BMW E30 Touring - bargain buy!

[polo3]

Hi there,

For now I'll keep it brief as I wanted a place to keep a progress blog, I'm aiming for the car to be finished by the end of August.
I bought it Saturday but hoping for some quick progress

Anyway here's some details.
Been sat for 3 years
Last MOT in 2011
1.8 automatic (this will be changed at some point later down the line)
Replacement engine on 80,000km
Its lived in Spain from 2003-2011 driving back years for an MOT
New tyres, windscreen and wishbones

I approached the owner who lives in Spain about the car 6 months ago, said he'd take £600 for it he doesn't live in England so see his daughter about it. I was curious sent him a counter offer which he accepted..
Due to a job change I was off to Faenza in Italy so couldn't take the car. I messaged the guy upon my arrival back home as I have a new job with an F1 team back in the UK, to my delight his daughter was selling the house and needed the BMW shifting.
£150 later she's mine! Putting it in for an MOT next weekend after a service to see how it gets on.
Here's the car anyway.

Before a clean covered in moss, and very flat paint!


After a clean, it will be getting machine polished too


i know its nothing amazing but I'm hoping to make something of it..
The plan



Cheers

[fer4l]

Plenty to be made of that - we approve!

Cheers

Matt

[retroade]

£150? Bargain of the day, especially as it looks pretty solid. Much rust under the surface or is that as good as the top?

Fingers crossed it goes through the ticket without too much pain.

[polo3]

Thanks

It has a bit of water inside the boot by the rear arch (standard e30 place) I haven't had it on a ramp but from what I can see sliding under it it's solid! I'll update after the MOT and hope it's as good as I think it is.

It has a rust bubble on the windscreen seal on the bottom dead centre and a dent in the two passenger doors, nothing to bad though!

I couldn't resist at £150! Seeings as it fired straight up when we jump started it, the battery was dead

[🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧]

brilliant find. keeping it 4 cylinder or going 6?

[polo3]

I'd like to say 6, but first port of call is converting it to manual which I need to look into then I can move on to changing it to a 6 cylinder lump later

[polo3]

Found some treasure in my local scrapyard

[🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧]

party time.... i get into a fever whenever i find scrapped 30`s at the local breaker.....makes me wanna plunge back into the moneypit. I would love put an m10 into a touring and turbo it big time.

[andrewbaran]

LUCKYYYYYY! I vote 318is swap! You've got a good starting point with the Touring - rear discs and 51mm front struts

And most importantly - NO SUNROOF!

[retroade]

I bet the water's coming in through the rear light clusters, but if you know E30s you'll already know that.

Manuals are for saloons and coupes, cabs and tourers are built for auto cruisers. Keep the auto, drop in a six pot and slam.

[Dan P]

£150?! what a bargain. personally feel that the touring versions look far cooler than the saloons

[polo3]

Thanks everyone, just had the MOT,

It passed!!! No advisory just needed a brake light bulb ha what a result!

This was a legitimate MOT as well!

[bazzateer]

Excellent news! Good choice. I'm running around in an E36 320i Touring with the 5 speed manual. Amazingly smooth engine although not as torquey low down as I expected.

If I were you I'd be looking for a big 6 and manual and do it all at once.

[generaldogsbody]

What a bargain! Did you used to work for Scuderia Toro Rosso? (As they are based in Faenza.......)

[retroade]

Nice one on the ticket. £150 for an E30 with a full ticket, now that really is a bargain.

Right, M20 or M50, or maybe leftfield and sling in a big diesel and a chip. You work in F1? Obviously a smart chap, how about a turbo'd 4 pot? Few E30 turbos knocking about and the conversion's well documented.

[polo3]

I did indeed work for Toro Rosso, although only in composites (making everything that's made from Carbon Fibre) I'm now at Mclaren..

Anyway.. I'm not to sure what route to go down with the engine, first port of call is getting it to look aesthetically pleasing as the standard look is doing nothing for me. BC coilovers and some nice wheels then I like the idea of going for a 6 pot weather I pinch one from an e36 or stick to an E30 version I'm yet to decide. Simply because I'm not sure how far I'm going to take this only had it 2 days haha

Cheers again it was a lucky find

[07lilredwagon]

glad you kept after it...what a great score!

JP

[🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧]

m10 with turbo from a lorry(massive) lol.... wait for the boost to kick in......

[Stu]

Bargain! Looking forward to seeing how this progresses :-)

[sparkysparks]

Good job on the mot. Just needs slamming now. I look forward to seeing this on the road.