BMW E30 revival - Parts and planning 16/04/26

[Low ontime]

I’ve got some history with these…  I had 2

front ARB joint the upgrade was mk3 mondeo estate rear arb joint and m3 front lollipop bushes in the same no of the lower arms helped turn in from what I remember 

sold my e30 318 is in August last year got £2500 and the back end was quite rotten 

[320touring]

Did some research into the fuel lines - got the part numbers off Real OEM and did some searching.

Available but a bit spendy plus waiting for delivery from Lithuania etc..

ICalled up Parks BMW re the fuel lines for car. Checked by part number and reg. Genuine Supply and Return lines £119 total, ready for collection on Wednesday. 

Superb parts support for old motorses. And 1/2 price compared to ebay

[320touring]

There's quite the collection of parts amassing for this old tub..

Pleasingly, the fuel hose I bought is the correct diameter for the genuine fuel lines, and the fuel filters 

I'll need to work up a plan of attack for the weekend, but still awaiting some of the parts ordered.

 

[Stinkwheel]

On 13/04/2026 at 11:37, 320touring said:

ICalled up Parks BMW re the fuel lines for car. Checked by part number and reg. Genuine Supply and Return lines £119 total, ready for collection on Wednesday. 

Superb parts support for old motorses. And 1/2 price compared to ebay

I used to work in a BMWparts department, one thing i would definitely give them Kudos on is the availability of bits for old and also very old models has always been pretty damn good and prices never seem too stupid. Its just a shame about the ugly and boring cars they make now

[Schaefft]

Bmw, Mercedes and Porsche are pretty much as good as any classic car enthusiast could wish for when it comes to supporting their legacy models. It makes ownership of these cars massively easier, that's why there isn't much speaking against daily driving a 30 year old 5-Series for example.

It's an insane contrast to so many other manufacturers, some of which seem to actively work against keeping their older models alive. Maserati and Bentley specifically seem to be the worst of them all. Great indicator for whether manufacturers actually care about what they build or are just out for maximum profits in the short term.

[vaughant]

53 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Bmw, Mercedes and Porsche are pretty much as good as any classic car enthusiast could wish for when it comes to supporting their legacy models. It makes ownership of these cars massively easier, that's why there isn't much speaking against daily driving a 30 year old 5-Series for example.

It's an insane contrast to so many other manufacturers, some of which seem to actively work against keeping their older models alive. Maserati and Bentley specifically seem to be the worst of them all. Great indicator for whether manufacturers actually care about what they build or are just out for maximum profits in the short term.

Vauxhall were awful when I was playing with them back in the day. Had a J reg astra gsi so 1992 which had a fuel leak. Went to buy the new fuel barb from Vauxhall in 2005 " nah N.L.A mate, might be able to get you one from a Calibra" 

"Yeah, let's do that then"

" I'll need the v5 in your name for the Calibra then" 

 

🙄🙄🙄🙄.

Even as a Ford employee they weren't the best for parts and by fuck did they hate giving us our discount.

Used to love winding them up in the Gorseinon branch " yeah I need blah blah" 

"That's £90 sir"

"With discount?"

"Ok, 10% off, £81 then"

"What Ford employee discount?"

"Card, v5c in your name, proof you still work there???? Or no discount at all"

"Here you go"

"That's £42 THEN ... You DO realise we're losing money on these parts so you?"

"Yeah, but you get it all back from Dagenham anyway don't you"

"Well yeah but"

"Cheers"

One guy there had this feverish way of typing the FINIS codes in so he could give you less discount, but as they always had stock, it was the best place to go from the start. All I'd do was to go the plasmarl branch, get them to print out the part numbers and costs with discount, then go over there to collect them.

 

He fucking hated it 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

Merc and BMW in my experience excellent for spare parts, usually not that bad on price either. A new turbo for my Merc ML was cheaper through them than anywhere else apart from Turbo Technics as there used to be a lovely guy on passionford who had connections there and could get you a discount.