BMW 325iX owners, should I sell or keep?

[RS4Drew]

Hello E30 brothers-

I am thinking about selling my 1989 BMW 325iX. Well sorted and clean. New tires, brakes/rotors, new exhaust, T-Belt/WP/hoses, fixed all leaks, runs strong. Everything works. Minor tear in seat in the seam and usual cracked dash. new Transfer case 7 years and 24,000 miles ago. Fluids flushed and drained. Owned since 2005 with $15,000 in the car and $6,000 in the car since fall of 2011.

I have a buyer for the car and he give me $5,000 for it. Question is should I? car has normal, but minor rust under battery tray and all the gremlins are fixed or have been addressed. Looking to move into An E34 M5 or E34 540i/6 and something has to give if i want that to happen.

Thoughts and constructive comments welcome!

Drew

I forgot to mention that in the fall of 2011 I replaced all 4 front CV boots and the 2 front axles as well from my old 88iX that was Manfred's before it got totaled by some old lady in her Lexus RX300 SUV wannabe!

[JinormusJ]

I would

You can't mod iXes like you can an i, so unless your looking too keep a completely stock daily beater, I would move along.

EDIT: Thinking a little more; what does the investment mean to you? $21,000 is alot of money. Could you walk away with $5000 cash? Or would you be more happy keeping the iX?

[owwwch]

everybody says you cant mod em like an i... other than front axles, why cant you?
im speaking only of dropping em to the ground. fwd cars have cv axles as well and people slam em everyday.. whats the difference?

also asking cause i have a clean ix coupe that i wanna slam to the ground since ill never take it in the snow or off road...

[JinormusJ]

Two words: transfer case
FWD cars are directly connected to the transmission, which changes the drive dynamics. Slamming an AWD e30 that uses a transfer case that has different drive dynamics than a Civic, puts extra strain on the axles and will blow your CVs from continued abuse

And since you can't lower the front; doing any other mods are subset by the fact your suspension will never be dialed in to fully take advantage of the mods

So, at the end of the day: no, you can't mod an iX like you can a RWD e30. Unless of course you want a monster truck; which, at the end of the day; you'll be modding an iX to be like a i, which begs to make you consider why you didn't start with an i to begin with

[vert_this]

mods arent just slamming the car he is talking about adding power like doing a S/M50 swap. The i is simple the ix not so much. You could turbo charge it but its rather hard on the unmodified awd drivetrain. Just sell it if you want to 5k in pa is a strong offer with rust. IMO

H&R makes lowering springs for the IX if you want to go that route. Its not slammed though just a little lower.

[JinormusJ]

I was referring to modding in general. Suspension is the most single important aspect on an e30. You can turbo your car, swap it, full exhaust; the works.

BUT
At the end of the day, if you can't have a decent suspension setup, you're better off buying a car that can take full advantage of the work put into it




If you have money to blow, you could slam your iX and replace your axles every 5k miles :nice:

[reelizmpro]

I dunno, 21k is a lot of money to sink into any car. You may be better off keeping it at this point. I would need a lot more than $5k, that's for sure.

[xxx-Lost-Soul-xxx]

I dunno, 21k is a lot of money to sink into any car. You may be better off keeping it at this point. I would need a lot more than $5k, that's for sure.

Yep. This is where i am at. I had a few interested partyies in my car when i had it listed,But whats the point? When the next car is gonna need replacing the parts you just had done.

[RS4Drew]

I should clarify something on my total investment cost for my iX. Since 2005 I have spent a total of $15,000-$16,000 on my iX. I sold it in 2010 and bought it back a year later, hence the $6,000. $2,800 to buy it back and the rest on parts/tires/recent mechanic bill and doing the t-belt and water pump and hoses last year.

I'm not looking to modify my car. I am simply looking to see if I should keep it or sell it to buy an E34 540i/6. I should also state that I also own a well sorted 1991 BMW 535i/5.

[dannyyisntt]

Paging nando. Need his input.

[bmwextremeguy]

For myself, I would keep the 325ix, being from Pa,as well, you will need it for snow driving usage makes a dramatic diffrence,exspecially on 611, The Ix's are in demand up north, if they are little to rustfree cars from the south or midwest if you can find them, The 325ix"s are either not selling or the prices are cheap, from what I gather recently on the forums, as I am trying to sell one in Florida, it is not my thing as I want plastic bumpers and better wheels, and diffrent interior, I have owned all kinds of bmw's over a 20 year spand, Ix's M5's and so forth. So I know my personal taste, If you have a chance to sell your 535i I would try then just bank the money till you find a nice M5. For me as everyone knows, you never get your money out of a car if you sell it so I would keep the Ix as you know all that you have done to it, so it sould be well sorted, if you bought another car, you may not know all that has been done to it? I try to sell the 535i and wait till you find the car you want. Use the Ix as a back up car, or for bad weather driving. Hope that might help you figure out what you want to do?
SHAWN
bmwextremeparts@yahoo.com

[RS4Drew]

Shawn-

Sounds like you know the area well! 611 can really suck and all the other surrounding roads in Bucks County, PA. I love my iX and have a lot of history with her. If I sell my 535i/5, then that definitely have to get replaced, but I love my M30 and I am very gun shy about buying an M60 V-8 and the horrors that would come along with maintaining one of those.

I'd like to do a 5 speed swap on my iX and call it a day at the end of the day.

[rcsoundn1]

I would prefer to keep it. I find that often when you buy a used car, spending money on it to fix things is the natural next step. You have a lot into this car, and know where it is at, but thats just me.

[bmwextremeguy]

Hi, RS4Drew
I do know the area, as, I grew up in the Lehigh Valley, Easton and Allentown area, I remember going to Daniels BMW looking for an 325ix they had one rusted and wanted $11000 for it about 15 years ago or so before they moved from Tillman st to where they are now. And that wasnt going to happen, so I bought one cheap, a year later drove it to Pa for the holidays and sold it when I got back for double what I paid for it to help fund a M5. I have a perfect solution for you, I have a 5speed, 325ix in Florida, for $1500 little to NO rust from dreaded rocksalt, it needs alittle tlc to the bottom of the engine, easyfix I have a local shipper that goes to Pa, if that is an issue, make my ix nice, for a winter driving car, keep your ix as a daily driver because you know what has been done to it, and it is solid and well sorted, sell the 535i and dont worry about 540i, all the ones I seen in florida and GA have problems or need work for the most part, and lets be honest, where are you going to open the cars up and have fun with it? Rt 22 Rt 78 or I 95 The fastest I was able to go was 80mph, with traffic,road conditions and so forth, but I would intime save up for an M5 that I am sure you be able to find a place to open it up. I miss mine my M5. Plus intime if you dont like my 325ix, you can always resell it and get something you want later? I know someone will buy it near you for winter driving,( 2 ) 325ix one for snow and one daily driver, as a beautiful idea, If you like you can email me at bmwextremeparts@yahoo.com and I will send you pictures of the car.

[gtdragon980]

I don't see the point in lowering or slamming a awd car anyways. It beats the purpose of the capabilites. I would keep it and drive it as a daily, no reason to throw all that money into it and then sell it for only 5k. If anything, turbo for a light power gain and keep it nice and clean. You will be happier in the end.