M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Exterior => Topic started by: Choking Hazard on March 23, 2006, 07:56:53 PM
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I love reading about the member's cars, but I gotta ask: am I the only one who doesn't have a "better than pristine" example? I bought this car for driving in the real world. Sure enough, it has alreeady been tapped once. Now the offset of the rear bumper cover matches the offset of the front bumper cover. It's not significant- but alignment to the body is clearly not there no more. And I have plenty of parking lot dings and (now touched-up) rock chips too. You guys with uber-30s: do you have a different daily driver? Am I wrong to be a little less concerned with appearance on this car? I wonder if a repaint would look as good as the original paint- which still has fine depth and gloss- just some surface irregularities under. Is there a "keep it stock" thing for our cars, or is it all in the mods? I don't want to abuse this car, but I can't make it into a shrine either...
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- Cameras hide a lot
- E30s are old cars, carfax aint all that
- If the car drives straight and aligns... I buy it
- CPO on an m42 isn't an option
- Happy m42'ng
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Yeah, not to knock anybody, but if you have a halfway decent camera, wash your car and shoot it in some good light ...the results can be... amazing...
having said that, we have a very very tasteful group of cars here... as seen in the sig above.
...but no matter what, love the one you're with...!
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Mine is a DD. I didn't take any pics of "the bad side" of my car. Mine was resprayed by one of the previous owners and shines up real nice...even off camera.:D
Some days you just have to drive it like you stole it to appreciate it.
Got to love these cars. They handle like they're on f***ing rails.
Dan.
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Agreed. Mine is supposed to be kept in the driveway most of the time while I drive my hyundai around as my DD but, this car is just way too much fun to drive. I had mine resprayed last year and I already need to have my front skirt retouched and my rear bumper. Just take pics of the good side of ur car and give it a good wash and wax. Try claybarring it also. People say that it does wonders to revitalize ur paint.
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I'm by no means a photography expert, and the pictures of my car make it look quite a bit better than it really is. I'm driving my car every day, and will continue to for many years, hopefully. With the daily driving will come flaws, there really isn't much you can do about something like that, unless you have fanatical attention to detail and a corresponding amount of time and money on your hands.
From my standpoint (and I'm betting many on this board), the mark of a true enthusiast is the willingness to drive your car often, not let it sit in a garage where it isn't doing anyone any good.
Of course, regular maintinance, both mechanical and cosmetic, will go a long way toward making sure your e30 will last. I'm sure I'm just stating the obvious here, otherwise you wouldn't even be reading this.
Just my .02 on the subject
Brian
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I'm driving my car every day
[I will] not let it sit in a garage where it isn't doing anyone any good.
Brian
Oh yeah! I bought it for the driving, not the viewing. I don't think there really is a collector market for the lowly E30 'cept the (only REAL) M3. I know the M42 E30 was quite limited too, but just not as relished as the M3.
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Heh, I would say the 318iS is rarer than the M3. Yeah, a lot more were produced, but prettymuch ALL E30 M3's are in pristine condition because of their status. Since the 318iS gets laughed at a lot but unknowing twits, many are beat to hell. There may well be far fewer 318iS's in PRISTINE condition than there are M3's. See the logic? Lol.
Anyway. I feel ya on feeling like the car is beat up. Mine has a number of door dings, and a couple little scrapes through the paint from the last owner. It runs really nice though, and looks good when polished. That is what counts in the end!
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mine has it's share of dings, the roof is really faded, and the drivers door was repainted at one point but it doesnt quite match.
I have fun with it. That's what they are for.
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i bought my car keyed cause i dont give a f***
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Now now Mr. MPower. Language around the children....lol
My last car was keyed, by the psycho friend of a sorta crazy ex GF (she got better though lol). And as on both cars, ONE rear quarterpanel is clearcoated and doesn't quite match...WTF???
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Cameras do hide a lot. Plus some is just not readily noticeable even in person.
The previous owner must have learned to drive in mine.
Lets see:
My front air dam is chipped and pitted to hell.
Right front signal is pushed in, along with the front of the fender (Very hard to tell, looks flared).
My windsheild has a wiper streak on it.
The left rear quarter has clear coat peeling.
The rear bumper is pushed in a bit.
In front of my right wheel was damaged somehow.
Pass. door has a nice scratch thanks to a Home depot cart somone let loose (Hint, park away from cart corrals, but also, UPHILL from them!
Last but not least, my pass. door is from a pre-88 the color is just slightly darker.
None of this shows in pics, or is readily noticeable when you see it.
None of it shows up in carfax as well.
Most will be fixed when I paint it. Windsheild I hope to get polished soon.
I have hours invested in cleaning my wheels of baked on dust, days in the finish, and invested close to $100 replacing emblems (which make a world of difference!).
These are 15 year old cars, often driven quite hard. Expect some blemmishes.
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My paint is not impressive at all in person. She needs a good amount of cosmetic work before I'd be totally happy with it, but I manage.
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*whew*
guess I'm not a runt after all.
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mine hasnt been washed for months. most of my bumper strips are grazed, 80% of panels have some kind of dint. bootlid is drilled to hell to accomodate and assortment of lips and wings. carpets are stained, carpets are dirty at the moment. stone chips. my m42 gets driven every day and night, it is hard to keep em clean.
photos only ever get taken when it has been detailed, or at least cleaned.
its weird, i used to wash it nearly twice a week, now i just enjoy wringing it's little neck on a daily basis. it really is turning into a redheaded step child. but i still love it.
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Mine has a chunk of paint missing off of the pass. side fender and has a dent on the left and has horrible color. But it runs like a bat out of hell so i don't mind 2 bad.
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i'm more concerned about how it drives, especially since that is the most fun part anyways, and when you are driving, you cant see door dings!
OT, but i see a lot of white e30s here with a black front 'is' lip and sideskirt.. factory or personal touch? like e9ine's.
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OT, but i see a lot of white e30s here with a black front 'is' lip and sideskirt.. factory or personal touch? like e9ine's.
Personal touch, I can't avoid scraping my lip everynow and then. On mountain and highway drives, debris pits my lip a lot. The black lip deflects debris and is easier to touch up.
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I love reading about the member's cars, but I gotta ask: am I the only one who doesn't have a "better than pristine" example? I bought this car for driving in the real world.
First off, I saw some pics of your car and it looks great! One man's beater is another man's "pristine example".
Either way, rubbing it with a diaper and Q-tips ain't no fun; these are driver's cars! I wanted to find a straight car (i.e. hadn't been wrecked real bad!), but didn't want a mint one.
Personally, I LOVE beaters as you can just drive them and have fun with them. Granted, my car needs lots of mechancial work, and I take pride in cleaning up and improving things here and there... that's part of the fun IMHO.
Just drive it like hell and enjoy it!!! :D
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(http://www.lactnews.com/e30tech/1991_318isa.jpg)
(http://www.lactnews.com/e30tech/1991_318isb.jpg)
It was just out of the paint shop and didn't have quarter window trim yet because the glass guy screwed up and I had to R&R them again. It will probably never look as good again.
It's now back together and has been dropped 2" with coilovers. It also has a small dent on the RF fender. I found a set of sway bar links left behind at the fab shop where I used to work. They are from a NASCAR sedan and are perfect for M3 type front links. They were free! Unfortunately I also need all the rear bushings as the stiffer springs show up a lot of litte irregularities and the mufler has a loose baffle that sounds like (insert 4 letter word of choice). From now on Photoshop will be my friend - and you can't see the interior from where you're at.
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You guys would be scared coming close to my car, it was hand painted!!
itīs seriously nasty, but drives nice and is a work in progress.
I donīt even have a radio yet :P
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i bought my car for $1500, bought a can of detail paint ($8), washed it, detailed the scrathes, and it came out really nice...the camera I have (Cannon Digital Elph 4mega pixel) hides a lot of stuff.. but from certain angles tends to make my car look stout...
any advice on camera angles.. i wanna do a photoshoot, but i idk where or what angles to take from..
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any advice on camera angles.. i wanna do a photoshoot, but i idk where or what angles to take from..
Trial and error, not forgetting patience. :D
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Daily Driver is a supercharged '98 M3 Sedan.
The 318is is the track car.
That logic works for most part, but sometimes I will drive the 318 on a daily basis for a while.
Obviously the paint on the M3 is better than the 318is, but it has it share of scratches as a result of daily use. Cosmos black paint just shows everything.
While the 318 has less scratches, it has a hell of a lot more chips on the hood, fenders, fender edges, air dam, is lip, rocker panels and associated rust specs. I suppose it is par for the course as its primary purpose is spirited driving and fast lapping.
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Hell yeah its the daily! One and only now that i sold my e28. Drive it in the winter, in the rain, off road, anywhere!
Like anything, its old. Im having a bit of a fight on my hands with rust; the door seams are about to go to shit! Be that as it may, the rest of the car is just about as nice as the pictures. Dings here and there, no major paint issues, no major anyhting issues. Its all about keeping up on the damn thing. Kills your bank account and social life, but its worth it.
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what about rust? the one i am looking at has a rust spot in front of the driver's side rear wheel, where on the body a flap of the body is kinda hanign off, like 6 inches long by three high or so... i forget...
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rust... my nemesis
My car overall is in good condition, both exterior and interior, nothing mayor. BUT, the rockerpanels are getting a beating from rust pretty badly, under my rear bumper too, and it needs a new paintjob (still has original pain!).
Will post a pic soon, dont worry beaters, im right there with ya!
Mechanicals though, im anal. I bought the car last week, mechanically its A1, it still didnt stop me from instantly investing 1500$ in preventive maintenance and some new rubbers (toyo proxes 4, this car will become a track car in the future, for the meanwhile its my DD)
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Speaking of preventive maintenance- you should definately consider the "oil-pan drop" in the thread about "engine failure due to pan shift". I just finished this process (replaced motor mounts too and now I don't get the SS HHHH AAA KKKK EEE SS every morning). I was surprised all my bolts were there and tight even but It is worth knowing. Also will give you a chance to clean out 2 or three decomposed dinos worth of sludge.
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I've already put it into my todo list.
Unfortunately, since i live in a building and have to park my car on the street, im not at the freedom of just going out there and jacking the car up and having my legs run over :\.
I have to wait till i see my mechanic.
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As promised, behold the nastyness of original fading paint and rust.....