Help deciding whether to buy

[rumatt]

Hi Guys, I could use any advice you might have on a possible purchase.

I was close to buying a 90 325is, 150K miles. I just had a pre-purchase inspection done and discovered the following:

- needs muffler
- two small oil leaks: one on tranny, and one possibly from pan gasket (?)

The mechanic said he wouldn't worry about the oil leaks. There were small, and "somewhat normal" for a car of this age.

Otherwise, the mechanic said the car is wonderful. Spent most of it's life in CA, so it is entirely rust free. It was recently prepared for track schools (my goal) and my mechanic said the ride is solid and it would be ready to take to the track.. It has new suspension, control arms, control arm bushings, timing belt, water pump, thermostat, valve cover gasket, steel brake lines, pads rotors.

I just don't know what to pay given the above problems. :evil: I was ready to give $5K because I'm having trouble finding a good car, and I need one soon... but now it's tough to decide... UG!

Maybe $4K and offer to fix everything myself? Or should I make him pay to get it to pass inspection first. Should those problems make me run away?

[KenC]

It sounds like it's in great mechanical condition. How is it aesthetically?

[rumatt]

It sounds like it's in great mechanical condition. How is it aesthetically?

The leather on the driver seats is cracked. Not horrible, but not great. The rest of the interior looks pretty darn good.

The outside looks great. Red with Tan interior.

This is all from pics. I'm 6 hours away and would trust the mechanic's test drive report.

The guy was originally asking $6K (yikes). My limit was $5K. Now I'm not sure. Should I be concerned with the leaks? If they're truely not a big deal, maybe this is just a great opportunity to drive down the price and fix everything myself.

[MR 325]

Sounds nice, do you have any pics of it or a link to the ad?

[KenC]

You mentioned new suspsension. What exactly does it have? I'm assuming something sporty because you mentioned it was track prepped.

The oil-pan gasket isn't that difficult to change. Where exactly is it leaking from the tranny?

[rumatt]

You mentioned new suspsension. What exactly does it have? I'm assuming something sporty because you mentioned it was track prepped.

The oil-pan gasket isn't that difficult to change. Where exactly is it leaking from the tranny?

Suspension is H&R sport springs and bilstien shocks. They did not do the rear subframe mounts, which I was hoping for initially. The control arms are with M3 bushings.

For the tranny leak he said, "small tranny leak: shifter rod seal leak: probably seal up top." :idea:

For the oil leak: he said "could be pan gasket", but at another point he mentioned the valve gasket. I asked if it was the head gasket and he really didn't think so. Maybe two leaks.

[MR 325]

Pics?

[rumatt]

Sounds nice, do you have any pics of it or a link to the ad?

Sorry, I don't mean to be a dick, but I'd prefer not to post where I found the ad. I know these things sell fast. If I don't take the car (will decide today probably) I'll post everything. Is that cool?

I can try to post pics I guess. (Man, I'm really paranoid, huh?)

[MR 325]

Well, post the pics. You're the one asking if it's worth buying. Pics help.

I don't care if you post the ad, I already have an E30, well 2

[KenC]

Well considering it has recently had bout $800 worth of suspension work done to it, I'd say that $5k is a decent price. It's a SoCal car and it has no rust, but how is the paint? Faded oxidized?

Oilpan gasket and valve cover gasket are both easy to replace... I wouldn't worry about that.

I'd still recommend a test drive.

[rumatt]

> Well, post the pics. You're the one asking if it's worth buying. Pics help.

You're right. Any way to attach pics here?

> Well considering it has recently had bout $800 worth of suspension work done

Plus the water pump, timing belt, control arms, new brakes rotors, etc...

> Oilpan gasket and valve cover gasket are both easy to replace...
> I wouldn't worry about that.

Cool. Also, the compression test results were 165 165 164 170 160 160. Not too bad

[MR 325]

All I did with my Eta was get a cluster from the junkyard and swap it in. My odometer problem was sovled

[rumatt]

All I did with my Eta was get a cluster from the junkyard and swap it in. My odometer problem was sovled

I've seen a lot of people say that. How to you make the mileage line up, so you don't set off red flags on mileage reports?

[trashcop 80s 80s]

That is definitely some good compression. Isn't that actually more than the Bently calls for?

http://www.odometergears.com/ has some replacement gears for the odometer. I wouldn't buy a used cluster becuase it is just going to break eventually, might as well fix it right.

[rumatt]

Sorry, go here for some pics. http://www.bimmerfest.com/photos/sho...php?photo=2910