More parts

Got under the car to take a look at what needs to be replaced. As expected, the motor mounts and control arm bushings are trashed. The motor mounts are about half as tall as they should be, completely blown, almost metal on metal. The rubber in the control arm bushings is separated from the metal as well. All expected items given the age.

What I didn't expect is that this car still has every piece of original underbody plastic, still intact, not only the skid plate, but also the brake ducts, plastic behind the headlights, everything. It's obvious this car has never been abused, it also still has a lot of original parts, so it hasn't been restored in any way, but that's what I'm doing.

Ran down to the local BMW dealer and got:
Oil pan gasket $22.44
Motor mounts $170.50
Transmission mounts $51.64

Again I'm surprised at how reasonably priced the factory parts are, plus my 10% BMW CCA discount doesn't hurt. Unfortunately it will take a week for the motor mounts to get here.

Also completed a cooling system flush, oil change. Dropped the oil pan to inspect, no bolts in the pan, I did find 2 small pieces of what I thought were timing chain parts, but on closer examination appear to me small bits of the timing chain guide, but they are small enough that I don't think they represent any serious wear. The oil that was in the car was pretty much sludge, long overdue for a change, and didn't appear to be the correct weight, so I filled it up with proper 20-50w oil.

Installed the O2 sensor, air filter, coolant temp sensor, thermostat. Going to see how the engine sounds before I did into the valve cover gasket, not sure if it will need work in that area yet. It was making some lifter noise when cold, but I think that's due to the oil and engine tune, we'll see.

Running total:$2550

More parts

The passenger side door was sagging, the lower hinge pin looks worn out. Ordered a new one.
Passenger door pin $70

Also found a Momo Champion steering wheel on eBay. I already have the horn button and e30 hub, so all I needed was the wheel.
Momo Competition Steering Wheel $112
Factory touch up paint at the local dealership
Touch-up paint $34

Finally a round wood shift knob. This is a holdover from my college days when all I could afford was a $7 shift knob. Got used to it and had to find one. Doesn't seem to be readily available in any of the stores anymore, so I had to get one off the web.
Shift Knob $12


Running total:$2305.62

First Round of Fixes

I want to track what I spend on the car, so there is the first round of fixes. The stomp test returned a code of 1222 which is the Lambda/O2 sensor, so I ordered the following today:

Valve Cover Gasket Set $28.77

Oxygen Sensor $105.77

Fuel Filter $16.70

Air Filter $8.76

2 Oil Filters $15.42

Water Temperature Sensor $21.81

Thermostat $25.32

Thermostat Housing Gasket $5.07
Total: $227.62

Should be here by the weekend if I'm lucky, though I'm not sure if I'll have time to work on it this weekend. I'll also need to get some touch-up paint from the dealer to deal with the chips.

Running Total: $2077.62

Arrival

Got it home last night and had a little time to hit it with some polishing compound this afternoon. Here she is:

Here's a short list of the things I need to take care of:

• Oil leak from the manifold gasket
• Cold idle is rough, but hot idle is fine and it runs well
• Control arms and bushings are shot
• Shocks are worn out
• Brakes are stiff
• Service light is on
• Antenna seal is leaking
• Minor tears on driver's seat

Some good items

• Body is in very good condition, no major damage
• Paint is original
• Engine revs well and has good power
• Other than the radio it's 100% stock
• Shifter surprisingly tight

Lots of work to do, need to take care of the idle first, clean it up, then get cracking on the suspension. I'm betting that everything in the front end will need replacement, and any rubber mount will need to be done as well.

Had a chance to run it around the neighborhood and open it up a little. It's easy to forget how nice a simple, light car is, and above 3.5k rpm, this thing really starts to jump. While my wagon is solid and has great handling with the sports package and Koni FSD shocks, it's nowhere close to the snappy feel of this car. Can't wait to fix it up.

Found it

Just got this off the local Craigslist, $1850, original owner, receipts from day 1...details to follow...