My first BMW, red 87 325e 5speed. W/Pics !

[RED87E30]

hey guys, just thought i'd introduce myself with photos of my new(to me) e30. I'm the 3rd owner. original paint in ok condition. there's a dent on the driver door and fender from the door being hyper extended.. odo stopped working at 187k. lots of fairly new parts. I just installed a new alternator today. everything seems to be working just fine...


now to the pics....

next to my wife's Trailhawk



the dented door





next to my Jeep

[325e '87]

Very nice. My son has the identical car in white.

[323i E30]

Sweet! Welcome!

[superj]

cool car

[95BMWIC]

Odometer is an easy fix - See garagistic.com for odometer gears. - Just do a search here or on youtube and you'll find a tutorial on it..

[aaverhulst]

Odometer is an easy fix - See garagistic.com for odometer gears. - Just do a search here or on youtube and you'll find a tutorial on it..

Speedometer may or may not be an easy fix. New gears did not fix mine, ended up getting whole cluster rebuilt for $350. Say your prayers.

[95BMWIC]

Speedometer may or may not be an easy fix. New gears did not fix mine, ended up getting whole cluster rebuilt for $350. Say your prayers.

$350? Ouch, that sucks for you aaverhulst.

But the PO mentioned ODO stopped working not the speedometer? Odometer gear breakage much more of a common issue.

[aaverhulst]

Yeah it was my odometer that stopped working, I seem to treat them as the same. I got tired of taking the cluster out so decided one more time it was going to be rebuilt. After all the next thing to go would be the SI board batteries since they were 28 years old. I'm hoping everything holds together for at least 10 years, that would be good.

[RED87E30]

thanks everyone.. update since then a week and a half ago.. running great. starting right up every time still. took it to get the smog done the other day and to my surprise it passed no problem lol

the odo, I don't think I want to mess with that right now. I found receipts from the previous owner of the timing belt kit and water pump. it was back in august of 2014... should I replace it ?

more random pics i've taken..

[82eye]

I found receipts from the previous owner of the timing belt kit and water pump. it was back in august of 2014... should I replace it ?

it's near due but should be done regardless whenever you buy an e30 to set a known good base line for the belt.

[RED87E30]

it's near due but should be done regardless whenever you buy an e30 to set a known good base line for the belt.

yea I read that when I was looking into getting one of these.. until I do it am I walking on eggshells taking it out for a drive ? should I just park it until I do the belt ?

[325e '87]

I think it should be done whenever you get one of these cars. It’s not hard and it gets you up close and personal to your engine. It’s a great exercise in diagnosing, cleaning, replacing other wear items, new coolant, etc...

[95BMWIC]

thanks everyone.. update since then a week and a half ago.. running great. starting right up every time still. took it to get the smog done the other day and to my surprise it passed no problem lol

the odo, I don't think I want to mess with that right now. I found receipts from the previous owner of the timing belt kit and water pump. it was back in august of 2014... should I replace it ?

more random pics i've taken..

Ok - but without an odometer - you would have no idea on the mileage you are putting on your new timing belt?

Also - so you really have no idea how many miles on the current belt?

BMW recommends every 4 years and or 60,000 miles.. I usually end up hitting the mileage mark (as opposed to years) because I drive it everywhere. I did 70K in 3 years.

[1SGDHORN]

There is a great YouTube video on how to replace a timing belt that really makes it much easier. If you can change an alternator, starter, etc then a timing belt isn't much more difficult. The biggest thing is setting the motor at top dead center. It takes some time, but not overly difficult. It is also a good time to replace all the belts and hoses while they are off. Not overly expensive for the peace of mind knowing that they are all new provides.


I just had my cluster completely rebuilt by Bavarian Restoration and while this is an investment, it is very satisfying when EVERYTHING in the cluster works, including the odometer.

[superj]

really, if you don't rotate the motor or the cam when you take the old belt off, you don't have to set everything to tdc. just slide one off and the new one on and then rotate by hand to make sure marks are still good, if you want, than put back together.

I never set to tdc because I don't rotate anything when I am at that point.