Is this E30 worth repairing or should I scrap it?

[spikeymark]

Ok, without being able to see the car, there's limits in the advice people can give. I know this so won't be back moaning if it turns out to be not quite right.

SO.

suspension arms, wishbones, bushes need replacing. eBay has some parts and there's providers on here. I need to get cost of parts down without buying rubbish that will break. Any recommendations appreciated - or, conversely, any higher quality stuff that won't break the bank. Quoted around £200-ish by garage.

Seatbelts - again, best place to source one? quoted around £90 + fitting apparently could take ages.

Major leak of exhaust gases. Pattern exhaust that came with vehicle, less than 3 years old. They couldn't find the leak. Apparently there's a stud/bolt or something missing from the manifold as well. No price to patch or replace as yet.

Some welding offside front - floor to support panel. suspension mounting is corroded. (I pretty much copied that bit from the advisory sheet) This I can probably get sorted via a mate, as you do.

Current estimate to MOT is £500 to £600 depending on locating the exhaust leak.

Things they didn't notice: brake light occasionally turns itself on when I'm not braking, sometimes stays on for a few seconds. Apparently it does come on when I brake though. (got someone to follow me for a bit to investigate)

Really rumbly and not sounding that happy on idle. Lacks a bit of oomph.

screw into radiator is rounded out, however radiator is under 3 years old. there's a bolt or something come out of the head which may make it hard to get into, I didn't really understand this bit but essentially if the head gasket goes I'm buggered. But then engines don't cost all that much?

Bodywork: shabby, minor dents, paint peeling off where something corrosive has been rested on bonnet. Sound though - no noticeable rust issues a year ago when I got it checked over. At that point had been rust treated by previous owner not long before.


Do I fix... at about the price of another one... and start to sink money in to it? Which bits always fall apart first and shold be looked at if I keep it?

Or.... sell for spares/repair and look into another?

Windows are tinted out to hide load, that cost nearly £200.

Sorry for all these questions, I'm in need of people who know what they're talking about. I'd rather not scrap it - have a funny feeling a lot of "take it on the chin" replies are going to happen...

thanks in advance.

[Grrrmachine]

You've missed out the most important info - model, age and body style.

If it's a 4-door 316i in tomato red then just do everyone a favour and weigh it in. If it's a cabriolet or a 325i of some sort then you can fix it for a profit.

The mechanical stuff you've mentioned can be fixed in an afternoon for a lot less than the prices quoted. It's rust and paint that costs serious money, and without knowing what the car is I can't offer a single suggestion as to whether it's worth fixing or not.

[Brianmoooore]

Rust is the main deciding factor. The mechanical stuff is simple and easy to sort, although it all mounts up if there's too much wrong.
What are your DIY skills, or are you considering having things done by what sounds to be a not to competent garage?
Brake light is pull rod needs adjusting.
'Not happy on idle' is probably air leaks.
"screw into radiator is rounded out, however radiator is under 3 years old. there's a bolt or something come out of the head which may make it hard to get into, I didn't really understand this bit but essentially if the head gasket goes I'm buggered." No idea what all this really means!

[spikeymark]

Wow, quick replies, thank you!

sorry, missing out the model is totally dumb.

e30 touring, J reg, looks identical to the one on the far left of Brianmoooore's signature.

Looks like instagram doesn't let you link pics, I'll start up a photobucket or something then take photos of all the random bits that I fail at explaining.

My DIY skills are OK if somebody shows me how to do something first but I've never even tried to change a spark plug. Which might explain the idling not being smooth? My only mechanic friend is busy with some life issues atm though and don't want to bug him. If it's a case of jack it up, undo three bolts, bolt on new part, done then I can about manage it

re. garage not sounding like they knew what they were doing: different staff to previous visits and I really wasn't happy with how vague they were. I had to push for information.

Forgot to mention, she's juddering awfully at 70mph and has been for about two weeks (hence the early MOT) presumably down to the wishbones going.

Happy to listen to any recommendations of good garages nearish to Portsmouth too. I'm leaning towards keeping her but I literally have £500 to my name at the moment.

Thanks.

[spikeymark]

Forgot to mention, it's the 1.6. apparently 4 cylinders? I thought they had 6 but as you may have noticed already, I know about as much about car engines as I do about quantum physics.

[Grrrmachine]

I'd say let it go. You can try sniffing around the spare parts traders (there's one called adit in Portsmouth) to try and find body panels in a matching colour, but a 1.6 touring with peeling paint will never command a decent price.

With 100 quid of parts, a decent spanner set and a mate with a welder, you'll be able to get an MOT on the car quickly and cheaply, but it's not worth doing as any sort of investment.

[spikeymark]

Ah, the second option I'm interested in. Most of the charges seem to be labour. I know this machine will never make a profit - I'm just wanting a car that I like, which will hopefully not continue costing me a small fortune each year until I run it into the ground. I was just hoping scrapping hadn't come round already tbh.

[Grrrmachine]

First off, send a copy of this thread to the Zone Traders in your area and ask for a quote to supply all the parts. If you want body panels a photo of the car will also help.

Secondly, have a thorough read of the wiki. There are dozens of guides on fixing air leaks, replacing body panels, overhauling all the suspension and identifying all the rust. The Restorations page in the Wiki shows you all the other cars that have gone through much more severe work and survived.

These cars are very simple to work on, and reward regular maintenance with high reliability. But you do have to keep on top of the maintenance, and yours sounds particularly unloved.

[spikeymark]

It's very loved, I just wouldn't know how to spot problems early. I guess the phrase "run it into the ground" gave the wrong impression. Until it becomes impossible/too expensive to fix is more accurate.

I shall investigate the wiki. Body panels shockingly have no visible rust, inside the engine bay looks clean as well. Car had been used on a farm for years, bought by someone who knew how to maintain it and replaced the radiator and exhaust (although, heater matrix blew after I had it a year and now exhaust has a leak...) there's a bit too much play in the steering rack as well.

Sounds like a right lemon doesn't it?

Cheers.

[Jim320i]

Like Grrrr has said, get on the Wiki pages! Make a brew and sit and read

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Main_Page

As for parts, work out what you need and get a wanted thread up for the bits, the prices that will come back will vary. I have numerous parts on my Ebay shop which is linked below, but you'll find alot of it for cheaper on here. Sskoda has lots of parts at really good rates too for the usual every day stuff

And like Brian said, it can be sorted for a hell of a lot less that whats quoted and its all straight forward things to sort. If you have basic kit, you can sort the majority of it out, if you dont, spend your money on that and get your hands dirty, you'll still be better off at the end of it for cash and have your own kit too... Which you will need in the future

[spikeymark]

I think my decision is made: Fix it. I can't bring myself to scrap it anyway. Lots of time googling / ebaying between reading posts here and you guys are right, price quoted is a bit OTT.

Secondhand seatbelts seem to be around £8 for example, rather than £90 for a new one, the welding I can find someone to do in a backyard, Brian has explained the mystery brake light which stumped the garage last year (the better of the two...) in a few seconds, so that's a worry removed immediately.

Is this the right part for the suspension or a cheap, bad idea?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221216698550? ... 1423.l2649

Genuinely grateful.

[Rav335uk]

/If you want any parts like the ones in the link, contact "Meatballs" on here, you'll get OEM parts, not cheap stuff that'll last months.

[Jim320i]

/If you want any parts like the ones in the link, contact "Meatballs" on here, you'll get OEM parts, not cheap stuff that'll last months.

Matts no longer doing parts for people dude...

[Grrrmachine]

eBay or Zone Traders for used parts, Dealer or CarParts4Less for new stuff. Don't scrimp on rubber components because you'll just have to change them again six months or a year down the road.

If you know a farmer or a mechanic with his own press then the balljoints can be swapped without having to buy new wishbones. But for peace of mind buy some decent new parts by Lemforder, Meyle or Febi and swap them over yourself.

[spikeymark]

one last stupid question: is it worth considering second hand genuine bmw wishbones? Then spending on branded rubber bits?

looked up the brand names suggested, actually reasonable at £70ish per side.

I own spanners and I don't care about getting dirty.

I am confused about the zone traders though, the traders section seems to be mostly dead, the other two sections are for performance parts and cotswold bmw - so when you say zone traders for used parts, what am I missing? Do you mean ask in the "parts wanted" section? or is there a list that I haven't found yet?

Thoght I'd better check before becoming even more annoying.

Time to go to work til 4am now, joy.

Cheers for somewhat destressing me, thought I was looking at either £500 fix or £500 new 2nd hand tourer.

[aimlessrock]

Mark,

you sound exact like me when i joined this forum some years ago...i had just purchased a rotten, knackered 320i convertible, if i had not purchased it the next stop would have been the breakers. I had a limited Halfords tool kit, a Haynes manual, but bags of enthusiasm...that was it.

I had not even changed as much as a wheel on a car, let alone undertaken a resto. With a lot of patience, reading and help from members the resto progressed and she now runs as well as she looks.

Use the wiki, read and roll our sleeves up.... The E30 is a well built and straight forward car.

welcome aboard.

[turk]

Get yourself down to Silverlake in Botley with your tool kit. Most off the stuff mentioned will be available of cars braking in their yard. Walk in, take off what u need, pay on the way out.

If you need a e30 familiar garage near portsmouth I can always help ;)

[DanThe]

It's very loved, I just wouldn't know how to spot problems early. I guess the phrase "run it into the ground" gave the wrong impression. Until it becomes impossible/too expensive to fix is more accurate.

I shall investigate the wiki. Body panels shockingly have no visible rust, inside the engine bay looks clean as well. Car had been used on a farm for years, bought by someone who knew how to maintain it and replaced the radiator and exhaust (although, heater matrix blew after I had it a year and now exhaust has a leak...) there's a bit too much play in the steering rack as well.

Sounds like a right lemon doesn't it?

Cheers.

Not a lemon at all, just sounds like a 20+ year old car thats had less than perfect maintenance

E30's are very easy to work on compared to other cars of the era, but it will still cost a lot more than £500 to get to a reasonable standard, especially for someone with little mechanical knowledge

[Grrrmachine]

one last stupid question: is it worth considering second hand genuine bmw wishbones? Then spending on branded rubber bits?

Only if you need to scrape through an MOT before selling the car on.

The wishbones themselves are just L-shapes of steel; it's the ball-joints that are pressed into them that wear down and need replacing, so a second-hand wishbone means second-hand ball joints - the part you've failed your MOT on already.

If you're going to swap them yourself you'll want to invest in a ball-joint splitter, but they're not expensive.