E30 Zone

I've had my e30 and have been a member here for over a year so thought I should finally make a post about my car. It is a 1990 320i convertible in glacier blue with a dark blue leather interior. Other than the radio I think everything is still original.

I'm not at all experienced in car mechanics but I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty but my job and a 1 year old son have meant that I dont get enough time to do all the jobs that are required myself. Thanks to the wiki and the help of of the members here I've been able to fix quite a long list of annoying faults mostly electrical and repair the drivers seat.

Mechanically it is fine and the body work is in pretty good condition with minimal rust and a low mileage of 81000 as the last owner of 12 years hardly drove it and kept it garaged for most of that time.

It's due a major service with timing belt change etc so I would appreciate any recommendations of mechanics experienced with these cars. I live in Wembley so ideally someone fairly local.

I made it down to the Ace cafe meet last year but didn't park inside as I had the baby with me so couldnt stay for long. I'll definitely be there again this summer and also hope to come to the Surrey meet at some point if my work schedule permits!

I'll add some pics of the engine bay and interior in the future when the weather is nice enough for me to take some more photos.

Thanks

What a georgeous car!!!

Its nice to see an unmolseted e30(especially a cab) for once

Wow wow

lovely looking thing

thats superb.

That's absolutely gorgeous

Thanks guys. Appreciate the positivity - if only my wife felt the same way

Bootiful. Any interior shots? Really dig the colour.

What was the seat repair BTW?

Sonatine wrote:Bootiful. Any interior shots? Really dig the colour.

What was the seat repair BTW?

Thanks. The only pic of the interior I can find on my phone is one taken from the ad when I bought the car which isn't great and was before I had given the leather a clean and done the repair. I'll take some better pics and post them up in the future.



The seat back on the drivers seat was wobbly due to a broken L shaped bracket which secures the back rest to the recline mechanism. The broken piece and screw were missing so I couldn't get it welded back on so I had to replace the recline mechanism on the one side of the seat. I also repaired a tiny tear on the bolster and the scuff marks using a touch up kit:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ure+clinic

Thats Lovely

viz007 wrote:Thanks guys. Appreciate the positivity - if only my wife felt the same way

+ 1, your not alone..,im sure most zoners are also in this boat (myself included).

Very nice, so good to see unmolested cars, 100% classic.

I'm liking that!

What a lovely thing, just needs an extra half a litre

She a beauty!!

Nice to see an unmolested car .
I have an Alpine white 325i with indigo heated leather that's all original 71000mls. Will post some pics when I can -- A . Get it out in the sunshine and take some. B . When I can work out how to post thema˜‚a˜‚

Hmmm, I just noticed something. My daughter's car doesn't have those reflectors that are just aft of the front wheels. Is that a Euro thing?

galaxiedriver wrote:Hmmm, I just noticed something. My daughter's car doesn't have those reflectors that are just aft of the front wheels. Is that a Euro thing?

Hi there, yes indeed these are euro "side repeaters" or indicators - i think the USA spec cars has the larger wrap around bumpers with the markers in them?

galaxiedriver wrote:Hmmm, I just noticed something. My daughter's car doesn't have those reflectors that are just aft of the front wheels. Is that a Euro thing?

Do you mean the side indicators/repeaters? I believe they are required by law here in the UK but not in the USA.

Lol Mr Lachs you beat me to the reply by 1 minute

viz007 wrote:Lol Mr Lachs you beat me to the reply by 1 minute

Haha great minds think alike mate Hope you are keeping well - your Cab gets even more gorgeous every time i look at it

Thanks! Its has been gathering dust in the garage since october due to a dead battery and weeks of constant rain! However my trickle charger arrived earlier this week and it says the battery is ready so Im just waiting for a dry day now!

viz007 wrote:Thanks! Its has been gathering dust in the garage since october due to a dead battery and weeks of constant rain! However my trickle charger arrived earlier this week and it says the battery is ready so Im just waiting for a dry day now!

Excellent!!! Im in the same boat mines been laid up in the garage since late December and will venture out later in the year when its nice and dry, my battery is goosed i came to the conclusion yesterday, so i have taken it out of the boot and shall take a trip to our local BMW Dealer next week and buy a replacement. Something id be doing anyway as having just bought the car its an unknown quantity. The trickle chargers work really well, yours should stand you in good stead.

looks did you get it off an old lady?

I saw this in the flesh yesterday and it's simply superb !!!

You're a very lucky guy

ianev wrote:looks did you get it off an old lady?

I bought it off a guy at his home in Nottingham in Nov 2014 who claimed to be the the son in law of the previous owner who has dementia. This turned out to be lies and he was a car salesman who I can only guess had managed to buy the car from the previous owners family to sell on. The previous owner was a haulage lorry driver from near Ipswich who had hardly driven the car in 12 years of owning and had passed away at the start of 2014.

The car salesman in typical style told me a lot of fibs regarding who he was and why he was selling the car to try and cover why certain bits were missing and why they could not be found. It was nothing I couldn't replace: locking wheelnut, some MOT certificates and recent service receipts, a spare key and immobiliser fob. It was obvious the car was well looked after and it was by far the best Id seen for my budget so I took a gamble and went for it.

My own research afterwards based on the service history and speaking to the mechanic who looked after the car has told me more about the previous owner and the cars history. Thankfully the car has been great so far and I haven't had any problems which I (with very little mechanical experience) have not been able to fix with the help of this site.

Why do you ask? Have you come across this car before?

ianev wrote:looks did you get it off an old lady?

I bought it off a guy at his home in Nottingham in Nov 2014 who claimed to be the the son in law of the previous owner who has dementia. This turned out to be lies and he was a car salesman who I can only guess had managed to buy the car from the previous owners family to sell on. The previous owner was a haulage lorry driver from near Ipswich who had hardly driven the car in 12 years of owning and had passed away at the start of 2014.

The car salesman in typical style told me a lot of fibs regarding who he was and why he was selling the car to try and cover why certain bits were missing and why they could not be found. It was nothing I couldn't replace: locking wheelnut, some MOT certificates and recent service receipts, a spare key and immobiliser fob. It was obvious the car was well looked after and it was by far the best Id seen for my budget so I took a gamble and went for it.

My own research afterwards based on the service history and speaking to the mechanic who looked after the car has told me more about the previous owner and the cars history. Thankfully the car has been great so far and I haven't had any problems which I (with very little mechanical experience) have not been able to fix with the help of this site.

Why do you ask? Have you come across this car before?

jimbom30cab wrote:I saw this in the flesh yesterday and it's simply superb !!!

You're a very lucky guy

Thanks Jim it was great meeting you. I'm very impressed by your memory!

viz007 wrote:

ianev wrote:looks did you get it off an old lady?

I bought it off a guy at his home in Nottingham in Nov 2014 who claimed to be the the son in law of the previous owner who has dementia. This turned out to be lies and he was a car salesman who I can only guess had managed to buy the car from the previous owners family to sell on. The previous owner was a haulage lorry driver from near Ipswich who had hardly driven the car in 12 years of owning and had passed away at the start of 2014.

The car salesman in typical style told me a lot of fibs regarding who he was and why he was selling the car to try and cover why certain bits were missing and why they could not be found. It was nothing I couldn't replace: locking wheelnut, some MOT certificates and recent service receipts, a spare key and immobiliser fob. It was obvious the car was well looked after and it was by far the best Id seen for my budget so I took a gamble and went for it.

My own research afterwards based on the service history and speaking to the mechanic who looked after the car has told me more about the previous owner and the cars history. Thankfully the car has been great so far and I haven't had any problems which I (with very little mechanical experience) have not been able to fix with the help of this site.

Why do you ask? Have you come across this car before?

Not at all, it just looks like one that's been sitting in an old lady's garage for 20 yrs!

ianev wrote:Not at all, it just looks like one that's been sitting in an old lady's garage for 20 yrs!

Ok well good guess! It was actually an old man!

Thats a lovely clean example! Nice

A couple of months ago the car had had a full inspection 2 and all its fluids changed and by Barry BSS325i. He also made a long list of things that needed attending to which had been neglected over the years.

It went back at the start of the month and issues with the suspension, steering and the fuel system were resolved. My wallets lighter but the car is now a joy to drive and no longer rattles and squeeks constantly!

I've given the inside and outside a thorough clean this weekend and will be trying out gtechniq c4 trim restorer soon to try and get it looking as good as it drives.

Beautiful car, similar to my 325i convertable, also with the blue leather interior, but mine is in cirrus blau metallic. Owned my e30 for only 2 months, and loving it. I will need to upload some pics soon