Adams 325i Diary

[Adams-Sideways]

Well im Adam and im new here so hi! Looks like a great forum and one i will be spending a lot of time on!

Owning an e30 has been something i dreamed of from a very young age and ive only just turned 20 and didnt really think i would be able to insure a 325 but rang my insurance company yesterday after getting fed up with my mr2 and just wanted to move on.

Saw this straight away and went and had a look at it today, Its got signs of its age but i fell in love with it straight away. Was listed for £750 but paid £570 for it after moaning to the poor guy about being a student etc etc . .

So yeh here it is, My E30 325i 1990






Let me know what you think

Ad

[adit]

well done ad, looks good mate. it looks like an SE model.

welcome to the zone BTW, hope you're thick skinned!
there's plenty of banter on here about your choice of model/colour/wheels, etc but just laugh it off, they're good guys and girls really....well...most are

[alexdejonghe]

Nice colour that...looks very tidy.


....and as many others will say...get some BBS on that bad boy!

[MurphyE30]

looks tidy, you got any plans for it?

welcome to the zone

[Adams-Sideways]

Thanks for the replys guys, I am very new to bmw's this one being my first so am keen to learn a lot about the E30 and what i can do. I was a vauxhall enthusiast for my first few years of driving and used to race nova's (not a chav dont worry ) Heres a pic of my last two projects my astra and the mr2 im selling at the mo:



I got this e30 in particular cos it has a complete bmw service history all the way up to 176000 miles and its only on 185000 now, looking at the reciepts its had a lot spent on it every year keeping it good. Rust has set in to the arches and a little bubble on the roof, but the car was cheap and i will sort that asap. Got a few questions tho if anyone can help

> Thanks for letting me know its an SE, what does this mean and whats the pros/cons?
> I can hear a mechanical whirring behind the speedo, is this normal and just the gears, or should i be worried?
> Anyone know what wheels these are and are they worth anything?
> What is the engine code for my car and do they respond well to exhaust and intake mods or is the standard equipment best left alone?

Cheers

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[Tedswagon]

SE stands for Special Exeuctive. It will have been a higher spec finish than the standard including the cloth on the seats, looks like rear head rests, on board computer (lhs of the heater controls) prob a leather steering wheel, the side skirts and at one stage will have had a front spoiler under the valance.

Alloys are not worth much if anything. (aftermarket)

Two things you can do to help BHP are Big Bore Throttle Body (bbtb) and a 6 branch exhaust manifold.

Another thing you can do is look for a chip of some sort for the ecu. Mixed reviews on bhp increases on the chips you can get but you get what you pay for generally. Speedtouch on here sells cheap chips and Ant (Atech) will map one specifically for you. I have an Atech chip and that with the bbtb makes a noticable difference.

Yours looks pretty good but be warned when investing in it, your car has 4 doors so will never demand the same money as a more desirable 2 door. (my opinion)

Welcome to the zone. Have a look in the wiki links above for information on these cars and mods. Post in Technical for help with anything you are planning and you will get plenty of helpfull advice.

[Tedswagon]

Oh yeah - put a LSD on it to see a big difference when going sideways

Standard slipper for 325i is the 3:91

[ash-e30]

hi welcome to the zone, nice looking car and yer get some bbs on her and will look a lot better
i see that on piston heads

[RM2186]

Welcome to the zone Adam I saw that on Pistonheads too, was gonna offer him a swap with a 2002 Saxo Furio I have kicking around.

[Adams-Sideways]

Thanks so much for the helpful reply! Bigger throttle body sounds like a good start, are these just from a bigger engine or an aftermarket job?

Will sort out the lower lip as soon as posible someones just mailed me an offer for one.

In terms of the 4 door/2 door thing, ive just always loved the 4 door, dont know why but im really happy with it and prtefer the 4 door, not to fussed if the car is worth less becasue of it as i plan to keep it for a long time.

Thanks for the help so far

Ad

[Tedswagon]

Bbtb is a standard tb bored out from 62mm to 64mm. Post up in wanted section, should cast no more than 100. Someone on here will bore yours out for a fee. Do a search.

[beemerbird]

SE means Special Equipment, NOT Special Executive

Don't bother with a K and N cone filter. Their panel filters are OK in the OEM BMW air box, but the cones actually produce a loss. Sound sweet, though.

[Tedswagon]

SE means Special Equipment, NOT Special Executive

I knew that, I was just testing to see if anyone else was out there.

[mattmk1]

Where abouts are you from Adam? I seem to recognise that first photo - not North Wales is it?

Looks a tidy car aswell mate!

[Adams-Sideways]

Cheers ted will do a search, Thanks for the help so far guys, liking this forum alot.

Im from london but im in hertfordshire this year studying motorsport engineering at uni, the pics are all taken in hatfield herts

[Adams-Sideways]

Fitted my headunit yesterday, but still need to plug in my trip computer as it was loose in the glovebox. How do you remove the black panel that houses the heater controls/HU and trip comp?

[Tedswagon]

Put that question up in technical help section and someone will be able to help.

[Adams-Sideways]

Cheers mate, sorry just being lazy

[tonybtonyb]

Hi Adam looks like you got yourself a super buy fella well done!

[Andyboy]

Looks like Lagoon green, an E36 colour that made it onto some late E30's. That wants a 35mm drop on Eibach springs and a set of 15 inch BBS, iS lip spoiler and nothing else.

[maxfield]

Welcome.

I agree with Andyboy, that's all you need.

I also have a Nova too

[Adams-Sideways]

Thanks fella's, yeh im so happy with it, these things pull like a train dont they! cant stop smiling when im driving it! Also ive just had a really good flick thru all the service history because of the high mileage and found some nice news Its had thousands spent on it over the years and is stamped by bmw up to a few thousand miles ago. Better still at 165,000 miles it had £2300 spent on a new head, full engine rebuild, big ends, crank, cams etc + radiator and alternater. Then just 1000 miles ago it had new disks and pads all round.

Sooo plans are . .

>> Sort the rust, treat the small patches, sand and skim with filler then respray.
>> Redo interior, has to be all black and in good condition cos atm its all mouldy hearing aid grey.
>> Deck it 30-40mm on coilys
>> Not to worried about wheels as they will be changing all the time as its going drifting
>> Soundsystem - small but effective maybe a small sub, got some bits left over from the astra that used to do DB runs

Just make it a nice mint looking example of a great piece of engineering!

Ad

[Adams-Sideways]

Gave the car a little sort out today as its the first time ive been home since buying the car! sorted all the check lights, all fluids topped up, missing bulbs replaced, restocked the tool kit in the bootlid with bits i had in the garage. Also fitted some nice vibe k series rear speakers, direct replacement and sound 10 times better. Gonne clean and valet tommorow if the suns out

Ad

[Adams-Sideways]

Well finally done a bit of work on this now, got some time off over easter from uni and have had some time to tinker.

Got some black door cards thanks to adit:






Picked up some new seats from a member on here, great condition OMP recliners. Struggled for weeks trying to find something online to fit them to my car and couldnt find anything.

So knocked up some designs on catia (uni 3d programme) and analysed them in Ansys to check the designs were strong enough

Went to wickes to pick up some steel and made some brackets myself using only the very bottom runners of the e30 seats . . .



Bolted up the seats all nice and sturdy and feels great to drive now held in place





Not much else to report apart from headunit and couple of new rear speakers, and a pipercross filter all fitted. More on the way, steering wheel and boss kit, HID's, and some more goodies

[B7]

Oh yeah - put a LSD on it to see a big difference when going sideways

Standard slipper for 325i is the 3:91

And a 3:91 was only in a tech 2 sport. Standard 325 diff will be 3:64 or a 3:73 in a convertible..

[Adams-Sideways]

thanks

[sunnyr83]

Ah yes another 4 door e30, i have company. They are right we get slated for driving a car with the correct amount of doors!! Drop it, BBS it and find a front lip for it. Looks to have the same exhaust as mine, strange.

Wouldnt worry about a chip, i have one (mild chip) and doesnt seem to do anything special, If you want more power, better tourqe and a better allround drive go and see Jason at B&W chiptune in hounslow.

[Adams-Sideways]

I know its not fair lol, il probly get slated for this, but apart from the convertibles and m3's i think 4 doors are better looking than your standard 2 door i like having 4 doors

Yeh i dunno, some people have said really good things about some of the more aggresive chips? The car seems so slow at the moment? whatever other things can i check apart from giving it a good service?

And yeh i really need a front lip must have come off at some point in its life

[skipunda]

Great looking wagon that

[Adams-Sideways]

thanks skipunda, so a couple more pics one from the front showing the tinted repeaters and indicators i did the other day, not too everyones taste, but im going for a black and green theme and the second picture that followed from my girlfriend saying that boot looks like a mafia car boot, can we get in

Oh dear lol . .

[sunnyr83]

Well you said its had alot of money spent recently, did that include dizzy cap, roter, ht leads etc? If not get them changed been reading up alot on getting the best out of these engines is simply by maintaining these parts inc injectors, hoses there are so many things which add up but they make a big difference. I was selling my car recently but having spent a s*** load of money on it this past week don't think i will now the car feels so much more healthy now.

[Adams-Sideways]

thanks mate will bare that in mind maybe treat it to a big service overhaul when i get some funds

[svenga]

Looks a clean one Adam and a good start! Must admit it seems frequent how many people comment on how you could fit dead bodys in your boot

I want your bootlid interior card !

[sunnyr83]

Was the bootlid card only on the SE spec then, iv got one aswell and been told only the M3 came with it?

[Adams-Sideways]

didnt know they rareish? i want a black one do they exist?