question about parts for grey market 323i

[markt51]

im looking into buying a 1983 323i 5spd coupe, but it has a broken timing belt. i know parts for that engine are hard to come by in the states so i plan to engine swap it. i have lots of experience going through e30s and doing stuff myself. my question is what about other parts like suspension and what not. anyone have experience restoring a 323i here in the states? from what ive been able to research it looks to be very similar to a 325i and uses the same tranny aside from the sport tranny option which this one has.

im looking for input from people who have owned/worked on grey market e30s, dont need internet speculation from those who dont have experience or real knowledge about this kind of car in the states. looking for advice like "hey parts from this car are a direct fit for that car" etc.

thanks.

[B Randon]

i have a 85 323i here in the states. just about all is the same as the states cars. the motor is not the same tho. the head is 731 an those go for a nice price here unless it is the 323i 200 head like the ones in the e21 323i. the susp is the same as all early cars(325e), the dogleg is a great trans an so much fun. if that car has a blown motor it might be best for the time to just drop a e/i motor in till you can get the right head to put back on. the head gasket is not the same it is just a lil bit smaller on the chamber. the 323 and 320 have the 80mm pistons iirc. any other things just ask

[MR 325]

Parts are not hard to come by. I just ordered a a complete tune up kit, all new coolant hoses, timing belt, water pump, intake boot, coolant tank, and more for mine without issue. You just have to know where to buy the parts! It also helps to look up the part numbers yourself. ;)

I can't wait to rip around town with my little 2.3L.

[kronus]

I have one as well, currently stripping it down for a thorough restoration.

parts are available. If you need euro-specific body parts, you will need to fax your registration to whatever place you're ordering from so that they can actually verify that you're allowed to get the parts. This applies only sometimes, I've found.

If you have the dogleg sport transmission, it's a pretty neat piece, hold on to it. You're likely to also have a weirdo small-case 3.23 LSD to go with it.

You will also have the very early square-type C101. Watch out for that when swapping whatever engine you end up putting in - you'll need to either rewire or retrofit a round C101.

other things - watch out for rust. It likes to get under various seals and gaskets in 30 year old cars. Special areas of interest are the f/r windshield gaskets and the trunk gasket.

get it and post pics!

[markt51]

Thanks for the replies guys. Good info. Im picking it up tomorrow and ill post pics. Supposedly its rust free and from the pics it looks super clean so im pretty excited if its as good as the ad says and just needs an engine/engine work.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I also have one. Some things are hard to find, but as above, not too hard.

[kronus]

we should start a club or something

[Farbin Kaiber]

Yes, we need to bring back the old SCUD/SCAR/etc. thing with all us 323i guys.

[MR 325]

I can finally be cool!

[downforce22]

my early model 325iX had motronic 1.0 with a 35 pin ecu powering an 885 head. I have found that it is a rare ecu (073) and decided to swap the wiring harness out to upgrade to the motronic 1.3 ecu/ harness for the later toothed harmonic balancer/ cps and easily disconnectable fuel injection harness, and standalone plug and play ecu.

I still have the original ecu/engine harness but I suspect the 323 has something similar and it may be worthwhile to have a backup as a faulty ecu can put you out of commission.

[MR 325]

The 323i uses a mechanical distributor though.

[M-technik-3]

073 ecu are hard to come by. I have sold a few over the years. 731 heads are a nice upgrade for an eta also. post some photos if and when you buy it.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

I have a 1984 320i and all parts seem to match the same, I'm currently stripping it down to find all the rust tumors

talk about grey market look at this

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/4257080460.html

[Court M3]

I had one but swapped it, now all the cool kids are getting them. Haha as others have said parts aren't that hard to come by, ands if I ever run across another one am keeping it all OEM.

[ForcedFirebird]

Just punch the last 7 digits on the vin in realoem or bmwfans, it will list everything the car came with (providing it's unmolested). I don't have any experience with the 323, but do with grey market 325is and 635csi - parts are definitely obtainable here in the states, just might have to wait for shipping from Germany on some things.