Re: new member intro

[Doug Wright <dgwright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>"Doug Wright" <dgwright@domain.elided> wrote:
>> 
>> I got an E30 a few months ago, and I'm trying to figure out what I want
>> to do with it (i.e. how much time and money I want to put into building
>> it up). It's an '86 base model 325, 5-spd, 2-door, with about 200k miles
>> (the odometer is stuck at 184k). My dad bought it new, then my brother 
>> had it for a few years, so I know the history pretty well.
>
>Doug,
>What you've got yourself is an E30 with an ETA economy oriented engine.

So, what does that make the 318? :)  So, do all six-cylinder E30s have
the ETA motor?  BTW, What does ETA stand for?  I'm getting the impression
that this motor is not worth building.  Is there a common engine to
swap in place of this?


>It is anything but a speed daemon, which is probably why your dad felt 
>good about giving it to your and your brother in the first place ;-).

He probably felt alot better with my brother having it, but I've gotten
into far more trouble with my Jeep! :)  I only got it because my brother
got a new Explorer (ugh!) and doesn't like working on cars like me.
It only had some minor issues and nothing mechanical, but he didn't
want to mess with a 16 year old car and didn't think it was worth anything.


>> It still handles and runs great, but is badly in need of a paint job, 
>> some upholstry work, and the passenger side window won't open. 
>
>For the window, start with the window switches. Swap them around and see 
>if one is bad. If that does not help, open your Bentley E30 manual 
>(www.rb.com if you don't have one), remove the inner door panel and test 
>if 12V are getting to the window regulator. If they do, the regulator is 
>toast - not an uncommon problem. 
>I would not bother touching the paint, unless you have a glaring rust 
>problem. A high quality paint job will run north of $2-4K (depending on 
>what party of the country you live in). In other words, it will cost most 
>than the car is worth, and in the end will barely nudge the value of the 
>car. 

I was going to ask about the best manual to get.  Thanks!  I just ordered
one.  I've had the door panel off, but wasn't sure what to look for.  I'll
try the switches.  What does the regulator look like?

On the paint ... the clearcoat is basically chipped off everywhere and
the paint is faded.  It was the metallic blue.  I've heard that metallic
paints don't hold up very well for some reason.  There is no rust though, 
except a little on the passenger door where there is a long scratch/dent 
where someone barely scraped it with their car.  So, it's probably not 
worth spending alot of money to paint unless I just want it to look nice
and plan to keep it for a while.


>Upholstery is not inexpensive, but have a rat hole of a car interior would 
>bother me as well. BMW dealers can special order original interior 
>upholstery at somewhat reasonable prices. 

Other than a long tear in the drivers seat, it mainly just the top of the
back seat that has cracked and deteriorated badly from the sun.   There are
also several cracks in the dash.  I've thought about getting some aftermarket 
seats, like Corbeau or something.  Any recommendations?


Thanks for the help!

Doug

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