Finally, after years of dreaming, and months of problems, my first car! 325i

Nice find! The lack of heat on the highway suggests that the thermostat is stuck open or missing, if that's the problem you'd also notice engine temps falling back below normal when cruising the highway. For the rust spots and other blemishes, I'd recommend sanding away the rust as much as you can and painting over them with black direct-to-rust paint like Rustoleum's or Hammerite's, this will keep any traces of rust you might've missed from growing, and it shouldn't be too noticeable from a distance.

In reply to Apexcarver :

I've checked all the switches by putting them on the working windows and they're fine - i was hoping it'd be a switch :(. I'm betting it's the motor or a connection somewhere in the harness. Would a burnt out motor make any noise if it gets power?

In reply to jgrewe :

Got it, thanks! Yeah in the more difficult hills with people up my ass i find the handbrake trick easier.

Thanks for the sight!!

How slow/fast should I be off the clutch. I'm always pretty slow off (3 seconds sometimes even up to 5) because it's the best way I can find to be smooth but I usually use very little throttle. I'm worried about riding it. 

In reply to iansane :

It was such an awesome adventure - I will forever treasure the memory. Me and my mom had such a fun time. I LOVE it

I was under the impression that the elephant trunk drained from water that got into the cowl vents. I have yet to check it - I was going to try to pull it off to check but it's pretty hardened up and I don't want to crack it. but I think it does seem to be draining. I can't find a good way to check the sunroof - I don't want to start pouring water in but I'm not sure what to stick in there that won't damage the paint. The pinch welds are pretty knackered so that may be a problem - the drain hole on the passenger side does look a little messed up. 

I would like to get rid of the noise, but as long as they aren't a danger to the mechanicals I'll back burner the issue.

Glued it back in!

I really want an IS lip but I'd rather put the money towards mechanicals at the moment. 

In reply to bbbbRASS :

Thank you!! I just love the old analog feeling and light weight.

I tried that, I'm actually decent at it and can even start on the road in second gear (though I did stall once and got beeped at). But I'm really really slow starting off. I know where the friction point is and can find it easily, but moving through the friction point seems to be my issue. 

In reply to jamesclay :

I actually grabbed some parts from you guys (no haribos :( lol)! The intake boot, handle trim ring, and door handle. But it looks like I ordered the wrong interior door handle so I will definitely put in another order soon! Thank you!! I'm sure I'll reach out soon enough haha.

In reply to Slippery :

Yeah it's a LOT of gear whine and vibration. Tolerable but I'd love to get it back to stock. Backburnered it in favor of putting the money towards mechanical issues, but if you do have a set i would really appreciate it.

Does the 87 have the old style or new style window regulators? I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to remove my late model window motor.

dog bite in case anyone was curious

The E30 ranks as one of my favorite cars I've owned. Mine was a Spec E30 race car, but it was still street legal. Even took it to a car show or two.

Having raced one with minimal modifications, I'd say don't spend a lot on modifications. Like, you won't need coilovers. H&R springs and Bilsteins, plus a bigger rear sway bar, will absolutely transform the car and make it a very tight, yet easy to manage car. BMWs are hard on suspension bushings, so make sure those are not rotted/cracked. I went with poly 'lollipop' bushings in the front with a set screw added so they wouldn't spin. 

Engines don't care what the odometer says on these. They will pretty much run forever. A Z3 shift lever will make it a really short throw that takes some getting used to but I wound up liking it. 

I found a pair of manual window regulators in a U-Pull-It and they go right in the door no problem. Technically, they were illegal for Spec racing so I wound up not using them. Always hated the power windows, but they generally worked. I think it's rare for the motors to go bad; probably the regulator part is more problematic. 

Stock brakes with good pads are all you need. I'd haul mine down from 125 mph with race pads and cheapo stock rotors and they never faded. They make improved caliper sliders which I would recommend. 

Can't help you on the HVAC issues since all that went in the trash.  I do know that I went through two heater cores that leaked before deciding that stuff was unnecessary in a race car. Make sure it's water and not coolant leaking inside.

Stock replacement parts I bought through Pelican Parts as they were the least expensive out there. FCP Euro is another good vendor.

The body repairs...several of those areas are clearly someone not skilled with a body hammer trying to fix dents. For now, just mask, prime and paint with some gloss black (not matte or primer...those are porous paints). Being black, those spot repairs won't look as terrible as if it were Bronzit or silver like mine was. 

You MUST have a Bentley shop manual.

In reply to Evanuel9 :

The quicker you can let the clutch out smoothly, the better. Slipping it will shorten its life. Around here we compare the smell of a burning clutch to "low tide."  If you smell something weird after a few starts with a lot of slipping clutch, that is the smell of money being burned.

Evanuel9 said:

In reply to jgrewe :

How slow/fast should I be off the clutch. I'm always pretty slow off (3 seconds sometimes even up to 5) 

As quickly as you can fully engage it without stalling or snapping necks. Modern EFI cars have some level of anti-stall built in, so you don't need a lot of throttle to get going. In fact, when I teach new stick drivers, day 1 we only work on getting the car moving without using throttle. Gotta build that muscle memory.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Exactly. The start in 2nd gear thing is really only to test remaining clutch, and to help find that friction point. I taught 12 HS seniors on my car last month, and only 2 stalls. 

You are getting the best support here ---- one of the editors of the magazine and *the* James Clay are here. You have entered a pretty cool community. 
 

''And you have a kickass car. Nice work!

In reply to ddavidv :

Plans include, eventually, bushings, bilsteins (or konis?), h&rs, rear bar, and maybe a chip. I haven't had a chance to check bushings yet.

Definitely a reliable engine, but I want a working odo for maintenance intervals. But yeah I'm not worried about mileage. Super short throw sounds fun compared to this long, vague, peanut butter throw.

The regulator looks fine - no corrosion, still nice and silver and galvanized. I can post a pic later. 

My brakes are ridiculously squeaky. PPI said it had pad left, but i haven't had a chance to pull off the basketweaves and check. And it's hard to see through the wheels. What would caliper sliders do?

How can I tell if it's coolant or not? Level is fine. 

It looked like someone took a hammer to it lol. I plan to sand it, and hit it with a good rust converting paint. Will eventually fix and repaint.

I've got a digital bentley :D

In reply to jgrewe :

Got it. If I can't start smoothly and quickly with the clutch, that's when i start to feed more throttle in right? Don't have any weird smells, just takes me a while to get off the clutch. 

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

So I can get off of it smoothly, but it usually takes me a bit. I never smell anything or feel slipping. This is with using a minimum or no throttle. I can get it moving with zero throttle, but it takes me a while to get off the clutch otherwise it's jerky or stalls. I'm trying to figure out what to do next.

In reply to bbbbRASS :

I can start in second gear with zero throttle as well, I'm just very slow and smooth off of the clutch. but it takes me multiple seconds to get off the clutch when i try to start in 2nd with no throttle. So I'm worried about slipping it even if I don't smell clutch. More throttle?

In reply to Teh E36 M3 :

I love this forum - favorite place on the internet! Everyone has been so helpful.

In reply to Evanuel9 :

It all comes down to muscle memory and confidence. And both those things come from practice. If you're consistently getting it moving without stalling, you're doing great! Now it is just a matter of being more efficient. Again, muscle memory and confidence.

From a dead stop on flat ground, with clutch disengaged (ie pedal on floor), slowly raise clutch foot (ie engage clutch) until car just starts to move, and hold it there for a sec, as the idle speed adjusts to the new load. Once the car is moving, you can smoothly release the pedal the rest of the way and start to slowly feed in some throttle at the same time.

Even when starting out on an uphill, the process is the same, with the addition of using the hand brake to hold you from rolling back.

it shouldn't take a ton of throttle, maybe 1500-ish rpm, and again that's while you're releasing the clutch pedal. You don't have to wait until the pedal is all the way up before you tip in on the throttle.

This is probably self-evident, but don't use smelling clutch as a benchmark — that's heavy wear/damage territory.

Look at it this way: any time the clutch pedal is not at 0% or 100%, it is incurring wear. The sooner you can get your foot all the way off, the longer your clutch will last.

Sounds like your are doing great on the stick shift learning curve. The fact you can get the car going without throttle shows you are feeling the friction point and can control the pedal movement as needed.

Another month and you won't even have to think about it.

In reply to Evanuel9 :

Don't do the 2nd gear start regularly! That is really more for icy starts in the winter. A bit of throttle, on that car I would think under 2K RPM, but as long as you aren't putting down the throttle you won't burn the clutch out. BMW clutches are very, very durable.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

This advice really helped. i've gotten so much smoother. i also realized that I was using sub-1000 rpm or sometimes no throttle usually to start out which is probably why it struggled, i've increased my throttle a bit to just over 1k and i've started moving faster. I've actually gotten really smooth with it - haven't stalled in a while (except when i panicked on a hill).

In reply to DancesWithCurves :

Yeah haha, I figured clutch smell means something's gone horrifically wrong. I've also started using a bit more throttle which helps me get off the clutch sooner. I've gotten pretty good!

In reply to jgrewe :

I'm at the point where I don't think about upshifts, although I do think about downshifts. I also was starting 90% of the time with no throttle. I've started using more throttle and it's become much easier.