Tidy30

I have the blue coolant temp sensor and the brown gauge sensor. You might be onto something, I unplugged both sensors and jiggled the wires around the other morning and the car started first pop! But then went straight back to the same issues. Need to try again to confirm if this is really a thing... I recall getting new blue sensors in the recent past, so it might be wiring related. Not too sure what an easy way to diagnose that would be... Edit: can anyone point me to what the readings should be on the ECU plug? I will take it off this weekend and have a go at reading the values reaching the ECU. This should help with the MAF too

Hello friends, I have been having some starting issues with my E30 for the last little while. Here are the following symptoms, and a little update at the end from today which might narrow things down. Please have a look below and let me know what you think it might be: Engine needs to crank for like 5+ seconds with my foot 30% on the accelerator before it is able to start Only marginally better when the engine is warm A whole bunch of very fuelly smoke comes out from the exhaust when it starts (exhaust smoke looks and smells "regular" after driving a while though) Engine can sputter slightly for maybe 1-2 seconds when gently accelerating from stand still When moving slowly in crawling traffic, sometimes can hear motor revs slightly modulating/pulsing, going up and down Rough idle When 3-point-turning into parking spot, during the 2nd turn when the car changes direction from fwd/back with low revs, very rarely the engine can die/stall out Fuel economy is pretty poor. Went very roughly 400km on a 60L tank of fuel, so around 15L/100km. I haven't driven my E30 in a long while but I remember 10-12L/100km as a ballpark economy figure Now for the potentially informative clue today: I had a feeling my issues are fuel related, so I swapped out my fuel filter this afternoon as it was long overdue. Following a youtube guide, I took out the fuel pump relay and started the car. Without the pump the car quickly clears out the fuel in the line so I'm not drenched when I take off the old filter. After taking the old one out (and getting slightly drenched in the residual fuel) and putting the new one in, the lines are obviously very empty of fuel prior to starting the engine. Turning the key and expecting another 5+ second beating before it starts, I was ecstatic when the engine started 2nd crank! No staring issues at all! I ran it for about 10 seconds and switched it off. Attempt number 2 was also very smooth and successful! I drove to the petrol station with the hugest grin, beaming!! My long term problem was finally fixed!! However, after a 5min drive and a refuel, the engine was back to it's old 5+ crank battle from before. Same with the slight sputter when gently accelerating. TLDR and my amateur thoughts: Something is causing my car to inject waaaayy too much fuel when starting? (Potentially just all the time). Car struggles to start for ages and when it finally does there is a big cloud of fuelly smoke. When I emptied the fuel lines today the car started no problem. But after driving around perhaps the lines are filled again and the car gets too much fuel again to start easily? Does this sound like something you know? Would greatly appreciate any hints and tips. My precious E30 has been a bit of a concern for a while, and now I'm commuting again it's something I'd like to iron out asap. Cheers in advance for the help guys! 😄 Edit: My car also had this weird additional hose sticking out into the air. I'm pointing at it on the right. The photos are looking up into the bottom of the car. This hose wasn't in the E30 video I watched. But I read somewhere the larger fuel tanks have an additional line or something?

What luck, I only need the right hand corner (drivers side). There's no rust in the centre section and extremely minimal rust on the left hand corner. Just to confirm, you are talking about part number 3 in the pic below right? I'll send you a pm if so. Cheers!

I ended up getting one from Gavin at EuroItalian! Works well and arrived super quick 😊

A few spots of rust in my rear chrome bumper. Wondering what the going rate for one is nowadays? Cheers 😊

Actuator seized up and the passenger door no longer unlocks. I managed to finally take it out, free it up and lubricated it, but after a few weeks working it has seized again, so I guess it's time to look for a replacement. If you can point me to somewhere that might have one that would be great too, otherwise it's eBay o'clock for me. Cheers!

Just trying my luck 1 more time on here before looking into the overseas alternatives. Your inbox must be full as I can't message directly. Cheers!

The roof itself is pretty OK, some of the seals have shrunk so there is a tiny bit of moisture coming in when it rains heavily but it's pretty acceptable. Can you elaborate on replacing the window? I might be missing something but I don't see a feasible way to do it. I have considered just sewing up the window with new thread but I can't see a way to do it properly without removing the material from the frame so I can use the sewing machine. I've manually done a couple of stitches to stop the propagation but it seems like a poor solution long term. Removing it from the frame is a pretty big undertaking and is pretty traumatic for the roof as you need to split a bunch of bonded surfaces to do it, so if I were to do that I may as well replace the whole thing. Wow that sounds like a potential avenue, I never considered a 2nd hand one to be honest. I've seen the images of that written off convertible a while ago actually, I'll send you a message. Thanks for the heads up 😊 Edit: It seems I can't message you directly BMTHUG, can you please forward me their contact details so I can find out more about it? Cheers!

Hello dear bimmersport community members! I have been overseas for the last few years and have recently moved back to NZ to be reunited with my sweet, sweet car. Unfortunately over these years the plastic rear window has finally given up, and the stitching around it has begun to disintegrate. I am looking at replacement roofs (rooves?) from overseas and have been looking at online guides on how to do it. But before I go ahead and bite the bullet, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a local place to go? Would be good to get some context on pricing to see whether or not importing one from overseas is the right thing to do. It can be to buy a roof itself, get someone to replace just the window, the whole thing, etc... I am pretty open to suggestions. Thanks all for your time and help 😊

Big bump, finally got around to listing them on Trademe https://trademe.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/wheels-tyres/alloy-wheels/listing/2255745408 Cheers!

The long search is over... you probably know this set already but come and get yourself the real deal. Don't drive on dangerous, shoddy replica wheels. Be the true snob you've always dreamed of. 15x7.5 front and 15x8.5 rear is the perfect staggered fitment for E30. These wheels are rare enough but they even come with proper BBS BMW waffle caps (Only 3 however ?) According to previous owner, inner barrel of one wheel was repaired by Arrow Wheels many years ago. Located North Shore, Auckland $1800 ONO

Don't skimp on safety, get yourself a proper set of matched springs and shocks for your E30 ? Will lower your car 2.1" in the front and 1.7" in the rear according to H&R: http://www.hrsprings.com/…/sear…/resultsbymake/4/Suspension/ Last photo shows how low my cabrio sits with them installed. Please note the cabrio has slightly lower sills than the other body types, but the guard fitment will be exactly the same for your car. Located North Shore, Auckland $1000 ONO

bumpity bump, auction closes soon!

I can't comment if the skirts sit lower than the black painted sills we have. But I gotta remind you that the skirts I have are coupe skirts, they are too short for our cabrios! ......If I had the cabrio skirts I would just move house. For those who are interested, I've managed to make a Trademe auction for these guys: https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/exterior/auction-1427829854.htm Many thanks for your interest team! Hopefully they go to a good home

Mr Palazzo is right Jon, the cabrio skirts are definitely different than the coupe and sedan ones. I have read on the internets that the cabrio sills are deeper, but I have found when I initially offered up these coupe skirts the skirts were also a little shorter! But I believe that may be due to the fact that they are tapered/angled on the front and rear ends. So when they are aligned with the bottom of the car, since they sitting lower than they are designed, they seem shorter compared to the wheel arches on either end. The only cabrio skirts I have been able to see in real life have been some Zender ones. They styling is a little different from the MTech 1 (no 3 stripe trim pattern), but the colour matched body makes the front and rear bumpers look a little more cohesive instead of big black sills on either side.

*Update: Tradme link added - https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/exterior/auction-1427829854.htm * It's your lucky day my friends, I have to sell my E30 MTech 1 kit It took me a loooong hunt to get my hands on a complete genuine set. It was the final step to the E30 convertible dream: lowered, genuine BBS RS and OEM MTech 1 kit, but alas my super-steep driveway is too steep for both the MTech 1 and a cabrio at the limit! Parts are what you see in the photo. I've already installed the MTech 1 boot lip, so included here is just the MSport boot lip. If you are genuinely interested, I highly recommend you come and take a squiz at the kit for yourself. These parts are 25+ years old and have some wear and tear to show for it. Regrettably, some metal clips have rusted away and some original fasteners are missing from the previous owner. You will need to use some generic fasteners if you want to fasten it in all the original locations. Not a fibreglass set! Would like to sell as a whole, and would like to not ship since the metal PFL bumpers etc are heavy. Let me know if you're interested and we can work something out. Get your precious E30 looking good for the summer! If no one's keen over the next few days I'll put it up on Trademe instead Cheers team!

Reps right Luke? Sorry for hijack/thanks

Honestly, what the f**k. Where was this? I've been pretty carefree about this kinda stuff but this is pretty alarming. Time for a stroker I think, so I can pull away fast enough...

One of my many paranoid fears driving the cab around with the top down all the time....

I am surprised how much I like that Golf.....

Wanting to do my rear brake pads in the E30. .........somehow I need a 7mm Allen key! Where can I buy this unicorn tool?

Hi guys, Thought I might do my pads in prep for summer. Got a quote for genuine OEM front pads for 115ish and 85ish for quality aftermarket ones. Source is super trustworthy so I'm not questioning it much, but are OEM pads worth the $30 premium? Which part numbers/brands do you guys recommend? Grateful if you could share some of your experiences. Brakes are super critical, so $30 more is acceptable to me, but I just wanna ponder over the mark-ups applied due to OEM branding... Cheers

Big thanks to Ray, saw first hand the reason people rave on about him here, great work PS any period-correct looking headunits with auxi ports from non-Chinese brands? Found a good lookingish Jaycar one but now a bit worried it will sound like awfulness.

Just for some closure: Sweet Jesus lord the new motor is silly smooth. 143k kms feels like I'm driving an electric car. Also finally fixed my heater so no more stubborn-induced hypothermia! Can't believe how much nicer it is not freezing at night with the top down. Next up is a proper headunit on Saturday and she will be ready for action!!

Thanks guys, towing old Cabrio in to Ray tomorrow afternoon to transplant new organs. It's another b20, but pretty low k's so I'm pretty happy.