I've part-owned this E30 for a number of years and, due to a slight rearrangement of ownership, it is now a joint project between myself and Soap Grenade Detailing, based just down the road from me.
It's a bog standard E30 316i Touring, 109k on the clock, and no service history. It's been off the road since 2008 but, if the sticker on the engine is anything to go by, was serviced just before it came off the road. It passed its last MOT too, which is never a bad sign.
Since then it's lived in a friend's yard before being moved to his lock-up. It all looks nice and solid - in fact I'd put money on it going through an MOT as is, although the rear beam and front wishbone bushes have seen better days.
It's also currently a non-runner. It was recently given a new fuel pump and relay but still isn't getting any fuel through - I whipped the pump out and tested it and it seemed a bit lackluster, so will clean it out next time I have a day to crack on with the car. Cranks fine and I had it running a couple of years back, so hopefully a clean out and some fresh petrol and it'll be good to go!
Plans are to use the stockpiled parts that have come with the car. VAC Motorsport solid bushes, Z3 1.9 steering rack, BC Racing coilovers, HiSpec 6-pot front brake kit and god knows what else. It should leave us with a well sorted chassis, as I'll also be using a few bits from the stock room to make a nice job of it.
Step 1 was a quick scrub to see exactly what we have. It was very mouldy, mossy and someone had kindly splashed white paint up the side - this is only water based so will come off with a bit of work.
Luckily the news was good! There's an annoying bit of rust around the rear windscreen, and the paint has come off a wing mirror, but apart from that it should clean up well. This will, of course, be left down to Soap Grenade as the car is also being stored and built at their workshops.
Battery tray is also a little grotty but this will probably be coming out anyway.
The best bit about the whole thing is that we already have an low mileage M62 4.4-litre V8 and mounts to get it in the E30. So once the chassis is sorted and it's been enjoyed for the summer, the M40 will be torn out and the V8 will go in with a host of Hack Engineering and Ergen Motorsport parts.
