What do you think are the pros and cons of this 89 325I for sale?

[Jordan Paul]

Hi,

What do you think about his car?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/5680934109.html

The body looks good and the interior does too.

There is a rust spot in the rear wheel well and one under the left door. Also some rust near the sunroof (near one of the hinges that raise it)

I noticed the valve cover was slicked up in oil and it has run down over the engine. The seller isn't sure what is leaking. I drove the car and it seems to run fine but I've never driven an E30 before so it may be about to explode for all I know.

Also the odometer went out around 150,000. Seller thinks there is 160,000 on it now.

Looking to buy an E30 325I or IS as a project car for my dad, brother and I.

Any input welcome. Thanks for your time.

Jordan

[E30 Wagen]

Looks like a good car; I don't know what your definition of a project is, but it looks like all that car needs would be some maintenance and rust attention. If I was looking for a project I'd be looking for that $800 car that I could transform with my own choice of paint, interior, drivetrain, and suspension. A project like that could easily surpass $10k, so I guess it depends what your desired starting and ending point are.

[dnguyen1963]

It looks like the check coolant light is on. It is either the sensor going bad (you hope) or the engine is consuming coolant. Check on this issue before you purchase. Otherwise, the price is in the ball park for a decent IS. $800 beater is getting to be extremely rare. Good luck trying to locate one.

[Bothfeetin]

I personally would be extremely weary of a broken odometer. My odometer says 153,xxx but I am well over 400,000; people are shocked when I tell them due to how "clean it looks". A clean interior and/or sorted-out engine bay can be deceiving as they lack relevance to the vehicles mechanical condition. Just my 2 cents, I could always be wrong.

[Jordan Paul]

Thanks for the feedback gent's I will definitely think about your points

[flyboyx]

Pretty much every e30 has a broken odometer on this side of the pond. Really its a matter of how well it was maintained as to how long it was driven broken or even repaired at all.

For me the bigger issue is the unfortunate fact that some jackass at bmw originally painted the car gold.

[Jordan Paul]

I'm not feeling the gold either.... what do you guys think about the oil leak?

[dnguyen1963]

You have to look for the leaky source yourself. It could be from the valve cover gasket or front or rear seal.

[nando]

I'm not feeling the gold either.... what do you guys think about the oil leak?

I've come to the conclusion that M20s leak by design. BMW probably thought it was added rust protection or something.

really though unless it's pissing gallons of oil out as you drive down the road, I wouldn't worry about a little leak on a car that's nearly 30 years old. I'd be looking for rust, hacked up wire harnesses, and accident damage.

Even the odometer isn't really that big of a deal IMO - a clean, straight car is a clean, straight car. I'd rather have a 400,000k creampuff than a 50k car that was hacked up and beat on like a stepchild.

[delatlanta1281]

Needs coolant.

[roguetoaster]

Whoa, it's been a while since I've seen an E30 on bottle caps, they must be the next desirable wheel.