hopefully buying an e30 next week, did I miss anything?

[IsoGrifo]

Hey guys,

So here's the story, I was letting my foster brother borrow my truck, 92 ranger, and he ran a stop sign and t-boned a guy. I only had liability insurance on it as I picked it up for 500 bucks. Told him not to worry about it as he now has about 4500 in medical bills to deal with. that was end of september. now a month ago I picked up a 94 s10 from my dad's boss as he's letting me make payments, basically told me here's a loan to get whatever vehicle you do want.

So I went looking and found this 86 325es in tucson, I'm up in phoenix. here's the link:

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/cto/2049208522.html

I have a friend who's looking at the s10 today, and hopefully I'll have money on monday.

I just want to make sure I asked the right questions and If there's anything else I should've asked about. here's what I asked about it:


Also until then can you tell me a bit more about the car? I'm just trying to make sure I'm not buying into something I'm gonna have to pour money into from the start. I do know it's a BMW and I do know what parts cost...

Any idea what gear ratio in the rear?
any rust, accidents, bodywork/bondo?
why are you selling it? if it's too personal don't have to answer.
do you know when the timing belt/water pump was replaced last?
any oil leaks?
how long ago was the Z3 shifter installed and did you or a shop do it?
any vibrations in the drive shaft?
What brand are the wheels and what are the tires like?
not a huge deal but what's the stereo setup?
I'm assuming you just painted the needles red to look like an M cluster? I would've done it anyways :)
do all the locks work?
How are the brakes, new old? and wheel bearings?

If I have any other questions i'll address them when i look at the car.

thanks guys, you've been a big help just reading what everyone have posted.

hope this is the one!

[IsoGrifo]

oh! and yes I know the interior is really rough.

[Conki]

I have the same car in red.
I would also ask is it burns or leaks any oil. I was lucky though, because the belt snapped on the PO and he had the engine rebuilt at a shop at 236,000 miles, so it almost runs like new:)

When you get an answer on the final gear ratio, please let me know, because based on my calculations I have a 3.73 LSD under my car, and I'd like to know if it's factory or not.

Also when you go check it out, inspect how it idles. If it's running well, it should idle steadily at around 650 or 700 rpm.

[Conki]

Oh and the interior. Mine was similar, I already replaced the dash, and I'm in the process of replacing the seats. If the body is perfect and it's mechanically sound, I'd pay around $1500 for it though.

[call me jack]

the rear end on an es is 2.93lsd stock, i believe.

[KenC]

$2300? That dude's on crack. That's a $12-1300 car.

[Conki]

Yeah that's what I thought, but according to this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_S...%29#Drivetrain) a 325e can have a 2.79, 2.93, 3.23, 3.25, 3.46 based on the manufacturing date.
Well, I guess mine is swapped then.

[Mossman]

ES should have front and rear spoilers, probably just an e, and with interior that beat I'd agree try to get it for as close to a grand as you can. Body looks good though, and miles are low for the year.

[IsoGrifo]

here's what his response was:

The car needs tires, and an oil change, I will say that up front. I was in an accident in june 09, clean title, zero rust, its an az car, bondo was used to smooth out small knicks and dings, no 3 in deep bondo anywhere lol, my dad and I did the body work, local hot rod shop painted it, selling because I'm looking to upgrade to a truck, timing belt, water pump, and tensioner were replaced at 137k miles, z3 shifter is about 6 months old, I installed it my self, no driveshaft vibrations, wheels are "sport edition" some cheapy tire rack wheels, I just put a Dual HD radio CD player with aux and USB inputs on the front, its wired for an amp and sub but it doesn't put out more than a few hundred watts, yea the needles are just painted lol, gear ratio off th top of my head is 2.93? LSD, it has one oil leak but its not engine oil, its coming from the selector shaft on the tranny, the locks work, but the key is worn so its tricky to get it to lock and unlock from the doors, but it works easy from the trunk, has new rear rotors, pads are in good shape front and rear, wheel bearings are fine. Drives straight, steerings tight, I drive this car to phx and flag all the time, no problems what so ever.




should I be worried about the tranny leak? or is it a common problem/decently easy fix? I mean easy for a tranny fix.

[KenC]

If it's the selector shaft seal, it's a cheap and easy fix. Socket, hammer, an just push a new seal in right over the old one.

With the title, you can get a new key cut at the dealer.

I'd be worried most about the accident and the quality of the new paint.

[IsoGrifo]

ya, I think that new paint is why it's being sold so high?

also it's about the only e30 in the area worth even looking at, minus one that's about 1500 over my budget. so I'm gonna go look at it, find everything wrong, and use as a bargaining ship. i'm ok with paying 2 for it, but ya, I really didn't want to spend more than 1.5k-1.8k.

ES should have front and rear spoilers, probably just an e, and with interior that beat I'd agree try to get it for as close to a grand as you can. Body looks good though, and miles are low for the year.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't that the es front valence on it? looks like it's just missing the rear spoiler, and as it's foam don't they tend to rot or get chunks taken out of them?

[IsoGrifo]

this is about the only other one that fits what I'm looking for, but I think it's a lot more work than I want to do...

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/cto/2022122261.html

and these are just awesome!

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/pts/2041923682.html

[KenC]

The ES front spoiler is a huge airdam. It's missing it.

The trunk spoiler is a small one. Yes, it's foam, but they were all painted. I've never seen one rot.

[IsoGrifo]

figured it out! He has another album of the car which has the es air dam on it, I think in the accident i got busted and was replaced with just a stock e one. I had that picture in my head so that's why I was like what are you guys talking about it has the es air dam. Also in that album the rear deck has a slightly different color it looks like and was missing the emblem, so possibly it got replaced? I'll still ask the guy.

here's the link to that picture:

http://s755.photobucket.com/albums/xx195/az_eaglescout_pilot/1986%20BMW%20325es/?action=view&current=IMG_7139.jpg

[KenC]

I think a replacement trunklid is the least of your worries. The replacement roundel is like $12.

That interior looks BEAT. I'm guessing there is some nasty leather under those seat covers, and the dash has like five cracks... but I guess that's hard to prevent in AZ.