Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Autowirral Ste: BMW E30 325i

Hello, this is my new project car as the Astra GSi is almost finished.

It has been off the road for 11 years.
In a barn for 9 years and on a driveway for 2 years apparently.
Very low milage, don`t know much about it yet but it has one hell of a sweet motor

.

Be nice once it sorted dude

very tidy, Whats planned for her bud?

Nice one Ste I love the e30s might call in to have a look in the week

Thanks hun, you know i`ll get it nice



Restore i think mate, no-one likes them being messed with.



Your welcome anytime buddy, i like these myself, used to have a mettalic purple one with a kit on years ago but i didn`t know much about cars at the time and the engine was very cammy, plus it was only the 2.0 litre so wasn`t upto my requirements.

Carnt wait to see it babe x

Very nice, interior looks brand new, doesn't look like it needs much doing

hi just wondering did this come from a guy who owned a lexus ????

No mate, one of the lads down our yard who has a mettalic blue one with a kit and black alpina wheels.



Surpringly enough the dashboard is mint, has no cracks in it which these suffer badly from.

Very nice mate.

Very tidy Ste,rare find too,great strong engines on these

very nice i want 1 lol

Yerrrrrrr is right, so ye got her sounds sweet when I heard it

Classics these, love it.

I'll own an e30 m3 at some point.

Sort the wheels out with the originals, these things look better unmolested.

Yes hate the wheels, been offered a set of the bbs deep rim ones for it which are I'm pretty sure the original ones but I have yet to view them.

The petrol pump needs replacing on this as the one on it was seized, now very noisy so I think that will be the 1st thing to do on this.

Also the sunroof doesn't work and I've heard they're a pain to repair but it's all fun.

SWEET!

Looks tidy! Those wheels are terrible

If its getting lowered I reckon those wheels its got will look brilliant.

Sorry but the wheels on it are a big no no, they look tacky even with the caps on, I told you they had to go dd and nothing will change my mind lol.

Hmmm, seems the crankshaft oil seal is leaking, probably due to being layed up for so long.

Due to the seal needing replacement I may as well take the engine and box out completely, that way I can clean the engine bay up and change the colour of the car if wanted.

I'm unsure what colour to do it as of yet, I was thinking maybe orange?

Any ideas?

Had to be a solid colour though as I'm far too inexperienced to paint metallic.

BRG?

Huh?

Sorry, British Racing Green.

Ahhh right, I can't spray metallic and I don't like British racing green in a solid colour.

If youre starting on some mechanicals Ste, change the alternator belt if its been sat up for a while. It also drives the water pump - Ive had one go on an E30 before, and it cost me a head gasket

keep it the colour it is mate i saw it briefly today and that is a great colour for it

Ok

LOL, windscreen washer motor burnt out today, not good!

I hope you've got small fingers!

New bootlid from Ebay as old one has rust on the edges....

Fitted the spoiler

looking good!

Carnt belive how small the boot looked in the car,looks good now getting there

yerrrr nice one

Less is more mate, I think.

I'm not sure the spoiler suits.

Oh, and Ste, the numberplate adds nothing to it. You don't want to be reminding people that this classic shares anything in common with a run-of-the-mill Z4

It doesn`t but the holes are in a different place on the other one or i`d put the original BMW one back on.

Right, started on the E30 by staying behind after work (or it will never get done).

Yesterday i decided to buff the whole car using G3 compound and surprisingly it came up quite well, very well infact....



Apart from the bonnet which has no paint left so decided against buffing that and being a bit of a cock had a play....



Today i got the window wiper motor out (with the help of andy ) and needless to say it`s goosed!....
New one needed.



Rubbed the bonnet down and got it in primer, 1 coat of plastic primer (gives a better grip) then one coat of normal primer. I will give it more coats when i get more primer ....






Removed rear light cluster as it contained water in the indicator (it was full) only to find the seal has deteriorated and has been letting a slight amount of water into the car, also found one of the brackets which hold the light cluster on had rotted to the point of coming off. Not good, will repair, for now light removed and hole covered up so job gets done quicker....



More tomorrow

I told you to do it in white

Nice one Ste looking great should of said I would of called up...

Okay, so heres some better photos from the other night after the buffing session. (Currently getting new electrics installed so had no real lighting the other night).

Not too bad, i know the boots a different shade probably due to being from a 1993 last of the line E30 but that can be sorted at a later date.....







Right, so i decided to do the bonnet white until the new compressor arrives, i just want this on the road as soon as possible as my SAAB runs out of MOT soon and my Astra GSi is WAY too loud to drive around in all the time!



At this point i ran out of white paint (Bare in mind i`m using spray cans here), so i decided to go with satin black on the other 2 sides of the bonnet.....



The bonnet i sprayed on Saturday night, it took a few hours but i got it done, i did it in satin black as a basecoat and the a fewmore coats using gloss black.
I left the paint to harden for 24 hours and had a go at rubbing it down by hand on the front.
These are the results using 1000 and G3 (no wax yet), i will do the rest via machine when i get the chance.....










Another thing to note is that this colour is a temporary thing, it will be painted to it`s original red once i get a compressor, it`s amazing what you can do with rattle cans though when you put your mind and time to it eh?

Keep up the good work Ste!

I can see this car becoming all black, it'll be easier to move on.

If you could make sure there's a good load of overspray in my direction it'll save me a coat or two

Well done

lmao ye mad head

looks like you've got a giant Everton mint on your bonnet...

Stayed behind after work tonight to finish off the spray job on

the bonnet, rubbed the whole bonnet down with 1500 grade

wet n dry...



Heres the white part rubbed down...




Next i rubbed it down with a 3000 grade grit pad to get rid of

any fine scratches...




Dried off (This helps to show any imperfections which can

then be ammended)...




Next i buffed the bonnet using autosmarts R3 fine liquid

compound...




Dried after buffing...



I buffed again the excess off with water and then used a

polishing cloth to go on the head of the buffer and some

autoglym high resin polish...



These next photographs show the end result ....










I have to say i have never painted anything this large before

but as the bonnet was in such a mess anyway i decided to give

it a go, wonderful results and i`m going to be doing a lot more

painting myself from now on

Ok Ste I will let you loose on my punto now.

Did you keep the bonnet on the car the whole time Ste?

lol



Yes mate, no masking tape was used either, I used the edges of the middle of the bonnet as a guide for the black then rubbed down to get a straight line either side.
The bonnet was up when I sprayed it.

Ah cool... cheers!

You've done a top job Ste... need to do the rest of the car!

Bought a new windscreen wiper motor and fitted it. Must thank Andy for lining the damn wipers up properly

Got rear lights working properly.

Just got these headlights, will be fitted tomorrow, I only needed one but these are a newer set so will have to replace both. Bosch ones too which is a plus

You did well fitting that motor back in, I remembered the plastic bits flying out at all angles when it came out, I didn't have a clue where they went

Couldn't believe our luck at getting the angle right on first guess, that saved a few Grrrs

Id also consider a decat

Failed on....

Slight leak in petrol tank

Horn not working

3 bulbs (which were working so loose connections)

2 small brake pipes

Welding needed.

As I have been delivering a van I sold to Preston today the car was locked up in the MOT bay so I'll be getting it back tommorow and repair will commence

Realised at last minute that the washer bottle and motor were missing so Wirral spares were at hand with a replacement prompto.
Cheers guys

I'll start work on this tonight, I gotta take the propshaft and gas tank off so dilly can do the welding and brake pipes, the amount of welding is ridiculous. May as well replace the crankshaft oil seal while it's stripped, I gotta take the damn carpet out too

Think I'll be selling this one and getting a newer model, this is a 1987 and I don't like the colour red on these anyway.

Fuel tanks are steel on the E30s and Ive had one thats leaked where the 2 halves are joined - was ok with less than 1/2 a tank

If you take the tank out, there are also brake hoses that run over the top of the tank - well worht replacing those if they look a bit suspect. Very rare they get spotted in an MOT as they cant be seen above the tank.

They are the ones that need replacing stu, they are really bad.

I was quite surprised to see two tanks when i got under the car

Thanks to andy for his help last night

Is right Ste, it's getting there

Damn things Christine, it ate my finger (well, burst it like a balloon not a pretty sight the insides of your finger coming out).

Have to also put 2 new flexi hoses on the rear of this as the pipes are so badley corroded

Giving the mileage on this i`d say most of the parts are the original ones from 1986

Bit of a mission getting that tank out but great when it eventually gave up the fight. Sorry about the finger - my fault

Lol no worries dd, thanks for the help.
Still on the ramp today, dillys dreading doing it.

Your brave letting Dilly near it!!! LOL
He ok, havent seen him for years, well last time i did your steering pipe!

And it was an excellent job too, still perfect

Yes he's great, he would prefer me too scrap this so he doesn't have to weld it lol but everything's scrap to him you know what he's like haha.

He's on this site but I'm not sure who he is as I've never asked him lol.

Lol nice finger, what's your plans when billy has finish playing with it are kid?

After making it look pretty underneath I'll be getting it painted and selling it.

Going to see if I can get an F or G reg one.

This ones got too low a mileage for me to wreck by modding.

Was down your place today doing the cab tilt ram for Pete.
Dilly did say scrap it after a good rant!! LOL

What sort of price will you be after?

Nice one

Haha I was sitting in the big ugly blue transit motorhome wannabee outside the garage waving at you.

Petes done well with that truck, looks ten times better.

I looked after that when it belonged to Peoples Ford in Bootle. Had the whole hydraulics system rebuilt at a good cost!!

here's a nice project for ya ste http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-...unning-short-mot-cheap-225-cash/91100054

and this http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-...res-repair-drift-pxswap-welcome/90951695

That paintwork looks amazing, I need one of those machine polishers! I've done the sides on mine but don't have the time or energy to polish it to that level by hand!

You do 80% of it by hand Dave using the wet n dry, once that's done it's a quick buff n polish

Heres a photo of the petrol tank damage, surprisingly once the "fibreglass filler " was taken off there are just 2 tiny holes, less than the size of a matchstick head so the tank is worth repairing.
Whoever tried repairing it obviously didn`t take it off otherwise it would of been done properly.

Also, when removing the carpet for welding i came acrossthe ECU which looks as though it has been chipped, one of the lads down our yard said it may just of had a replacement so i`ll look into it to see if it has or not.

The E30s had a socketed ECU from the factory Ste - ie the chip could be pressed in / out as std

Excellent!

Brake pipes now done, rebuild on Sunday

Sounds like fun

Thanks andy for the help.

Cars now rebuilt, grill and splitter sprayed, lights wired and sprayed, almost MOT time

New horn fitted, lights alighned rest of grill fitted, wiring nice and tidy, alarm working and bumper sprayed.

All MOT work now done, book it in tomorrow.

[youtube]a69O7adj2-w[/youtube]

Its been a great week Ste, really good to do some short term stuff instead of my long term project. Thanks for letting me give you a hand.

Love the "working" Alarm - definitely got character that one

Let us know how the MOT goes Ste,
Good luck

Yerrrrr is right how did ye get on are kid ?????

Car now has a full MOT after 12 years off the road LOL!

And lol, did it pass?????

Of course