1985 e30 - i bought a BMW from the other side of the pond.

[benwalsh91]

So after dreaming of road tripping across another country for many many years curiosity got the better of me.

after a slow day at work sitting on the computer reading many threads about cars and adventures and builds etc etc it got me looking on ebay at cars. and then the search changed slightly.

i saw someone had purchased a clean e30 in America on craigslist, infact a lot of threads started off as cheap cars they found in reasonable condition from this site. and depending on what state most of them said something that a 30 year old car in England couldn't... those magical two words that get us excited. "no rust".

so i thought, lets take a look... 

so i started a simple google search "California Craigslist Cars"

and after searching many many different types of cars, me being a BMW nut i always wanted an old 2002. low and behold i couldn't really find anything that would tickle my pickle. so i searched for the next one on the list. BMW e30. Although the American e30 was different to ours i sort of fell in love with the ugliness. 

and that was it, i knew i needed an early model USA e30 in my life, don't ask me why but i did. the 325i was reasonable but then i saw that letter than no BMW enthusiast really wants.... and thats the letter "e". but the more research i done and the more i got thinking, maybe an early model 325e in manual wasnt such a bad idea.

The 325e was BMW's answer to the 1979 oil crisis, using a high-efficiency, low-power, high-torque version of the M20 engine. this is a 2.7 litre engine which has a max power of 121bhp at a mind blowing 4,250 rpm. but also managed to get around 30mpg. not bad going for a 35 year old engine.

With the car not really being looked at to be a "racer" and a low rev limit they are not exactly used for drifting either i figured i would get a better chance of having a clean 325e than i would an "is" model.

so low and behold the search properly started without no real plan as to how i would get it home back to London...

then i found it, alpine white, coupe, early model, tons of maintenance work recently done. $1,500. 

with a few back and forth emails with the guy he seemed to be ok with me being an overseas buyer and i had a local friend who could come and collect it etc, so i basically said, tell me the technical details and answer all my questions, if the car checks out after my friend has seen it he will come by, give you cash and then it will be my problem, you don't need to worry about the car getting to me etc etc.

trying to figure out the logistics of this i got a text message in the middle of the night (for me) and he said, look i have purchased a new car but i do not have room for the e30, if your friend can collect it tomorrow i will let it go for $1,000 tomorrow to him, was now that day for me being 6 hours infront.

So i give my friend steve a call and said, look just go get the car for $1,000 and we will figure it out. 

so there it was... i now owned a rust free e30 coupe in California...

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

This was one of the only photos on the for sale add, i am not a gambling man, but i was all in!

got told it had "black interior" but no photos, and we know how trashed these can get especially living 35 years in the California sun.

but to a very nice surprise!!! very clean sport black leather seats with some bits missing, but the main bones are all there.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

so the for sale add only showed the drivers side (LHD car) but when my friend collected it the passenger side was a different story...

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

A little bit disheartened i was trying to be positive and figured being curse word off wasnt going to solve it.

thankfully there are a TON of e30s in california so i managed to find an alpine white door and a pair of "fenders" locally which my friend collected for me.


Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

one of the fenders is jewish racing gold and the other has what looks like someones head caved into it.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

is it just me or can anyone else see the scream mask in that dent?

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

The car came with a trunk full of parts, lots of spares and thankfully the missing door card. and an IS front lip.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

So, the car was purchased and i had an amazing friend who was helping me out massively with the car and also letting me store it on his family farm.

now the next chapter... telling the wife what i have done...

[mylittletony]

I'm in for this... Pretty sure I know what's planned for the engine!

You have the advantage of a more worn passenger seat being LHD. (assuming you're planning a RHD conversion)

How are you getting on with shipping?

[benwalsh91]

We had recently got married and was still planning our honeymoon.

how about... a cross country adventure.

so i tell Nicholl the idea that i have and she was actually a lot more on board with the idea than i expected!!! 

RESULT!

so realistically, how long is it going to take us to get the car from California to the East coast... well we could do it quickly, or we could take this opportunity as a once in a lifetime, so we look at VISAs and the longest one we can get is a 90 day travel VISA.

alright, 3 months will be more than enough, work will not let us just take the time so i guess its time to quit. 

yep, that's right, we both quit out jobs and got a 1 way ticket to California.

we had months to save and plan this trip so we started looking online and working out where we wanted to go, what states we wanted to see and most importantly what restaurants we wanted to eat at (it is america after all)

so after putting loads of pin drops on a map we came up with a route!!

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

but the big question, would the e30 survive the trip!?

my friend cleaned the car inside and out and had it parked next to his e36 m3 Dinnan spec (supercharged)

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

[benwalsh91]

Mar 26, 2020 10:18:08 GMT mylittletony said:

I'm in for this... Pretty sure I know what's planned for the engine!

You have the advantage of a more worn passenger seat being LHD. (assuming you're planning a RHD conversion)

How are you getting on with shipping?

I plan on keeping it LHD as i think it holds the memory of the story and being an American car i would like to keep it that way. i have considered a RHD swap though but i don't think i am going to do it.

we will get to shipping but we have a few more chapters before we get to that part

[Ritchie]

Sounds like a great adventure.
Do you know you can make a tasty 2.7 by plonking on a 2.5 M20 head, I'm sure the block needs decked and you will need a vernier cam pulley but it will result in a pretty lively lump.
It's been quite a while since I was into E30s in a big way so I can't quite remember all the details.
Have a look on E30Zone for more info.

[benwalsh91]

Mar 26, 2020 10:30:25 GMT Ritchie said:

Sounds like a great adventure.
Do you know you can make a tasty 2.7 by plonking on a 2.5 M20 head, I'm sure the block needs decked and you will need a vernier cam pulley but it will result in a pretty lively lump.
It's been quite a while since I was into E30s in a big way so I can't quite remember all the details.
Have a look on E30Zone for more info.

oh yesss i know all about the stroker and that is the plan, but i have heard you can get better results with using a euro/UK 323 head etc. so going to do plenty more research when that time comes. and also it WILL be on ITBs 

[alx]

Bookmarked!

All the ingredients of a good read.

AL.

[benwalsh91]

So, with no jobs and some plane tickets we where off!!

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

we flew into Oakland, CA which is right next to San Francisco, the car was kept at my friends farm which is between San Fran and Sacramento. Thankfully my friend steve works near to Oakland and we landed around the same time that he finished work (in a perfect world). 

but flights being flights we got delayed by almost 2 hours from leaving because someone didnt get to the plane as they was still at the bar. GGRRRR!!

so Steve had to hang around which i felt kind of crappy about him doing but he was there to collect us and took us to get In n Out and then we went to the farm

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

First impressions of the car... well it looked a lot cleaner and nicer in photos than in reality... but having a new car or a rental to do this trip would have been boring, right?

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

It was actually really hard to find some solid information on how i was actually going to register the car in my name without actually being a resident in the USA. i didnt want to forge any documents to say that i had an address in California etc etc but i found a small loop hole...

Instead of going to the DMV (which  i am sure we have all heard horror stories of) i found out that you can go to an AAA office (no not for alcoholics) where you can register a car. However, you still need evidence of residence in America to do this. but one of the forms of evidence is insurance cover which has your name at a USA address..

So, i went into AAA and i paid for breakdown cover, in my name living at Steves address. with this paperwork i was then able to get insurance for the car using my breakdown cover as proof of address for the insurance.

i was then able to use the insurance documents as proof of address to register the car in my name at a USA address.

yes the AAA office where very lenient and they clearly knew i didn't legally live there but it was a small town and i just don't think the clerk really cared to question it. 

paperwork in one hand, car key in the other we are good to go!!!

Rest of the day was spent just chilling with my friend Steve and his girlfriend. Steve had helped me out massively with getting the e30 for me, storing it and sorting multiple stuff out for me. I honestly could not have done this without him. This is what always impresses me with the internet and being car enthusiasts it doesn't matter if you hadn't ever met before and live half way across the world it's so easy to form great friends over one mutual interest and I can not say I know of any other hobby that greatly brings people together like this one. I am sure every true car enthusiast has life long friends and stories about people they have met along the way through just a mutual interest in cars. Without friends like that platforms like this wouldn't be as popular and helpful.


After we sorted the car at AAA we went for a walk around the outlets of course got some Vans shoes for the trip, Krispy Kreme for donut and coffee, when in America do stereotypical American things. We then finally went to some amazing smoke house in Sacramento for dinner called the Tank House. And drove through old sac, unfortunately didn't have time to get out and explore or get to many photos as it had been crazy busy day and I didn't want to be out taking loads of photos when I was chilling with my friend who had helped us out massively so left the camera in the car and my phone in the pocket and just appreciated the day without technology. Was refreshing for sure!!


Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

but the next day we are on our own, the first destination, San Fran!!

[benwalsh91]

Mar 26, 2020 11:01:53 GMT alx said:

Bookmarked!

All the ingredients of a good read.

AL.

hold tight, its a long journey, but do you guys want all the details including our stops and views and potential non car related stuff (but still part of the story)

or do you want strictly just e30 things?

Also, my messages are always open for anyone who has any questions on planning a trip like this, what it costs and also anything else that they may want to know.

[benwalsh91]

Now, first wake up in America, and what do you choose for breakfast, take a quick look on google maps and lets see whats closest.

Oh, is that an iHop at the end of the road. Well it would be rude not to right?

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

belly already heavier and ready for trying to figure out LHD and shifting with my right hand... 

The original plan for this day was to go to San Francisco, we are currently staying in Los Banos (this literally translates to "the toilet"), We decided to take the scenic route to the coast via Santa Cruz, we got to Santa Cruz and decided we would just chill out take the day as it comes up enjoy the beach and the coastal roads, Pacific Coastal Highway to be exact.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

and this sweet sweet nectar gave me all the sugar i needed to do many long drives.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

oh, i forgot to mention, the air con in the car... doesnt work!!

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

kept the day nice and slow just pottered about and when back in the car we headed north with the intention to go to San Fran.

we found a pretty cool little lighthouse to get a photo with

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

and a few shots along the coast. this is such a beautiful part of the world and an amazing road to visit on the first day!!

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

The car is creating some weird weird noises coming from the back. Something is definitely loose back there but i do not have any tools on my currently, In a few days i will be at a friends place who has a lift and is good with e30's so we shall be having a good look over the car.



The Power Steering was empty of fluid so more than likely has a leak somewhere, it was making some horrible noises, i have topped it up with fluid and has sorted the noise issues but will keep an eye on the levels to make sure these don't drop/have a leak.



The passenger side has a bronzit fender of which i have a pair at my buddies house so will be replacing both of them, also the side trim came off the door but its in the trunk i havn't totally lost it so will be fitting that when i get to his too, just need to go to BMW to get the clips to attach it back properly.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

found a pretty cool Corvair, Americans answer to the aircooled beetle.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

[mylittletony]

Give us the whole hog please.

I did a similar (ish) trip back in 2005, stayed more southerly on the West and went North to Indianapolis and Chicago en route to NYC, but otherwise very reminiscent.

[benwalsh91]

Full hog it is!! you got me craving some pulled pork now!



Our body clocks are still quite messed up as England is 8 hours ahead of California in time we keep waking up silly early, we decided to take advantage of this and when we naturally woke we decided to drive up to San Francisco and spend the day there.

Took a nice chilled drive up, the car is averaging 26.7mpg which i think is pretty good.

We got the San Francisco at a good time and took advantage of this, the first stop on the list was the famous Lombard Street. It was early and kinda empty so went around a few times, i kicked the Mrs out the car and told her to grab some photos (typical tourist)

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Taking advantage of the low levels of traffic we then headed to the Golden Gate Bridge, Obviously i was driving so couldn't get any photos going over it.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

We then headed up to a look out point onto of one of the surrounding hills of the bridge, i actually took a wrong turn and ended up there which was super cool and worth it. We took in the sites and just took a moment up there and embraced it.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

We headed up to Lands End and went for a small hike, didn't get many photos but saw this camper van.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

I refused to pay the premium parking that is in San Francisco so we circled the city for a while finding street parking, damn them hills are crazy steep, i have heard they are steep and photos of them really do not do them justice, the car really done well and i was surprised, i honestly thought it was going to let go on some of them hills but curse word she done good!!

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

We headed to Pier 39 to hit up the tourist spots.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

And we came across these noisy boys as we went around the pier

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

and some random street art.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Ever wondered how they turn the trams around, nope me either but we saw them doing it anyway.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

We went to the Painted Ladies houses, honestly waste of time and i would have been a little curse word if we paid to see them. Now, i wonder if the first thing you see in this photo was the first thing that i saw...

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

The end house is up for sale at the moment for $2.2 million if anyone is interested?

[urbanaw]

This looks so surreal! Good for you both, enjoy!

[crockpot]

Cracking road trip!
Something we want to do now we are retired. We had planned on this year, so glad we decided not too!

Post away.

[07lilredwagon]

I'm in for the whole story, myself!....welcome to the states. If you need any help in the NY area (though rather a hub for COVID19 at the moment, we are well out of the city) let me know. I have a bunch of BMW nuts and bolts and stuff!.

Always wanted an e30...(I do have 1/2 an e36 that I made in to a trailer. I'm calling it an e18. Does that count?)

Best of luck on your travels, and of course, be smart with the hand washing, ect. take it seriously....

Yeah, the Acrua NSX is pretty cool. and, isnt that the street they filmed MRS Doubtfire on?

JP

[benwalsh91]

thank you for the comments!

Crackpot, we actually joked around and said that when we retire we will do it all over again! thankfully you didn't go out there in the current climate! would not have been the best experience.

07lilredwagon, i love an e30 and have always wanted one but trying to find a decent one over here is rather hard and most seem to be riddled with rust, with you being in the North East i am sure you are well aware of them problems.

I have had quite a few e36's over the years and i am happy they are not getting the recognition they deserve!! trailer or no trailer, it sounds good to me!!

thankfully, we are actually back in England now and have completed the trip. I can not confirm or deny if the car actually made it back here. you guys will need to keep following along to find out.

[benwalsh91]

So over the next couple of days we are going to Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite, we decided to head closer to the area and grab a hotel, we got up when we got up today with the understanding that we are just going to take the day as it comes. Took a nice chilled drive over the Sonora taking the back roads once again staying off the Interstates.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

We got to the hotel quite earlier, a lot earlier than our check in time so we went and grabbed some food and went to explore, we came across some cool town which has a lot to do with old trains, so i will dump a load of photos from whilst we was there of the cool things they had.


We later came on to realise that this was something to do with the set to back to future. 


Someone order a Cummings Crate motor?

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

I do apologise i do not really know much about trains so i could not comment on any of that. but regardless, they where really cool to look around and have quite a free reign to look around the site. you would never get away with doing that here in England, health and safety would go mental!!

There was this super cool Chevy sitting just down the road, i didn't want to get too close as i know where are out in the sticks of California and didn't want to risk getting shot.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

and this clean old Ford

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Now, leading on from the Delorean there was also some real movie props there from the film!!



Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

[mrbounce]

What a fantastic idea and one to really last in the memory! I loved being in California - we stayed in Alameda and did San Francisco, Alcatraz, Yosemite, Sacramento, Route One down to Santa Cruz then back on Route 9 (awesome road). Sadly we only had a week there and missed a fair few things but we did make that week count.

We found an awesome little Saloon Bar on the way back from Yosemite called Louie's Place at a small town called La Grange on Highway 132.

Strangely we also found an old Ford, this time in a Hooters car park and we also took practically the same pic of the cable cars being turned round. However, it's on my big hard drive so have a pic of me in front of one instead!





I am in for further updates!

[Woofwoof]

Brilliant thread! Bookmarked.

[benwalsh91]

looking good Mrbounce. You are actually not a million miles away from me from Felixstowe, i am down in Tiptree.

thank you Woofwoof.

now for the next installment which will be the last for the night...