Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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finally managed to pick this up the other day, off stew on here. its a very, very late E30 touring- regd. march 1994. theyd been selling E36s for well over two years at that point, so it must have been a 'get the bloody thing off the forecourt' type deal as the E36 touring arrived. its quite weird spec, youd expect the smallest engined car in the range to be pretty base spec, but it picks up a lot of useful stuff being a late touring (they all had 6cyl brakes/struts) and being LUX spec. its got front fogs, brake ducts, oddly for an entirely grey interior it has black vinyl door cards, leather steering wheel, electric front windows, electric mirrors, metal tilt/slide sunroof. now, most people buy an engine donor for their project- i bought this car as a chassis donor for an engine id already bought but more about that later basically, i was after a good clean shell i could mount my engine and box in, i didnt want to have to do loads of welding, but i knew the suspension/wheels/steering would be getting gone through at the same time. interior wasnt massively important. this car was perfect- way cleaner in the important areas than cars over twice the price. but no-one seems to want it as it was a 316 spazomatic. throw in a leaky steering rack meaning no MOT and it mean people really didnt want it! id describe it as 'giffer spec'. obvious old man car from the parking scrapes, couple with a grubby interior that smells of cigarettes and pensioners. anyway, have some pics, on the lovely mismatched wheels that were thrown on it move it- quality blindside parking dent on the rear door- will be replace rather than fix i reckon- *lovely* interior- the only rust ive found so far on the shell- the rest is really clean- similar smaller dent on drivers side. again probably easier to replace than repair- need on o dem- usual tailgate bubbles, but not too bad yet- surprisingly clean rear valance/pockets- GIFFER- just in case you forget. they appear to be wheel/steering wheel centres- clean front wings mind, once id pulled the mudflaps off and jetwashed the arches out behind them- GIFFER- POWERHOUSE- although that looks like a box full of ballache. no fob for it and random sensors all over, so that will have to go- but yeah, overall, WAY above expectations for a £300 base car. added bonus of it only being about 40 miles away too. not the greatest colour (laguna green), but it could be worse, it could be red! E30s are one of those cars i think you buy on condition not colour these days anyways, still would have been nice if it was black or white. more on the plans later....
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Last Edit: Oct 15, 2014 9:29:48 GMT by Dez
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Oct 15, 2014 11:25:38 GMT
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always wanted a Boston Green 325i E30. Deffo on my wish list.
Can't wait to hear your plans!
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-( 10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily 03 Import Forester STi - Sold 98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-( 99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold 02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX 88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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Oct 15, 2014 11:25:47 GMT
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looks like a nice motor for £300, i've seen the prices steadily increasing over the last couple of years and i'm wondering where it's going to stop
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Oct 15, 2014 11:39:16 GMT
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I need to get an e30 back in my life and the touring is looking like the logical choice. Interested to see where you go with this!
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8tee8
Part of things
Posts: 288
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Oct 15, 2014 11:46:36 GMT
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So unusual to see an e30 these days with front seats that aren't in tatters
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Oct 15, 2014 18:34:26 GMT
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yorkebar, ive noticed the same. e30s used to be dirt not that long ago, loads of sub 500 quid snotters with T+T around. hard to find anything under a grand on the road now. 8tee8, these ones are no diffferent! look closely at the drivers seat back, its been reupholstered in a different fabric, and theres various other repairs too. i plan to change them, preferably for black half leather. my plans will be detailed soon enough- ive got a LOT of parts waiting
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Oct 15, 2014 19:20:34 GMT
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Ooooh, Dez thread.
/bookmark
/refresh
/refresh
/refresh
*n
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Top grammar tips! Bought = purchased. Brought = relocated Lose = misplace/opposite of win. Loose = your mum
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Oct 15, 2014 19:53:20 GMT
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These are a great looker I think. The angle of the tailgate is what makes an estate and these have it spot on. As do the Rover 400 tourer and Alfa 33 sportwagon. The Mk1 Renault Laguna estate has got it as wrong as it is possible to get it.
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1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 Mazda 929 Coupé 1986 Mazda 929 Wagon 1979 Mazda 929 Hardtop 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 1989 Subaru 1800 Wagon 1982 Hyundai Pony 1200TL 2-dr 1985 Hyundai Pony 1200 GL 1986 Maserati 425 Biturbo 1992 Rover 214 SEi 5-dr 2000 Rover 45 V6 Club 1994 Peugeot 205 'Junior' Diesel 1988 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel Saloon 1992 Talbot Express Autosleeper Rambler 2003 Renault Laguna SPEARS OR REAPERS
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Oct 15, 2014 20:03:24 GMT
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These are a great looker I think. The angle of the tailgate is what makes an estate and these have it spot on. As do the Rover 400 tourer and Alfa 33 sportwagon. The Mk1 Renault Laguna estate has got it as wrong as it is possible to get it. Totally agree there, XBol. I really dislike the fashion of a "tacked on" back end like the Laguna estate. The e30 Touring is a really well resolved design. We were talking at the Gathering about how good e30 Tourings looked and someone said that it was built by a BMW engineer in his spare time. His bosses liked it so much when they saw it, they went into production.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Oct 15, 2014 20:04:41 GMT
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it wont be that quick penski, ive still got a chevy apache in bits on the ramp preventing progress at the mo! plus, a few more bits to buy. not much though, ideally i need it on the road within about a month.
boll, i know what you mean. especially with these and the rover. even if in truth, a touring isnt really an estate. its arguably less useful than your average hatch, the 'WTF?!' look on peoples faces the first time they see you open the boot and the lights stay with the car is pretty funny though.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Oct 15, 2014 20:08:23 GMT
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and i just had to go google the laguna. afterthought much? ive seen home done estate conversions that look less thrown together!
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Oct 15, 2014 20:16:33 GMT
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We were talking at the Gathering about how good e30 Tourings looked and someone said that it was built by a BMW engineer in his spare time. His bosses liked it so much when they saw it, they went into production.
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1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 Mazda 929 Coupé 1986 Mazda 929 Wagon 1979 Mazda 929 Hardtop 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 1989 Subaru 1800 Wagon 1982 Hyundai Pony 1200TL 2-dr 1985 Hyundai Pony 1200 GL 1986 Maserati 425 Biturbo 1992 Rover 214 SEi 5-dr 2000 Rover 45 V6 Club 1994 Peugeot 205 'Junior' Diesel 1988 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel Saloon 1992 Talbot Express Autosleeper Rambler 2003 Renault Laguna SPEARS OR REAPERS
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Oct 15, 2014 20:21:35 GMT
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a one pic update of the litte job i did today. ive been doing little bits to tidy it up/remove unwanted wibblepoo before i tear into it properly, yesterday i took off all the mudflaps (got luckly with only one pop rivet added!) as they were split, tatty and hanging off, and jetwashed the inner arches out. i also pulled off the extra BMW logos next to the side repeaters and T-cutted the glue off, and pulled those door reflectors off too. today, i removed the 'sigma'. obviusly I'm not gunna show exaclty what i did, but it was pretty easy. ive had a previous bad experience where a 'derelict' alarm system/immobiliser decided to randomly re-arm itself after years of inactivity, so old alarms like that that are still live give me the fear. especially as there was no key fob with the car. so, i tore it all out and renstated the stock wiring. to be fair, whoever installed this did a good job, it was all soldered nicely and well taped up and tucked away. the fact i could of bypassed it in about 30 seconds with a paperclip kinda negates its usefulness though i guess. but yeah, in the bin, everything tidied up and back as it should be. i think, i may also inadvertently started to answer another question too though, as to why the central locking doesnt work (well, apart from it being an E30 and they're known for it), as the alarm is cut into the central locking circuit. stew mentioned when i picke dit up that he thought the central locking module was actually missing, but as i don't know what i looks like or where it should be, i cant confirm or deny that one without some research, but i guess they may have used the alarm to override the original unit, and so removed it?
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Last Edit: Oct 15, 2014 20:29:55 GMT by Dez
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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so, lets get onto the more interesting stuff- my shopping list. first on the list, a steering rack. why fix when you can upgrade instead? a e30 rack is 4 turns lock to lock. theres various quicker options, the quickest being the z3 rack at 2.7 turns, but they're all pretty old now, not to mention pricey. the next quickest is the E46 clubsport, at 3 turns. what your looking for is the purple tag. like so- £50 delivered, baaaaargin. i'll probably throw some new trackrods on it when it goes on, as you have to use the e30 ones and they had an advisory at last test for slight play.i grabbed some e36 linkage parts too off a breaker which were essentially free, as apparently then help when it comes to fitting. then, seeing as its a 'big strut' car, (51mm or something), it would have been rude not to buy some coilover bits as well- these are compbrake ones, much better quality that rally design in my opinion- the sleeves are black passivated and the collars/caps black anodised, rather than everything being bare on the RD ones. cheaper too, buy about a fiver. stealth black too... i thought i had some appropriate springs, but i cant find em now, so will have to order some. the shocks are the next part of the puzzle, cos if you know anything about e30s, you'll know how ridiculously long the struts are. these are for a audi 80/90/coupe, which are identical in body diameter, but 3" shorter. you literally chop you struts down 3" and these drop straight in=MERR LERWS. i have also made one other, slightly larger purchase. its a M51 2.5 TDS motor, originally from a E34 but then briefly fitted into an E36. this is good because it comes with the E34 sump but the E36 mounts, which is apparently what i need to make it fit. its manual too- with a brand new quickshift kit, and proports to have a new clutch as well but ive not checked that out yet. its also got a EGR delete setup, and a front mount oil cooler kit, as you can see. oh and the ECU is chipped with an endtuning chip, claiming 185-ish ponies with a decat and proper intercooler. the guy who i got it off seemed pretty gutted to be breaking the car, but pleased it was going in something interesting- he gave me new oil and filter with it, and enough ATF to do a gearbox fluid change too. he also gave me the rad, the e34 'high mount' turbo manifold with a turbo that looks brand new, plus the appropriate exhaust back to the back end of the gearbox, in stainless and decatted, various intercooler pipework, and all the wiring loom to make it run as well. some more pics- this little lot set me back as much as the car did, but seeing as its such a complete package with some tasty bits to boot, i was pretty happy with that.
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Last Edit: Oct 16, 2014 9:40:49 GMT by Dez
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yay finally a new 'Dez thread' ! always liking your progress cant wait to see how this pans out
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Oct 16, 2014 15:47:48 GMT
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Glad to see this one got saved.
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1995 Range Rover 4.0 1995 BMW 320i Saloon 1989 BMW 325i Touring 1991 Mercedes 300TE-24 1991 Mercedes 190e 1970 Sunbeam Imp Sport
1966 Valiant 200 Custom 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 Station Wagon
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Oct 16, 2014 17:13:53 GMT
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There's an almost identical E30 touring near me, late model Laguna Green 318i on BBS wheels. It was parked the other day with a canoe on the roof rack and just looked cool as. I'm always looking when I drive past to see if there's a for sale sign in the window, I'd love it as a cheap, very useful daily. M3 and Sports aside, you can't beat an E30 cab, but the touring has a certain something and I'd take one over a saloon anyday.
As for alarms had a nightmare with my Del Sol. It has a dealer fitted immobiliser that still works perfectly but it also had an aftermarket alarm. Tried fixing the key fob but the pcb was shot, all the tracks had lifted, and without schematics I couldn't identify some of the components so decided to bin it. Bad move. Despite tracing all the wire out and removing the siren still went off. Eventually sorted it, but it still triggers the hazards if the battery is low, sometimes when you're driving which bemuses other drivers around you. Recently fitted a new battery which seems to have cured the problem.
Anyway good luck with the project. Love a good E30 so I'll be watching with interest.
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🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧
Part of things
If in doubt... flat out !
Posts: 975
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Another one saved. Does it keep out the rain or harvest water in the rear wheel wells....
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`99 BMW 528i auto - current `01 Merc C320 - Gone `01 Forester S-Turbo - Sold `89 BMW 320i Convertible - Sold(shoulda kept it ) `88 Toyota MR2 T-Bar - Sold `89 BMW 325i touring - Sold `89 BMW 535i - Let her go too early `85 BMW 320i 2 door - Rust = character `00 Subaru Impreza Turbo wagon - Sold (engine failure) `93 BMW 325i - Sold
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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ade, tourings have alwyas been the one for me when it comes to e30s. prefer em over all others. what does strike me is how fast theyve disappeared round here though. i only know of one e30 thats jsut a 'normal car' for someone. all others are either in the hands of enthusiasts, or gone.
i deliberatley parked it in a promenent position in the curse word down rain the other day to test it out. I'm gunna check all the carpets today, but afaik it doesnt leak. i was a bit worried about the sunroof leaking as the handle is broken and the seal don't look great, but it seems ok so far.
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quackshot
Posted a lot
...friggin' cars...
Posts: 1,354
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Oct 17, 2014 10:30:38 GMT
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Remember this old wibblepoo box? in fairness it was quite clean, shame it developed that random 'not starting' issue and sacked it off. Was about the same price if I recall. Only thing that annoys me is that the lights interfere with the hatch opening. I still think you should make the 3 door wagon you were thinking about back then, only 5 years ago mate-camera phones haven't improved that much have they! STOP PRESS EDIT!!! Didn't this have the god awful badly stuck on wood effect vinyl?!
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Last Edit: Oct 17, 2014 10:32:18 GMT by quackshot
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