Another new owner...

[Obsidian409]

Hello, I figured it was time to pick a community and insert myself .
I bought a 1987 325is in the middle of August and got a pretty good deal on it. He was asking $5000 but I got it for $3000 and immediately put $1500 into it. It still needs a few things here and there but I am a car guy and like to do this kind of stuff. Its only got 211k/kms on it, so its pretty decent in the mileage department. Virtually no rust, interior is brown leather and is mint. Only one tear in the back seat, and its because of a missing thread, not damaged leather.
I didn't drive it AT ALL until after it went to the shop because the records showed no timing belt since 68k/kms!!!

I have a few pictures, but I cant seem to post them yet since this is my first post. How do I get permission to do that?

Also,
I have been looking really hard for one of the air dam fog lights, but have had no success.
Does anyone know where I can get one without having to sell my kidney for it? I have heard people mention installing plastic ones in their place, but I don't know where to start with that.

Also looking for a new rear trunk emblem, shift boot, driver side knee panel (black fiberboard), washer check valve, rear oem mud flaps, and one un-faded center cap for 14" basketweaves.


Thanks!
(PS: In Victoria, BC, Canada)

[richardodn]

For parts, there are some dealers with online part stores here in the states. I don't know what their Canada shipping policies are. But they sell around 30-35% off dealer list. Check realoem.com for parts diagrams and to get part numbers. (Ignore pricing and availability on that site. It's an estimate of list at best and is frequently way off.) Then check thebmwpartstore.com and bmwmercedesparts.com. Hopefully some other Canadians will chime in.

[jimmyleg325e]

Let's see it? I was in Victoria in July and couldn't believe how many E30's there were. I think you can post a link to a pic in your post, just not embed the images for the first little while.

Bimmerparts in Duncan can't help you with any of this stuff? He's hard to reach but once you get his attention he's very helpful. As for new stuff, I've tried http://www.bimmerspecialist.com/, shipping took almost a month to NF but prices were great and in CDN. Ordered from bavarianauto once and almost fell over at the door when the courier told me the duty charge. Here's a list I keep handy:

Online Parts Vendors:
www.pelicanparts.com
www.bmaparts.com
www.bimmerparts.com
www.fap99.com
www.autohausaz.com
www.rockauto.com
www.drivewire.com
www.rmeuropean.com
www.getbmwparts.com
www.blunttech.com
www.thebmwpartstore.com
www.bmwmercedesparts.com
www.fcpeuro.com


For Performance Parts:
www.turnermotorsport.com
www.bimmerworld.com
www.akgmotorsport.com

[BMWtyro]

Welcome, Obsidian!

Most of the parts you named can be bought through any online or local BMW dealer, or at many of the shops that jimmyleg mentioned. Not sure about the fog lamp, though. Always try to buy parts identified as "OEM Supplier" or "BMW Genuine"; I have bad luck with just about everything else. The original-quality parts support for these cars is phenomenal, so you don't have to settle for junk.

For OE mud flaps, try bavauto.com for the front pair and ecstuning.com for the rear. Cost: around $70/pair. Yep, I've been shoppin' recently.

Also try using penskeparts.com as a parts look-up. Nothing is wrong with realoem.com; I simply find Penske easier to use.

Best of luck with your new project.

Jeff

[Obsidian409]

Thanks guys!
I actually have been to BimmerParts in Duncan a few times. They always seem really annoyed when I asked them to do something, not really a big fan of their service, but I shouldn't complain too much because they gave me the piece of fender trim I needed for free! A big thanks to them for that!

My cousin is rather an expert on some of this stuff because he builds and races old volvo's, and also races endurance in an e30 235i.
He insists that the foglight from the front spoiler of an 85' 740 turbo is identical. I am going to check that out at the Volvo yard on thursday. Fingers crossed!

I havent really been involved in a forum where I couldnt host images in a while, can someone recommend an image hosting site?

Timing belt was bad when taken out, had 10 minutes of life left, LOL!:


Here is the car:

[BMWtyro]

That's a great-looking E30, Obsidian --- quite a find! You really dodged a bullet by changing that timing belt when you did. I hope you changed the tensioner and all of that other good stuff that goes along with a timing belt job.

If your cam and oil pump sprockets are stamped steel as I suspect they are, you should change those as well next time you change the belt; there are cast versions available for both and I have installed them on our two cars. The stamped ones have a tendency to fatigue with age and they can "fold-up", yielding the same result as a broken timing belt.

Ask your cousin if there are easy, less-costly replacements for the fog lamps on my 320i Euro if you would . . . please? Mine are road-blasted and chipped and I'd like to buy some better ones, but (as I understand it) the correct originals for early Euros are quite expensive . . . when you can find them at all. I'm not at all sure that mine are even correct --- they look and install quite a bit differently than the Penske diagram suggests. I am willing to use anything that looks reasonably original once it is installed.

Thanks.

Jeff

[rjohs]

That is a really good looking car for the price and mileage! I was going to tell you that if you found the fog lights only in pairs, I'd go in w/ you since I have the same problem on the passenger side. However, mine is the new style bumpers w/ different fogs.

Rich

[estoguy]

Nice looking car, bro. Congrats. Got lucky on the timing belt! I just did mine a couple of months ago, pretty straight-forward job. Did you do the water pump too?

When I want post pics, I just post them to FB and make sure they are sent to Public.

Too bad you're out in BC. Found a great parts place in the GTA - GermanParts, but I don't know if they do shipping. Their number is at GermanParts.ca. They've been really good to me.

[AmazingJr]

If you see a white 135i with M Package and Perf Exhaust, give me a wave! Im also in the GTA

2010 Alpine White BMW 135i M Sport 6MT w/ Performance Exhaust/JB4

[jimmyleg325e]

Nice looking car. I hear you on the bimmerparts service issue, I think that guy's over his head most days. It took me two hours of hanging around but eventually I got what I came for! He wouldn't let me check out the yard which was a bit annoying. I think I'll try germanparts soon, oddly their website has been "coming soon" forever and they don'r respond to emails.

and unmolested sport seats too, nice!

[Obsidian409]

Jimmy, I agree, it would have been nice to walk around the yard! Not many pick and pulls left these days!
Do you live on the island of were you just visiting?

- - - Updated - - -

doublepost!:
The belt tensioner was replaced as well as it was also in pretty rough shape. However, replacing the water pump was not recommended.
The service I had done on the car was based on a prepurchase inspection. The main things were the belt, rear rotors and pads, the oil pan gasket and then some other odds and ends. I detailed the engine and replaced the valve cover gasket, plugs, and air filter as well.
It does need to have the transmission seals replaced (will do when clutch is needed), and was recommended that a head gasket be done at some point due to some oil weeping around the block (minimal).

The engine does have a bit of a bog on acceleration after idle, and can be tougher to start when warm. Mechanic suggested that it was the fuel pressure regulator. I plan on checking the vacuum lines and ICV(?) and the other odds and ends, first. I do also on a rare occasion get a bit of a fuel whiff inside the car, but definitely more when the rear windows are open! (I just figured it was exhaust).

Looking forward to cutting my teeth on this car more!

[95BMWIC]

That is a FABULOUS shot of the Timing Belt - Only being a few hundred mile (or less) away from complete disaster is clearly conveyed in that shot..

[MadManInTheBox]

i cannot tell you how lovely rockauto.com is. I've ordered a good number of parts from them. Great prices, fast shipping, and their inventory is pretty good. ecstuning.com is also good. and can't forget about Ireland Engineering for go-fast bits.

[jimmyleg325e]

[QUOTE=Obsidian409;26879455]Jimmy, I agree, it would have been nice to walk around the yard! Not many pick and pulls left these days!
Do you live on the island of were you just visiting?

Use to live there and still work for a company there. Sadly I'm marooned in Newfoundland for a while longer. I saw a red Touring on Craigslist out there the other day, you should scoop that up. Those things are very cool and rare.

[Obsidian409]

Actually, I saw the ad. It looks nice but it's far from stock. (not in a bad way, necessarily) smiley ellipsoid, 15" basket weaves, black vinyl interior...
Either way, though, I have no spare cash. That guy seems to know his stuff a bit, and wants $6k.