E30 Zone

Hey Guy's. This is my second E30 project that i am undertaking. I bought the car only a week ago and have already got so many plans to restore it and make it into exactly what i want.

The car is a'G' 89' 325i Convertible with 92k on the clock. The car has had a respray by the previous owner to a Calypso Red with a flick in it. I like it although some areas of the paint will need attention. It has grey leather interior inside it. The kit on the car is mtech2.

The wheels the owner has put on the car aren't too my liking, so this is probably the first thing I'm going to swap out.

Check out the pics.














So now the bad bits and the long list of things i need to get doing:

Ӣ Seals - Think its leaking around the hood and front windscreen
Ӣ Dash Lights - not illuminating
Ӣ Petrol tank gasket round it
Ӣ Brake bleeding
Ӣ Pulley noise
Has a really whiny noise which my old E30 Touring had, anyone care to shed any light?

Ӣ Rear light cluster - replace horrible tinted and cracked lights
Ӣ Adjust front lights
Ӣ Full service inc fluids

The car will be a summer project for me, let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

Did you buy it in Ilford ?

@PacerPete no i bought it in Birmingham lol,

That was my second guess !

Wow this cars doing the rounds! How many layers of paint does it have now???

@PacerPete poor E30's always treated like Sh*t by stupid chavs.

@bmw-mad pm me some info?

pacerpete wrote:Did you buy it in Ilford ?

Haha is it the colour that made you take this as your 1st choice over Birmingham ??? a˜a

Has the bodykit been bonded onto the body itself and then pained over?

Its not a geniune mtech2 obviously. It has been painted underneath the kit too. Not that well i must admit lol.

Fastroad wrote:

pacerpete wrote:Did you buy it in Ilford ?

Haha is it the colour that made you take this as your 1st choice over Birmingham ??? a˜a

The rampant M badge and eyebrows said Ilford. They would normally have been chawed if it had spent any time in Birmingham, especially Solihull, the dodgy bit !

Agreed the car isnt to my taste at all, the de chavving has already begun lol

Sach_UK wrote:Agreed the car isnt to my taste at all, the de chavving has already begun lol

Photos for proof

Good luck with it mate!

Need to be more specific about the whine.. does it happen from cold / hot?
With the clutch pressed or all the time?
Has it had a water pump?
What are the belts like?
Is it engine speed dependant?

Looks like a good base for a project! Lookin forward to updates!

Edited for privacy

Thanks you guys this is the type of feedback that's wanted in my blog!

Whine happens when cold but starts to go when heating up.
Not sure if it had a water pump change
Belts look okay teeth are okay,

Hate the face it's even been debadged! Looking at fixing this to get badges again
Could be bearing

Have heard other users with alternator pulley issue sounds similar?

Today I've done a few things
, took those horrendous wheels of for starters back on bmw bottle tops I got from an old project.
Fixed the headlight switch with a new one, now dash illuminates
Took the horrible eyebrows off front end.

Had a issue with the car after driving it today heated up to nearly red and the battery light and warning light came on? Any ideas?

Post pics ASAP! Thanks

Possible alternator - batt light and maybe a noise..check the voltage going to the battery

Water pump might be on its way out too if its overheating or thermostat.. is it losing any water?

Thanks cypriotgeeza - might have to look into it, good job on the roof you got too!

Last night i started de-chavving. removed the stupidly ugly eyebrows, m badge and put it back on its bottle tops!






After taking her for a drive these lights shortly appeared and the temperature shot right up, any ideas?

Is the fan belt still on?

Is it adjusted correctly?

Ben

Sach_UK wrote:Thanks cypriotgeeza - might have to look into it, good job on the roof you got too!

Thanx man!

Better shot in the daytime! front end looking much cleaner i think!

Bargained these chrome front grills of ebay genuine for a tenner, cleaned them em up and on they went!







cosmetically its now getting to where i want it, especially the front end. still lots to do!

car is still overheating but isn't making the weird pulley noise anymore, all the lights on the dashboard i posted above are still their, and it heats to 3/4 really quickly, any ideas?

Edited for privacy

Does heater blowes warm air when car overheats? My was overheating but not blowing warm air inside and it was due to water pump failure.

Looking much better chap, the de-council process is almost complete. You need to raise it to almost standard height as it's way too low, and get a set of mint 15" bbs original msport wheels on. It will look the part then.!

So after having a look today, heres how i found my alternator belt! Lovely!


Decided to change the roof seals as it had been leaking in lots of water. Carpets were absolutely soaked, removed passenger seat and dried all the floorpan and carpet. See how well it holds up.

on the plus side, i think these maybe heated seats?




i never really wanted heated seats in this cab, so open to swaps for a decent set of cabby leathers. check for sale/wanted!

Sach_UK wrote:So after having a look today, heres how i found my alternator belt! Lovely!

I was right then.

Ben

@Ben totally! is it worth replacing the other belts at the same time?

Sach_UK wrote:@Ben totally! is it worth replacing the other belts at the same time?

Yes, you have to take them off anyway.

I'd be doing the cambelt too, unless you know it was done recently.

Ben

Thanks Ben.

The interior was originally from a early macau blue motorsport convertible and heated I remember selling them to one of the previous owners who was a member on here Vijay I think was his username also it was in a light blue back then.

I'm pretty sure there are some pictures of it on the zone somewhere will see if I can find the thread for you.

Sounds like its getting the correct treatment already looks better with those naff wheel removed

M-Sport would love to see the thread! i can tell it was light blue hence bad paint from last owner. looking at my options in terms of paint.

@ M-sport, yeah i found the thread thanks, lol. wow. amazing what can happen in only 4 years. not to worry this cab's getting the treatment it needs, not chavving. lol. thanks