E30 Zone

... Not an epic start, but its a start non the less.

I bought a 1990 Brilliant Red 318iS back in August 2008 from another Zone member. Below are some pics of it back then.







It had a few bits that needed sorting.. but nothing major. Since then unfortunately other than servicing it and replacing a couple of things I haven't done many of the repairs I had hoped for. But now the time has come.. At the moment nothing too big is planed, just to get it in a good state and then I'll make more plans as of when..

My girlfriends parents have a yard where they run a family business with a few delights.. such as this ramp so I decided to get her up on it (my car... that is) and have a look underneath, as first on my list is to update all suspension components along with all bushes..






The runs on the ramp where so wide that I couldn't really see much, so I just jacked it up and got it on stands instead.



A leak that appears to be from the diff, from peoples experience could this just be a knackered gasket on the back?


Both inner cv boots need replacing...


This bush doesn't look too bad but think it might be worth changing along with the rest..


The ARB is looking a bit weathered in places..


Brake hose needs replacing. You can see how it matches the pattern on the drive shaft...


Gave the rear underside a degrease and scrub..


Some of the muck that came off..


These are both on the replacement list..



Some rust attention in places..






Being aware of the following bits of rust, next was to strip the boot to see what else lurks..


The same applies on the other side top and bottom.


a bit more floor


This is (i think) where the hoses to the fuel expansion tank run. The rubber that houses the fuel filler neck to the bodywork has perishing away at the bottom, so I assume water has been running down from there (along with whats flicked up from the wheel) and has sat here and begun to rot. Always something minor that causes major issues.

The rest of the boot wasn't too bad. Suspension turrets where good rust wise, but revealed knackered tops mounts. I didn't have a big enough torx bit to get the bumper off to inspect the rear valance entirely but it felt soft and crunchy in places, so definitely getting a new valance on the rear.

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More areas in need of attention..



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Signs of a lazy blow over at some point..
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didn't bother removing this whist spraying, theres bits of paint on it..
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Was hoping the spring pads where going to be thicker. Replaced the springs recently, now she sits a little higher that I'd like. The pads are 5mm and although I've read you can get 3mm for the rear, I can see them on the parts diagrams...


Anyway that was me done for the day....
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Sorry some images didn't upload..

This was where the rus was that I was on about where the hoses to the fuel expansion tank pass through the tank.



And the spring pads

The next day, I was up early to look under the front..




A lot of oil.. looking further up into the engine, it appears to be coming from the timing housing (profile gasket?).
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Tired Bushes.. I can't wait to get them all renewed
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A decrease and clean revealed a cracked sump..
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Got a another one ordered. I should look into a sump guard or raising the engine.

Jacking pad needs attention..
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other signs of bodgery.. I assume someone cut this away to take an amp

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Then gave her a quick clean, needs a proper claying, polish and waxing but was running out of light. Please excuse the blurry pic and drunk girl with an oversized inflatable pint of Guinness in the background..


This was all done a few weeks back, then I got very busy with work. But got some bits done over the weekend just gone. Shall add some more later but must get on with some work for now.

I know its not the most exciting thread compared to some that are on here. But its a start and hopefully shall gain some weight in the near future..[/img]

Sorry again I must nit be doing something right, I've been using imageshack perhaps I should use photobucket instead..

quite a bit of work there, what are the rear inner arches like ? have a good look round inside behind rear door cards, and get the carpet out and have a good floor inspection and front jacking points and any leaks comming down from bulkhead area

Originally my loose plan was to update the suspension first, then start tackling the bodywork. But really I guess its stupid to start in this order. I thought I would get the ball rolling with how it handled and then I would be commited. I guess there's no point getting precious if its a rusty turd. After reading through threads on here and various other bits. I should really strip it back and see whats under the carpert and bulkhead first. As it goes I did notice a few bubbling patches on the scuttle panel at either end whilst working on it this weekend.

Cheers polsta, I'm away this weekend. But the following Saturday and Sunday. I'm diving in with a screwdriver and going to get proding..

That doesn't look too clever....

Hope you save it, I fear the worst. You will need deep pockets and/or the skills.

Good luck, I love red 2 doors

Cheers Duke, I'll know for sure soon I guess. I'll put pic up once I've looked..

Thanks too BenHar for reposting with all the pics..

Duke137 wrote:

That doesn't look too clever....

Hope you save it, I fear the worst. You will need deep pockets and/or the skills

Good luck, I love red 2 doors

That looks too far gone too me, from those pics. My advice would be walk away and find a better starting point. Sorry

there certainly is a lot of work to be done there

Thanks for the advice gents. Have a feeling perhaps thats the way it might go. I'll get the carpet and dash out the weekend after next and see what else there is. From reading up on E30's rust issues last few days I fear the worse...

These were taken at the weekend..





It will be a shame mind I don't like the idea of taking an E30 off the road, but I guess I'm not in a financial position to save one too far gone..

I have thought that about the last 4 E30's I have owned. These things are tired festering turds now on the whole clinging on to MOT's. All the factory seam sealer is perished, stone chips and blemishes become rotten, tired mechanical parts, and then the careless "rot traps" like front jacking points have also started to go and that is the average E30.

Whatever happened to this, did it get broken up?

Duke137 wrote:Whatever happened to this, did it get broken up?

Christ I'd hoped this thread had disappeared. But thanks Duke for asking.

Well... I pulled the carpets and rest of the interior up/out.. and based upon the response from my first host of photos, unsurprised, found this...



this...



this...



and this..





The drivers foot well, got up my nose a touch as, that was supposed to have been welded up by a friend of mine who used to MOT it.. I wouldn't have minded but he never bothered to tell me it was a half done bodge..

Oh well, I didn't push too hard with my screw driver as I was still driving it at the time and didn't fancy the idea of pulling up any small people through the footwells of my car whilst driving.

I then saved my pennys, bought a 325i Touring and took the IS off the road back in August.. it's been sat in my sisters garage since...



I have since been on an evening course in welding to get a basic understanding. Hopefully within the next month, I plan to trailer this back down my way and strip the rest of it... bumpers, wings headlining and take a flap disk to it to access the extent of it all properly. I know there's a hell of a lot of work there to be done without even having to look that far and most would have broken it a long time ago. But I like a bit of graft and have always wanted to weld. I'm not flash for cash, so I hope to cut as much off other breakers for spares if I go ahead. Meatballs on here got a lot of his new metal for his sport this way, grrrmachine did a lot of his repairs from a spare sunroof panel. I know it'll be nothing more than a patched up turd. I'll probably end up eating all of these words, but at least would like to have a bash at it all.

I did exactly the same (except the welding course) never saved the turd but quite enjoyed the welding lark. Sadly the shitty British Summer got the better of me as rainy weekend after rainy weekend and only my drive to work on helped me lose the will to live then the mrs somehow got pregnant.... needless to say it was on the back of a hiab within the week

Stick at it, even the patched up old turds will have their day, as long as you cut all the rot out etc (not teaching you how to suck eggs, you seem an intelligent chap)

Only reason I remember it is because it reminds me of my brilliant red IS.... That was like a poisoned apple all nice and appealing to look at but death lay within

Good luck to you, I would have broken that on the strength of the tail end alone lol

a breaker really, but- perfect to learn to weld on with lots of practice , then rag it as a patched up daily or then break it

id buy a nice red IS tomorrow if i could find a nice one

Cheers Duke. In my mind, my approach seems to be similar to what yours was. The biggest cost (bar a respray perhaps) would be welding. So if I reduce that cost, its no big lose if I end up packing it in and sending it off to china.

I'll start a new thread up (as this ones loaded crap attempts of image uploads and half scrubbed diffs), when I get things going.

polsta wrote:
id buy a nice red IS tomorrow if i could find a nice one

Possibly a reason to fix this one... and a patched one at that..

in fact thats tosh in my head. I'd save it as I like it, not because other people might want one.. nothing that moves at high speeds across salty roads and is exposed other badly driven masses of metal is an investemnt in my eyes...

Fairplay for having a crack at the repairs, perfect thing to learn to weld on! Is there any sign of previous repairs on the rear end? To go the way it has it looks suspiciously like it might have had a whack at somepoint.

Hope you get it back on the road, Red iS' are one of my favourite E30s!

Cheers Dave. That could well be the case with the rear end. The cars not kept near for me to check currently, the was a load of fibre glass on the two bottom seams of the rear valance when I bought it. I was just stupid back then not knowing much about these cars and just thought 'that needs sorting' and sadly never did.

On another note I've got more written up on the clutch cylinders so shall get that over to you soon. Was good reading through your build thread the other day too. Keep up the good work.

G-Bear wrote:

polsta wrote:
id buy a nice red IS tomorrow if i could find a nice one

Possibly a reason to fix this one... and a patched one at that..

well of course its reason to save, the is numbers are on the down, dont see many for sale for a while, well not nice ones, been casualy keeping eyes open for a right car, but none have really popped up