bmwe21.net forums

hi guys, thought I would say hello, and ask a few questions while I was here!

I recently bought a "bargain" 1980 E21 320 on an impulse buy, as my mum had a few and I remember them being great cars, and you just dont see them around anymore.

the car initially appeared to be in a sorry state, not being moved for 7 yrs, and covered in dirt. but I bought it on the thought that if its really knackered, I can just break it and havent lost any major money.. (im sure you all know that sentiment!!)
anyway, after trailering it home, and the dirty looks from the wife thinking Im having (another) mid-life crisis, I scrubbed it for a solid 2 hrs and it looks 10 times better.
So far my investingations have found:

1) welding repair required to drivers footwell 8"x10"
2) welding repair required to boot floor 3"x4"
3) welding repair required to passenger inner arch support (in front of the spring) has anyone else managed to repair or replace this??
4) welding repair required to drivers side front chassis by ex manifold 2"x1"

5) rear window needs stitching back in, is it possible?
6) seats pretty much stuffed, not to bothered about that though
7) clutch stuck, im working on that
runs ok but missing on one cyl. ive ordered plugs etc, so I hope its something minor.
9) front calipers seized, trying to get the pistons out by soaking them, and appling some heat, but no luck yet. any tips??

I can do all the work myself, but my main question is, is it worth doing?? im not looking for concours, just tidy useable example of a fast dissapering car.

when I got it home:


After a good wash!!



any feedback would be great guys!!

thanks in advance.

Amazing the difference a wash makes.

Where are you located? UK somewhere, but where - local help is always handy!

I have a Baur roof with a tear in the side but rear window is solidly in - may be easier to redo a side piece than stitch the window back in. If you are localish it can be yours for beer money.

Jim

PS I have now impulse ebay purchased 3 E21's and 2 E24's so I know how you felt when you looked at it properly!

im located in north wales,(LL55) not a million miles away from you. so yes that sound interesting, if i can arrange collection from you..cheers

Not a million miles away.

Over the next month I MAY be heading down to my Family's caravan in Botwnnog, though car will probably be too full to hold the roof! I was toying with idea of Wife driving her car and me pootling down with the Baur, so you never know there could be room.

Drop me a PM if you want to try to collect the roof, or any other bits you might need - I have a collection of stuff including entire K-Jet setup off a 323i which will be going in the bin.

looks better cleaned up.id totaly rebuild the breaks you can get a kit quite easily
doesnt sound too bad though good luck with it

Good to see another e21 saved. There's something about them and being 'impulse buys' . A good wash certainly made a difference to how it looks!

Might be easier just to replace the brake callipers if they're as badly seized as they sound?

Keep us posted anyway.

looks good. get restoring it!
post up in the wanted section for a caliper. im sure alot of us have them knocking around.

been poking about a bit today, and discovered that although the inner sills are ok, the outers require replacing, who are the cheapest suppliers? and roughly how much are they?

any ideas guys?

I have a sill repair panel somewhere, came from Hadrian via my local bodywork place. Check Hadrian panels via google, find a local seller and order away. Think it was 20 quid a side.

Jim

that will do for me , cheers jim