looking to get into e30!!!!!

[hanstaill]

hello everyone~!
new member here and love bmw with passion!
i had saab9-3 and its been good but decided take on another vehicle.

i am in market for E30 325 for my project/daily vehicle on commute.
i found a car and arranged to meet him to see the car next week,
but before i wanted to register here and ask for professional feed back

the car is 1987 325i ic convertable. all stock. black/beige.5spd 240k on the engine, Original Arizona car, owner said it has New timing belt and water pump just done. Brand new complete front suspension done recently. New seals on tranny and differential. Clutch is good. AC and heater still works.. Dash has some cracks but Mechanically sound and owner used it to roadtrip across country from Cleveland to Phoenix and back few times and claimed ran great.

with this much service done (i plan to have some more done once brought home) does this car seem like a good investment? as daily vehicle?

or when i'm buying, what should i pay attention to???
i've always wanted E30 3series and now that i am able to own one, i want to be extra careful and prepared to start this project!
all your feedbacks and thoughts are appreciated and look forward to hear from you. thank you!

[StereoInstaller1]

IMO, the only thing that matters on buying an E30 is the body and paint.

You are gonna rebuild or replace everything else anyway, right?

[call me jack]

the car sounds fine.. but i would consider looking for an ix; here in minnesota i just drove my car through freezing rain, saturday night. i make it home in one piece, but it was a handful at time. but if your used to driving rear wheel drive cars in the snow (which i am not) then you might be ok.

[Conrad311]

so is it gonna be a serious project( ie motor swap, or built, boost?) or a daily that you tinker with now and then? my cars got 262 on it and i drive from the NY border to boston and back every weekend and drive "enthusiastically" everyday in between and just fix things as needed and keep up with maintenance and its served me well

you should pay attention to rust, search around and youll find all the problem areas

[etxxz]

most importantly, how much is he asking?
The main thing in question here is the 240k motor.

mechanically i would pay attention to noises: engine, driveline, suspension (look at rear strut tower mounts), steering, seats/mechanism, heavy underbody/paint/carpet rust, the headliner. Electrically hit every button and make sure it does something.

Then drive it. This would tell you how much work you need to do.
floppy suspension, steering and driveline are usually just bushings and mounts all of which are reasonable cheap, but involved.

Got pics of the car, that could help us point you in the right direction. The e30 is a wonderful car.... to dump money into. Its also fun and quasi-reliable if you keep up with its maintenance. Would you be doing it or someone else?

[hanstaill]

thanks for replys, for the time being once i bring it home, i plan on having it checked and some maintenence done at local bmw shop just to be up to date on being reliable as daily and to get through this winter(salty winter), starting next spring i plan on redoing suspension (coilover) set up and on from there. within next year or two i have plans for new engine and trans..but want this body to look as stock as possible.

the car claims to have seen no winter and spent most of its like in pheonix arizona so owner claimed there are no rust, if there is it'll be minimal.

oh and current owner told me the odometer gear? is acting up just recently, and shift boot has a little play but going into gears fine.

these were the only things im aware for now, i'm waiting to get pictures from him soon.

[hanstaill]

most importantly, how much is he asking?
The main thing in question here is the 240k motor.

mechanically i would pay attention to noises: engine, driveline, suspension (look at rear strut tower mounts), steering, seats/mechanism, heavy underbody/paint/carpet rust, the headliner. Electrically hit every button and make sure it does something.

Then drive it. This would tell you how much work you need to do.
floppy suspension, steering and driveline are usually just bushings and mounts all of which are reasonable cheap, but involved.

Got pics of the car, that could help us point you in the right direction. The e30 is a wonderful car.... to dump money into. Its also fun and quasi-reliable if you keep up with its maintenance. Would you be doing it or someone else?

thanks for advice, he is asking 3000 and i thought it was pretty reasonable...and i was thinking spending about another 1-2000$ to replace what needs to be replace. wear and tear on dash,seats,etc doest worry me too much as i hope to replace it in near future and yes i will do what you said about checking mechenical/electrical on the car,

don't have picture yet but when i receive'em i'll post it here. i plan on doing most of what i can myself but i wont mind local bmw specialists as i want the car do be done good!

i should print all this when i go look at the car and do my own 101pt check:D

[Erik j]

the car sounds fine.. but i would consider looking for an ix; here in minnesota i just drove my car through freezing rain, saturday night. i make it home in one piece, but it was a handful at time. but if your used to driving rear wheel drive cars in the snow (which i am not) then you might be ok.

I drove in the same storm... but with a iX rolling snow tires. Didnt have a single problem.

[hanstaill]

first thing i will do for sure is to get winter tires for the stock wheel. perhaps 2big bags of sand from homedepot in the trunk????:)

[etxxz]

it better be godamm beautiful for 3k @ 240k mi... even more so after the 1-2Gs you plan on investing. There's a lot of cars around in that 3-5k price range. Specially AWD'd cars, newer too.

[hanstaill]

it better be godamm beautiful for 3k @ 240k mi... even more so after the 1-2Gs you plan on investing. There's a lot of cars around in that 3-5k price range. Specially AWD'd cars, newer too.

wow i didn't know genuinly, is he asking too much for 3000$??

[Conrad311]

i paid 1000 for my 87 is with minimal rust and 202k and 2000 for an 89 ix auto with no rust and 180k, the other 2 ive had were under 300 bucks due to a blown motor in my current 89 ix project and then an all around beater 88 325i drift car.

for 5g's you could find a prettt sweet ride on here

[e30ic]

i recently paid $2700 for 92 convertible with hardtop. 3k is way too much.

[hanstaill]

hmmmmmm so if i were to say, or offer the owner, what price does it seem reasonable for the car?
he also said he had the top and interior re done about 5 years ago, could this be why he marked the price at 3000?

[Conrad311]

hard to judge a car with out some detailed pics... proof of work/ maitenance ect