Just bought an M30

Just bought my daughter a 1991 M30 rag top 91k miles. It seems to run good quiet and smooth. Needs a bit of cosmetic TLC but nothing some elbow grease can't fix. Anbody have any suggestions of something I need to look out for on these models ? problem areas etc. hopefully she can run this for a while. I like it myself would not mind tooling around in it myself...

I too recently bought a F31, and was wondering the same thing. I did find out that a broken crankshaft is quite the common problem. This usually happens when a mechanic over torques the crank pully bolt when installing a timing set. I don't know of any way to find out if this has happened other than when it breaks.

Shocks/struts are NOT cheap, if you want OE replacement, and it, to me, is somewhat of a confusing topic when people start talking about what cars have compatable components.

They only produced these cars for 3 years (for the US market) and appearantly were none to popular, though most people thought they were a very nice looking car and that they drove quite nicely. They were just slow, and heavy....like a luxury car should be, right? haha

I have found it to be somewhat of a pain to pull the motor, since they did not leave the engine slingers on the motor from the factory.

I understand transmission issues are common, though I have yet to hear mine run, let alone how the tranny works!

The tension control rods (the link that goes from the front lower control arm to the front of the frame) have a gooey STICKY acidic fluid/goo that will leak out when...and I do mean WHEN...they crack open if they haven't already. This stuff will strip the paint off of your suspension components and make them rusty (happened to my S13 240SX). I don't know if they are the same size, but if they are the S13 T/C bushings should be easily pressed in.

I'm still learning about these cars, and I strongly suggest that you visit F31club.com and join in....though I think you already have.

-Ken