“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.”

This month I’ll be passing the two-and-a-half year mark of owning my 1986 BMW E30.  She has affectionately been named Elsa, given her German heritage.  However, my son refers to her as the Millennium Falcon.  Why , you might ask?  He’s a major Star Wars fan and one day he proudly informed me that I was the Han Solo to his Luke Skywalker (his mom was called Darth Vader – which I had NOTHING to do with, BTW!  I swear! LOL) 

We’ve passed some milestones along the way:

-          250K, 300K, 325K, 350K, 375K, & 400,000 km coming soon!

I looked back at my four month review post... a lot has happened and I’ve definitely transitioned to pretty much a full enthusiast/gear head.

For me this car is not just a car – I consider it an extension of me.  Without this vehicle, I wouldn’t have a life or job.  She is a tool, an instrument and a testament to good engineering and worksmanship.  She’ll be 30 on September 6 – born in the Munich plant in roll over month for cars for the next model year, hence why she’s an ’86 model.  I have found it very rewarding to spend time under her hood and body working away.  It has helped enhance the experience, even with times of frustration.

Other than having my rear calipers replaced last year, since the initial work on the car to get it certified, Elsa has been under my loving care, with the help of her former owner, and my best friend – Alex.

Since that first post, I have performed the following services, sometimes with help.

-          Oil Changes – switched to synthetic a few months in, now doing them about every 12-15K km.

-          Valve Clearance checks every 30,000 km (Have done this five times, and no need for adjustments yet)

-          Bi-annual tire swaps

-          Replacing Spark plugs (Have done this 3 times)

-          Timing belt, water pump, crank seal at 265,000 km with help from Alex

-          Front wheel bearings

-          Brake servicing

-          All rear bushings – Subframe, trailing arm, drop links and rear strut bearings.  At the same time, replaced rear inner brake lines, and 3 differential seals (the output seals and the input seal) – again couldn’t have done all this without Alex’s help – you’re the best bro!

-          Removed rusted out resonator and had Alex weld in a replacement elbow

-          The second timing  belt under my ownership –a job I completed solo.

-          Removed steering rack to replace the lower steering linkage

In the last 2.5 years, my expenses have roughly been as follows:

10% was cost of the car
Almost 60%  of my expenses has been fuel – I drive A LOT. ;)
34% has been servicing, repairs and expenses. This figure includes regular maintenance, repairs, insurance, and licensing fees.  When I worked it out against a car payment on a new car I found that even with an almost 30 year old BMW, I’m still winning by at least $100 a month.

But what about the driving experience, you ask?  Amazing!  If you have never driven a rear wheel drive car as a daily, it’s great.  Totally different feel, and I’d argue a better one.  Even for being close to 30, this car drives like a dream.  Elsa is omfortable to sit in for a long haul, very well mannered on the highway or street, very predictable handling (even in our Canadian winters with the help of a little extra weight in the trunk).  I do believe that having this car the last three winters has really improved my driving skills – it’s very different from the FWD VWs I had been used to.

Although Elsa isn’t a major power house (her M20 engine only puts out 121 HP @ 4250 RPM), she’s got some good low end torque (170 Ft/lbs @ 3250 RPM), which makes her fun for city driving.  Pop her into third when merging on the highway and that straight six delivers power pretty quickly.  And within speed limits, she also pretty fuel efficient – my 2.5 year average is 7.7 L/100 KM, which translates to just under 37 MPG UK (about 30.5 MPG US)

It is also nice to drive a car without all kinds of bells and whistles – no ABS, traction control, etc – meaning, there is less stuff to potentially break/fail.  Even the windows and sunroof are manual, and not even A/C to worry about.  Back then, you could order up a very basic BMW.

My personal feeling is that many drivers have become dependent on the technology in their cars – here’s the fact – you may have all this technical wizardry, but don’t forget that despite this, your car’s contact with the road is the four tires.  If those or your driving skills are lacking, there is no technology that can save you. 

 Once the tires have lost their grip, all bets are off.  The take away is that you need to really know your daily vehicle and know what the limits are.  I see far too many people on a wintery day travelling far too fast for the conditions, yet people blame the weather.  We live in a country where we can have snow and ice up to 6 months a year in many areas – blaming the weather is not an excuse.  DRIVE TO THE CONDITIONS.  If you’re driving through a blizzard, doing 120 km/h may not be the wisest thing to do.

The following review really captures a lot about the E30:

Another amazing thing is conversations she starts.  I've had around two dozen people offer to buy her - I even had a police officer pull me over one day outside Beaverton - because he was scoping my car!  Even more people have started conversations, especially former/current owners and BMW/car enthusiasts. I'm often complimented that she looks to be in pretty good shape (which she is... except for a wired up muffler LOL).

What does the future hold for Elsa?  Well, I plan on keeping her on the road as long as possible.  I’m hopefully eyeing a possible engine swap, either for a younger M20 Eta or something newer – this will depend on my fortunes in the next couple of years. Stay tuned for more on Elsa!

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