Worst timeline of luck while owning a single car

[Forrest 35]

So after having a ultra shitty day with nothing going to plan on the E30, I pondered whether I am the only one who has luck like this and should be driving something that isn't a e30.

Whoever said an E30 was god's chariot was a bloody optimist!

So post what the car was, the list of problems you had with it and how long you have/had it before you sold it/still got it/parted it out.

Mainly because I am rapidly losing patience with mine and wondered if anyone has luck like mine

Had a few people mention that I seem to have the problem of anything that could go wrong, has gone wrong.

'85 E30 325i

Owned for one year.

Total mileage in a year = 2,000 km (that is all that really needs to be said to get the jist of what owning this car has been like).

Main Problems (not common day to day ones):

1. Had the car fill up with water twice and require carpet out, interior strip etc.

2. Snapped fan belt at track day

2. 2 wing mirrors got smashed off in one day

3. Found 5 rust holes in the floor of my car in one go, including one the size of my fist

4. Gear shifter fall apart on the only bimmersport meet I have ever brought a car to

5. At the same meet my glovebox locked itself and broke the lock in the process

6. Wheel nuts worked themselves loose en route to a track day

7. Had the car fail to start the day before my LVV cert test

8. Snapped rocker cover bolts twice

9. Destroyed a drive shaft mounting assembly

10. Electrical fire under the dash after ignition wires shorted out

11. A headlight and fog light smash after following a stock truck the day I brought the car

12. Found 3 exhaust studs missing and 4 snapped off in the process of removing the exhaust manifold

A lot of you would think some of that is operator error but I don't think I deserved half of that

Someone make me feel better and post something just as depressing...haha.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Hellpina

[huff3r 347]

1994 Subaru Legacy RS (need i say more?)

Bought February last year

Selling now

Done 30,000kms

1. New Cambelt, Waterpump and oil seals within 6 months of buying it.

2. Airflow meter and knock sensor gave out within 2 weeks of cambelt.

3. Tyres needed replacing for WoF within 2 months of cambelt.

4. Failed said WoF on steering rack bushes and front left lower rear shock mount.

5. Within 2 months of failing WoF, clutch starts to slip.

6. Clutch replacement requires new flywheel, old one covered in hairline cracks from overheating due to clutch slippage.

7. 2 weeks ago fuel pump just dies on my way to work. No warning, just suddenly have no fuel pressure.

Not quite as long a list, but Subaru parts are not cheap!!! Horrendously expensive in fact. Like European car expensive!!! An E30 would be cheaper to maintan

E30 1987 320i Racecar.

1. Leaking sunroof, carpet soaked

2. Rust under windscreen, all through sunroof bracket and by tail-light.

3. Wrong ratio diff for race series

4. Wrong sized struts

5. Needed new tyres for WoF

6. Fried piston-rings at Manfeild

7. New engine only firing on 5

8. New engine has exhaust manifold leak

9. Wheel-nuts not tightened = new wheel bearing

10. Failed scrutineering due to insufficient battery clampage.

11. Breather hose comes off rocker cover = 40L to travel 250kms

12. Persistent hunting, untraceable

13. Exhaust manifold has 2 broken studs, 1 loose one and one hex-headed bolt in it (and i have no hex-sockets!)

14. Clutch had no meat on it whatsover observed during engine swap. Will need replacing.

Cars suck. But i love them.

Edited May 5, 2010 by huff3r

[Mark 178]

1) Bought a BMW

2) See above

[1rotty 40]

If you delete the operator error ,damage done by f**wits & things like the glove box(I thought they were sposd to do that lol) Frustrating as it is I reckon you're not doing too bad.

And its 25yrs old

Cheer up mate---it'll get better

Edited May 5, 2010 by 1rotty

[kerry 10]

i wont post anything depresing but your luck will get beter and most of what you have mentiond is just maintanece issue also with common faults, sus that and your on a win..

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

Y'all know my life story haha

My mate just brought an Alfa last week, bloody nice thing, but just been stung $2500 for a waterpump/timing belt etc ouch!

[pureboiracer 0]

my black car,

blown 3 tyres, all on the same wheel.

many times of getting stuck with flat battery thanks to current draw,

managed to knock the car off the jack without a rear wheel on when i got a flat

all 3 flats occured on the motorway

have rust coming through my doors

someone stole my carbon boot badge

smashed the front valance into a parking stop and scratched it up

had both front wheel bearings crap out

had a rear window motor crap out and fried the loom inside the door

race car

put rod out side of block

blew up clutch

blew up g.box

left wheels loose

smashed windscreen (for no good reason)

had a few occurances where for one reason or another the car hasnt been runing due to wiring problems or something.

blew rad hose on the motorway

had stone go through the radiatior.

had a problem with my altinator which caused my bat to go flat in the middle of makra at about 3am

now have completely rooted rear shocks

sticky brake calliper destroyed my front pads (expensive pads)

took about 2 months to establish what rotors went on the front, only to find out they are custom.

had rust in the sills,

had rust in the firewall

has rust in the door

got it impounded and lost my liscence.

blew out all my coolant just before i got on the track

ran it out of brake fluid in the middle of welly thanks to a split hose

blew several diffs

blew a cv

destroyed driveshaft hanger bearing

smashed wingmirror on fence the other day when backing out of where it lives.

hit the pole part of the fence when driving it into where it lives on the left front panel.

car currently runs like crap and wouldnot go above 4000rpm the other day.

several waterleaks into cabbin

had no indicators or wipers working for a while, took a while to find that problem

destroyed all rear suspension bushes (still havent fixed)

had to buy 4 new tyres when i got the car as they were fffffaaaaarrrrddddd

snapped off exhaust stud in manifold and had to get it drilled out on the day of scruit

have destroyed a relatively new control arm bush

got rear ended on the motorway at melling lights, has pushed in all the rear of the car... still not fixed

because of crash the boot doesnot seal so leaks water

split fuel line

several instances of airleaks

grinding something (cant remember what and dropped angle grinder on my leg)

when mounting my fire exstiguisher, didnt look and drilled into brake line.

Not including any maintanence stuff

umm thats all i can think of off the top of my head... no doubt theres more

Edited May 5, 2010 by e30li

[huff3r 347]

Y'all know my life story haha

My mate just brought an Alfa last week, bloody nice thing, but just been stung $2500 for a waterpump/timing belt etc ouch!

Ok, now i feel better about my cambelt haha. Just avoid quad-cam subarus like the plague though. Seriously.

[tire 10]

Oli wins! Soldier on Nath, there's light / tyre smoke at the end of the tunnel.

[mark247 38]

You are honestly having some mega bad luck dude. And your car is actually damn tidy.

How my car keeps running is beyond me, since the m50 conversion, which was done in a rus,h I have had no major problems.

- Had to replace master and slave cylinder

- Replace TPS

- Fix exhaust

Worst thing I've had happen was smoking out the engine loom when we were converting it.. thank god I had someone who knows their wires to fix that.

But overall, all my problems have been really minor and the only one actually stopping hindering me from driving normally was the clutch master cylinder.. and since the conversion I've done over 4000 MILES.

Mine is no way near as tidy as yours, but I think sometimesthat it must be blessed

Edited May 5, 2010 by Mark247

[kerry 10]

my black car,

blown 3 tyres, all on the same wheel.

many times of getting stuck with flat battery thanks to current draw,

managed to knock the car off the jack without a rear wheel on when i got a flat

all 3 flats occured on the motorway

have rust coming through my doors

someone stole my carbon boot badge

smashed the front valance into a parking stop and scratched it up

had both front wheel bearings crap out

had a rear window motor crap out and fried the loom inside the door

race car

put rod out side of block

blew up clutch

blew up g.box

left wheels loose

smashed windscreen (for no good reason)

had a few occurances where for one reason or another the car hasnt been runing due to wiring problems or something.

blew rad hose on the motorway

had stone go through the radiatior.

had a problem with my altinator which caused my bat to go flat in the middle of makra at about 3am

now have completely rooted rear shocks

sticky brake calliper destroyed my front pads (expensive pads)

took about 2 months to establish what rotors went on the front, only to find out they are custom.

had rust in the sills,

had rust in the firewall

has rust in the door

got it impounded and lost my liscence.

blew out all my coolant just before i got on the track

ran it out of brake fluid in the middle of welly thanks to a split hose

blew several diffs

umm thats all i can think of off the top of my head... no doubt theres more

sh*t man that is a long list of cry

[pureboiracer 0]

^have updated list

[fuzyfrog 0]

I had owned the car for 2000km

Blew Gearbox

Since then done around 8000km and the only problem ive had is I keep breaking the front sway bar mount.

Oh and when I got the car the waterpump was the original one.... Failed at 138,000

Headliner and doors are perfect though

So the bimmer has been pretty smooth sailing compared to

My old Starion....

Two Dash motors

4 Gearboxes

7 Diffs

8 months....

Edited May 5, 2010 by fuzyfrog

[bmpower 3]

1986 325i 4DR Manual

Owned for 12-18mths i think.... Done approx 12,000km

The following in no particular order are problems i've had and replacements and changes the car has gone through.... At the same time i was doin alot on my e36 as well!!

* Changed Water Pump, Tensioner, Cam Belt, P/Steering Belt, Fan Belt, A/C Belt

* 4x Oil changes to date with magnatec & OEM filter

* On 2nd set of OEM Plugs

* On 3rd Radiator, after fan destroying 1st, rock at manfield taking the 2nd along with a fan blade

* Replaced Fan (above)

* On 3rd set of engine mounts

* Changed Geabox mounts

* Changed sway bar bushes, Changed sway bar & bushes again

* New control arms x 2

* New sway bar links, new sway bar link bushes

* Approx 3 complete coolant changes

* Changed Rear wheel bearings

* Changed Discs all round

* On 3rd set of front and 2nd set of rear pads

* New Accelerator cable

* New intake elbow

* New fuel filter

* Tappets done

* Headers installed then rest of exhaust made and installed

* Facelift headlights installed

* Rust in left and right rear taillights fixed

* Rust in roof fixed

* Rust in sunroof fixed (now back with avengence!)

* Rust in left and right sils fixed

* Rust the size of 2 fists in firewall fixed

* Left rear trailing arm changed (original one would release the axle even with a 60ton press)

* A/C Pump removed

* Numerous sets of wheels/bodykits on and off the car

* Front Strut bar installed

* New front and rear strut bars installed

* H & R springs installed

* Orininal shocks all round replaced with KYB's

* Front shocks changed for koni adj

* Snapped strut top bolt in half - then replaced

* Rear shocks reaplaced with Koni Adj

* Rear subframe bushes done

* Rear trailing arm bushes done

* Carbon shielded pod installed

* Offset control arm bushes installed

* Camber plates installed in front

* Front Left wheel came off after the bolts came undone - split newly painted front bumper and disc and new control arm hit the deck!

* Wiper blades replaced

* Gearknob replaced

* Fog lights stopped working, so removed

* Bonnet gas strut changed (poked again!)

* Hit by dickhead in BP, front right fender fixed and painted (bad colour match)

* Mtech1, Mtech 2, Alpina, Standard spoilers used at various times

* Mtech 1 rear on, then off again

* Electric fan installed after losing a radiator to the viscous one

* New rear top shock mounts

* Various bulbs changed

* Fuses changed

* Tow bar removed

* Interior swap for recaros

* A/C pipe re-routed due to hitting headers

* New exhaust heat shields

* Failed a few wofs and had to fix things to get them

* On 2nd replacement tie rod end right side, 1st on left but needs doing again

* Still after changing everything cannot fix the 'clunk' in the rear at each gearchange!!

There are alot of things i'm forgetting but you get the idea! Its a way of life....!

After all of the above (excluding camber plates, rear shocks and mounts) i finally achieved a 1min25sec at manfield - something people said would never happen. After completing that lap it made me think - was it worth it? Yes it was! All the hours and hours and $$$ spent on it! The blood, the sweat, the tears, the no sleep, the late nights, the early mornings, the car towings, and the abuse the car recieved!

Stick with it mate - you'll regret selling it! Get it on the track and have some fun! You know it makes sense!

Edited May 5, 2010 by bmpower

[e30ftw 396]

In 4 massive thread.

[OLLIE 26]

I have just been put off buying another e30 ...

[Guest Ari Gold]

I think I see the problem... E30's.

[pureboiracer 0]

^na its just like a mutual understandind between owner and car, the car knows it will break. you know it will break. you just take fixing it as a part of everyday e30 life.

[Top Secret 2]

First Legacy GT '90 (Also my first car):

Bought the car off a dodgy Indian with a brand new wof. Eventually found out a whole list of things needed replacing, steering rack, lower control arm, and various bits and pieces.

Put petrol in, drove the sh*t out of it. No problems, apart from the lifters ticking, which was solved with some Proma MBL8. Sold for ~$600 profit after repairs.

BMW 325i E36:

Put petrol in, drove. Replaced a vacuum hose. I think the rear window stopped working once. Sold it 3 months after buying it, ~$1200 profit

DC2 Honda Si-R coupe:

Put petrol in, drove it. Did 10000km without anything even slightly going wrong. ~$1400 profit

Second Legacy GT, highly moddded ($20,000 or so in receipts from old owner):

Blew gearbox doing a heli. Replaced gearbox + diff for under $300. No other problems apart from that. Sold for ~$1000 profit

EG9 B18c Civic. Ran 13.8s:

Put fuel in, thrashed the daylights out of it. Didn't have any problems, apart from being goddamned noisy. Sold it a few months later for $~1000 profit. I should have kept that car, mind you it's on trademe now.

DC2 Si:

230,000km when I had finished with it. Not one problem. Sold for ~$1300 profit

E30s. No problems yet, apart from the odd time when it won't kick into overdrive.

I guess I've had good luck, but now that I own an E30 I've braced myself for a life of pain, but hey, it's more of a hobby this way.

[antil33t 90]

Bought E30.

Replaced Center Hanger and Tranny mounts within two weeks.

replaced thermostat

Overheated going up a huge hill because the radiator cap flew off...

Replaced engine

Replacement engine turns out to be sh*t.

Do cambelt + waterpump on said engine.

Engine blows hose.

Replaced blown hose

Did brakes

Said engine starts making sh*t noises.

Engine knocks when it's being powered off(rod knock??)

Car hasn't been driven in weeks and I miss it D:

So ultimately the problems with my E30, can't be blamed on it being an E30. I blame myself. Mostly for not listning to Glenn when he told me to try get my money back <.<

Bought a 500 dollar Magna.

bought 1 tyre, wof/rego = 200 bucks.

Blew hose. (WHAT IS IT WITH ME AND COOLING SYSTEMS????)

Fixed for 10 bucks. (stares at hose for BMW costing several times more than that)

Edited May 5, 2010 by antil33t

[pjay 8]

Only moan I can have really is my own fault and thats blowing 2 auto transmissions before converting to Manual on the bmw.

[Apex 693]

Brought 1992 Nissan Primera GT for $11,500 in late 90’s. 54,000km on the odo. AA vehicle inspection. One month warranty.

Week Five. Gearbox Shits the bed. $2,400

Week Six. Find Odo has be altered.

Week Six. Car dealer has vanished.

Week twelve. Have car on wheel alignment machine to correct the way it drove. Find chassis is bent and car has been in a major. $5,000 to fix.

8 month later some scum Stoll it. Insurance wouldn’t pay out due to misinformation Given by insurance broker.

Spend next two year paying off car I don’t have.

2003 Purchased a 2001 Lexus IS200, $39,000. 70,000km, VTNZ Vehicle inspection One month warranty.

Week Five. Piston through block due to aftermarket Chip being fitted and tuned incorrectly. Cant make any claim and no one owns up to helping. $5,400 to repair.

BMW E30 Touring. $9,500. 240,000km

Everything fails. Spend near $10,000 on it.

Sell for $10,550.

Car blows head gasket on new owner a week or so later.

Have new E30.

Have spent $2,500 in four weeks thus far and driven it less than 100km.....

[twisted 45]

1977 Alfasud.

2 hours after picking it up I discovered that all electrics liked to cut out when you stood on the brakes.

12 hours after picking it up, i smacked straight into the drivers door of the woman pulled out in front of me at the roundabout

1 week later i lost it on a 90deg left hander and sideswiped a van

8 hours later i jacked it up only to have the jack point collapse in a pile of rust. On both sides of the car.

in the next 12 hours i discovered that the chassis was 90% Newtech and rust, and 10% steel.

Funny thing is i still (17 years later) love that car to bits.

[Driftit 1959]

Strange thing is. I owned Nath's E30 before him.

I had no problems. Purchased it and sold it in the same condition.

Though I never went hunting for rust or anything like that.

With my racecar. The only problems I have had were having a diff blow and take the gearbox with it.

Now the E39 is a little worse.

Paint on Bonnet and Boot was poorly done and is now 100% stuffed requiring bare metal respray.

Got driven into by some pos bush troll who now refuses to pay.

Car now has 4WS due to rare toe control arms shitting out.

Gearbox is making some expensive noises.

Now sits in garage not being used while I drive around in my very reliable E30.

[Forrest 35]

^ Don't take that I mean't to imply it was anything to do with you Dan, I guess I am a perfectionist and when you go hunting for things, things don't always work the same as when you started It is now worthy of being something special in its current guise, just wait and see

It is all just a hobby anyway, abeit a frustrating one.

I feel a lot better after reading some of these, the car is so close to being finished, but with any project it is the little things that you seem to spend the most time on.

Cheers guys

Edited May 6, 2010 by Hellpina