Worrisome rust on touring I'm considering?

[Redshift]

Hey guys - new here but not to BMW. I spend most of my time in E39 or E46 land, having (with the help of buddies) built an E39 M5 touring and an E46 M3 touring.

Next on the radar is the classic E30 touring. Thinking S54 swap down the road but just a running, clean car for the moment. Found one not far from here but the underside has some worrisome (or is it?) rust and I wanted the experts' opinions. Would this worry you? The asking on it is $10k. Body is fairly clean - tailgate rust spots and minor wear. Interior super clean (sport cloth) - car imported from Germany in 2015 showing 120k on the odo and comes with paperwork...

Pics - should this be worrisome?

[She loved E]

Ha nice to see you here! I'm also on the m5 board.

That's too much rust for me. I bought an east coast truck once with more rust than that (but not much more) and everything underneath gave me issues. Oil pan rusted thru, every nut and bolt on the suspension was hard to deal with, hard lines looked like yours and needed replacing. Just more trouble than its worth... I'll never buy a car again with more than very minor surface rust. You seem like you like a good long project but for me I just don't see the appeal of ripping & replacing things like that when my time & energy could be spent in other places.

Excuse my ignorance but why are e30 tourings still worth so much? I figured with the 25-year import rule these would have flooded the market by now and brought prices down. Either way, I love tourings, hopefully one day i can pick one up too.

[e30davie]

I'd pass.

Even a simple job on the underside of that car would be a drama, ever nut and bolt will be stuck.

[Chrisbike]

It's sad to see such a rare car rotting as badly as this one is. S54 325iX touring would be amazing though. I'd be afraid to look under those sideskirts. I'd run like hell.

[15Michaeljoseph]

I know it isn't the same since I don't have a touring, but my car looks a bit worse underneath and I plan to fix the rust over time. I don't think it's a $10k touring, but if you can save one from rothing away... Why not? Anything can be restored.

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

[Chrisbike]

I know it isn't the same since I don't have a touring, but my car looks a bit worse underneath and I plan to fix the rust over time. I don't think it's a $10k touring, but if you can save one from rothing away... Why not? Anything can be restored.

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

its a iX touring which is worth more than a clapped out 316i, plus the interiors nice, you dont know whats hiding under the sideskirts. the seams are rusty so i cant imagine it would be easy to repair but It would be worth it.

[D.Martijn]

Looks pretty rusty underneath. Fuel lines etc are also in a pretty bad shape.
The rust on the body doesn't look too bad but that might be me. Looks like mostly rust problems. If you're interested look at my build thread of me ix Touring as I recently also repaired a lot of rust. (front floors, A pillar, rear battery box, sections of the arch, rear spring perches..)

Yours looks similar like mine. I would definitely feel behind the arches if you can hear it crunching the outside arch will be rusty too. same thing with the sill, feel behind the flange.

[Shftr8]

rust is always worse then what you can see. My touring wasn't that bad but still had its hidden things. I have a S54 touring going up for sale soon if you want to skip all the headaches.

[mahnee1]

My 88 touring will be on sale shortly. Its got 112,012 km on the clock (69,000 miles), full mtech purple design interior and is nearly flawless. PM me for pics. Its spectacular


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cory58]

My 88 touring will be on sale shortly. Its got 112,012 km on the clock (69,000 miles), full mtech purple design interior and is nearly flawless. PM me for pics. Its spectacular

Is that the white Touring on BAT?

[mahnee1]

Is that the white Touring on BAT?

Yes


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Heitzke]

IMO it's not that bad. I also say that as an owner of a pretty rusty one. I'm in the process of finishing up the floors in mine, doing the brake lines, touching up some stuff on the hatch and going to enjoy the thing.