tires and wheels I bought another one over the weekend, I need therapy

[Gordon]

Gang,

I am a sick puppy since I suffer from old BMW disease for which their is no cure.

I bought the following E30 on Sat in Fresno CA

Ryan and I went to Fresno this weekend to check out a couple of E30's and he wanted to look at a 72 E9 coupe.

http://fresno.craigslist.org/car/267790159.html 89 325i 4 door 5 speed with 192K, the same owner since 93. Color is Royal blue metallic. In the stack of receipts the owner gave me, I found a receipt for a $3K paint job two years ago in the original color. Car came with a huge stack of receipts. I bought it for $1.5K

I went to Fresno with the intention of looking at two cars. I intended to look at this 90 325is for $2K OBO. http://fresno.craigslist.org/car/281907017.html The ad says that the seller does his own maintenance which is scary in itself unless he works as a tech in a BMW shop. I asked him about smog test and the owner is clueless about the smog test, didn't know that the seller is responsible for CA smog test prior to vehicle transfer. He said he would have to ask his uncle since he did the work on the car, go figure. I asked him in an email if he had maintenance records on the car and after I asked him this, the Craigslist ad was changed to the fact that he did all maintenance on this car. Seller never did give me his phone number. Be advised, this seller is a real work of art. Someone may have better luck than I did dealing with the seller. I did get the address from him, put the addressess on Goggle Maps and printed it off, a block off SH 41 in south Fresno (not the best area of town). What google didn't show was that 41 has been rebuilt as a freeway and the old 41 was not on the map. We spent a half hour driving around trying to find his address and I couldn't find the streets on the Google map. Screw it, this car wasn't meant to be so I went to north Fresno to look at the 89 325i. On the way to north Fresno, we stopped to check out a 72 3.0cs fjord blue original CA blue plate car that Ryan bought, car was in the Fresno Craigslist.

While you are in Fresno, check out this E30 conv pimp my ride wannabe

http://fresno.craigslist.org/car/283682937.html 20" bling bling wheels and a paint job to die for, (with hood scoop) what more do you want, price is cheap, $7K. You'll feel the love from your neighbors when you bring this one home

More pics

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/vroomer/Fresno%20Trip/

From Paso Robles, we drove up in my 73 Bavaria on our way to Fresno. Our first stop was at the James Dean memorial, a few hundred yards away from where he was killed in a car crash in 55 (while driving his Porsche).

The coupe that Ryan bought is an original CA blue plate car that has been in Fresno it's whole life, we crawled all over it looking for rust and couldn't find any. Ryan got sucked in by the lure of owning a coupe. Now that Ryan has bought a coupe, he will be thumbing his noses at us 02 owners while he's sipping on his Chardonay. Check that, he won't have any money left to buy any Chardonay now that he has a coupe. I told him to drive it till the automatic goes south then do a 5 speed conversion. The carbs under the air cleaner are Weber's. It is a beautiful car.

You can see the pics of me inspecting the E30. The spare looks like it has never been on the ground. Tires on the car are Yoko's 205/60-14. It appears that the tires are about 50-60% worn. Dash has a few cracks, that's to be expected in Fresno where it gets really hot in the summer. The AC on the E30 has been converted to R134. This car has an incredible stack of receipts going back to when the car was new. Money was no object by the PO to the upkeep of this E30. The shop the seller took it to for service in Fresno (German Auto) is going to miss this cash cow. I love the paint color, RoyalBlue metallic, very rare in an E30. Odometer is broken, by the receipts, I'd say the current mileage is 5-10K higher.

The E30 needs a tune up, timing belt, sloppy shifter, has some vibration at high speed (worn control arms?)

4 door big tail light (89-91) E30 325i's are rare in a 5 speed. It seems that 90% of them are automatics. This was in Fresno Craigslist for nearly a month. If the ad for the E30's had been in the SF Bay or LA craigslist, it wouldn't last long.

After I fix up the E30, it will be my oldest daughters car and my youngest daughter will receive the current E30 that my oldest daughter is driving

G-Man

91 318i M42 sedan

91 318i parts car (not much left)

89 325i 4 door 5 speed

86 325 5 speed (daughters DD)

74 2002tii 5 speed, lsd, etc..

73 Bavaria, 5 speed, Weber's, (sold, to be delivered to new owner next week in San Diego)

70 2800, 4 speed, Euro spec, 98K original KM's, totally stock

96 4Runner (parts hauler)

[Troy]

Good job G.

If I lived in Cali, I would have the same sickness. Not many early BMWs here in my area, That Coupe looks NICE

[ingraham]

(nt)

[Vroomer]

This coupe is ALL YOUR FAULT.

However, I blame you, Jan, Jamie, Steve K, Steve J, Norm, Daniel, MoeSpeed, InkaSteve, Cris, Gordon, Evan, Norm, and Rob T for my BMW sickness. Yes, I have included the 2002 Haus man in this list. EVERY time I visit the shop, I get to learn something else. If I forgot someone's name from this distinguished list, MY FAULT! I'm only human! Yeah, some of you were listed twice because I care.

And G-Man, my mom told me she wants the coupe since seeing all the pictures.

[InkaSteve]

This coupe is ALL YOUR FAULT.

I will not be responsible for the "coupe purchase"...only 02's.

Your mother will now want to "drive" the coupe, she won't put up with you sticking her in the back seat all the way to Monterey, like you do in the 02.

By the way, how did two guys get three cars back from Fresno??

[tjones02]

(nt)

[SteveJ]

What the hell did I do????!!!!!!!

Oh wait...nevermind.

[Vroomer]

I will not be responsible for the "coupe purchase"...only 02's.

Your mother will now want to "drive" the coupe, she won't put up with you sticking her in the back seat all the way to Monterey, like you do in the 02.

By the way, how did two guys get three cars back from Fresno??

First - No no... you and Gordon were there at Bimmer Fest 05!!! One of you said, "have you checked out 2002 Haus, yet?" And the rest is history.

Second - Hey! I took it slow and we stopped once! Low blow Mr. Garden hose blow by man... ;-] HAHAHA!

Third - We have another trip to make to get the other car.... =P

[Gordon]

I've already got a nice M-Technic wheel I pulled off a 87 325is at the pik-a-part yard to go on the 325i. Another thing, only 88 & 89 E30's had ellipsoid lights from the factory.

G-Man

[Armond]

Man, I'm salivating over that E9..

[tjones02]

Yeah, now you can look on ebay for those euro "smiley" headlights.