My name is Erik and I've been in love with BMW's since I was a child and saw my very first BMW in real life. Later when I was old enough to understand cars and what made them different, I dreamed of owning what we now call "early e30". I couldn't swing it new, but a few years later I was able to acquire a pristine 1987 325is with big BBS wheels, a great stereo and good maintenance records (which we just found in our old boxes) as the second owner. I've owned a dozen more BMW's since then, but never once did I think of selling the e30. It's just been the last three years though that I've gotten heavily into tuning and DIY at home. My son's interest has driven me to do things I would never have tried before.
I have owned Audi's, Subaru's and many more modern BMW's since but none have ever made me feel the way the e30 does and none gave the same superb driving experience. It wasn't until I recently bought a beat up e36 m3 for my own driving pleasure and put $10,000 into it and 7 weeks of labor in my own garage that my driving experience shifted. I have built that old m3 into the kind of car I dreamed about as a kid and I wail on it two or three times a week on empty backroads early in the morning. I'll be tracking it soon when the season resumes.
I have a 19 year old son who drives the e30 now every day. We recently started drifting it and blew the old 250k mile headgasket, so we rebuilt the car. Lots of time and money and the car is now tuned and putting out hellacious power to the wheels without a turbo. He hit some cones last event, so we went out and bought a $400 e46 4 door 323i. We got it running without much confusion and about $300 in parts from the junkyard. It is getting drift stuff and its fun because unlike my son's e30 and my e36, where no expense is spared, "Sh*t Car" as we call it only deserves the very used and worst.... It's neat. We bought a m54b30 and moved the parts over, so when it gets a slight tune it will be cranking about 215 instead of 170 (for $300 bucks in parts).
As a family we also daily/grocery get with a 2014 Dinan signature and M performance 335i. It's a couch with a great stereo and amazing climate control. It's also boring as watching paint-drying to drive.
I'll post more details in each of the sub forums, but I'm happy to say that I'm that 45 year old dad who is constantly working on cars or teaching kids how to work on cars. I track, I geek out helping others with their cars and I am generally thinking about cars when not eating, working out or sleeping. My kid wants to become a professional tech, so I feel I have a legit excuse to go hog wild. Having a kid who can pull a trans, a motor or a swap on his own is pretty cool and I love watching him drive safely on the track or drift and couldn't be prouder of him.
If you're in NorCal up by Santa Rosa, send me a PM. We do group drives and group repairs when needed. My son has three other friends who I am helping and we have local kids that may start joining us. It would be fun to have a few more adults around, no matter the skill level.
Yours,
Erik
Great history. A BMW family.
04M3 TiAg 69k slick-top 3 pedal
99M3 Cosmos 61k S50B32 euro 6Spd
88M3 AW 43k miles Project FS
WTB: 3.5" Eurosport/Conforti CAI
Thank you. Some might even say I take all this car stuff too far.
Not at all! LOL
04M3 TiAg 69k slick-top 3 pedal
99M3 Cosmos 61k S50B32 euro 6Spd
88M3 AW 43k miles Project FS
WTB: 3.5" Eurosport/Conforti CAI
Wish I still had my e30, I'd love to do a drive out and am not too far either. You may want to check out "Bay e30". I've been out the scene for awhile but id imagine that they still do local drive outs and etc. I know performance technic in Fremont,CA also hosts cars and coffee with all different generations and models of bmw's and also hosts track days. You can google and get in touch with them to find more information. Goodluck!
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