First Car, is this worth buying?

[squabs]

Hey guys, looking to buy my first car and need a bit of advice. I wanted to look at buying a beautiful vert for sale by a member on here but am saving currently for the asking price, anyways looking on craigslist I saw a newly posted ad in my area. An 86' 325e with 159k miles. Asking price is 1200, I'm here because the only thing is the ad mentioned a few things. Such as, It doesn't pass smog for one, it has a leak in the back of the exhaust, and needs a new catalytic converter. I am willing to put money into this car, but am wondering how much money generally these things would cost to fix, and if its worth even going to check out? If so I'm thinking more of 1k. Thanks for your time and help guys, I really appreciate it as I am planning to go check her out as soon as the seller replies.

[stamar]

why doesnt it pass smog?

if it cant pass smog the title transfer wont go through.

so start with that before you even go see it.

1200 for a good running 325 e might be good as long as its a manual. If it were an auto I wouldnt even look at it.

[squabs]

Does not say why, I will ask though. so In order for them to sell it needs to pass smog? Seems they're just trying to sell then without a title? It also doesnt specify if its auto tranny or not. What is wrong with auto btw? Not trying to sound stupid, but I've never understood why people are against them, not in general just e30. Thanks man

[Pantless Spency]

Hey guys, looking to buy my first car and need a bit of advice. I wanted to look at buying a beautiful vert for sale by a member on here but am saving currently for the asking price, anyways looking on craigslist I saw a newly posted ad in my area. An 86' 325e with 159k miles. Asking price is 1200, I'm here because the only thing is the ad mentioned a few things. Such as, It doesn't pass smog for one, it has a leak in the back of the exhaust, and needs a new catalytic converter. I am willing to put money into this car, but am wondering how much money generally these things would cost to fix, and if its worth even going to check out? If so I'm thinking more of 1k. Thanks for your time and help guys, I really appreciate it as I am planning to go check her out as soon as the seller replies.

put it this way,
i paid 1k for my car, it blew a head gasket shortly after.
with cars in the 1k region it is normally a gamble, you have to weigh your pro's vs. cons, if the paint and body are good, thats about 500 worth your money. if the interior is good, theres another 250. engine 250, tranny 250.

smog issues? if you know what you're doing you can get it all sorted out, but you might go through a lot of trial and error and end up replacing shit you don't really need to.


my advice: save your money wait for a car to come up that doesn't need to be fixed, that's what i learned from my experience with buying a fixer upper car, i sure wish i waited and saved more.

[squabs]

put it this way,
i paid 1k for my car, it blew a head gasket shortly after.
with cars in the 1k region it is normally a gamble, you have to weigh your pro's vs. cons, if the paint and body are good, thats about 500 worth your money. if the interior is good, theres another 250. engine 250, tranny 250.

smog issues? if you know what you're doing you can get it all sorted out, but you might go through a lot of trial and error and end up replacing shit you don't really need to.


my advice: save your money wait for a car to come up that doesn't need to be fixed, that's what i learned from my experience with buying a fixer upper car, i sure wish i waited and saved more.

Okay I hear you, Just for some reason thought it'd be a good steal lol. The 325i vert im saving up for on here is auto as well tho.. I figured if it was that big of a problem one day swap for manuel

[Pantless Spency]

Does not say why, I will ask though. so In order for them to sell it needs to pass smog? Seems they're just trying to sell then without a title? It also doesnt specify if its auto tranny or not. What is wrong with auto btw? Not trying to sound stupid, but I've never understood why people are against them, not in general just e30. Thanks man

learn to drive 5 speed and you will see why auto is bad.
not to mention auto transmissions generally break/fail more.
manual is a much funner driving experience, you have a lot more control, and dumping the clutch is pretty fun.

[e30trooper]

if you can double your budget ive got a vert with mods and extras. clean title 5speed bbs wheels exhaust , smog papers good for a few more days! im in LA!

[Pantless Spency]

Okay I hear you, Just for some reason thought it'd be a good steal lol. The 325i vert im saving up for on here is auto as well tho.. I figured if it was that big of a problem one day swap for manuel

you're in LA man. theres 1-2k e30's floating around everywhere in California not to mention socal.
make an LA Craigslist search for cars for sale by owner, BMW, 200-2000 dollars.
make that your home page.
check out your home page every day,
you'll find plenty of better options, and maybe even for cheaper.
the key to buying the right e30 is either having money to blow, or patience.

[squabs]

learn to drive 5 speed and you will see why auto is bad.
not to mention auto transmissions generally break/fail more.
manual is a much funner driving experience, you have a lot more control, and dumping the clutch is pretty fun.

Oh okay I see, I was willing to get anything at this point, but yeah I was still willing to go check it out if it was manual. Would it be worth maybe 800-900 if its manu? 1200 is a bit if it needs work, and the title cost, here is the link http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/2891131089.html

if you can double your budget ive got a vert with mods and extras. clean title 5speed bbs wheels exhaust , smog papers good for a few more days! im in LA!

By next month I'd have about 2k, but I don't know if you'd have her by then

you're in LA man. theres 1-2k e30's floating around everywhere in California not to mention socal.
make an LA Craigslist search for cars for sale by owner, BMW, 200-2000 dollars.
make that your home page.
check out your home page every day,
you'll find plenty of better options, and maybe even for cheaper.
the key to buying the right e30 is either having money to blow, or patience.

Yeah your right, I'll just save and search for a while for something with less problems. I appreciate all the help man

[e30trooper]

Oh okay I see, I was willing to get anything at this point, but yeah I was still willing to go check it out if it was manual. Would it be worth maybe 800-900 if its manu? 1200 is a bit if it needs work, and the title cost, here is the link http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/2891131089.html

that eta needs both fenders and possibly a driver side door

[Pantless Spency]

okay. i checked out the ad, it's not bad but for 1200 you could do a shit ton better, dented to hell, sure he offers replacement panels but they need paint, and if you were to paint them yourself, there a lot more noticeable panels than just a valence or bumpers.

as for the smog he claims its the cat and exhaust bits.
but it could be plenty more than just that, o2 sensor, running too rich, tons of different things that could cause a smog issue.

my advice is to keep searching.

[stamar]

ya id avoid autos not just because they are lame but entirely because they fail. Not might fail, they always fail. 160k miles is a long time for an auto transmission.

And when they start to fail they go on the market. So theres a lot of cars for sale right now with bad auto transmissions.

Also they are too difficult to diagnose from a simple test drive when they are going to fail.

Late shifts might be fluid might be the whole things about to throw a gear.


even if the car were free, if the transmission went out in a month itd cost you more to fix it that find another one.

on the opposite side, the g260 transmission regularly goes for 1 million miles. It is the only transmission to reach a million miles in 2 different kinds of cars, bmw e30 and volvo 240. Its true I think they should advertise it.

Of all the many thousands of bmw owners on forums ive only ever heard of one failing a handful of times.

[squabs]

Yeah true there are a lot of auto's on the market lately. ahh yeah well I'd have to find one and have it swapped correct? I think I'm going to just save for a few weeks and see what I can get around then

[Pantless Spency]

Yeah true there are a lot of auto's on the market lately. ahh yeah well I'd have to find one and have it swapped correct? I think I'm going to just save for a few weeks and see what I can get around then

just play it smart.
you'll find the perfect e30 for you, if you can always run by your potential purchases with knowledgeable people on r3v (mods) and not in public forums, in private messages, the last thing you want to do is post up the link to a spankin good deal on a fresh e30, on an e30 enthusiast forum. that shit will be gone lol.

[ButtJuice]

Buying a 4 door, automatic, eta was the biggest mistake of my life.

But....... I still love it.