FRUNKenstein's 1988 E30 Cabriolet

[FRUNKenstein]

I bought this car back in June 1999. It was never a daily driver, but has been incredibly reliable. I eff'd up back in about 2002 by not changing the timing belt and had it snap. Although it is an interference engine, it ended up only being about a $1,500 fix. Other than that, there have been no major repairs. Thankfully, the convertible top is manual, so no hydraulics to maintain. I did a R-134a retrofit on the AC system at some point, and it's still blowing cold air. It's been pretty bulletproof over the years.

Its claim to fame is that I bought it sight-unseen off the internet out of Dallas. I was told by many, many people that it was absolutely insane to buy a car off the internet. I did it anyway. I can safely say 22 years later that it worked out OK after all.

Some pics:

Last night, I changed the master brake cylinder and flushed the entire brake system. I bought a decent quality Uro unit - not OEM, but not one of the $60 cheapo units either as the BMW forum guys say those cheapo ones never last. It wasn't a huge job, but the power steering reservoir was a huge PITA in getting to the front brake line connection to the master cylinder. But, all went well and the brakes are working great again!

[32wildbilly]

SCORE!! Car still looks nice.

I bought this car back in June 1999. It was never a daily driver, but has been incredibly reliable. I eff'd up back in about 2002 by not changing the timing belt and had it snap. Although it is an interference engine, it ended up only being about a $1,500 fix. Other than that, there have been no major repairs. Thankfully, the convertible top is manual, so no hydraulics to maintain. I did a R-134a retrofit on the AC system at some point, and it's still blowing cold air. It's been pretty bulletproof over the years.

It's claim to fame is that I bought it sight-unseen off the internet out of Dallas. I was told by many, many people that it was absolutely insane to buy a car off the internet. I did it anyway. I can safely say 22 years later that it worked out OK after all.

Last night, I changed the master brake cylinder and flushed the entire brake system. I bought a decent quality Uro unit - not OEM, but not one of the $60 cheapo units either as the BMW forum guys say those cheapo ones never last. It wasn't a huge job, but the power steering reservoir was a huge PITA in getting to the front brake line connection to the master cylinder. But, all went well and the brakes are working great again!

[FRUNKenstein]

SCORE!! Car still looks nice.

Thanks Billy!

[Cuda911]

Love that car, looks great!

BTW, my 328i is prolly the best DD I have ever owned, in spite of its constant minor issues (the dreaded "stuck cup holder," etc.). Kind of funny story... since the Bimmer is my workhorse, I use it for everything.

A friend commented recently that I'm the only person he knows who grabs the BMW when needing to haul mulch from Home Despot. Or to haul opossums.

[FRUNKenstein]

Love that car, looks great!

BTW, my 328i is prolly the best DD I have ever owned, in spite of its constant minor issues (the dreaded "stuck cup holder," etc.). Kind of funny story... since the Bimmer is my workhorse, I use it for everything.

A friend commented recently that I'm the only person he knows who grabs the BMW when needing to haul mulch from Home Despot. Or to haul opossums.

Thanks Cuda. And generally, at least with the top down, I let the opossums ride in the back seat.

[FRUNKenstein]

Yesterday, I replaced the aftermarket Kenwood Radio/CD player with a Radio/Bluetooth player. Now that I have a new iPhone with no headphone jack, there was no way to stream music to the Kenwood that I had installed back in 2006. It only took about 30 minutes to swap everything over as the wiring color scheme was the exact same on the old head unit as the one I replaced it with.

I also replaced the old Wal Mart generic floor mats with a set off eBay that was supposedly specifically designed for the E30. They look nice and were only $79 (with free shipping). Unfortunately, they are not the same shape as the ad references. They are just a little too big. The fronts are pretty close - maybe 3/4” too large all the way around. But, the rears are probably 2” too big and aren’t even the same shape as depicted in the ad. I threw the box away, plus don’t want to screw with returning them, so will probably just keep them as they are an improvement over the old generic ones. Plus, unless you have the front seats leaned forward, you barely see the rears.

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[5chn3ll]

SWEET. Do they do Radwood events near you? That car is a Yuppie time machine!

[FRUNKenstein]

SWEET. Do they do Radwood events near you? That car is a Yuppie time machine!

Hmm, I hadn't heard of that. But, damn near my entire hooptie fleet would qualify.

[FRUNKenstein]

I have been driving the E30 quite a bit over the past month since we sold one of our daily drivers. It had developed a clunk in the right rear wheel well, which a little online sleuthing revealed to be an upper rear shock mount. The part was in stock at Advance Auto for about $23, and I replaced it myself. Really a very simple repair. I bought 2 mounts as I figured I would do the left rear as well, but the bolt that attached the shock to the shock mount was not coming off without a fight, and I ended up buggering up the threads on the shock. So, I put it back together. When either the shocks or the left shock mount go bad, I'll just replace both rear shocks and shock mounts. The car rides fine now, so there's no sense in replacing parts that aren't broken.

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I also charged the AC system with 3 ounces of oil and 12 ounces of refrigerant. It blows cold now (well, "cold" being judged against the standard for a 34 year old system designed for R12 refrigerant that's now running R134a).

[FRUNKenstein]

Looking through the glovebox last night, I noticed a few things:

-Last timing belt change was on November 30, 2009. I probably haven't put over 3,000 miles on the car since then, but it is clearly due for a timing belt change. I learned the hard way that timing belts do break on these cars. I have the new TB/WP parts kit sitting on my workbench. I plan to do that over the summer.

-That 11/30/2009 timing belt receipt included replacing a camshaft.

-Last oil change was April 8, 2020. So, even though I haven't put a lot of miles on the car, I will get that changed soon, too.

-I replaced the muffler on May 22, 2020. Had I bothered to look in the glove box before I had it changed, I would have found a receipt from Midas for a new muffler from back in 2000. Supposedly, the replacement muffler from Midas would have been free. So, that was $753.91 wasted.