Knowing well that it would cost me as much in parts, shipping and customs as the already high cost of the car.
It pains to see so many 'perfectly reasonable' condition E30 being broken, but i guess that is the way it is.
Putting up a few pictures. They are mostly about all the things that have gone wrong (almost everything
) with the car.Bought it on 2nd April 2013 and the last few months have been spent poring over various rebuilds, asking questions, and collating as much info as I can cram in a short span of time.
After about 15 days of careful driving, the last 2 months it is on stands awaiting parts.
As I found it, in a dump, literally. Seeing its condition, not surprising.
A few other pics:
Drove it home after closing the deal and getting it registered to my name:
And then to my garage to get it on the ramp for an inspection.
Yes, I checked it after I bought it.
Wrote to BMW India and they referred the query to BMW Germany for manufacturer info, as I wanted to know what all it had left the factory with so that I can put it all back in due course of time.
This is the sheet they emailed:
BLB 0115
Vehicle information
VIN long WBAAC52080176XXXX
Type code AC52
Type 316 (EUR)
Dev. series E30 ()
Line 3
Body type LIM
Steering RL
Door count 4
Engine M10
Cubical capacity 1.80
Power 90 PS
Transmision HECK
Gearbox MECH
Colour SCHWARZ (086)
Upholstery ANTHRAZIT (0251)
Prod. Date 1986-11-06
Order options
No. Description
215 POWER STEERING, DEPENDING ON ENGINE SPEED
300 ZENTRALVERRIEGELUNG ELEKTRISCH (Electric Central Locking)
311 ELEKTRISCHER BEIFAHRERSPIEGEL (Electric Passenger Rear View Mirror)
350 WAERMESCHUTZGLAS GRUEN, RUNDUM (All-round Green Insulation Glass)
401 SLIDING/VENT ROOF, ELECTRIC
411 WINDOW LIFTS, ELECTRIC
530 AIR CONDITIONING
650 BMW Bavaria C
682 RADIO ANTENNA AUTOMATIC
690 CASSETTE HOLDER
823 HOT CLIMATE VERSION
850 ADD FUEL TANK FILLING FOR EXPORT
Took it to Navnit Motors, and it broke down. Push start wouldn't help. We suspect it may be the fuel pump. So it was towed back to the garage, and clicked a few pictures, as I was leaving for Thailand for a short holiday and had convinced the missus to agree on a destination that could also double up as a parts source. She agreed after much misgiving as going from the summer of Mumbai to sweltering Thailand didn't exactly constitute an escape.
Up it went on stands
Hopes up of finding the parts
I knew that language would be a big issue in Bangkok, as the parts shop owners are not conversant with any language other than Thai. Still managed to find 2-3 who spoke a smattering and could help me.
The pictures i had clicked detailed what I wanted:
The plastic surround:
Square eyelet cover: Or whatever it is called.
Flaps: but didn't get any. The right bottom is the mother-load of rust. Fist sized or more.
The under steering cover:
Had a tough time carrying it on the way back along with a used glove box and latch.
What is the aluminum box with the pink mark?
The handle and the electric mirror switch
Original door latches instead of the Hyundai Santro stuff:
Rubber surround for the window, above the door card.
Cracked old gear knob:
As you can see the list is endless.
Front ashtray has a burn mark. Would require advise on how I can repair/restore this.
The rear is broken
These don't work. And the belt has gone slack. Any way to repair the belts?
The Carb as is. Suspected to be a Suzuki carburetor. Discovered that all the E30 Carb car owners in Thailand are running old Honda Accord carbs as they are the 'best'. Or most of them have dumped the M10 for a Nissan 2.5L engine.
And while on it, this is the Suzuki Jimny 410 Air box:
The fuse box cover has warped. Heat?
These don't work. Why am I even writing this?
Thanks to Instagram, these old yellowed frames are in fashion.
The rear view is the same:
The temperature gauge doesn't work, so got a new one. Along with a temperature sensor.
The seller has tampered with the odometer and has clocked it back by 20-30000 miles.
The central locking doesn't work or the fuse is gone, we will check that. Soon.
Electric Antenna is jammed
Radio doesn't work or maybe again a question with the electrics/fuse.
The AC switch is again from either Hyundai or Suzuki. Not sure. Don't care.
The leather surround for the gear knob is cracked/torn. Have got that and a new knob, and the bushing and rubber gaiter.
Took it to the AC shop. 26 years of dirt.
Rusted headlight brackets. And no leaks in the lines.
Discovered that the AC is now 'direct'
And a Mercedes 190E part powers it
Other engine bay close ups:
Notice the battery held in place by the corrugated cardboard piece.
The AC guys hard at work, trying to decode the mysteries:
The expansion valve is so rusted that he said if I touch it, it will break off.
And when I wrote to Pelican parts, the advice is quite detailed and confusing.
Can anyone help me with parts for a AC system changed to R134-A. The compressor is Ok. The expansion valve, the dryer/receiver and the switch need to be changed.
Three shipments have arrived.
Smaller stuff is coming via our forum members HJG-E30 and Hennared323i.
Ebay.co.uk is proving to be a boon. And those things are trickling in as fast as Royal Mail can handle.
I know it's ghetto but it's pretty cool at the same time!
Should make quite a decent improvement in overall running and performance, I imagine. Nice manual choke jobbie, too. 
