I’ve been lurking on this site for a number of years but I never got to post about any of my cars. So far I’m on my fourth E30 and now a E34 too, every single one of them has been a late model coupe but with a few different engines.
As a side story, I’m from Uruguay (SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH!) and on the 70s through the 90s the Uruguayan BMW importer was able to assemble some BMW models here in Uruguay. The cars were bought from Germany as “Kits”, meaning the engine came assembled but everything else came in parts (even the body!), and they were built here in Uruguay. This was a maneuver to lower the cars prices by lowering how much tax they had to pay since they had a certain percentage of Uruguayan labour. Some of the models that were assembled here are: Isettas, 700, 2002, 1600-2, 520 E12, 320 E21, 520i and 524 E28, 320i (2 and 4 door) 325i E30 (only 2 door) 324 (4 door) and 320i 325i E36. Every car that was assembled here is an Euro spec car and doesn’t have a VIN, so it’s an easy tell tell.
Having said that, most of the cars that were build here have more rust issues than the imported ones, so you’ll see a trend in my cars.
First one was a 1988 316i which had a M10b18 engine with L-Jetronic in Zinnoberrot. Had this one for about 2 years.
Next, I bought a 1989 325i in something similar to Diamond Schwartz. This had a couple of rust spots having been assembled here but I needed a 6 cylinder car. Also had this one for about 2 years.
Next, a friend offered his 1989 325i in something similar to Zinnoberrot (cars here weren’t painted exactly by BMW color codes). This only lasted an year a half since a friend of mine insisted on buying it.
Finally, a couple months ago I found a really clean and straight 1990 316i in Alpine White 2 with the mighty M40b16 engine.. Luckily it’s a manual which might come into play in the future. It was originally sold in Switzerland and later imported to Uruguay.
Future plans for it are to swap a S54 or M52B28 or M54B30 into it, upgrade the brakes using RX-7 front calipers and swapping the rear drums to discs and going to refresh the suspension with new rubber and H&R Sport springs with Koni adjustable shocks. Keep in mind this build will be quite slow since I’m a student and we have crazy taxes in Uruguay making cars and parts very expensive.
The E30 is currently in the bodyshop getting a repaint in the original color and should be done in a couple of weeks.
The day I received it.
After cleaning it for 4 hours..
And a couple of months ago I bought a 535iA E34 that currently has a broken gearbox and is waiting for a manual swap.
