driving 12 hours.. need advice

[nickgriffin1]

okay, so i'm taking a trip to charlotte north carolina and the trip is about 12-13 hours from my house.. i'm leaving november 3rd.

the thing i am worried about is my rear end. i have a 4.10 has anyone driven 750 miles with a 4.10? what kind of gas mileage am i lookin at? there is a 87 vert in the junk yard but i'm not sure what rear end it has in it, also its leaking from the shaft seals.. i've been getting 250-300 miles per tank just driving around town. i havent been on the highway much with it yet..

i just kind of have a problem with going 70 and the engine is turning 3500 rpms. i'd be more comfortable with 2000.

also what should i bring with me tool/item wise? i'm bringing a 204 piece tool kit and another bag of random screw drivers, vice grips and such. taking oil, coolant, washer fluid:D


just need advice for an e30 road trip:)

oh and if i do break down, would anyone along my route be willing to help?

[Jims5543]

Its your car you know it better then we do.
As far as the gearing goes. Take it easy, do the speed limit or close to it and I bet you get close to 30 MPG with it.

My son is about to drive is 1990 325is from Florida to North Carolina to play on the dragon in a couple of weeks. I am coming too in my E46.

[nickgriffin1]

you think so? i know there was a guy on here that moved like 2300 miles or something like that. i cant find the thread now.. but everyone on here helped him out with being prepared for the worst..

[Zodiacbw]

Sounds like you're good on tools. Maybe some duct tape or something in case a hose lets go. 4.10, that pretty low I dunno if I would expect much more than that for mpg.

[nickgriffin1]

low? thats the highest ratio bmw offered. i know most of the eta cars came with a 2.93 or 2.73.

but i'm quite okay with getting 30mpg with a 22 year old car..

[my1stE30]

hi .. I made an E30 highway road trip in April this year .. 2600 km round trip (1600 miles) ... 12 hours each way .. on the way back it was in one go .. I just stopped every 4 hours to top up the gas tank and get a big mug of coffee .
- my 6 cylinder '88 320i has an automatic and a 4.10 rear end
- at 100 km/hr the engine hummed along at 3000 rpm (about 3300 rpm at 110 km/hr)
- fuel consumption averaged 8.9 Litres per 100 km (that is 32 mpg canadian or 26.5 miles per USgallon)
- this is virtually the same engine as your 325i, just slightly smaller displacement

- I had only owned the car for a month, and frankly I was impressed with how smooth the engine is and at the gas mileage

... don't worry about your engine running at 3000-3500 rpm for 12 hours... they were designed for it, it is actually quite a happy zone for the i engine .. just primed to go at the start of the peak torque range

... as for the rear differential seals, unless you have puddles of gear oil on your driveway every day, you should be ok ... just have the diff checked and topped up before you head out

... to prepare for the trip I would get a fresh oil and filter change, and have your cooling system checked out ... just for good measure

... if you are taking tools, I would add a multi-meter to your list .. I always keep mine in the drivers door pocket :)

... I would certainly help you out if needed... but unfortunately I am a long ways away from your travel route.

... and if you had an eta, then your rpm would be a lot lower at highway speeds ... they were designed specifically for that purpose to achieve the best gas mileage possible with the 80's bmw engine technology

[caesar101]

The difference between a 4.10 and the stock 3.73 is 10%. Drive 7 MPH slower and your RPMs will be the same. It really doesn't make a difference, 2 or 3 mpg less and a little more noise. If your car is in good condition, no problem. If not, well, good luck.

[my1stE30]

also... here is the thread you mentioned ... the guy who was preparing for the 2300 miles road trip

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1717416

[Jims5543]

We drove my sons car from Charlotte NC to Florida when we purchased it, sight unseen. The seller was friend, and he assured us that it would make the trip. It made the trip without a hiccup.


His first car was a $500 E30 that was in really bad shape, he purchased that one from Virginia and we were worried it would not make the trip to Florida. We drove up in our 2005 Audi A6 that we owned at the time and it had 20K miles on it.

The Audi broke down and had to be left in Asheville NC while the E30 took us home.

When the Audi lease was up I went out and bought an E46, this was 3 years ago.

My point is, both of these car made the trip. You should be fine.

My advise to you, make sure you belts are in good shape along with your hoses. Take a couple of extra relays if you have them lying around. Make sure you have a jack and all the tools to change a flat.

Go over the fluids on the car make sure everything is topped off. Check tire pressure too.

Again, you know your car, any issues you need to take care of?


I will be starting a thread in about 2 weeks in the BMW general section documenting my trip to the dragon with my son. It is my 5th year going with my group of Porsche and BMW friends. It is my sons first trip and hopefully the start of a cool tradition for us for the rest of our life as father and son.

[nickgriffin1]

hi .. I made an E30 highway road trip in April this year .. 2600 km round trip (1600 miles) ... 12 hours each way .. on the way back it was in one go .. I just stopped every 4 hours to top up the gas tank and get a big mug of coffee .
- my 6 cylinder '88 320i has an automatic and a 4.10 rear end
- at 100 km/hr the engine hummed along at 3000 rpm (about 3300 rpm at 110 km/hr)
- fuel consumption averaged 8.9 Litres per 100 km (that is 32 mpg canadian or 26.5 miles per USgallon)
- this is virtually the same engine as your 325i, just slightly smaller displacement

- I had only owned the car for a month, and frankly I was impressed with how smooth the engine is and at the gas mileage

... don't worry about your engine running at 3000-3500 rpm for 12 hours... they were designed for it, it is actually quite a happy zone for the i engine .. just primed to go at the start of the peak torque range

... as for the rear differential seals, unless you have puddles of gear oil on your driveway every day, you should be ok ... just have the diff checked and topped up before you head out

... to prepare for the trip I would get a fresh oil and filter change, and have your cooling system checked out ... just for good measure

... if you are taking tools, I would add a multi-meter to your list .. I always keep mine in the drivers door pocket :)

... I would certainly help you out if needed... but unfortunately I am a long ways away from your travel route.

... and if you had an eta, then your rpm would be a lot lower at highway speeds ... they were designed specifically for that purpose to achieve the best gas mileage possible with the 80's bmw engine technology



thanks for that.. exactly what i was looking for. when i was talking about the differential leaking, it was the one that is in the junkyard that i was thinking about swapping into my car..

and yes i agree 3k to 3.5k is the sweet spot.

but! i've had this clunking in my rear end that i've been trying to figure out.. turns out i have bad cv shafts. ordering them from autozone saturday, i still have two weeks til the trip so i think i'll have everything set before then.