Finally got an E30!

[recall]

Just picked up a 88 325is with 145k on the clock from a place in Greenville, the day before the slide on I40 going through the smokies. Probably paid wayyy too much now that I'm finding what she needs and what she's been through (accident with some frame damage, though the repair looks excellent), but it's fairly clean.

Todo list:
- Timing belt and water pump. Sticker says it was replaced in 98 with around 66k. PO says it has been done since by the original owner, but there's no documentation. Yikes.

- Degrease and find where any slow oil seeps are coming from.

- Power steering leaking. Fix or delete?

- Whine that changes with speed. Differential? Wheel bearings?

- Speedo reads about 10mph fast.

- Marker lights are out, and several cluster back lights are out. Found this out in the drive home in the dark...bah.

Better buy a Bentley manual, and maybe get a second job... Teaser pics from PO, more to come.





5900. How bad was I hosed?

[chadthestampede]

Very clean, but 5900? I mean that s50 car just went for 6k not too long ago...

[george graves]

You were hosed pretty well. The good news is that it looks clean - looks really good. Get it dropped and get some wheels.

For $5.9k I would have asked for a ride in that Jet AND a BJ.

[kwill22]

Clean. Man the car looks great and it doesn't need major repairs but 5900 for a stock E30 is beyond pushing it I think. I got a great deal on mine from an old lady my cousin knew. I got a black '87 325 4 door with only an ac that needs to be rechrged for 500 cash. Only 11800 on the car. Don't feel like payin for a shop to recharge it so summer was brutal here in florida but its about to be winter so I'm chillin. :D

Anyways welcome to the beautiful life that is the E30

[Thehemiman]

Very clean car. I think I remember seeing it up on ebay at one time. 5900 is quite a bit for that car. I can see it fetching that much if it was an 89+ with like 30,000 miles on it. Oh well...it's clean isn't it?

[Julien]

I'd say that's a fair price considering the condition of the car... how does she drive?

[recall]

Drives nice, fairly tight and not short on power, though I think a tuneup is in order. Transmission feels great. Small exhaust leak to be addressed, and definitely needs a good cleaning from below. Exterior and interior are great for the age.

I do think I paid too much, but after looking for over a year I could never find that old lady just dying to get out from under a car... Though I see a couple examples on here just popping up now that are close in price but look like much tighter cars :(.

The car was on eBay a couple times and the deals fell through due to people not showing up. Ended up getting it for around what the auction ended at.

[Bimmerista]

Very fair price considering the condition as stated above. I would try to keep it as close to OEM as possible to retain its value.

[ak-]

Clean car, but what was his asking price? Or was that it?

[z31maniac]

No lube or reach around raped.

[TexasTerp]

5900 is a bit over priced, I'd say in that condition with 145k I could see that as a 4k car. Looks like the body and paint are in great condition, super clean interior, as long as the engine is running strong I think you'll still be really happy with it. The best part about the 88 is it's a direct swap for plastic bumpers, all you need is to lower it and add a few little upgrades here and there (particularly the suspension) and you have one hell of a car!

[e30trooper]

Clean very clean! But..5900 is wayyy to much

[dinanm3atl]

Wow I saw this on CL and ebay and it was listed as "The cleanest E30 I have ever seen". The ad stated how perfect and clean and such the car was. I kept finding it pop up while I was looking for an e30. I was shopping for just the car the ad was listed but not at the price he wanted.

I bought literally the SAME car, same mileage. 2 owner Cali, Garaged car. No it is not perfect but it wasn't in any accidents, the interior is just as clean, the exterior is probably an 8/10 and not a 9/10 but I got it for 2300.

It doesn't need all the work that the one you bought has. I think 4K was a fair price for the car you bought. One that clean with everything working and really perfect nice maybe 5-6K but a wrecked car with random problems like that. How do you list 'cleanest I have seen' and it has signal markers out?

[ThaiRacer]

Wow u got raped forreals. maybe 4k tops but a car with frame damage thats been fix should not have gone for 5900.

[recall]

dinanm3atl, I'm jealous... I guess I was lured in by the shiny paint and the color. I definitely regret spending as much, leaving me less to deal with the repairs it needs. *sigh*