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Hello Stance|Works community!
With great pleasure, it is time to present my current project:
A car, that is not special or quick nor is it good looking. But what it has to offer is something very unique - the joy of owning and driving a car, that you don't really care if it gets dented or scratched and yet it still delivers the smile on the face. It has a story behind it, which also contributes to the character of this car. My friends and I called this car Navesa, which translates into something like a shed and a canopy at the same time, as what it does best is shade.
Before you continue, be advised - this is NOT going to be a stanced car, in fact it is more the opposite of stanced cars. The point of this thread is not to show off crazy low and/or fitment, craftsmanship or ingenuity.
The point of this thread is to share another side of enthusiast car ownership, that kept me sane for the past few years.
Prologue
Most of us would agree, having an ambitious project car, that consumes way too much time and has blown the budget waaaay out of proportion is so stressful and can lead to frustration, desperation, depression, self-doubt, broken up relationships (not only with sexual partners but friends and relatives) and other negatives that can and will dilute the satisfaction of completing the project car or even feel disgust or shame when looking at it or driving it. These negatives can take away everything that we strive for, when we first dive into the project. Some of you may remember a discussion on that topic in another member's thread, you know what I'm on about here. These negatives are often hidden, suppressed by the owner of the car, we don't get to see or feel them in the flashy instaspace photos or faceswap posts. But they are there, and people involved in such slow and painful self-funded builds know it.
This car is exactly the opposite of those builds. It has never gulped up unnecessary amounts of money, it has never developed hard to trace issues that don't let you sleep, it has never failed to take me to wherever I set off to. It has been there for me, each time, sure there is no such thing as repair free car, it has had issues, but always made it home safely under its own power. It gave me unforgettable memories simply by taking me to a place so secluded and beautiful, it takes away the day-to-day stress off my shoulders.
I like to think of this car as a reflection to my other 325e, seen in a magical opposite mirror. One 325e got all the attention to detail, money, professional body repairmen and respray and is still bitchy and trying to ruin me. The other got neglect, patch repairs, abuse and A TON of miles, but still stood and refused to leave me stranded, in fact it never left any of my buddies down - whoever needed a tow, got a tow from it.
So far, it has been an inexpensive, carefree journey, that I enjoyed and I think now it's time to return some of those favors. It's time to give this car a second life.
Introduction/Storytime
Back in January 2015, I had just started my restoration project on my alpine white 1985 325e. Check out the link in my signature if you care to see how this car kicked my ass. It is now 99% complete, so the thread gets updated only once in a while.
Anyway, at the same time, Jan 2015, I started the awful task of replacing the rear subframe bushings on my daily driver, which was the first e30 I "built". It was nothing fancy, a simple 4-banger with an LPG system to get me round and about. Doing the bushings on the subframe was a good time to swap in disc brakes at the back and an LSD unit for some winter slides, I thought. So off with the whole frame. Only trouble was, the subframe came off with some of the inner rocker panels and some of the structure that supports the subframe itself. Guess bad weld jobs/repairs combined with salt on the roads for 7 winters would do that. Worst part was it was halfway through the garage door, stuck on jackstands and no subframe in it in the middle of January. It was OK during daytime, but once night fell ... this was one of the most miserable days in my life. That was the point I knew I had to get rid of this car, as I didn't have the means, time and money to have it properly fixed. At the same time I started looking for another daily driver. As chance would have it a 325e pops up in the classifieds and it is even in my hometown! A 325e is a very rare bird in my part of the world, so the possibility of owning TWO at the same time was very slim. Naturally, I asked my dad to go check it out for me, since I don't live there any more. The next day he sent me these pictures among many other. I picked these as the most informative ones.
As you can see, some obvious sings of rust, but the structural elements were good, says my dad. He also sent me a video of the car running with popped expansion tank cap. What do you see? Yep you guessed it - exhaust gas coming from the cooling system's expansion tank. I was actually happy about it, because I had the engine out of the white car, I wasn't going to use the head for that build and it was recently redone. I tried using that as a bargaining chip, but to no avail. The car was listed for 900 euro, which is roughly 1100 USD, I low balled at about 700 USD (600 euro) and the guy told me to f*ck off. Oh well, moved on, bought other cars (they will get their own threads) and forgot about it.
Fast and Furious Forward a year and half to August 2016
A buddy of mine starts asking me all of a sudden to lend him some 325e specific parts, such as ECU, crank position sensor, idle control module, ignition parts etc over the course of about a month. I give him whatever parts he asks for next, no questions asked. One day I get curious and ask "what are these for, what's going on?" and he replies that he's trying to help out some guy having issues with starting up his US spec e30. Needless to say, that catches my attention and I say "well, if he doesn't get it running, I'm happy to buy it off his hands". Apparently the guy got fed up with the issues and wants to talk money, so we arrange to meet up where the car is parked. The address was a car wash right next to the building I moved out of a few years back, so I know the place and the neighborhood very well.
I arrive at the spot and immediately recognize the same car! The exterior had gotten rougher and under the hood it was a mess - they short circuited the coil and it exploded all over the place, with the rocker cover removed. There was gunk all over the place and random wires hanging from under the dash and poking from under the carpet. Obvious signs of desperate attempts to start the car. We talk briefly, I tell him the story about the previous purchase attempt and we laugh a bit about it. He gave me a summary of what they tried to start the car and says in frustration he is fed up with this old piece of crap. It actually belongs to his cousin who is right now out of country and he doesn't want to sink any more time and effort into it, given he bought another e30 to rip in. So we made a great deal and for 500 euro (about 600 USD) I towed it to our workshop the next day.
The troubleshooting of a lifetime
My idea was to part out the car, as the parts in it were worth waay more than what I paid for it. My dad came over due to some business related stuff and we got talking - why don't we try to start it ourselves, at least see what condition the engine was in. And that's where it started - spent a ridiculous amount of time tidying up some of the wiring, removing a stupid alarm system, a humongous air horn that was inop and a bunch of other crap out of it, including removing all the molten coil pieces that were stuck all over the engine bay and in the rocker arm tray of the head. I don't have any pictures of it, but remember that exhaust leak into the cooling system? Someone had taken the head off to repair that and there was a weld under the camshaft from cyl 2 all the way to cyl 6. As I said and am going to repeat a lot in this thread - I didn't care, car was so cheap it would easily make all the money and some more, so I was chill about it.
Someone had cut off the fuel pump harness to make the pump work all the time, instead of jumping the relay pins on the engine harness. That was the first sign of illiterates working on this car.
I'll cut it short - to start the car, I replaced both fuel pumps with the units I had left over from my project 325e (it got brand new one), put some fresh gas in it and make a breakthrough discovery.
One day I was thinking about the crank position sensor of the 325e. It was there, that I knew - it is located on the gearbox bell housing as opposed to other and later e30 models at the front of the engines. It takes the reading for TDC from a small square pin tacked onto the flywheel, which tends to fall off over time. I went under the car again and found out someone had cut a small square hole in the gearbox bell housing. Obviously they knew about the way the 325e ignition works and wanted to check if the pin is still there without removing the gearbox. I rotated the engine until I see the pin through that hole - what do you know, there is a small bolt welded in place of the pin, it has obviously fallen off. But why doesn't the car start, if someone "fixed" it already? I thought about it for a second and went to measure the height of the original pin on my flywheel from the other car, good thing I kept everything. Sure enough, the bolt they welded onto the flywheel was 4mm too tall. I took out the crank sensor - it was smashed by the too tall bolt. Put in another sensor with a 4mm washer and gave it a crank. It started right up and that was the moment, this car was no longer a parts car. This was early October 2016.
I told my dad I'd just drive it around for a few months until it dies and then part it out. He said "Son, the temporary things are the longest lasting ones. Out of all your cars, you will drive this one the most"
He was right.
A time of adventure and careless motoring
During the next three years and some months, I drove this car a total of about 110 000 kms, which is about 68 000 miles. For our 500 km long country, this is a lot. Me and my at the time fiance went on countless trips with it and it took us to magnificent places where there is no road to set camp at. I thought her how to drift in it on an abandoned go-cart track. Besides putting on some MSW wheels in 15x7 et12 with new rubber in 195/65/15 on it, and swapping out the horrific interior for a somewhat better one in tan color, I didn't do any cosmetic changes to it, mostly repairs and maintenance when needed. Below are some pictures of these times, as I can't find all of them.
Woke up to this bullcrap one morning while sleeping over at her place, 4 minutes late for the parking fee.
Found this beautiful place just off a country road.
Took it on some high attitude adventures
Put a roof rack on it for a while, then took it of due to too much wind noise.
One of many camping trips to places with no roads. The brake hard line to the rear wheels broke and I had to squish it together with some pliers effectively disabling the rear brakes. Made it home safely (500 km trip).
Another camping trip, the first night was one to remember ... there was such a savage thunderstorm, that we stayed in the car to make use of the Faraday cage.
Checking the oil, after a loud bang while fooling around in this abandoned rock mine
Of course, this sort of use and abuse doesn't come without some broken parts.
During this time, I have replaced some broken or worn out parts, below is the cost break down of the whole car including these items, not chronological though. No labor cost, as I did all the work.
Purchase of car - 500 euro
Change of ownership/tax - 65 euro
Fixing the chassis wiring harness - 0
Replacing both fuel pumps - 0 euro, leftover from the white 325e
Replacing crank position sensor - 0 euro, leftover from the white 325e
Driveshaft central bearing - 20 euro
Flex disc - 40 euro
Brand new OEM BMW front shocks - 32 euro (old stock discount deal)
Front upper McPhearson bushings - 50 euro
Front sway bars - 25 euro
Lower control arm bushings - 0 euro, gifted by a friend from a parts car
Steering rack - 0 euro. I actually BROKE the steering rack. Used the original from the white 325e
All four ball joints on the control arms - 40 euro
Brake master cylinder - 0 euro, gifted by a friend from parts car
Front brake calipers - 0 euro, gifted by a friend from parts car. Reason was one of the pistons seized and was crooked, couldn't get it out.
Brake light switch - 7 euro
Brake hoses and pipe to fix camping brake disaster - 25 euro
Spark plugs wires and distributor plus distributor cap - 0 euro, left over from the white 325e
Rear wheel bearings - 40 euro, these got SO loud on t he way home from one of the camping trips, we couldn't hear anything above 60km/h
Rear spring perch rot - 5 euro, ordered some laser cut 5mm thick steel and welded that in quick and dirty. More on that later.
Head cover gasket - 8 euro. Did the rocker adjustment while at it
Timing belt kit including water pump, tensioner pulley and three seals for the transmission - 70 euro
Thermostat - 20 euro
Upper radiator hose - 25 euro
Radiator - 0 euro, used the old one from the white 325e, which got a brand new one
Cooling system reservoir - 0 euro, used one from a parts car
LPG system sender unit - 65 euro
Maintenance items for the LPG system - 13 euro
Wheels - 75 euro
Winter tires - 180 euro
Front windshield - 0 euro, bought a brand new one for my m10 powered e30 and used the original one for this car
Front passenger and driver side windows + window lift mechanisms - 0 euro , had my own parts car for those
Door cards - 0 euro, had my own parts car for those
Recaro seats - 65 euro (score)
Rear seat - 0 euro, had my own parts car for that
Throttle cable - 15 euro
First clutch replacement - 0 euro, put in a used clutch and regretted that after 2 months
Second clutch replacement - 110 euro
First starter replacement - 110 euro, put in a brand new unit, which failed in 6 months, got my money back actually
Second starter replacement - 0 euro, used the original one from the white e30, it got a OEM reconditioned one
Rear brake hose and hard lines replacement (again, to fix the dirty job I did previosuly) - 34 euro
Rear polyurethane bushing - 40 euro, yes I put poly bushings in that car. They popped up for cheap used.
As you can see, the total amount of about 1170 euro is largely due to the fact I had parts from other cars at my disposal. If I had to buy them new or used if not available used, probably it would have gone to 2k. Which still isn't bad, considering the huge distance covered. My ODO doesn't work, so how do I know how many miles I did in it? I kept every single receipt for fuel and calculated based on the avarage MPG the car makes.
Well, this is pretty much a good recap of what has been going on with the car up until end of February 2020.
That's all I have time for right now. Until next time, stay tuned to find out what I uncover in Feb.
With great pleasure, it is time to present my current project:
A car, that is not special or quick nor is it good looking. But what it has to offer is something very unique - the joy of owning and driving a car, that you don't really care if it gets dented or scratched and yet it still delivers the smile on the face. It has a story behind it, which also contributes to the character of this car. My friends and I called this car Navesa, which translates into something like a shed and a canopy at the same time, as what it does best is shade.
Before you continue, be advised - this is NOT going to be a stanced car, in fact it is more the opposite of stanced cars. The point of this thread is not to show off crazy low and/or fitment, craftsmanship or ingenuity.
The point of this thread is to share another side of enthusiast car ownership, that kept me sane for the past few years.
Prologue
Most of us would agree, having an ambitious project car, that consumes way too much time and has blown the budget waaaay out of proportion is so stressful and can lead to frustration, desperation, depression, self-doubt, broken up relationships (not only with sexual partners but friends and relatives) and other negatives that can and will dilute the satisfaction of completing the project car or even feel disgust or shame when looking at it or driving it. These negatives can take away everything that we strive for, when we first dive into the project. Some of you may remember a discussion on that topic in another member's thread, you know what I'm on about here. These negatives are often hidden, suppressed by the owner of the car, we don't get to see or feel them in the flashy instaspace photos or faceswap posts. But they are there, and people involved in such slow and painful self-funded builds know it.
This car is exactly the opposite of those builds. It has never gulped up unnecessary amounts of money, it has never developed hard to trace issues that don't let you sleep, it has never failed to take me to wherever I set off to. It has been there for me, each time, sure there is no such thing as repair free car, it has had issues, but always made it home safely under its own power. It gave me unforgettable memories simply by taking me to a place so secluded and beautiful, it takes away the day-to-day stress off my shoulders.
I like to think of this car as a reflection to my other 325e, seen in a magical opposite mirror. One 325e got all the attention to detail, money, professional body repairmen and respray and is still bitchy and trying to ruin me. The other got neglect, patch repairs, abuse and A TON of miles, but still stood and refused to leave me stranded, in fact it never left any of my buddies down - whoever needed a tow, got a tow from it.
So far, it has been an inexpensive, carefree journey, that I enjoyed and I think now it's time to return some of those favors. It's time to give this car a second life.
Introduction/Storytime
Back in January 2015, I had just started my restoration project on my alpine white 1985 325e. Check out the link in my signature if you care to see how this car kicked my ass. It is now 99% complete, so the thread gets updated only once in a while.
Anyway, at the same time, Jan 2015, I started the awful task of replacing the rear subframe bushings on my daily driver, which was the first e30 I "built". It was nothing fancy, a simple 4-banger with an LPG system to get me round and about. Doing the bushings on the subframe was a good time to swap in disc brakes at the back and an LSD unit for some winter slides, I thought. So off with the whole frame. Only trouble was, the subframe came off with some of the inner rocker panels and some of the structure that supports the subframe itself. Guess bad weld jobs/repairs combined with salt on the roads for 7 winters would do that. Worst part was it was halfway through the garage door, stuck on jackstands and no subframe in it in the middle of January. It was OK during daytime, but once night fell ... this was one of the most miserable days in my life. That was the point I knew I had to get rid of this car, as I didn't have the means, time and money to have it properly fixed. At the same time I started looking for another daily driver. As chance would have it a 325e pops up in the classifieds and it is even in my hometown! A 325e is a very rare bird in my part of the world, so the possibility of owning TWO at the same time was very slim. Naturally, I asked my dad to go check it out for me, since I don't live there any more. The next day he sent me these pictures among many other. I picked these as the most informative ones.
As you can see, some obvious sings of rust, but the structural elements were good, says my dad. He also sent me a video of the car running with popped expansion tank cap. What do you see? Yep you guessed it - exhaust gas coming from the cooling system's expansion tank. I was actually happy about it, because I had the engine out of the white car, I wasn't going to use the head for that build and it was recently redone. I tried using that as a bargaining chip, but to no avail. The car was listed for 900 euro, which is roughly 1100 USD, I low balled at about 700 USD (600 euro) and the guy told me to f*ck off. Oh well, moved on, bought other cars (they will get their own threads) and forgot about it.
Fast and Furious Forward a year and half to August 2016
A buddy of mine starts asking me all of a sudden to lend him some 325e specific parts, such as ECU, crank position sensor, idle control module, ignition parts etc over the course of about a month. I give him whatever parts he asks for next, no questions asked. One day I get curious and ask "what are these for, what's going on?" and he replies that he's trying to help out some guy having issues with starting up his US spec e30. Needless to say, that catches my attention and I say "well, if he doesn't get it running, I'm happy to buy it off his hands". Apparently the guy got fed up with the issues and wants to talk money, so we arrange to meet up where the car is parked. The address was a car wash right next to the building I moved out of a few years back, so I know the place and the neighborhood very well.
I arrive at the spot and immediately recognize the same car! The exterior had gotten rougher and under the hood it was a mess - they short circuited the coil and it exploded all over the place, with the rocker cover removed. There was gunk all over the place and random wires hanging from under the dash and poking from under the carpet. Obvious signs of desperate attempts to start the car. We talk briefly, I tell him the story about the previous purchase attempt and we laugh a bit about it. He gave me a summary of what they tried to start the car and says in frustration he is fed up with this old piece of crap. It actually belongs to his cousin who is right now out of country and he doesn't want to sink any more time and effort into it, given he bought another e30 to rip in. So we made a great deal and for 500 euro (about 600 USD) I towed it to our workshop the next day.
The troubleshooting of a lifetime
My idea was to part out the car, as the parts in it were worth waay more than what I paid for it. My dad came over due to some business related stuff and we got talking - why don't we try to start it ourselves, at least see what condition the engine was in. And that's where it started - spent a ridiculous amount of time tidying up some of the wiring, removing a stupid alarm system, a humongous air horn that was inop and a bunch of other crap out of it, including removing all the molten coil pieces that were stuck all over the engine bay and in the rocker arm tray of the head. I don't have any pictures of it, but remember that exhaust leak into the cooling system? Someone had taken the head off to repair that and there was a weld under the camshaft from cyl 2 all the way to cyl 6. As I said and am going to repeat a lot in this thread - I didn't care, car was so cheap it would easily make all the money and some more, so I was chill about it.
Someone had cut off the fuel pump harness to make the pump work all the time, instead of jumping the relay pins on the engine harness. That was the first sign of illiterates working on this car.
I'll cut it short - to start the car, I replaced both fuel pumps with the units I had left over from my project 325e (it got brand new one), put some fresh gas in it and make a breakthrough discovery.
One day I was thinking about the crank position sensor of the 325e. It was there, that I knew - it is located on the gearbox bell housing as opposed to other and later e30 models at the front of the engines. It takes the reading for TDC from a small square pin tacked onto the flywheel, which tends to fall off over time. I went under the car again and found out someone had cut a small square hole in the gearbox bell housing. Obviously they knew about the way the 325e ignition works and wanted to check if the pin is still there without removing the gearbox. I rotated the engine until I see the pin through that hole - what do you know, there is a small bolt welded in place of the pin, it has obviously fallen off. But why doesn't the car start, if someone "fixed" it already? I thought about it for a second and went to measure the height of the original pin on my flywheel from the other car, good thing I kept everything. Sure enough, the bolt they welded onto the flywheel was 4mm too tall. I took out the crank sensor - it was smashed by the too tall bolt. Put in another sensor with a 4mm washer and gave it a crank. It started right up and that was the moment, this car was no longer a parts car. This was early October 2016.
I told my dad I'd just drive it around for a few months until it dies and then part it out. He said "Son, the temporary things are the longest lasting ones. Out of all your cars, you will drive this one the most"
He was right.
A time of adventure and careless motoring
During the next three years and some months, I drove this car a total of about 110 000 kms, which is about 68 000 miles. For our 500 km long country, this is a lot. Me and my at the time fiance went on countless trips with it and it took us to magnificent places where there is no road to set camp at. I thought her how to drift in it on an abandoned go-cart track. Besides putting on some MSW wheels in 15x7 et12 with new rubber in 195/65/15 on it, and swapping out the horrific interior for a somewhat better one in tan color, I didn't do any cosmetic changes to it, mostly repairs and maintenance when needed. Below are some pictures of these times, as I can't find all of them.
Woke up to this bullcrap one morning while sleeping over at her place, 4 minutes late for the parking fee.
Found this beautiful place just off a country road.
Took it on some high attitude adventures
Put a roof rack on it for a while, then took it of due to too much wind noise.
One of many camping trips to places with no roads. The brake hard line to the rear wheels broke and I had to squish it together with some pliers effectively disabling the rear brakes. Made it home safely (500 km trip).
Another camping trip, the first night was one to remember ... there was such a savage thunderstorm, that we stayed in the car to make use of the Faraday cage.
Checking the oil, after a loud bang while fooling around in this abandoned rock mine
Of course, this sort of use and abuse doesn't come without some broken parts.
During this time, I have replaced some broken or worn out parts, below is the cost break down of the whole car including these items, not chronological though. No labor cost, as I did all the work.
Purchase of car - 500 euro
Change of ownership/tax - 65 euro
Fixing the chassis wiring harness - 0
Replacing both fuel pumps - 0 euro, leftover from the white 325e
Replacing crank position sensor - 0 euro, leftover from the white 325e
Driveshaft central bearing - 20 euro
Flex disc - 40 euro
Brand new OEM BMW front shocks - 32 euro (old stock discount deal)
Front upper McPhearson bushings - 50 euro
Front sway bars - 25 euro
Lower control arm bushings - 0 euro, gifted by a friend from a parts car
Steering rack - 0 euro. I actually BROKE the steering rack. Used the original from the white 325e
All four ball joints on the control arms - 40 euro
Brake master cylinder - 0 euro, gifted by a friend from parts car
Front brake calipers - 0 euro, gifted by a friend from parts car. Reason was one of the pistons seized and was crooked, couldn't get it out.
Brake light switch - 7 euro
Brake hoses and pipe to fix camping brake disaster - 25 euro
Spark plugs wires and distributor plus distributor cap - 0 euro, left over from the white 325e
Rear wheel bearings - 40 euro, these got SO loud on t he way home from one of the camping trips, we couldn't hear anything above 60km/h
Rear spring perch rot - 5 euro, ordered some laser cut 5mm thick steel and welded that in quick and dirty. More on that later.
Head cover gasket - 8 euro. Did the rocker adjustment while at it
Timing belt kit including water pump, tensioner pulley and three seals for the transmission - 70 euro
Thermostat - 20 euro
Upper radiator hose - 25 euro
Radiator - 0 euro, used the old one from the white 325e, which got a brand new one
Cooling system reservoir - 0 euro, used one from a parts car
LPG system sender unit - 65 euro
Maintenance items for the LPG system - 13 euro
Wheels - 75 euro
Winter tires - 180 euro
Front windshield - 0 euro, bought a brand new one for my m10 powered e30 and used the original one for this car
Front passenger and driver side windows + window lift mechanisms - 0 euro , had my own parts car for those
Door cards - 0 euro, had my own parts car for those
Recaro seats - 65 euro (score)
Rear seat - 0 euro, had my own parts car for that
Throttle cable - 15 euro
First clutch replacement - 0 euro, put in a used clutch and regretted that after 2 months
Second clutch replacement - 110 euro
First starter replacement - 110 euro, put in a brand new unit, which failed in 6 months, got my money back actually
Second starter replacement - 0 euro, used the original one from the white e30, it got a OEM reconditioned one
Rear brake hose and hard lines replacement (again, to fix the dirty job I did previosuly) - 34 euro
Rear polyurethane bushing - 40 euro, yes I put poly bushings in that car. They popped up for cheap used.
As you can see, the total amount of about 1170 euro is largely due to the fact I had parts from other cars at my disposal. If I had to buy them new or used if not available used, probably it would have gone to 2k. Which still isn't bad, considering the huge distance covered. My ODO doesn't work, so how do I know how many miles I did in it? I kept every single receipt for fuel and calculated based on the avarage MPG the car makes.
Well, this is pretty much a good recap of what has been going on with the car up until end of February 2020.
That's all I have time for right now. Until next time, stay tuned to find out what I uncover in Feb.
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