Space saver
Moderator: martauto
- Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Late to the party, but I'll post anyway.
My late E30 touring ran on LPG, and the wheel well was occupied by the fuel tank, so I had need of a spacesaver. While walking around my favourite scrapyard, about twenty years ago, I spotted a spacesaver lying on the ground which looked a likely candidate. It was near a scrap Volvo 480, and quite likely came from that, but I can't be sure. It was purchased for a few pennies, and was found to almost fit - the centre bore was very slightly to small, but after ten minutes with a die grinder it was a perfect fit.
There's one on ebay at the moment:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143229928005 ... ysQAvD_BwE
My late E30 touring ran on LPG, and the wheel well was occupied by the fuel tank, so I had need of a spacesaver. While walking around my favourite scrapyard, about twenty years ago, I spotted a spacesaver lying on the ground which looked a likely candidate. It was near a scrap Volvo 480, and quite likely came from that, but I can't be sure. It was purchased for a few pennies, and was found to almost fit - the centre bore was very slightly to small, but after ten minutes with a die grinder it was a perfect fit.
There's one on ebay at the moment:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143229928005 ... ysQAvD_BwE
Whut?Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2023 7:45 pmLate to the party, but I'll post anyway.
My late E30 touring
Ben
- Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
The one that died at the hands of a flying porker on the autobahn near Munich.
Ouch, sorry to hear that.Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2023 7:40 pmThe one that died at the hands of a flying porker on the autobahn near Munich.
Hope you've got another one?
Ben
- Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Still have one or two, but that 325 was my favourite, and my first real E30, after the M10 carb saloon I started with. Travelled 1000s of miles all over Europe with that car and it never let me down in such a way that it couldn't be driven. Even drove it home after the accident, after two days work on the forecourt of the German garage that recovered me, bending it back into approximate shape with a borrowed Portapower, plus loads of cable ties and duct tape.
The annoying thing about the crash was that I was just an innocent passer by, collected by a flying Porsche spinning out of some one else's accident.
The annoying thing about the crash was that I was just an innocent passer by, collected by a flying Porsche spinning out of some one else's accident.
- Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
It was a few years ago now. Everything went into slow motion during the crash, and I clearly remember the Porsche spinning slowly across the road towards me, with its already shattered rear end high in the air, and then crashing down onto the front left of my car, pushing the road wheel back in the well, bending up the floor on the passenger side of the car. The whole shell had been 'lozenged', and all four doors were catching in their frames. Surprising what you can do with a portapower!
I took the bonnet into an adjacent ploughed field, shaped the earth a bit, and laid into it with a large sledgehammer.
The Porsche driver had for some reason slowed abruptly in response to some roadworks signs for work 2km up the road, and a Golf being driven flat out by a kid had ploughed right into the back of her. No injuries to anyone involved - I think my three kids in the back actually enjoyed it.
That makes three times I've driven through Germany, and each time I've ended up sitting in the back of a BMW police car at some point. I'm not going back.
I took the bonnet into an adjacent ploughed field, shaped the earth a bit, and laid into it with a large sledgehammer.
The Porsche driver had for some reason slowed abruptly in response to some roadworks signs for work 2km up the road, and a Golf being driven flat out by a kid had ploughed right into the back of her. No injuries to anyone involved - I think my three kids in the back actually enjoyed it.
That makes three times I've driven through Germany, and each time I've ended up sitting in the back of a BMW police car at some point. I'm not going back.
I have brought a couple of cars back from Germany including my new M3 back in the day. I always thought autobahns were like the M40 with no speed limit, it was a rude awakening the first time I did it.Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 8:27 pmThat makes three times I've driven through Germany, and each time I've ended up sitting in the back of a BMW police car at some point. I'm not going back.

Quite a scary place to be at times, even in a car that could keep up. Lots of really bad accidents but you don't generally get to hear about them.