Almost everything (that's a little harsh)
Rear disks/pads replaced.
Rear handbrake shoes and fitting kit.
Rear shocks/springs/top mounts.
Rear axle mount and trailing arm bushes.
Diff rebuilt.
Rear wheel bearings changed.
Front disks/pads replaced.
Front shocks/springs/top mounts.
Front wishbones and all bushes.
Track rod ends.
Cambelt and tensioner.
Serviced.
Brake pipes.
Rear tyres.
More rear tyres.
Lock set.
Windscreen wiper relay (s) x 4.
Fog light.
I've replaced all of the above during the first year of ownership.
What can I say, I keep throwing money at this car and it keeps absorbing it and still refusing to be fully fixed. Yesterday I loved it, today I loathe it, and so it goes on like that day in, day out. Fortunateley I have a friend at a local garage who helps keep the costs down, other than that it would have gone a long time ago.
I keep it because it goes so very very sideways, but at 4 turns lock to lock, and the estate body it often gets out of shape! Not where near as easy to drive sideways as a Mk2 Escort for example. but much cheaper now.
They're fast once you get them wound up, but woefully torque-less low down.
Over engineered and harder to work on than other cars of their era. Just try getting to the cambelt.
I truly want to love this car, but it keeps disgracing itself with it's thousands of niggles.
A couple of questions though, do they all turn over for ages before starting?
Does anyones intermittent wipe work?
Does anyone have silent tappets? (I've done mine twice and they still aren't!)
It's a real shame that there's a generation growing up now who will never know how glorious it feels to go sideways on a wet roundabout.
The valves are noisy regardless in the M20 engines. Shame about all the niggles. Have you looked on the forums? Have a look at www.bmwe30.net, www.unitedbimmer.com They might save you stress and money...
YOur car is now 14 years old or so, so you are probably experiencing general wearout of many parts due to old age. Another way of looking at it would be to consider how many other makes of 14 year old car would still be running. I had an E30 325i saloon about 12 years ago and loved it except for the wet weather handling which was terrible and I would imagine anyone would tire of the sideways antics in the end. I fiddled around with my tappets quite a bit and could never them get them any quieter and I maybe thought I'd mad them worse but you could only ever hear them from outside the car. Inside the creamy, turbine-like engine was an absolute joy. I have other BMW sixes since which are more powerful, faster and more economical but I don't think they ever been as smooth. I really miss that engine much more than I miss the car.
I wouldn't worry about a generation growing up who can't experience "sideways" driving. There are plenty of youth in the states wrapping their mustangs around telephone poles.
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