A champagne coloured 1984 BMW E30 two door strapped to a U-Haul car trailer on a driveway, seen from the front three quarter, with trees and a house behind it

Garage projectDrawing 5 of 47

BMW E30
restoration

A nut and bolt restoration of a BMW E30, and it's still in progress. I bought a car I didn't understand, and I'm taking it apart one system at a time until I do.

StatusIn progress
CarBMW E30 318i, two door
Right nowFront structure off, shell in primer, engine out with the head off
MethodNut and bolt, one system at a time
Not recordedModel year, engine identity, purchase date, mileage

Sheet 02 of 06/Why an E30

Why I bought a car that doesn't work

Everything else I build starts in CAD, where every corner is exactly where you drew it. This car isn't like that, and that's what I like about it.

The E30 on its trailer in front of a stone and stucco house, seen from the front three quarter in bright daylight — *PL 02*Still on the trailer. My first proper look at what I'd bought, in daylight and while it was still in one piece.

The E30 sitting on the trailer in a wooded driveway, viewed from the side, with blue tape on the rear quarter panel — *PL 03*Parked before unloading. Every photo of this car after this one shows it in pieces.

Side view of the champagne coloured E30 two door on the trailer, from the rear wheel to the front wing, with trees behind it — *PL 12*The side of the car while it was still on the trailer.

Rear three quarter view of the champagne E30 on the trailer, with strips of blue painter's tape on the rear quarter panel and a pickup truck and a yellow sports car parked under the trees behind it — *PL 14*The back corner of the car on the trailer, with strips of blue tape on the rear quarter.

Looking through the closed door window of the E30 at the steering wheel and dashboard, with trees reflected in the glass — *PL 15*The inside as I bought it, seen through the door glass.

Close view of the back of the E30 showing the BMW roundel and the 318i badge on the trunk lid, blue tape on the rear quarter and a sticker on the rear window — *PL 16*The 318i badge on the trunk lid.

The E30 from behind on a U-Haul car trailer, held down with orange straps and a chain, with a pickup truck parked ahead of it on a wooded driveway — *PL 17*Strapped down on the trailer, seen from behind.

Sheet 03 of 06/Diagnose first

Finding the problem first

With an old car, the expensive mistake is buying parts before you know what's wrong. So nothing gets ordered until I can point at the reason.

The empty engine bay of the E30 with the engine already removed, showing bare metal, surface rust across the inner wings and the steering rack still in place — *PL 04*The engine bay as I bought it. Somebody else had already stripped it, and you can see the rust that had been underneath.

View from below the front of the E30 on the trailer, looking up at the steering rack and the underside of the empty engine bay, with patches of rust on the bare metal — *PL 13*Looking up under the front the day it arrived. You can see the steering rack and the rust on the metal above it.

The removed front end panel of the E30 standing on a shop floor next to the car, with shelving and tools in the background — *PL 05*The nose off, in the shop. Taking the front structure off as an assembly lets me reach everything behind it.

Sheet 04 of 06/Sequence

Order of work

I'm doing the structural and safety work before anything cosmetic. There's no point painting something I'd just have to pull apart again to get at what's underneath it.

Looking down into the E30 engine bay in a garage, the inner wings and front panel sprayed grey while the firewall is still bare metal with patches of rust, and an orange chair on the floor where the engine would sit — *PL 18*The inner wings in grey primer, with the firewall still in bare metal.

Close view of one E30 inner wing and strut tower sprayed grey, the frame rail below it still bare metal, with a cluttered bench of tools and rags behind — *PL 19*One inner wing in grey primer. The frame rail under it is still bare metal.

The opposite inner wing and strut tower in grey primer seen across the front of the car, with bare metal along the rail and a garage wall behind — *PL 20*The other inner wing at the same stage.

Close view of an E30 strut tower in grey primer where it joins the frame rail and firewall, which are still bare metal — *PL 21*Close up of where the strut tower meets the frame rail. The tower is in primer and the rail is still bare.

The grey primed strut tower and the bare metal frame rail running back toward the firewall and the windscreen opening, with a brake disc on the floor below — *PL 22*The rail running back to the firewall, still in bare metal.

The E30 shell seen from the front in a narrow garage, the engine bay and front structure sprayed white, the roof and windscreen wrapped in plastic, and the crossmember on the tarp in the foreground — *PL 25*The whole front end in white, with the crossmember on the tarp in front of it.

The E30 engine bay stripped to bare metal and sprayed in light grey primer, seen from the front with the windscreen masked off — *PL 06*Bare metal, then primer. The bay gets stripped back to clean steel and sealed before any part goes back into it.

The E30 seen from the front, its engine bay and front structure sprayed a glossy cream, the roof wrapped in plastic, with the cream crossmember on the floor in front — *PL 27*The whole front end in colour.

The same engine bay sprayed in the car's cream body colour, clean and glossy, with every seam and hole visible — *PL 07*The engine bay in colour. It's the first part of this car that's finished.

Side view of the E30 inner wing and front frame in glossy cream paint, up on a jack stand over the tarp, with the engine bay behind it and a long cream part lying on the tarp — *PL 28*The side of the front structure in colour.

The E30 in a garage with its hood raised over the cream engine bay, the underside of the hood patchy, with bookshelves and a hose reel on the walls behind — *PL 29*The hood open over the painted engine bay.

Sheet 05 of 06/Where it stands

Where it stands

Right now the front structure is off and the shell is back to bare metal and primer. The engine is out on a stand with the head off, and sound deadening is going into the floors.

The primed E30 shell in a workshop with its front structure and crossmember laid out separately on a blue tarpaulin on the floor — *PL 08*The shell and the front structure. The front end lifts away as one piece, which is why the subframe came out first.

The white front structure and engine bay seen from one front corner, the windscreen wrapped in plastic, the crossmember and an orange air hose on the tarp, and part of a person in dark clothes at the left edge — *PL 26*The front structure in white from the front corner, with the crossmember still on the tarp.

Side view of the E30 inner wing and wheel arch sprayed white, the car up on a blue jack stand over a blue tarpaulin, with the crossmember lying on the tarp and brake discs on the floor — *PL 23*The side of the front structure in white, up on a jack stand, with the crossmember on the tarp.

Looking down at the white crossmember lying on a paint spattered blue tarpaulin, an orange air hose beside it and the photographer's legs at the bottom of the frame — *PL 24*The crossmember sprayed white on its own, laid out on the tarp.

Looking through the door opening into the stripped interior of the E30, the floor and wheel arches covered in foil backed sound deadening mat — *PL 09*Sound deadening going into the floors and wheel arches. I'm doing it now while there's still nothing in the way.

Looking down through the rear window of the E30 into the stripped interior, the floor covered in foil backed sound deadening, with the car parked in a garage — *PL 30*Looking in through the rear window at the sound deadening on the floor.

Through the open door of the E30 into the stripped cabin, the floor covered in foil backed sound deadening mat and the inside of the door bare — *PL 31*The front floor with the sound deadening down, through the open door.

The four cylinder engine removed from the car and mounted on a red engine stand in a garage, dirty and partly disassembled — *PL 10*The engine out of the car, on a stand. Off the car I can turn it over and inspect it properly instead of judging it by feel.

The dirty engine on a red engine stand, seen from the side where the black mounting plate bolts to the block, with paper towels stuffed into the openings on top — *PL 32*The engine bolted to the stand through its mounting plate.

Looking into a single garage at the back of the E30, a cardboard box on its roof and a yellow strap across the trunk, with a red engine crane, bookshelves and blue jack stands around it — *PL 33*The car in the garage, with a box sitting on the roof.

The engine block with the cylinder head removed, looking down onto four open bores and the deck surface

Sheet 06 of 06/Lessons

What the car has taught me

So far it's mostly taught me to be patient. If you fix the thing you can see first, you usually just hide the real problem, and if you do steps out of order you end up undoing them later.

PL 11The block with the head off. With the bores and deck in plain view, I can see what it needs.