My E-30 ix needs a cabin heating solution - had to bypass heater -

[ian ross]

Well, after 26 years, my heater finally shit the bed.
Started spewing coolant steam up to the windshield. Bam. Done.
My trustworthy and excellent mechanic told me the following: To fix the heater he has to remove the dash. Besides overall cost estimated at 1k - he strongly recommends not pulling the dash due to likelihood that all sorts of plastic parts may break, resulting in a mess of additional work and weakening the overall integrity of the dash which has been in place since '91. So he bypassed the heater and now i only have fresh air coming in. No heat.

I live in Oakland, California - the coldest it ever gets around here is low 40's - and that's only 4 months out of the year - so i'm not in dire need of major heat today - But I would like to have something by November.

My mechanic recommends getting a small electric heater for the interior. I love my E-30 ix and it's in very good shape so i'm hoping to find a solution that is aesthetically pleasing and functional etc.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

[superj]

you don't have to pull the dash to change the heater core. its under the radio.

but they do sell those electric plug in heaters in truck stop gas stations. they plug into the lighter and work pretty well. I had one in an old rusty Isuzu trooper back in the day

[ECSTuning]

A fireplace would be a .... terrible idea... but hey heat is heat!

[Elvir]

You dont need pulling dash to remove heater. On E30 you have two version of heater. It is only problem if your heater like upper heater on this photo. In that case you must remove steering column and pull the heater.

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[nick325xit 5spd]

It’s a 20 minute job to change the heater core in a 1991 E30.

Get an 8mm ratcheting wrench.