I know, I know, it's my second 'new to me' Mk2 in 2 weeks!
This one was really unexpected - I initially saw it on Facebook MK2OC sales and had just been listed. I sent it straight to Mr Mac, phoned the guy. There was someone else interested in the car and wanted to view the next morning. Therefore, Me, Ali and Jasmine went down straight away to view. It was fairly local so an hour later we were with the car.
The previous owner was very transparent and very upfront about the work needed - it's not perfect but it seems like a great base to get started and the history is really interesting.
These are the worst bits:
So as you can see - much to keep me busy with.
It seems that the arch was hit a few years back and then just filler over - it feels solid underneath but time will tell. The sill on that side will need replacing, a heritage replacement was included in the sale.
It seems that the inner skin was done on the turret but not the outer, previous owner sent me this for reference:
Still unsure if this is a 'correct' fix so will look to replace this after seeking advice when the sill is replaced.
Anyway, I went back the next day with the trailer
Jasmine loving the purchase!
So here it is!
Apart from the obvious - it's a really solid base and really original - even has all the stickers, service history is ridiculously amazing with original first aid kit!
The backstory with this car is quite strange and after some investigation, I've found that it's an April 1984 built car - delivered on 30th May 1984 from Wolfsburg to Schwalmtal (West Germany). It was ordered to spec RHD and taken to Bristol apparently to avoid a car waiting list. I have all the strange German documents below:
Once in the UK - it was assigned this plate and the sold to the director of Epping Motor Company in Feb 1985 to which the plate transferred to "JL40". This owner spent A LOT of money on the car over the years - FSH with a VW dealer, engine rebuild etc. Looking at the history, the car got anything it needed! The plate was removed in December 2002 and then parked up in dry stored from 2003 onwards. There are still invoices from this point for an engine rebuild and other mechanical parts:
It was then kept in dry store and sold to previous owner in 2019 who kept it also in dry store at which it looked like this:
Previous spent a lot of money restoring the fuel system and braking system so everything in that department is new!
Therefore, my plan is to get this as perfect as possible! First thing is first - try and work out what is correct.
One person has disputed that it shouldn't have red trim bumpers and another even suggested it should have a single light red stripe grill:
Any tips and advice - feel free to post below!
As usual, thanks to Ali and the usual suspects for the help!
If you have been following my E30 thread recently you will know that I had sold the car due to my impending open-heart surgery and putting the money towards a house purchase. Being honest, I was getting a bit bored without the E30 to tinker by the next day so started to annoy Mr & Mrs Mac, Ben Straker and the Wagars with anything I found online for sale. I had a bee in my bonnet about wanting a 3 door GTI although realistically this was out of my budget. I started enquiring about many cars which after some digging had issues with paint, bad corrosion or in some cases bad sellers.
I ended up missing out on a pretty perfect late spec Tornado Red 8v big bumper which sold at £6200 on eBay within 12 hours which I was fairly disappointed about. I was looking at weird array of cars from Ford Model A’s, BMW E28’s and E30’s to old Rovers etc. So, there I was being sensible (ish) looking through Facebook marketplace when early Sunday morning which had only been listed for about 12 hours, I came across this -1988 Marine Blue CL - 47k approx. on the clock and 2 previous owners:
I sent a message on the sale ad - and got a reply that it was pending viewing and I was third in the queue. Thinking at this point that I had lost the car, my search continued on - I came across a tired grey late 16v 5 door - arranged the viewing for 3pm Monday afternoon. About 12pm, I get a text from the initial seller saying his viewing cancelled and if I was still interested in viewing the car and wanted to arrange for coincidently at 3pm. The 16v was in Kent and the CL in Suffolk, being slap bang in the middle in Essex - I had to make a choice of fate.
I went with my gut to pick a 'cleaner base’ to view the CL with Mr Mac and set off to Ipswich to which I was greeted with this:
So got to view the car – found loads of little issues immediately which need rectifying but no massive issue. However, was faced with this upon arrival and looking round which seller did not mention. It was a bit of a big bubble and soft which I mentioned to which he pushed, and it went through. So, this is a main area that I will look to fix.
Happily, James Cope has offered to help me out with this for free (what a guy!) if I cannot sort it locally! Another issue was this weld patch that hasn’t been painted – so I’ll get this sorted the same time as the rear:
Overall, bar the major obvious details which need to be rectified this is a really honest solid car. The seller mentioned that the GTI grill was equipped from factory although the bill of sale does not confirm this so it will be replaced for a genuine CL grill.
The history is immense and has every MOT printout, every bit of servicing from new – original brochure and a little piece of history:
Replacement badges straight from VW addressed to the original owner in 1988, shame that they’re incorrect but it’s a nice touch:
Looking at the whole picture, I thought it is unlikely I’ll come across a car like this again so thought the little bits that need doing are worth the struggle. The previous owner was very sad to see it go, and I told her I’d look after it and not slam it on cheap coilovers.
Anyway, got it back to Ali’s to show Jo and made it home without any trouble – I think the next mechanical jobs are to sort a slight bind on the rear driver’s drum, need to change and engine mount and the linkage bushes could do with a refresh. New clutch is perfect however and it is really peppy with the new weber on!
Just like to say thanks to everyone who helped out - Mr & Mrs Mac, Ben, Wagars and the many other people I annoyed!
As winter was approaching, I was getting more and more concerned about using the E30 daily. I had been looking at cheap cars on eBay and Autotrader around the £2000 mark and was getting really stuck on what to buy next, when I was approached by someone stating they had an A3 for sale.
I went to view the car as it was local and stated price was £500ono - It was a pigstye, full of tool boxes, filthy/muddy inside and out. Unfortunately the previous owner had passed away, although he was consistently using the car for long journeys before illness. The car had been sitting approx. 3 weeks and now had an engine managment light on the dash. Further inspection showed a bit of corrosion on the roof gutter and it had a little clutch judder. On the other hand, the car was only on 111k and had full service history.
So I made an offer and for the sum of £250, I now have a new daily! Even came with front and rear dashcams! These have now been removed and awaiting to fit on Jasmine's Mii.
Prior to the previous owner, the car was used as courtesy car at a local garage and as such all maintainance should have been kept up to date with annual services. They even had written on the engine covers:
First thing! DEEP CLEAN!
So as you can see, it's beyond disgusting! I therefore, washed it a few times, decided to give the car a full interior valet - had to take everything out that it came with too!
So now it was washed, I decided to take a look at the engine managment light. Deleted the error and it's not come back so that's a win!
I went to pick up a set of mirrors too as the casing on the passenger side is all taped. It turns out there is a slight difference between facelife and pre facelift fitting. FAIL At least these have been sold now! Also, it seems that just the glass is damaged so I'll have to find another blue glass to attach.
Treated it to a new set of Audi plates today too!
Although went to check my oil and this happened:
So this has now been ordered and pending collection. Luckily managed to get all the bits out of the tube. Additionally, whilst looking through the history with Ben, it was noticed that the cambelt and water pump was completed at 77k. That's good, or so I thought, looked at the date and it states 03/2010. Therefore, ordered a Gates cambelt and waterpump kit, going to give it a oil service, filter service etc. I'm sure there will be further updates although really I hope these are on the BMW thread. I suppose we will see.
Well, the C5 S6 is now gone to fund a wedding and house purchases and with the current COVID situation it allowed me to start looking at cars which aren't necessarily used for daily activities.
I spent a long-time annoying Mr & Mrs Mac alongside Ben Straker and the 'The Wagars' about finding the correct MK2 GTI 16V - spent a good while looking before mostly coming across rubbish and projects in my price range.
That is when I came across this, It was on page 65 of Car and Classic; shows you how deep I was into a search of listed cars. It looked relatively clean and promising and had been listed for one day.
It was listed as a 318i Auto Touring - Eagle eyed viewers may notice the M42 with an M50 Coil On plug modification, lurking in the engine bay from a 318is. This means: DOHC 1.8 16V with approx. 134bhp @ 6000rpm and 127lb-ft @ 4600rpm.
This provided an interesting alternative after initially wanting a MK2 GTI 16v. One aspect of promise was that the car was built from a well know 'old skool figure' in the BMW E30 scene - the engine had only 50k miles and was sourced from another well versed E30 member called Andrew Everett who has actually published literature including 'BMW E30 - 3 Series Restoration Bible'. In combination, the body has only covered 81k so I thought it was worth the risk to at least go and view the car. Thread linked below if you're interested in past history:
Me and Jasmine made the trip down to Windsor to view that car, in the meantime I had found serious history on the car in regards to the build thread and by googling the registration I had found the picture below. This was when I became worried:
Arrived at the sellers house, the guy was really quite polite and walked me through the E30's history and how much he had driven it etc. It turns out that he is a uni student so had only covered 1700 miles since September 2018 with his dad starting the car and letting it run every week. The car was kept under a cover on the drive way.
I took a few pictures, there was a few things that worried me which are pictured but overall it's solid - all the boot floor is rock solid, carpets are dry, scruttle and windscreen all clean!
These are the bad bits!
However, overall as the seller promised it's fairly clean!
The car drove really well, really very tight, went and stopped well. Only issue was the power steering has been removed which I have in the boot because the pump failed.
The only thing I was disapointed was the little grotty bits pictured and the fact the paint needs full correction - however, seller was willing to negotiate and ended up leaving a deposit!
