It's been a long time since I posted a thread about one of my cars, but I wanted to share my most recent purchase. The older members on here might remember the 1991 diamond black 318i Lux I bought back in 2005, and the 1990 dolphin grey 325i Sport I bought in 2007, and then restored - Beardymatt carried out the extensive bodywork repairs. I sold that car back in 2011, and bought a 1988 Macau blue E30 M3 EvoII, which I gave a nut on bolt re-build. I have also had a couple of other E30s since 2011, including a 1990 325i convertible for a couple of years. One car I always missed though, was the Tech II 325i Sport, and last year I decided to get another one, ideally in diamond black.
The majority of Sports for sale are scrap, even the ones claiming to be excellent examples. A lot of the supposedly nice ones are being sold by dealers who know nothing about them, not enthusiasts who know the individual car well. I eventually found a low mileage one in diamond black from a private seller, and we agreed a deal in July. The seller had never driven the car, despite it being MOTd and taxed, and it had sat in his garage for quite a while. The car was a long way from where I live, so I had it transported to me on a trailer rather than risk a long first drive. It's is a 1989 325i Sport and has covered just 44k miles, and since 1993 has only covered 4k miles. Aside from the usual Sport spec, it was also fitted from new with a 13 button OBC, rear head rests, and heated washer jets, mirrors and door lock. It has a fantastic service history, every MOT from new and even the original sales invoice, and although the car was MOTd almost every year, it covered very few miles. This has been excellent for preserving it, however also resulted in a few things which need attention. My plan is to give the car a thorough overhaul, keeping it entirely OEM (although adding a few factory optional extras, which could easily be removed again if wanted), and correcting the few small non-OEM parts on the car currently. Just prior to me buying the car, it was given an inspection II service, new cambelt, new tyres and new SI board. Not long ago the brakes were also fully rebuilt (callipers blasted, re-coated and rebuilt, and new discs and pads), so that was some items ticked off already.
Loaded for it's journey home:
Delivered! :
The MOT had recently expired, and so after a thorough look over the car, the first thing was to drive it to the MOT station. I noticed that the car was running a bit warm in traffic, and suspected the viscous clutch, given how long the car had sat for. This was the problem, and I fitted a new Behr clutch (the manufacturer of the OEM clutch). The car also passed the MOT.
The second time out in the car the fuel pump started to whine loudly, and I assumed the worst - that the fuel tank had rusted from the inside, due to sitting for so long with old fuel in it. When I got home I removed the pump, and not surprisingly the tank was lightly rusted inside, and the fuel was a brown colour. I'm surprised the car ran so well none the less. Perhaps the old fuel had been drained and swapped once already. I contacted BMW and ordered a new fuel system from the filler pipe through to the engine. The only part I decided not to buy from BMW was the tank itself, as they wanted almost £1k for one, and the ones I have bought from GSF before have been almost identical, and a similar weight/quality. So, I bought one from GSF (these are about £550 on their website, but still £260 on ebay, so grab a bargain before they sync their price lists!). The non-BMW tanks come finished in silver coating, not the BMW black finish, and so I finished my tank in satin black, per OEM. I replaced every fuel fitting along the way, although didn't take pictures I'm afraid.
Here is the tank while the finish is still drying, so it looks shiny:
It seems I can only upload 5 pictures in this post, so I'll split this accross a few posts...
