New toy: 325i Tourer

[spiny]

My subaru is nearlty out of MOT and needs a few tyres and possibly a CV joint, so will be in the for sale bit as soon as I clean it, so for a replacement I will hopefully be buying this tomorrow:



this photo looks a bit odd as I moved when I took it and my camera phone got all out of shape



belongs to a guy I work with, I'm borrowing it today to see if I get on with it, which I am so far

I've checked and it's a cam belt engine (which was done 15k miles ago) is there anything I need to know about these ?
it's a 2.5 straight six manual with 98k on the clock, and it is quite rapid mega stiff clutch thoo, though that may be me getting used to driving an auto for the last nine months

[thebaron]

Great cars, I had the red one you can see in my pic for a couple of years while I lived in Poland. Sound amazing and you can free up a little bit more power with a simple chip change. I drove it across the continent a number of times up to a max of 240km/h (indicated) but fairly unstable at that! Great mile muncher and huge fun when you get on it in the twisties

Not to be pimping another forum but E30zone is good for these.

Check the scuttle, front wings, rear arches and battery tray for rust. Also, check the rear dampers are still good and make sure all of the check panel lights go out. These all seem to drop a little oil from the sump but nothing to worry about.

I really want mine back but after I decided it was a little too unwieldy for the rallying and autotesting I do I sold it to a guy who brought it to France as a Holiday Home car.

[spiny]

cool all the check panel lights go out as they should, but the 'brake shoes low' warning is on all the time, the guy selling it says he's changed the pads, and as i've worked with him for about ten years, I believe him , but the light is still on. is this a common fault, or something a bit of black tape will solve ?

I was going to ask about the 'chips' on ebay for ~20 quid, I've always been wary of stuff like that, but do they do the job then ?

[thebaron]

e30 zone wild chip was the one I went for and it defo made a difference, raised the rev limiter as well. Not going to shake the world but I believe 7-10 hp.

It could just be a knackered sensor, the temp one on mine went and as you say, the black tape job sorted it.

[Gem]

Lovely cars! Not that i'm biased

[rob0r]

E30s are great cars, very highly recommended by me! My brake pad light is always on, I never connected the wires up again I think, doesn't bother me enough to sort it! Might be worth whipping the wheels off just to check the pads.

I chipped my E30 318is with a chip from "Evolve" who advertise (or used to) on E30zone, I'm not really sure if it did anything as I hadn't driven the car for a long time before I chipped it. But they've had good results, reasonably priced too (got mine for £40).

These are pretty hardy cars, but the head will crack if overheated, don't ask me why I know...

That looks like a nice car, is it sterling silver? I have one of a similar silverness...

[messenjah]

the pad wear sensor light on a touring will more then likely be the one on the driver side rear wheel new sensor is £13 from the dealer every touring ive had it was that sensor with a broken wire where it rubs against the back edge of the suspension arm

ive got some smoked side repeaters you might want too

[surprisingskoda]

What messenjah said re: brake pad warning. It's usually a fault with that sensor - if not due to pads, or wire rubbing through, often it's due to being knocked or mis-fitted during the pad change. Common thing that.

[spiny]

cheers chaps, i'll investigate when I get a chance.
Not sure on the colour, all I know is that the front wings are rattle canned which is why they aren't as shiny as the rest of the car

[surprisingskoda]

Wings are bolt-on anyway, so just wait until they rust out and stick another set on. Shouldn't be hard to get a colour matched pair too as the other variants have the same wings and lachs (assuming its lachs) is fairly common...

[sarkie83]

lovely looking e30, but like a few other peopel on here, I'm biast :-)

[spiny]

I didn't realise that have such a following

[Acme]

Keep a spare fuel pump relay in the glovebox. May stop you being stranded one day and they're only a few quid.

[spiny]

Sept 27, 2010 11:35:45 GMT Acme said:

Keep a spare fuel pump relay in the glovebox. May stop you being stranded one day and they're only a few quid.

the parts list shows this as a generic 40amp one, is that right ? if it is, I probably have one spare already

[sarkie83]

Sept 27, 2010 11:35:45 GMT Acme said:

Keep a spare fuel pump relay in the glovebox. May stop you being stranded one day and they're only a few quid.

i'd keep a spare fuel pump as well - having now replaced 3 in the past year!