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Old 12-14-2019, 02:00 PM   #754
blue91lx
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Indianapolis/SE PA
Member #21697

 
iTrader: (0)
I've been itching to daily an iX forever, but all of the ones I've had were too nice to put through winter months. I need a van for various reasons, so I will no longer need my Forester.

This means.........I can daily whatever I want.....which of course is an E30.

I was originally searching for an '88 iX since they're fully loaded, manual coupes, but I'm too cheap and they're hard to find so naturally, I settled.

The universe delivered me the perfect car: a rusty low mile '89 cream puff winter machine. I was scrolling through the Vintage page on FB, and saw a post asking if anyone had interest in "a project 325iX in the midwest". That was exactly what I was looking for. Turns out, the owner of a BMW shop in Ohio (and avid enthusiast) had been using this 325iX as his winter car up until he unfortunately passed away in the Spring. I sought out more information, and struck a deal.

When I picked up the car, we were checking out the registration expiration and it ended up being on his birthday. The wife, who was so pleasant, despite the situation, said that meant that I was supposed to have the car. It was a nice experience.

Anyway, she's got 130k on the clock, and runs great. It was repainted poorly, has rust in all of the normal iX places, but everything structural was taken care of. Crack free dash, no lights, everything works, etc. It has brand new blizzaks on it, too (and iX weaves with caps).

They replaced the starter, battery, fuel tank, pump, lines, repaired brake lines, rebuilt the rear suspension with eccentric TA bushings, etc.

They also had a body shop weld in new rear spring perches, which is nice.

Plans:

I have no plans to make this a super nice car. I just want to drive, maintain and enjoy it. I'm going to grind down and seal off the existing rust to prevent it from spreading further. It needs a timing belt and a tuneup. The head gasket leaks a bit of oil, etc.

I know the forums are dead, but I thoroughly enjoy posting my progress up on here with my E30 endeavors.

Anyway, here are some photos. The paint was so contaminated I had to clay it twice (first time I've ever had to do that). Should've used ironX but I didn't have any.

So far I just washed and clayed the car, and polished the hood- I'll finish the rest of the car soon. I bought myself a Rupes machine for my birthday and it makes polishing a treat. I'm using a meguiars microfiber cutting pad with Rupes medium polish. Sealed with the new TurtleWax Hybrid Ceramic OTS stuff.



Pre-wash (look how dark the paint is)

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hZdDHk]


Post-wash and clay:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


Working:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


The hood all sealed up:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
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