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Picked up a 88 325ic, advice on what to do

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    Picked up a 88 325ic, advice on what to do

    Howdy all,

    So last night I pulled the trigger on a 88 325ic with a 5speed for $1,200. Runs and drives fine, has a few little quirks but for the price I felt it was a decent buy. Car idles a little rough and acceleration was poor. I asked when the last time the plugs, wires etc were changed and the lady did not know. Body in good shape has some hail damage and slight surface rust on front driver fender but otherwise in good shape, clear coat started to peal but I'd rather deal with that than rust. The top will be needing to be replaced. The back plastic window was shredded and the material is not doing so hot. Engine had the top end rebuilt about 30k ago and new clutch was put in about 15k ago. Total mileage on chassis is about 180k. Most of the other general maintenance items where done and PO had receipts for most. Has a few electrical gremlins that in my reading are not unusual.

    Anyways enough rambling. I want to get the car back in prime shape and know I need to do a few things. I have put below what I would like to get done (for now) any advice is appreciated.

    1- Tune up: water pump, timing belt w/tensioner, rad hoses, belts, spark plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, air filter, all fluids (diff,trans,oil etc), thermostat, VC gasket and distributor cap/rotor. I've read an everyone says go OEM parts a much as possible. I've pieced together the parts on RMeuropean and rock auto for about 415.00 shipped. All parts are bosch or OEM.

    2- Replace top: Would this be easy enough to do on my own? If so where should I purchase a top from? Or should I just take it somewhere? I am fairly handy, have a garage and tools.

    3- Chasing some electrical gremlins: The driver window is very "sticky" when it comes to working, PO said she would spray electric cleaner on the button and it would work then stop, she spray it again and it would work then stop. She did that until the window rolled up. Any idea on what this may be from? The odo doesn't work, the gauge cluster was swapped and after that the odo stopped working. I think I would have to swap in another gauge cluster to fix this? Heater and AC work but the blower motor sounds like a pissed off chipmunk. Was thinking something maybe stuck in there or I may have to just swap the blower motor.

    Cheers

    #2
    #1 contact blunttech or go to the website and get a price from him instead. Community supporter and bends over backwards to beat prices.

    #2 There are guys here have done their own, I have not but I may be in the future. If you have no one to guide you in person it may be worth the money to get someone to do it for you.

    #3 Could be the little window switch itsefl, it may be the regulator or track too. Plenty of switches for sale in the parts section from junked cars. It's an easy test. Garagistic sells odo gears and has a tutorial on how to do it yourself. It's a tedious but completely doable job yourself. Blower motor may just have a leaf in it. There is cover inside the engine bay on the firewall that gives you access to the blower. That may give you a better idea if there is debris and if you can reach it.

    Grab a Haynes/Chilton manual and have some fun. Welcome to the E30 community, this board has all you could possibly want to know about your car and how to fix it or upgrade it. Get acquainted with the search options.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for the reply 8ball, good info. I was browsing around on the DIY thread and found some good stuff. I'm also going to pick up a Bentley manual as everyone is saying those are the best.

      Comment


        #4
        #2 if you can find a top already installed on a frame in good shape it's 6 bolts to install

        #3 corrosion inside the switch. Replace it with a new one and you're good to go


        it's a Kenny Powers quote on wheels

        Comment


          #5
          Rough Idle . Check the Rubber Intake boot for micro cracks. Its the boot that connects up to your throttle body. Its rubber and they all crack over time and allow unmetered air to enter the throttle body thus causing erratic idle.

          Comment


            #6
            Thx Das, I'll look around to see if I can find a top and just swap that on. I would rather spend funds elsewhere other than the top. I'm going to look for some new switches to replace the old ones.

            Thx E30, I'll check that as well. Any good fixes for that?

            Comment


              #7
              This may not be the best answer to hear, but if you want to eliminate vacuum leaks right away (and you do, because they'll make you pull your hair out trying to diagnose things), you should have the car smoke tested then do something like I did:

              New intake boot, new brake booster hose (which I cut to length), and a new hose from the valve cover to the bottom of the throttle body. Try to get the metric-type (smooth) hose clamps and not the worm-type I used; I didn't have the time to wait. Have the car smoke tested again afterwards to see if everything is sealed up.
              Interested in vintage cars? Ever thought about racing one? Info, photos, videos, and more can be found at www.michaelsvintageracing.com!

              Elva Courier build thread here!

              Comment


                #8
                Thanks for the reply Elva164, hey any advice is good advice for me. I'll look into that. I'll be honest in all my car wrenching endeavors I've never had to do a smoke test, heard of them but never did them. So any advice on where to start? Is this something I can DIY or do I need to go to a shop?

                Comment


                  #9
                  You can DIY it, but they aren't super expensive and I'd personally rather know it worked correctly. These cars are very sensitive to vacuum leaks so it's a nice thing to check off early if you can.
                  Interested in vintage cars? Ever thought about racing one? Info, photos, videos, and more can be found at www.michaelsvintageracing.com!

                  Elva Courier build thread here!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Alright well good to know. I'll call over to a german auto shop I used to take my benz too and see what they charge for it. Side bar, I ordered up all the parts from Blunttech for a tune up (awesome dude to work with) , got the odo gears from Garagistic and next will be the good old busted knuckles and curse words routine. Thanks again for all the info!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Great to see you moving along :)

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by ELVA164 View Post
                        This may not be the best answer to hear, but if you want to eliminate vacuum leaks right away (and you do, because they'll make you pull your hair out trying to diagnose things), you should have the car smoke tested then do something like I did:

                        New intake boot, new brake booster hose (which I cut to length), and a new hose from the valve cover to the bottom of the throttle body. Try to get the metric-type (smooth) hose clamps and not the worm-type I used; I didn't have the time to wait. Have the car smoke tested again afterwards to see if everything is sealed up.
                        All that nice work and you left behind a rusty brake booster...common.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by dnguyen1963 View Post
                          All that nice work and you left behind a rusty brake booster...common.

                          It's not common around these parts.
                          Originally posted by kronus
                          would be in depending on tip slant and tube size

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I hate rust...period.

                            Comment

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