erm, aside from that, anyone local to me that I might be able to get to know?

I'm really impressed with your forum, have never found anything as informative and friendly as this place before, certainly not for e34s. I'm no mechanic, so it'd be great to get to know you guys, especially ones that live local and tinker/mechanic. Thanks!

Oh, the M50 525i that I'm currently driving spent most of it's life at the coast, so it has rusty panels and scars from a (lost) fight with a hailstorm, but the engine is a 100k sweetie. The car has 7 months MOT left, drives great (usual e34 60-65mph shimmy but aside from that superb). Anyone interested in taking it as an M50 conversion car? You won't be disappointed. Had coolant and oil changed 2000 miles ago, appears to have been well looked after and runs perfectly. Good 15" BBS, would definitely be a good breaker once the engine was used.

Best regards,
Adam

Nice mileage! Think its genuine? Ie not gone round the clock?
Just bought a very similar car and planning for an M42 in the summer. Good luck with it!

Welcome to the Zone Adam.
Touring looks very tidy and unabused.
M42 conversion will be straight forward enough,easilly done in a weekend.Would offer to do it myself but at 500 mile gap between us I think not
Same thing with the M50,bit closer to me and id have been interested
Enjoy the site and god luck with the car.

hello mate.

have you tried autobavaria just off westgate road in newcastle? i think a bloke called george works there.he may be able to help.theres also a guy in sunderland called henry.ex bm mech and knows load about them.il try and find out where hes hiding these days.

its possible to have a go yourself.theres probably plenty info on here and if your a engineer you should be quite handy

Hi everyone. Thanks for responding so quick.

Alburglar: Yeah the mileage is genuine- have plenty of service history to back that up. All the MOTs were pictured on the ebay auction too but the seller seems to have forgotten to put them in the folder I got- I'm getting on to them asap about that. They confirmed the mileage too though. Fancy keeping me informed via PM or email about your conversion? Be good to go through it with someone. I'm glad someone else thinks it's the right thing to do! The M42 engine seems pretty perfect for my needs (well, could do with about a hundred more horses maybe and do 200 mpg) I'm confused about exhausts though- know anything to make me feel better? Love tourings in white by the way- would have had one myself (or black), very happy with the green though. It's not as green as British racing green, more slatey. Very nice, especially with beige interior. Country style- I just bought a barbour jacket too, all I need now are some hounds and a gun.

Eko: Oh I don't know, I surf a bit, so maybe I could coerce someone into driving the 5 down loaded with new engine and bits, I drive the 3 loaded with surfboards, you keep the 5 as payment, do the job, i go looking for waves! sounds ideal!

Cuzz: Yeah I've spoken to george at auto bavaria before, seems like a great guy. Why I didn't chose him over John Morgan in S.shields to do my M20 head gasket I'll never know (well, 200 quid difference in price might have made a difference at the time, although kicking myself now after JM didn't bother testing the fan when he recommissioned the engine...). I think he was going to be my first port of call. Was just snooping around to see if one of you knowledgable zoners fancied the job first. Where are you? And what the hell happened in your signature photo? Love the irony though, I know people who probably would have done that on purpose. Be great to find Henry if you know where he might be. And yeah 'engineer' is officially my job title, but I am in no way capable of this sort of shit. Thanks for believing in me though...

Thanks again guys,
Adam

PS: it seems customary to include a smiley with an afro

great car, it seems so hard to find an e30 with less than 100K on the clock nower days, you could always turbo it the m50 conversion would be a good engine transplant to do and keep the car standard apart from that and it would give people a fright at the lights

rare to find an e30 with air con especially an m40

good luck with what ever you do

Oh And welcome

adam81 you have pm mate

Where are you? And what the hell happened in your signature photo? Love the irony though, I know people who probably would have done that on purpose. Be great to find Henry if you know where he might be. And yeah 'engineer' is officially my job title, but I am in no way capable of this sort of shit. Thanks for believing in me though...

im near peterlee mate.dont worry,the car in the sigs not mine.im going through sunderland today and know roughly where henrys based so will have a scout about.
i also have engineer in my job title but in construction so still not a massive knowledge on motors

Hi adam81
My son adam!has just moved up to Heaton.
He's currently tooling around in a alpina white 2.7 touring,its abit sorted with H&R Suspension and WMS brakes,so don't bother taking him on!
If you see him,give him wave,he never (hardly ever) washes his car,so it looks manky white.
Can't help with the Engine conversion,but i use George at Autobavaria myself,he's a good lad.
I,m taking my car in next week to get my suspension upgraded.





Nick

alright fella, I'm in newcastle too

I didnt realise there were quite so many people from the north east on here tbh!!

I was looking to do an M42 conversion on a touring I had but sold before it went ahead. I dont know what you're like with a spanner but i think the conversion is straight forward enough if you have all the bits and an engine crane.

I'm not the most knowledgeable person in the world but I'm enthusiastic (read stupid) enough to be bang up for giving you a hand if you've got space to do the conversion yourself.

We should sort a zone specific NE meet sometime so I know who to call on when things go wrong

We should sort a zone specific NE meet sometime so I know who to call on when things go wrong

good idea.

i think bmw NE have meetings on wednesdays up Shields but i can never make wednesdays.something on the weekend would be ideal

They're all just coming out of the woodwork now.

choppa7 wrote:We should sort a zone specific NE meet sometime so I know who to call on when things go wrong

Already been done quite a few times. There's also this BMW Club

Adam81, check for a PM from me.

Wow, looks like i've started something here. I'd be well up for a meet on a weekend if you wanted to get it together. I've done about 50 miles in the new car today, including a spin to my brother's to have a go in his e36iS. Interesting day:

-I'm a bit worried that I have a bit of a vibration over about 40mph in the toruing. Not a wheel shimmy, shaking sort of vibration, more of a higher frequency, buzzy sort of vibration. Gearbox or diff, brake rub, or paranoia? Seems worse in 4th than any other gear. Hmm.

-My little brother's e36 is pretty nice now (well, for an ugly e36 anyways), he bought a total shitter from a con man and it's taken a lot of work to bring it back from the brink. He doesn't know if he has the M42 or M44 engine (had a swap a while ago), but whatever, it's super nice, especially the gearbox action. Is an M42 box significantly tighter and nicer feeling than the one on my M40? The difference in this alone would justify the engine swap. His car feels like new technology, whereas mine feels like it's from the late '70s, know what I mean? this is what I intend to change!


Alex- yeah I'd love to do an M50 conversion, except i need F U E L E C O N O M Y as a priority. I utterly love everything about the M50 in my 5, such a good engine, but I can't justify it's cost as a working vehicle, hence the interest in the iS.

Nick325- Yeah I think I'm going to talk to george, thanks for the recommendation. I think I saw your son yesterday! Saw a white touring in heaton for the first time. There's some nice cars in heaton, including a mk2 Jetta gti (used to be mine so i know it's good), a brown chevette, a nice e21 and a couple of 2002s. Such a cosmopolitan place you know...

choppa7- Hi, I thought you might be the red iS guy from the end of my street- I've seen you posting before and you're avatar pic could probably pass as the car I pass every day. Pleased to meet you.

Stubeedoo- Will check my PMs now. I know the conversion has been done a few times, but a bit of real-time hand holding wouldn't go amiss if someone else was doing the same thing.

Things not to tell me:

-Do it myself (I am neither interested nor capable- have money waiting to drop on a competent mechanic)

-Put an M50 in (I am far too tempted for it to be encouraged, please don't)

Things to tell me:

-The whereabouts of good engine swappers

-What the hell exhaust I'm going to use

-How much work is involved in putting in a Z3 steering rack (so I can budget- horrible steering on these things!)

-Where we're meeting when the weather gets better.

Thanks for your continued friendliness,
Adam

you may be interested in my pm mate then

Adam,

Henry Brake and Paul Duddington opened a garage at So.Hylton after they left Mill. Phone number is 07831 283439. Henry's since moved on to somewhere in the Sunderland area. I'll try to dig out the number for you.

The last E30 gathering was August 2006. Only 3 turned up - Peter, Smithy318i and me. It's time for another!

Mick

What happened to that angry guy with the V8 ?

pmd back mate

adam 81 - you might not be the sort of engineer that swaps engines, but what are you like with LPG? It strikes me that if you can transfer some of your skills to LPG conversions you might pick up some readies through the zone... and provide a much needed service for those of us who don't like paying through the nose for fuel. (Gosh, that would be all of us!).

Or am I totally missing an important point about gas?

Yes, I'm afraid you are hanging up on the gas point here. The gas i deal with is more like, get your house warm, have nice bath sort of gas I'm afraid. And while that involves engines of sorts, unless someone's done an E30 Baxi conversion I'm afraid I'm of no use.

LPG is interesting though isn't it? I'd run an M50 for sure if someone could gas it at the same time.

Anyone got any idea about my vibration? I thought it was just in 4th, but just been out in it and it's as soon as it hits about 35-40, feels like it might be robbing a bit of power too. I know it's not wheel balance (had two sets on already and made no difference), and it doesn't feel like shimmy at all (i'm an e34 man I know all about shimmy).

ah, I thought it was the same stuff we use in bottles out here in the sticks

Darlington... - I know we've got a few Teessiders as well. Shame there aren't any Zone meets round here any more.

Adam,

Henry Brake and Paul Duddington opened a garage at So.Hylton after they left Mill. Phone number is 07831 283439. Henry's since moved on to somewhere in the Sunderland area. I'll try to dig out the number for you.



Mick

the exact henry i was on about! im sorry i didnt get to sunderland to find him

Darlington... - I know we've got a few Teessiders as well. Shame there aren't any Zone meets round here any more.

slightly OT,but do you ever go down teeside park on a wednesday night?

smithy318i wrote:What happened to that angry guy with the V8 ?

ToughyV8 wasn't it? Rover SD1 carb. engine?

Adam!!

I cant believe you sold the timewarp 320i

I'm kicking myself now for selling it but thats life, anyway good luck with your new purchase, I keep looking for a nice 80's retro ride still but I dont think I will find one in a hurry.

Alan.

I'm not sure I'm at the end of your st, theres no tourings in my st, which is in Hazlerigg incidently...

If it is me, the car in my avi is on the back yard bit of our flat so you should see that too

I'll sort a NE meet so we can have a get together!

choppa7 wrote:I'll sort a NE meet so we can have a get together!

It's worth another try.

Hey Alan.

Yeah the 320 didn't last long I'm afraid, couldn't justify having two cars and couldn't use the 320 for work cos it was too nice. I wonder how it's doing...

You'd be impressed with my new touring though, almost as timewarp, much better bodywork