On Elsa (or On The Millennium Falcon, if you ask my son ;) ) & Driving

“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!

Travels with BMW - the 4-month review

Four months ago I said good bye to Fahrvergnügen and my fourth VW, a 1999 MkIII Jetta after the reverse gear decided to unexpectedly quit on me.

And I said hello to the company that produces The Ultimate Driving Machine - BMW - specifically a 1986 325, previously owned by my best friend, Alex.  I'd already had plans to purchase the vehicle this spring, but I wasn't prepared the drop the minimum $4-500 for a used transmission for the Jetta.  In a switch, Alex and his family had gone from being a BMW family (all three drove one at one point), to a VW family.  Me, the long time VW driver was going over to BMW.  My buddy had bought a 2003 TDI Jetta Wagon, and hadn't driven the 325 much since then.

For me it was a good fit - small sedan, used, affordable, and even with a 2.7L 6-cylinder engine - fuel efficient.  And I was still keeping with the German engineering to which I'd become accustomed. I'd had a little experience driving a BMW, but this was my first ownership and long time driving experience with one.

Alex was storing the car at his cottage and came up with a battery and some other odds and ends for the car.  With some help from my son Karu and I, we soon had the battery installed, and after two cranks, the BMW roared to life.  We had to create an ad-hoc hanger for the muffler, as the original bands had rusted out, so a couple of s-hooks and chain stood in.  Not long after, I took the car on its first journey to Gravenhurst to drop off my son.  Within that first day, my love for the car began.

For a 27-year old car, it is still in amazing shape (partly owing to not having been a winter driver) and drives amazingly.  At highway speeds it is a capable and comfortable cruiser - once I shift into third gear, nothing else matters! :)  The engine always sounds commanding and you feel like you have total control of the road.  Being an older car, there are few bells and whistles.  BMWs of yore could ordered basic to fully loaded.  This particular example was bare bones - 5 speed transmission, manual windows and sunroof, power mirrors, power locks.  No A/C, ABS, or any kind of traction control gizmos. But again, this was the kind of car I craved - uncomplicated yet capable.

The interior is laid out very well.  All the gauges are easily readable, controls are in logic places.  It is also amazing that there are sensors on this car that many current vehicles still do not have.  An overhead display can tell me if brake or headlights (hi and low beams) are out, if the engine oil, coolant or washer fluid is getting low. The seats are very comfortable, and being in the car for a longer period of time isn't torturous.

This particular BMW was designed for efficiency and was also known by the "Eta" moniker which stood for efficiency. This rear wheel drive car had a lower number rear differential, 2.93, to make the car efficient, especially on the highway.  I've been averaging around 7.7-8.0 L/100KM, which brings us into the mid-30 MPG range, which I found particularly interesting for a car of that era.

Within a few days, the car visited my mechanic Egon.  He too remarked the car was in very good shape and only needed new brakes & rotors and a fan resistor pack for it to pass inspection.

Since I took ownership, the only real problem I've had was the starter going bad.  Otherwise, owning the car has been a routine and happy experience.  Every time I'm behind the wheel, I'm looking forward to the trip.  I do admit I had some trepidation going into the winter, as I had very little experience with rear wheel drive.  However, some searching online found some tips, especially adding some weight to the back of the car.  This took the form of a large patio stone.  In slippery conditions, I do find the car is tail happy, but it is very controllable with the right amount of steering and throttle input. Through the winter, I've had few issues driving and have felt very confident.

Maintenance so far has been easy - oil changes are easily done without having to jack the car.  I did check the valve clearance at New Year's and changed the spark plugs - again, with a little research pretty mundane tasks.  I plan on tackling the timing belt and water pump soon.  Just today, I finally solved the niggling problem of only having my speakers work on one side of the car - now all four work properly!

Although owning a car this old might not be everyone's cup of tea, I'm enjoying the hell out of it! It's also been fun getting approving looks, especially from newer BMW drivers and fellow E30 owners and positive comments all around, even from my students.  I think Ferris Bueller said it best...

POS Cars and Why Do People Buy Them???

On my way to work today, I drove past a guy driving a 1st Gen. Neon and I felt such an overwhelming amount of pity that this poor guy has to drive around daily in a POS like that.  My ex-mother in law owned one, and having driven it, I can certainly call it a POS and probably one of the worst cars I have ever driven.   I was also struck that my BMW E30, probably about 15 years older has better engineering and build quality than many cars built today or in the last 10-15 years.  Especially domestic cars.  I can't believe that Detroit has been pumping out a regular amount of crap for decades... BUT PEOPLE STILL BUY THEM!!! I see some people with bumper stickers saying I should be buying a domestic vehicle.  Why should I when most are overpriced crap?  For the quality level, honestly, big three auto workers are overpaid.  Even my Mexican made VWs were better.

Having grown up around European cars my whole life and having driven many different vehicles in my years behind the wheel, it amazes me that people will live with substandard vehicles, especially when they are commuting, sometimes up to a couple of hours a day to and from work. And I'm talking all aspects from build quality down to ergonomics.

Don't get me started on engines etc.  Obviously the Europeans know something we don't, considering a large amount of their car market is diesel.  Yet we can only pick up a handful of diesels on this side of the pond (although this is changing, thankfully) - again thanks to POS products from the domestic car makers who ruined the diesel market.

I bet part of the road rage we have out there is because people are frustrated with or hate their rides.  If you drive a POS, do yourself a favor and drive a better a car.  You might pay more for it, but if it makes your commute a better one, you owe it to yourself. Honestly.