e30 browsing

[MikeM]

I am looking for an e30 318is, 325i/is and went to talk to the owner of one I had seen down the street. Its a 1989 325i that is owned by a mechanic. He simply has no time for it anymore and ended up saying that he could sell it to me for $2500. The head was just rebuilt and timing belt was changed within the last 500 miles, it has all new bilstein suspension, short shifter, a magnaflow exhaust, lots of documents, new cat, and all new belts and hoses.

He says there is a problem when idling but he has not found a solution quite yet (he doesn't work on this car too often and it has just been sitting around lately). All the other problems that I can tell, so far, are cosmetic things that are an easy fix (fuel door in pic).

I am going to be looking at it either tomorrow or friday and then I will have a better idea of what this car is. I hope to find out what sort of noise the idle issue is, but other than that, what do you guys think? I am new to the e30 scene as I have been an e28 owner for a long time so I would like to know what I should look for or if this is a deal or not. Thank you

Also, if you have an e30 in the northwest….show me what you got.

[mikekristine325ic]

A great start. Might be a ICV, or just an old fashioned tune up needed. With the head, belts and more being new.....That alone would add up to asking price. I would offer $2,000 and go for it.

[MikeM]

I had done some research and I had come up with the idea that it was an ICV as well. The owner said all he wanted from it was what he had put into it. Also, the $2500 number was something just off the top of his head. I could very easily offer $2000 when I can and see how it plays out. Thank you for the help

[smonkbmw]

good looking car! id pay 2k for it for sure.

[MikeM]

Obviously this car is debadged...my question is, can anyone confirm that this car is a 325i or a 325is? It has the rear spoiler and the valence front air dam. does that mean anything? I thought that those only came with the 325is model. thanks

[MikeM]

...i just remembered it has the comfort seats. so if it is a 325i, but does it still have a limited slip?

[daniel]

...i just remembered it has the comfort seats. so if it is a 325i, but does it still have a limited slip?

probably not unless it was swapped in. you can check though by looking at the diff. if i remember correctly, if there is an S stamped onto it, then it is an LSD.

[brodee]

Rear spoiler is from an is. The front calance came on all the cars from '88-'91, the difference in the i and is was the lip on the bottom of it that is missing on this one.

Only way to tell on the lsd is to climb under it and look at the tag. The S is stamped on the top and hard to see while in the car.

[smonkbmw]

/\ what he said. there will be a metal tag hanging off the rear of the diff. it will have a S on the tag then the ratio or vice versa (its been awhile).

cars been resprayed, id be leery of a clear title for it. i dunno alot of people that spray the door handles over as opposed to leaving them black. the rockers and rear valance are supposed to be black. the rear wing may have been factory added, but id verify vin tags on the deck lid vs the car to double check.

[MikeM]

so, I went and looked at it today, even took it for a drive. There is definitely work to be done. Needs glovebox, it looks as if the rear seats were taken out at one point and not properly put back in, the steering wheel needs to be replaced, it does have a ssk, there is a trim piece missing around the rear left window, lots of "surface" rust in the trunk (not positive that it isn't worse), no covers around the speakers, 206k miles on the clock.

He told me today that he has the records from what he has done. He purchased it from a kid who didn't know what he was doing and therefore has no records past his ownership. also, everything he has done has only been on the car for less than 50 miles...it has been sitting in the driveway for 3 months.

All this being said, the car sounded sweet with a magnaflow exhaust system that was better than stock, but not to the point of rice rocket. The suspension was very nice and the brakes were tight. I like this car but am feeling a little uneasy about the situation. I really want an e30, but im not sure this is the one for me.....im in a state of confusion.

[brodee]

Personally I think that's a little high for the car. Up in the NW it seems there are a lot of much better examples to be had. Down here in Texas that wouldn't be bad as they are harder to find.