New to BMW: E30 Barnfind

[e30barnfind]

Hey all. I have no experience with BMW besides owning a 2011 X5 for a couple of months. I recently got a e30 BMW. I have only seen the car once. It is a 325 convertible black/tan with 16k miles. I have idea what year it is but it is definitely an e30. The car was put in a dry shed in 2009 and has not run since. I have a little bit of mechanical skill but not a ton in regards to starting a car that has not driven in 8 years. Besides new oil, oil filter, battery and fresh gas what do you guys think I should do to it before trying to start it? I appreciate any suggestions!
Thanks

[spdracrm3]

Change the timing belt......#1 critical with that age

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[Drana16]

Timing belt, water pump, tensensior, spark plugs


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[323i E30]

Welcome!

+1 on the timing belt.
Have it replaced before trying to start the car.

[richardodn]

Like previously recommended, timing belt before cranking the engine. Failure of the belt means bent valves at the least.
Pull the fuel pump out and inspect the tank for rust. Do it after the car has sat for hours and use a stick to stir the bottom of the tank. If a cloud forms you have a fuel tank to deal with.
To get oil moving through the engine block before starting (and after timing belt): Change the oil and filter. Pull the fuel pump relay and disconnect the main coil wire. Remove the spark plugs and squirt some WD-40 around the cylinder. Crank the engine for a few seconds. Squirt some more WD-40 in the cylinders and crank for another 30 seconds.

[Kershaw]

The mechanical advice is good. So my 2 cents: douse the seats in leather conditioner.

[rustneversleeps]

would be nice to see this barn find in it's dusty state with some pics...

[DerBayer]

Agree with everything above and try to turn the engine over by hand first.

[e30barnfind]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I have spent hours digging this car out of the sellers garage and will try to start it today. The seats are totally trashed, probably from being stored with the top down. I will post some pics soon.

[e30barnfind]

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[e30barnfind]

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[323i E30]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I have spent hours digging this car out of the sellers garage and will try to start it today. The seats are totally trashed, probably from being stored with the top down. I will post some pics soon.

In case it snaps: don't say we haven't warned you about that timing belt

[e30barnfind]

Tried to start the car yesterday's, did not turn over. Thinking it needs a new starter


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[Kershaw]

Check fuses, check relays, and I would really not try starting with 8 year old fuel. Or without replacing the timing belt. Or without changing the oil. At the very least, change the oil, take the valve cover off, and pour a quart over the valvetrain and rotate the engine over by hand a few times.

[rustneversleeps]

Nice to see pics like that and knowing that it will resurrected again...great fine..

[hotdish]

Check fuses, check relays, and I would really not try starting with 8 year old fuel. Or without replacing the timing belt. Or without changing the oil. At the very least, change the oil, take the valve cover off, and pour a quart over the valvetrain and rotate the engine over by hand a few times.

Definitely change out the gas. I might have had a bad experience with clogged 323i fuel injectors.

[Mike36]

I'm excited to see this thing cleaned up.

[jukefive]

That's a sick find. I found my lachsliber 89' 325 vert as a father/son LS7 project that they never really started far upstate from me. They turned it over every month though, and did the timing belt, fuel changes and plugs over the 8 years it sat in their barn on 60k mi. the stuff I'm finding as you head down the road thats not being mentioned (this is my first car, let alone a project-ish type endeavor):

I had a rat set up camp in my heater blower probably because it was warm after they would start in the winter. The fucker built a condo through the years, and then died. left a faint odor but I mostly ignored it, until winter rolled around and I kicked up the heater to get a face full of dust and shredded newspaper. It clogged the fan which blew the bearing assembly in the blower motor, which got also got the resistor filthy, and set me up for a narrowly averted disaster by causing disruption in the wiper armature, and causing the wiper motor to overheat to the point of melting the casing around the away before quitting out. just got into it the other day, and am still tinkering with the bitchy resistor.

The gears in the odometer are extremely brittle at this age. DO NOT SET THE TRIP COUNTER WHILE DRIVING. The teeth on the gears will blow out and then you need to replace them. I learned that after the long ride home still counted zero.

The top is probably extremely brittle. When you open it for the first time you'll be fighting against creases that have been folded for ages. Open it slowly with the help of some on on the other side. think about misting it with a spray bottle with water to help rehydrate fibers. Also the bezel around the top cover release handle in the back seat is very fragile. resist the urge to yank on it awkwardly.

Lets talk oil pans. That shit sits loooow. as a newb, I didn't realize. It hit a sunken manhole like a bmx jump and the pan blew like an egg shell. I didn't realize it was blown until the next morning when I moved the car, and by chance only just drove around the block to retrieve something I had left at home and saw every drop of my babies' blood in the street. I pushed it a block to the mechanic down to the street and he patched it while i ordered a new oil pan and OIL PAN SHIELD (get one).

Beyond that, I'm going to bring it to the dealership and get a quote for a full 60k mi tune up. These are important as i'm noticing that even if it was garaged/barned/tended to delicately, every bolt has some sort of corrosion, and with that corrosion comes loosened suspension joints that will need tightening, brittle plastic body clips that snap after the first hard bump (watch that oil pan), and dried-out seals in things like the power steering fluid tank that disintegrate with nominal resumed use and allow the power steering to groan like a dying calf.

[GoBLue]

How did you find it? 16k miles in 25ish years is pretty amazing. I'd get it cleaned up/running and throw it on BAT.

[e30barnfind]

Thanks for all of your info guys! Sounds like some of your e30s have a pretty cool history. I got the car from an older person I knew who had it there garage after putting it away for winter 10 years ago and forgetting about it. The car body is in great shape, the inside not so much. I will be towing the car back to my house on Monday so that I will have a proper setting to work on it.


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[e30barnfind]

UPDATE: the car showed no signs of turning over today but all lights came on. So I gave the starter a proper tap with a hammer, turned the key and it started!


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[e30barnfind]

Drove the e30 14 miles back to my house today! Car did great, the only thing that I did was full the sucker up with coolant as it was bone dry! I have not seen it leak yet so I'm not sure where it went. The only check light that is in is for the license plate lights! Car runs solid, I will change oil and gas tomorrow and go over the mechanicals more thoroughly. The car took about five hours to detail on the exterior and I'm not sure I can save the interior. I'll drop some pics below. Let me know what you think!


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[rustneversleeps]

did you check all the fluids before firing it up,since it was sitting for so long...

[SpartanEuro]

Op must be trolling everyone... or plays Russian roulette as weekend hobby. Tbelts are only safe for 5 years before on average embrittlement. Not difficult to do or work on for anything for that matter, that's one of the big part of the value appreciation e30s have been experiencing.

How much did you buy it for?


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[e30barnfind]

I'm not sure why but I have made like 5 posts with pictures but they never end up getting posted. So if you see this car fluids we're all replaced and the Tbelt will be replaced as soon as I get time to do it. I won't be driving the car as I need to register it. So the car has only one "check" light on and it's for the lights above the license plate. Besides that everything works well and all the gauges work accurately. How hard would you say it is to do the tbelt?


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