A small update on our BMW thread, not only do we have a 330d, 116d we now have an E30, 1989, 3201 SE, very few tin worms and a lot of history, the car is very straight and original.

 It is my sons car, he sold his Lupo and bought this, it included a road trip to Resolven, Neath.

 

Your son has good taste!

 

Pretty interesting to see the evolution/consistencies between the E30 and the later models I found - like the really simple method for holding the wishbone bush to the car (two bolts - so much easier to change than my Fabia was!). They're beautifully simple to work on too - stuff like the cambelts and general servicing are really simple, and a good place to learn on. (I'd never done a cambelt before, but managed it without any problems on my E30. On my Polo, I'd never have dared give it a go.)

Oh man I'm getting a serious hankering for a E30 at the moment, just found a few snaps of my old 318, loved it.

He is looking for bits and pieces for it already, first job is front shocks and track rods as the ones on the car are shot.  Upgrades are a Z3 short shifter and a 325i throttle body on the 320 inlet manifold, this improves torque according to the guru's on e30zone ( another forum for BMW types but not as good as Briskoda)

 

 I will get him to start a project thread when we get the car on Saturday.

I've just done my track rods - nice and easy It's a 30mm spanner joining them to the rack for reference. 

 

E30zone is a mixed bag. Loads of knowledge, and the Wiki is amazing, but the people/general atmosphere... not the best IMO.

We collected the E30 today, another lovely drive across country to the south of Wales, beautiful scenery, weather and a great drive in the 330d even with the trailer on  this car has some serious go about it, it pulls like a train.

 

 So, initial thoughts of track rods was a wrong diagnosis, it is a rubber disc that fits in the steering linkage that has fallen to pieces, a simple four nut and bolt fitment and a £10 part, job done, Liam has also gone back on his first statement of keeping it all OEM, he has ordered some coil overs so we are dropping her by 30 mm so she should look great and handle better as it floats now!

 

 Here we are loaded up and ready to head home, you can see the evolution of the 3 series, E30 on the trailer and E91 power house pulling it.

 

Both 3's

 

From the front

 

 From Behind

Ah man that so cool, I bet you got some looks from BMW enthusiasts along the way. Coilovers sound good, OEM+ would be the way to go for me, things like suspension will always need a freshen up at this age, decent Coilovers set to a nice height will be perfect.

Here are few pictures of the E30.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That looks clean!

 

Have you had the carpets up to check the floor pan?

 

Regarding the 'guibo' in the steering rack (also one in the propshaft) - it's not as simple as undoing those four bolts. The lower part of the 'column' has a rod that goes through the gubio and into the top part to locate it, meaning they've got to be separated to change them guibo. You might be able to do this without removing the rack, but I'm not sure. (Only two bolts hold the rack to the car + the track rod/hub connection.

 

This should explain what I mean: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1112-EUR-03-1989-E30-BMW-325i&diagId=32_0420

 

The e46/067 'clubsport' (although mine came of an 320td) rack is the best price:performance upgrade at the moment, if that's a path you wanna take. (3.0 turns vs 4.0 turns)

Carpets have been up and I have to say there are no horror stories under there, a few bits of surface rust that is all, not too bad.  Car has just passed an MOT by the previous owner although i find this a bit dubious as the steering column "guibo" is completely destroyed!  Ray Charles works at an MOT test station in Neath.

 

Steering rack won't be upgraded, just a simple fix of the flex joint.  This looks like a good challenge for a Saturday on the drive, thanks for your comments TriggerFish.

In addition to my last post, it rained heavy last night and I have just been back under the carpets and it is damp under there!  This might be because my drive is steep and car is nose down or it could be that the car is pretending to be a sieve. 

 

 Time will tell, one of the first jobs will be to remove the carpets completely to find out where the moisture is getting in, good news is there are no holes anywhere.

Check the rear light gaskets - it comes in there, and tracks down the boot into the cabin. Parts are about £16 from BMW and dead easy to fit.

 

Sprinkle some talc around and break the hose pipe out. Also worth checking the 'elephant trunk' for the heater too.

 

Good job you've caught it before it's caused any problems though.

This weekend will be a "Hunt the Water Leak" weekend, at the minute the E30 is hiding under a car cover.       I also think the fact that it is parked facing down a steep slope is adding to the issue.

 

 Talc is a good idea, I did not think of, I was going to shut Liam in the boot with a torch whilst I dowsed the car with a hose pipe, talc seems a bit more civilised.

Not as satisfying though surely? (For you, of course, not Liam!)

How's this going? Any progress?

UPDATE - We are a BW free zone!

 

 116d was replaced by a new Golf GTE - Company car so three years were up, fancied the Golf as low BIK.

 320i has been replaced by a Golf MK 2 driver - Son was struggling to run the 320i, it drank more than George Best. Reluctant swap.

330d has been replaced by a Kia Sorento!  Yes a Sorento. We have moved house and need to drive down a rough track to get to the house, the BMW was getting abused, it was like using a track car to enter Rally GB, so it has been traded for a cheap tractor.

What do you think of the GTE James? I got a GTD fairly recently and love it.

Would have gone GTE had the oportunity arisen...lot of performance for very little BIK.

What do you think of the GTE James? I got a GTD fairly recently and love it.

Would have gone GTE had the oportunity arisen...lot of performance for very little BIK.

GTE is a great car, lots of poke when in GTE mode (electric and petrol power) downside is that it only does 18-20 miles on electric, VW claim 30, also MPG is about 42 and not 166 as VW suggest!

 

 All that aside it is a GTI/GTD same car, sits a little higher but a great car.

GTE is a great car, lots of poke when in GTE mode (electric and petrol power) downside is that it only does 18-20 miles on electric, VW claim 30, also MPG is about 42 and not 166 as VW suggest!

All that aside it is a GTI/GTD same car, sits a little higher but a great car.

Sounds v good...for BIK alone its a win. Does yours have the Nav?

Im guessing thats the problem really....unless you are fortunate enough have a 20ish mile commute and can use it as a pure EV (assuming you can charge it too) or hold back on the loud pedal (which I imagine isnt easy) its probably not that efficient really....though 42mpg isnt bad really for a 204ps car :-)

I gather its got about 250kg of motor and battery pack to cart around too, necessary evil of course...think thats why the suspension is slightly different to accomodate the extra weight?

I think id struggle to make it work for me.....my commute is 84 miles..I could probably charge it at home but not at work.....but again Id do it anyway given it would more than half the BIK :-)

Charging isn't too bad, I can charge at work or home, also when driving in GTE mode the battery gets a top up too so on a long journey the petrol engine is on up hills and when accelerating and off when coasting or descending a hill this is when it charges up, you could alternatively select charge mode this uses petrol to drive the car and charge the battery, uses more petrol though.

 

 Spec, my car has LED headlights, full nav pack, chassis dynamics, adaptive cruise control, self park thing which I have used once just to see how good it is, I also have heated seats that are cloth, didn't know you could get this. Not a bad package.

Oh man, I didnt realise they were all going!  I can understand why though, especially you son, I had a 318i at 18 and had to flog it, to expensive to run, his time will come back around. All the best with the new motors. 

Thanks Matt, I have been there and done the BMW thing and to be honest, I do not agree that BMW are the ultimate driving machine, the 330d was a powerful car but dare I say, nothing special or extra ordinary, the 116d had the same issue after four visits to the dealer for repair and when it went off lease the issue was still there and went with the car, I know I can't blame BMW as it was the dealers lack of competence to resolve the issue, would I go back to a BMW, probably from a company car point of view but I don't think I would buy one with my hard earned cash.

 

 E30 320i had to go as it was such a money pit, hey on fuel and if you listened very carefully you could here the tin worms and metal moths digesting it from the ground up, too much for us to take on with UNI and work commitments and an inability to fabricate/weld.