Totaled my 87 325i Cabrio. Looking for help.

[Shakey H]

A few weeks ago while I was driving there was a short behind the dash which started a fire. I pulled over and the fire burned behind the dash for about 3-5 minutes. Lots of smoke and melted plastic. So, the car is totaled and I am trying see if it is possible to bring her back to life.

The damage is not terrible but the engine wiring harness where it connects to the ECU is partially burned and all other wiring under the dash is damaged. I am not worried at all about the cosmetic damage. I just want to be able to drive it again. Nothing forward of the firewall was damaged.

Like most people, I am on a tight budget. If I can’t rebuild it for cheap I will probably be forced to part the car out.

I have thought of doing a full rewiring using this system:

http://infinitybox.com/

Other options I have thought of is scavenging parts from pic n pull. I'm open to any suggestions or ideas. Also, I have never done any electrical work before. It would be a big challenge trying to fix it myself.

Details on the car:
1987 BMW 325i Cabrio
286000 Miles
M50B25 Non-vanos swap

[Das Delfin]

My first car died in a fire. You will never get rid of the burnt plastic smell. If I were you I would take the insurance money and try to find another car

[e30austin]

You can, but unless the car has serious sentimental meaning to you, it's just best to part it and move on. I would venture to guess that it burned more than just the engine wiring harness; probably some of the car's wiring harness too. Changing a chassis harness is no fun.

[Cephas]

Glad you are OK. Any idea what caused the short?

[Shakey H]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have thought about getting a new car and moving all the upgrades in the totaled one over. Unfortunately, the insurance company thinks my car is only worth $987.00. Not a lot of money to do anything with.

I have not opened up the dash yet. However, i would suspect the fire was caused by the aftermarket stereo the previous owner installed. There is a ridiculous amount of wiring stuffed behind the dash. The car had sirius XM radio, 6 disc cd changer and aftermarket blue tooth stereo all installed at the same time. lots of random wires.

This is the car in her prime.....

[Das Delfin]

insurance companies always try to dick you around. It's just a numbers game to them. Fight their estimate an independent estimator. Provide receipts for all purchases and find craigslist ads of cars like yours. The first number they throw at you is always low. You have to fight back.

[ahrensNW]

Fight your insurance. I'm sorry for your loss. Just take a few sentimental items from your car and part out whatever isn't fucked. Sucks man.

[djjerme]

...reason why you should consider Agree Value policies for these cars.

[e30josh]

Sorry to hear the bad news :(

I definitely have a spare engine harness and ecu for you..might be best to find a donor car to swap everything over? Pm me, I'm located in anacortes as well

[delamaize]

Fight the bastard insurance company. Make sure you tell them that if they don't a reasonable settlement, you'll take your business, and the business of all of your friends, family, and everyone on this forum elsewhere.

Most insurance companies are dicks, and look to screw you over, so screw them over.

[Quadrajet]

I'm sorry to hear this, especially after our chat in your garage about the front valence plastic you were asking about.

[Shakey H]

Thanks Quadrajet. I am still holding on to a glimmer of hope that I can fix it. I started doing some tear down yesterday. The amount of aftermarket wiring that was crammed in that car is mind bottling. Also, I will definitely have a chat with my insurance company.

[ncsubowen]

Sorry to hear the bad news :(

I definitely have a spare engine harness and ecu for you..might be best to find a donor car to swap everything over? Pm me, I'm located in anacortes as well

You could probably help with that donor car portion too HA

[Shakey H]

Back in Action

Well, it has been about 6 months since the fire and the car is running great! I ended up gutting the entire interior and chassis wiring harness. The only things I put back in were the front/rear seats and the dash. I was able to pull the engine wiring harness and solder/repair any broken or burnt connections. For the chassis wiring harness, I bought an aftermarket one from EZ wiring for about $190 and spliced in any connections that needed to be made. The cluster was burnt as well, so instead of trying to make a used OEM cluster work I decided to run just one gauge. I got a GPS speedometer from Autometer. It was a bit pricey but, it is awesome. Not only does it give accurate speed but, it also is an odometer, trip meter, gives headings, lat long, hours, time, and top speed. I also threw an aftermarket stereo in so I could have some tunes.

I removed all the factory carpet and sound deadening. I ended up spraying the interior with bed liner and adding some floor mats from the auto parts store. Also, I threw in a quick release fire extinguisher mount from Drake just in case there are any other fires in my future. After pulling the old wiring harness and sound deadening/heater core the car is about 160 pounds lighter and I can definitely feel it.

Thanks again to Quadrajet for helping me out.

Shakey

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

show the insurance company pics of other e30s selling for the high, it worksl