Thread by @_kwekuboateng, I bought an E30 today. The plan is to build it into [...]

I bought an E30 today. The plan is to build it into something that’s powerful, and can handle some no-nonsense nonsense. I’ll be updating this thread with progress pics/videos of the build process to motivate or educate anyone who wants to do a build. It’s possible.

I found this bad boy at a mechanics shop close by. The body looked good so I asked if the owner wanted to let it go for some money, and he said yes.

Paid the money, took the papers for the car, and since there was an engine in it, we decided to get some fuel in it and try to start it and see if it runs.

I checked the brake fluid, oil and coolant levels, fuel lines then tried starting it. The engine (BMW M40) roared into life after a few attempts

Reverse gear works fine

Drove it from Tseaddo to Bubuashie to get chassis reinforcement and rust repairs done. People were looking at me in traffic like I was mad, it was probably because of the broken wipers waving in the air like they were at an Afronation concert

Time to start rust and chassis work. It’s our turn to enter the body shop now

. Plan is to take it apart completely (remove seats/all upholstery, fenders, etc) and start the rust repairs, and reinforce the chassis.

Front fenders are off now and the interior has been completely stripped. The rust on the inside, esp the floor panels isnt as bad as I thought. Back fenders will also be taken off so that part of the chassis can be reinforced, after that it’ll be flipped over to fix rust under it

Decided to scrape off that goofy ass decal the previous owner had done, looking at it gave me headaches

Looks better now

Previous owner decided to install a bodykit made out of iron. Bro, iron bumpers and side skirts. You can imagine how much weight it added to the car. We’ll take all of that off and get fiberglass moulds done later

The side skirts from the previous body kit made out of metal (

) have been replaced with OEM-style side skirts. Rust repairs still ongoing

Rust on the body and interior has been repaired now. It’s time to properly check if there’s any rust on the undercarriage (bottom of the car). The car had to be flipped over to give the welder proper access:

Honestly, I’m very impressed with BMW. Rust on the undercarriage is minimal. A Mercedes from the same time period would’ve had extensive rust on its undercarriage by now. It’s mostly just dirt. Any rust there will be fixed and the undercarriage will be sprayed with anti-rust.

Rust repairs 85% complete. Grinding it to make sure the surface is smooth after all the welding

OEM bumpers finally came in from Nigeria

! These are extremely hard to find in Ghana

We’re rust-free now! A coat of primer has been applied as a protective layer till we spray it later on. That’s the grey colour you see on it.

Not looking too bad now are we?

Can you guess what engine this is?

Nothing more annoying than working on an engine you’re going to throw away

Old fuel line was leaking a lot of fuel (first two pics) so I just replaced it to be safe (third pic)

Nothing more annoying than working on an engine you’re going to throw awayOld fuel line was leaking a lot of fuel (first two pics) so I just replaced it to be safe (third pic)

I’m putting a turbodiesel from a G-wagon in my BMW E30. Using this engine in high performance applications is called an “OM606 super Turbodiesel”. Popular in UK, Sweden, Albania, etc.

This is Ghana’s first OM606 super turbodiesel build