Upgrades for e21

[bmwm3n528]

I also dont recommend buying it, if you dont have the money for it, they are quite a bit older, and were really prone to rusting out. But they are great cars too.

Yeah, will have to agree...have heard some horror stories about rust with these cars. I'd make absolute sure that it's not got any severe/structural rust.

[PeaveyBassist]

The car used to be owned by a doctor who kept it as an extra car. My boss has had it for a while and before I got it I can put it on a lift at work at check it out and drive it and stuff. So... I will look at it when we got time. Maybe Monday.

Will

[bmwmike]

guy I know has like an 82 or 83 320i. The thing is mint and looks like it just rolled off the line. It has like 70k original miles. I looked everywhere and amazingly didnt find any rust, until I popped the trunk and looked at those strut tower housings. They had some rusted through spots, other than that this thing was like brand new. What Im saying is if your in the midwest, Id doubt youd find something any better so check everywhere for the rust (especially where i found it), but if it was only used as a summer car maybe its ok?

This guy said he'd sell it to me for 1400, but i drove it and didnt like it at all, its got more character than anything out there, but driving it just puts you to sleep. it doesnt go anywhere in a straight line. You can still have fun with something thats rwd and lightweight on the twisties, but the handling just didnt feel good like jordan mentioned. It just doesnt feel like a bmw engineer spent time on it. Why dont you drive your bosses car and see what we mean, you may be dissappointed. But then again, if your just trying to find something to get around, its definetly not a bad car. And maybe some sway bars and springs could fix the handling?

[bmwm3n528]

The car used to be owned by a doctor who kept it as an extra car. My boss has had it for a while and before I got it I can put it on a lift at work at check it out and drive it and stuff. So... I will look at it when we got time. Maybe Monday.

Will

If you've got ANY questions, i'd shoot Fred Skow an email @ support@e21parts.net

He is an e21 know-how.

[PeaveyBassist]

Thanks Trevor. I'm trying to read up on em for common rust spots and mechanical things that break before I actually decide on that car.

Will

[Charlie]

Will, besides some banged up panels, is there anything wrong with the car besides the motor?

As I was telling your brother, there's a number of M20's for sale in the Central Ohio/Indiana area - those would be cheaper than an e21, and with access to a shop, this swap could be relatively painless.

-Charlie

[PeaveyBassist]

You know my brother??? How??? lol And no Charlie, nothing wrong with it other than banged up panels and the motor. Suspension is in pretty good shape. Tie rods, CA's, CAB's have all been replaced in the last 25k miles (one year) or so. Brakes are in fairly good shape but I might be able to use some front rotors and a right front caliper. Brand new battery. Might need a clutch soon. Not a whole lot though really.

Will

[JJGBMW323]

Yes

the upgrade for a E30 is a E36******** if you want to think that way.
the E21 is a great car, just not with that motor in it. I had one that I put the M20 2.5 in, and loved the crap out of it. had a koni adj. suspension too. It was not as comfortable, loud and buzzy, but that was the "coolness old skool feeling" of it.
I also dont recommend buying it, if you dont have the money for it, they are quite a bit older, and were really prone to rusting out. But they are great cars too.

If you do lots of work to them, the e21s are a fun car.
The problem now is that they are so old, there are rust issues.
A common upgrade is to drop a 2.5 liter e30 325i engine in.

But if u find a cleaner e30 than e21 you may be better off due
to the fact it does not need so much work - ie its newer, and body repairs.

Its up to you. I love my e21 323i with 2.8 stroker, but I have
done a ton of work to it.

You can get suspension componets like bilstein sports and HR lowering springs.
But the e21 is prone to tail happy manuevers, so you have to be careful
even when you upgrade the suspension. My car is lowered.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b297/jjgbmw323/DSC00545.jpg

[george graves]

Don't buy the e21.

I used to have a e21.

They handle like a wet mop, and are sloooow.

ditto - I recently gave my old e21 away. I'd say the adverage e21/m10 is worth about $500-$800.

Hope tht helps.

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