New to Spec E30

#1

Hello all,

My name is Forrest, and I just purchased a car that I hope to build as a Spec E30 race car. The car is a 1988 325e that was in a front end drivers side collision. It doesn’t appear to have any frame damage, and I’m hoping to be able to pull out the radiator mount and drivers side wheelhousing good enough to mount a new fender on. I know that I will need a motor and a few other things to get the car up to spec, but for the price I couldn’t pass it up.

I plan to be at Road Atlanta on August 4th to meet some of you and check out the racing.

I look forward to getting involved in the community.

#2

Welcome!

#3

Awesome. Bring some beer and pretty girls and come park down with us in the lower pit area.

#4

Hey guys new to the Spec e30 world. Im am currently in the process of looking for a car and can’t decide on buying a built car vs. building a car. This would be a track day car until I build up more experience with full intentions of racing in the future. If anyone could provide some advice on the matter that would be great. Thanks Joe.

#5

Buy your first car, build your 2nd. Most folks that embark on building a car to join the series don’t make it. Ultimately they sell their car to one of us that has crashed their first car and is looking for a 2nd that is already partially prepped.

If you’ve never done it before, building a race car is a long hard expensive road. You can easily buy a car for 1/2 the cost of building one.

#6

Thanks for the advice, Im trying to learn as much as I can to make the right choice. Im going to try to attend the Spec e30 race at NJMP next weekend to get further insight. Seems like a great series to get started in and learn.

#7

[quote=“Ranger” post=67533]Buy your first car, build your 2nd. Most folks that embark on building a car to join the series don’t make it. Ultimately they sell their car to one of us that has crashed their first car and is looking for a 2nd that is already partially prepped.

If you’ve never done it before, building a race car is a long hard expensive road. You can easily buy a car for 1/2 the cost of building one.[/quote]

Amen to all the above.
I will be tracking Miss Prissy (with a few additional mods) until I am good and ready for w2w. Then I will be purchasing a fully prepared car.

#8

I failed my first build attempt at an h-production car in 2003. I succeeded in building the spec e30 but it ended up being about 13k and I still only have one set of wheels for it and practically no spares. It was supposed to be a budget build.
You can buy a built car for around 10k with a bored motor and lots of spares.

#9

[quote=“Ranger” post=67533]Buy your first car, build your 2nd. Most folks that embark on building a car to join the series don’t make it. Ultimately they sell their car to one of us that has crashed their first car and is looking for a 2nd that is already partially prepped.

If you’ve never done it before, building a race car is a long hard expensive road. You can easily buy a car for 1/2 the cost of building one.[/quote]

Ranger is absolutely correct. We have a pile of money invested in our car and it is slow. Buy one that has been sorted and a proven front runner. You may have to pay a little more than a backmarker car but at least you will know that he car is capable.

Don

BTW - Welcome to Spec E30.com

#10

Thanks for all the feed back guys. This will be a tough decision