Phatputer

I fear for my car every time I go to the supermarket, always check the cars on either side for prior damage and current parking situation. Worst situation I have had was at my old house, parked outside due to no off street parking. Pre-driving inspection found the front guard stoved in, noted however there were no scrape marks whatsoever, so whatever did do the damage hit the guard straight on, pushed it in a good couple of cm. glancing across the road I notice that the neighbours cars who reverse out of their drive straight onto where my car was parked both had white paint marks on their rear bumpers. of course, he denied knowing anything about it.

Love the car, also love the shape of those Mtech2 wings, the one thing that is getting to me is the rear proportions due to the lack of rear valance, not to difficult to fix. Other than that, its a stunner

Are you set on the North Island? What industry are you looking at getting into / currently in Some places are better suited depending on what your area of expertise is Some of us Southern blokes (South Island anyway) would say keep away from Auckland, but that is more likely because we have never lived there ourselves I'm just jealous because all the good E30 deals end up being in the North Island

My 318 auto brake pedal has a nice solid feel to it, left foot braking in the auto fairly often, mainly started due to an idle issue which has since been resolved, never really gave up doing it, never any pattern to when though. the 325 manual, heal toe base of foot accelerator and toe on brake more often than the other way around.

Sorry, I did get a bit off track More what I was getting at was if you are looking at getting a particular car, check to see what things you should be looking for, often asking people who have owned the same car highlights areas which often cause issues. Common rust areas Common car faults Questions you should be asking the previous owner

Well, when you do finally set your heart on somthing, come and ask questions before you buy, mainly when the common things you should be looking for that may turn your "good buy" into an expensive experience. Well at least I have found that situation, owned a 318i e30 for about 5 years, lots of repair work done with things that do wear down over time , no gripes about it, just a couple of them should probably have been done well before I purchased the car. Finding the same thing with the 325i e30 I just purchased (albiet cheap) Steering rack end - swapped due to excessive play Fuel Lines - swapped due to perishing cracking Lower Control Arm Bushes - Swapped due to cracking / perishing Also on a recent trip to petrol station found the starter motor probably needs a re-furb / new solenoid, which I had to do on my other car already. All things that needed to be done, but had the car not been so cheap / not known about before purchase would have been frustrated as a budget for buying a car often doesn't include several hundred dollars worth of repair work straight out of the gate.

1987 318i Auto - Open Road being super easy on pedal = 15 - 20km p/ L - Open Road normal driving = 10 - 15km p / L - Open Road fun driving = 5 - 10km p / L Around town in Dunedin, too many hills to get any accuracy, but very very poor economy 1987 325i Manual - Just getting it on the road, so will figure that out soon

Thanks Chris, seems to go well Swapped out the handbrake, and threw on the spare set of wheels I had. Will give it a good clean out in the next few days and drop it down to my mechanic to have a nosy through, see if I can't get this thing back in working and legal order. By the way, found a dog leash in the rear seat, want me to drop that off too you ?

Wow, that really is impressive, is it as clean under the hood?

I wanted to keep the style of wheel relatively in line with the age of the car / chrome etc Thought they worked out alright Agreed that it wouldn't really work without the kit

Right, take this project back a year or two when I first got / painted / put the sideskirts etc on How the car looked prior to doing anything This is the kit I bought for the car (came via invers on trademe), I had been in the process of fiberglassing my own, but that got put on hold. Note, prefacelift kit for Hartge The long process of getting rid of the red Previous spoiler removed (still have this in the basement) Painting new spoiler Cleaning up the boot lid Boot lip painted - this was all done with spray cans Side Skirts Hartge Front that I didn't end up putting on, too much damage and body filler in it, also wasn't happy with the way it looked (also still have this if anyone keen) SideSkirts Mounted Front off, was a bit pointless in the end Outside after a wash

Before and after pictures, ill throw up the original kit prep and install when its not 1:45am

Quick intro, been lurking for years, had my E30 for years as well Picked up a new front valance for $1.50 (love online auctions) and decided it was an appropriate time to repaint the whole car. Background: 1986 E30 318i (pre-facelift) Euro Chrome etc etc Bilstein Shocks, with sport lows DTM Banzai wheels 15x8's 205x50 front, 225x50 rear Updates from stock: Many parts replaced in general maintenance Body Kit Side skirts + rear valance + Spoiler = Hartige Front valance = AC Schnitzer ============================================= New Front Valance, fiberglass repaired and primered Repainting front grill -> the chrome bits just clip off for anyone who didn't know The friend who owed me a few favours, who also happens to be a panel beater helping pull the car apart. Continued teardown The rear Spoiler getting a bit of a touchup About as far as we went in regards to pulling it apart for this quick paint Previous spoiler holes re-re-re-repaired, filled and rust proofed Sanded the previous paint down with 400 grit, didn't prime the whole car due to the almost identical paint going back onto it. Mmm, brushed on primer, nothing a bit of sanding doesn't fix Sanding, sanding, sanding... I did lots and lots of sanding Side skirts repainted Front and Rear Valance repainted Masking while waiting for paint to dry First coat - Note: always make sure you have a compressor up to the job, I didn't and although it turned out alright in the end, it made spraying hell Pissed off and waiting for the compressor to refill White, note compressor failure on roof, we got it sorted on the last spray Outside with masking off, first impression was.. well at least its white Parts back on the car enough that I can drive it, new badges Bad picture in failing light, but this was result of waiting a week then wet sanding with 1500, then cut and polish First photo with new wheels and in the sunlight. Road trip around central South Island, this one just outside Wanaka during airshow Next on the list: bit more work on the kit, want to make some slight changes to the rear valance, Interior -> completely overhaul / replace MOST IMPORTANT -> do something under the hood, replacement engine, just not 100% on what yet

Well, this is mine, and probably what the kit should have looked like.

Actually recently had the same issue with a low beam light, 1986 E30 Sealed Beam lights Can't be relay (as relay controls both low beams) Fuse was fine, checked them all Pulled out the drivers side, swapped into passengers side, confirmed blown low beam bulb Good thing is the Sealed Beam bulb is a standard 5 3/4" or 146mm circular 3 pin sealed beam light. So relatively cheap (picked up a couple for $25.00 + gst each) Replaced both due to second one looking like it was about to go and to make sure both were the same. Taking off the bonnet seems to be a bit excessive, the replacement can be done 90% from the front with the need to only open the bonnet to remove the clips from the light surround. Mind you, I have my fair share of head injuries from a failing bonnet strut. after the last injury I decided to replaced it for a new one from Trademe for $40.00

Would be keen for a look, I have a white e30 318i also in Dunedin, just waiting for an opportunity to do things to it.

Recently with my 318i I had the same issue, turns out it was just a split in the hose after the air/fuel sensor. Bit of tape later, and confirmed the problem fixed, now its just a case of tracking down or coming up with an alternative fix for it.