Heya, Im Chris, 25 year old aircraft engineer, just brought myself a very well used 1985 M 323i coupe, with a close ratio 5 speed. Previously ive owned r32 skylines, GTZ corolla, and a porsche 944.
The cars not in toooo bad a shape for the 120,000+ Miles on the clock - bit of bog in the RH front gaurd, minor rust in the lower sill of the drivers door, rust under the badge on the bonnet and a touch under the spoiler. Some idiot has tried to paint it in his shed at some point and made a mess, so its going to need a total respray, No idea why it was painted as all the paint where the monkey hasnt sprayed (underbonnet, door sills etc looks mint). The shocks are all reallllllyyyyy stuffed and I think the springs have gone a bit saggy too (my mitzy v3000 handles better at the mo!),Id expect all the suspension bushes to be well koozed after 23 years as well. The diff ,seems to be an LSD , has a bit of a whine under heavy load so its probably on the way out as well. The gearbox feels very nice, but has a bit of slop in the linkages. Having a look underneath it looks like the rear gearbox seal is leaking and the engine crank seal too.
Ive got a few questions -
1) Is there a PDF version of the manual online? it didnt come with anything - Id just like to know which fuses do what and how much oil she takes - 5L?
2) What shock/spring combo is a good one but not too expensive, I had good experiences with koni adjustables on the 944 - is this a good way to go with the bimmer? King springs OK? Are nolathane bushes available and worth it? Currently its sitting on 15" 60/205's, Id like go to something like a 17" 215.
3) Wheres a good place to go to find E30 parts? What about a crowd who could rebuild my diff?
Thanks