E30 Zone

hi there thought i would start a page up, i have just got a e30 325i mtech 1 , its my first adventure away from vws so i have a lot to learn
here are a couple of pics as it stands
drivers front at end of seal

drivers rear arch

under battery tray

inside boot

heres a few pictures of the only surface rust on the body work .




and here is the car


the plan is to getting it running right as sounds like a slight missfire and drives a bit flat (have found dizzy cap and rotor are hanging)
and to do all the welding i can find and get the car in for a repaint,

have been reading through the papper work and while there is not a service history book, the is a letter from someone that was dated 1993 asking a perious owner for it but there was a reply letter saying that it was a company car and had no idea where it was. there is 57 receipts for various work and all but 5 are all bmw main dealers.
its has done 180k . also plan to lower it pretty soon to.
it is untouched apart from a scorpion downpipe back stainless but im looking to change it as it sounds crap, its as it both silencers are empty

i will be adding pictures as i go on, the car will been driven for the time being whilst i do the welding bit by bit and when the tax runs out i will get it in for a respray (in the same colour of course

nice project,

there will be some serious rot to chop out of that though, it looks like its gone in all the same places as mine. the area around the fuel breather looks interesting, if its like mine that whole lot will need to be chopped out and fabricated.

good luck, if you get bored of it let me know

yeah after looking more closly there is more than orginally thought but from now it can only get better, best dig the welder out and buy a new mask and see how bad it actually is.
just hope its not a complete dog and that it dont owe me more than whats it worth .

the fact you can weld will help, if you had to pay someone to weld it would come in expensive.

the areas on these that tend to go, rear arches looks like yours has gone there.

the front jacking points, looking at your sill pictures its gone there aswell.

also the area you photo graphed at the corner of the scuttles, the fact rust is coming through here will mean its most likely going to be windscreen out and fabricate those areas.

id also be checking the bulkhead, and sunroof tray.

im guessing the buckhead may have some rust or its coming in from front inner arch by seal as driver front carpet is slightly damp . here is sunroof gutters

the passenger front jacking point has already been wleded but looks ok atm, but will still take a grinder n hammer to it to check,


in the pic below its dirt not a rust spot to


i know its hard to tell but any ideas on what mine could be worth atm once running right, 180k 10 months mot and 5 tax

im guessing the buckhead may have some rust or its coming in from front inner arch by seal as driver front carpet is slightly damp . here is sunroof gutters

the passenger front jacking point has already been wleded but looks ok atm, but will still take a grinder n hammer to it to check,


in the pic below its dirt not a rust spot to


i know its hard to tell but any ideas on what mine could be worth atm once running right, 180k 10 months mot and 5 tax

price is very subjective to be honest mate,

very good examples, that have not seen a welder or have been restored to a high standard fetch reasonable sums upwards of 5k.

however the one you have above, is high miles, looks to be pretty crusty etc.

it all depends on how well the repairs are done, but a solidly repaired tech 1 running nicely id say is worth 3.5 4k all day long.

at the moments its probably worth about a bag

ouch best get the welder out then lol.

Best of luck, you will need it ! It looks like a hound, as do most !

Be sure to post lots of rust pics, they are very therapeutic for the rest of us

As for the value , £1500 / £2000 if it has a longish MOT and you find the right victim.

if there was a chance of 2k as it is i would be a bit more happyer that 1k as the car i swaped it for stood me in at about 2k.
new bottle of gas a couple sheets of metal this weekend and will start ripping it up, if i find a lot and its very bad then could be turned into a track car (witch i guessing may upset a few people) so going to try and keep it as it should be lol

before going gun-ho with the welder, you should properly strip the car 1st if you can, thats when you really now what your dealing with once the kits off and carpets are out, and spend time removing the inner arch sealant and floor deadening- prime areas of hiding rust on a tech 1

yeah i know what u mean polsta but you know how it is with a new car and wana drive it to lol, may give it a week or so the gut it .

The only problem with pulling it to pieces is that you won't be using it for the next few years while you try to restore it. You'll end up spending more than what its worth on parts and in the end you'll be too scared to drive it if there are clouds near to Spain in the fear of it raining some time soon in the uk.

Enjoy driving it a bit before you take it off the road

yeap know timelines never happen to, the corrado i did was ment to be a 2 week engine conversion, 11 months later it came out the garage to see daylight haha.

ianhayle87 wrote:heres a few pictures of the only surface rust on the body work .

That is not surface rust.

I would be taking the dash and screen out and checking the bulkhead on the passengers side and repairing this at the same time.

This needs stripping to the max to see the whole picture. It'll either confirm what you currently think and you can break out the welder. However, I fear you may be making other decisions once you see the full amount of rust as at the moment, you've only just scatched the surface.

Jim320i wrote:The only problem with pulling it to pieces is that you won't be using it for the next few years while you try to restore it. You'll end up spending more than what its worth on parts and in the end you'll be too scared to drive it if there are clouds near to Spain in the fear of it raining some time soon in the uk.

Enjoy driving it a bit before you take it off the road

+1

B7 wrote:

ianhayle87 wrote:heres a few pictures of the only surface rust on the body work .

That is not surface rust.

I would be taking the dash and screen out and checking the bulkhead on the passengers side and repairing this at the same time.

This needs stripping to the max to see the whole picture. It'll either confirm what you currently think and you can break out the welder. However, I fear you may be making other decisions once you see the full amount of rust as at the moment, you've only just scatched the surface.

I personally would not bother stripping it unless you are up for a major resto. It is obviously a pogged up shitter as are most

When you start stripping it, you WILL find LOTS more nasties.
Patch the foooker up and use it. Pebble Beach can wait