The One That Didn't Get Away [100K Mile E30 325is]
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I've only put 91 in this car. I think that's ethanol free or is that 93?
Octane doesn't mean anything. At the little station in town by me I can get 87 with no ethanol. Kwik Trip around this area has 91 without ethanol and the pump handle is red.
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Octane doesn't mean anything. At the little station in town by me I can get 87 with no ethanol. Kwik Trip around this area has 91 without ethanol and the pump handle is red.
The red handle is the one that I use.
Good to know.
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I had the center waffles repainted as well to match the wheels. Purchased some eBay red BBS center badges for them as the BMW logos were pretty beat. Really liking the combination.
I also wanted to check on the car and make sure it was still there. Good news is that there wasn’t a lake of fluids underneath, just one small spot that I’m assuming is oil.
Going to charge the battery up and maybe let it run for a little bit next week when it’s warm.
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It lives.
Charged the battery up and dropped it last night after work, started right up.
Drove it up and down the street just to stretch it out a little bit. In dire need of a wash and probably a little air in the tires.
Probably need to have a valve adjustment done this spring, sounded a little ticky. Or the oil just hadn't circulated entirely from starting for the first time in 6 months.
Back into the storage until it's nice out full time.
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I dont know why but lucas fuel additive seemed like it helped with the ticking but it probably just lubricated the injectors so they werent as loud when they closed. Get a louder stereo.
Unfortunately, I am using a bluetooth speaker for the time being as I get Daft Punk/R2D2 noises when I turn the car stereo on. Something I would like to figure out this summer. Don't think it's the speakers themselves as they get deafeningly loud when it's making noises. More than likely the AMP or deck. Would like to convert to the Continental deck that most people switch to.
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F30 update. New wheels and tires.
VMR V801
19x9.5 ET35 square
255/35R19 Falken FK510
Really love how these look and how much it improved the cars overall appearance. Enough show that they look good, but also subdued enough that look OEM+ ish. Think they are very reminiscent of the F80 MX snowflake wheels.
Could be a little lower, but I think got daily purposes, this is pretty good. I think the fitment is about as good as you can get it, fills out the wheel well and is just at the fender.
This has made me look at this car as more than just A to B transportation again. Some other big updates coming soon that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.
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Needs more dump when you pump
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Daily mods continue.
M Sport front bumper and projector angel eye headlights. Bumper was needed regardless with how chewed up my original one was. Body shop lost my headlight washer covers, so waiting for those to be painted and then will throw those on. Really like the changed it made to the front of the car. Went with piano black M style double ribbed grilles.
Headlights were probably more of a drastic change. Not only do they look significantly better, and shave some years off the age of the car, they perform SIGNIFICANTLY better than the OEM halogens. Having fresh lenses also helps the overall appearance and some performance I'm sure.
I have the M sport side skirts, but I am having problems with the clips on the top of the skirt engaging into the car which is not allowing me to install them. Not sure if this is due to the mold of the skirt themselves, or if I am just approaching the install incorrectly. Might bring them over to my buddy who works at BMW to have him give them a go.
Next on the list will be to change the shocks and struts out as mine are probably blown or very close to it. Next mods will be probably next spring and will be the M sport rear bumper and the GTS style tail lights.
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The F30 looks so good.
Is the electric steering as much of a buzzkill as the automotive journalists make it out to be?
Does the car seem near impossible to work on? Probably not so much with the 4cyl
I think the electric steering rack numbness feeling is overblown, but I'm not exactly an authority of steering feel. But when I drive it I never get the feeling that it feels numb or "off".
I haven't done really any mechanical maintenance on this car yet, but under the hood reminds me of my TJ wrangler that had a 4 cylinder. There's a mile between the front of the motor and the radiator. I would imagine basic maintenance is not a terrible experience to complete.
In terms of the front bumper and headlight install. Really wasn't anything difficult, good amount of room to maneuver if you pull the wheel well guards out. Only trouble point I had was unbolting the bottom of the headlights on one side. It uses a "nut" that is self contained. Square nut on one side that has an enclosure to prevent it from spinning, that sometimes fails and will just spin so you have to use a vice grip to pinch it.
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These mod's have really transformed the look of the car. It doesn't look like a basic ass commuter anymore!
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Drove the car to Elkhart Lake Saturday as a scouting run for the up coming season. Couldn’t be more excited for RA to be 100% back this year.
While I was on my way down, I was passing through Chilton and saw a woman waving me down just past the Kwik Trip. Wasn’t sure if it was a wave for the car or if I was doing something wrong, or something wrong with the car. Turned out it was the lady that I bought the car from. She texted me and we agreed to meet into New Holstein which is only 10 mins past Chilton.
She was thrilled with the condition of the car and loved that it was with someone who cared about. It was really nice to catch-up and show the status of the car. Also, the odds of seeing her in Chilton on a Saturday morning...
Looking into a getting a steam cleaner to do undercarriage and engine bag detailing. Dry ice blasting is the future, but I will settle for steam for the time being.
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Cool story!
explain the steam cleaned undercarriage? Is it particularly oily? Or are you about to park it over some mirrors at a car show?
Trans is pretty grimey, but it’s honestly just something that I’ve wanted to do and even more so want to do after being introduced to dry ice blasting. Just having things cleaned, and knowing that they are really cleaned, makes me feel better. It also makes things much more enjoyable to work on when they are clean.
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