E30 M3 Inspection Help

[Shangsta]

This better end up good. Have you discussed the price yet? I would hate for you to fly out there and find out she knows what the market is and wants a premium

[Powling]

This better end up good. Have you discussed the price yet? I would hate for you to fly out there and find out she knows what the market is and wants a premium

We haven't talked price yet, we will once I inspect it this weekend.

[dnguyen1963]

I have a feeling that you are going to lose out on this car. You are giving out way too much details. XXX (crossed out as requested by OP) hour drive radius around Toronto and there are not too many registered M3 in that area...

[Shock(/\)ave]

Are you seeing the car on Saturday or Sunday?

I'd be happy to give you a hand if we can work it into my schedule, either by you coming and looking over my car with me, or by you picking me up and me looking that car over with you.

I've already found my E30 M3, and I'd love to see you end up with one as well.

Send me a private message and let me know. ;)

[kway]

You're doing it wrong.

There is no inspection, there is no waiting until spring. You go look at the car ASAFP, agree on a price and buy it. Since its spent a bunch of time sitting it's assumed it will need work. Deal with it.

This is all assuming you can get it for a good price. Even if it's not a "damn, she didn't know what she had I STOLE that thing!" price, if it's anywhere below market value you probably can't go wrong.

[Powling]

Are you seeing the car on Saturday or Sunday?

I'd be happy to give you a hand if we can work it into my schedule, either by you coming and looking over my car with me, or by you picking me up and me looking that car over with you.

I've already found my E30 M3, and I'd love to see you end up with one as well.

Send me a private message and let me know. ;)

Thanks! I'll be sure to contact you if I need anything!

You're doing it wrong.

There is no inspection, there is no waiting until spring. You go look at the car ASAFP, agree on a price and buy it. Since its spent a bunch of time sitting it's assumed it will need work. Deal with it.

This is all assuming you can get it for a good price. Even if it's not a "damn, she didn't know what she had I STOLE that thing!" price, if it's anywhere below market value you probably can't go wrong.

You also have to understand that not everyone works a 9-5 and has the spare time. She has a demanding job and schedule changes daily. I told her to name the earliest time for me to come look at it and she stated this weekend would be best.

[Powling]

...having said that, if I got a call saying I could go look at it right now, I'd be bolting out my office door.

[Aveman]

This could really work out! From your description it sounds like a 45 to 65K car in today's market. If you can get it for anything under 30K I'd say you did quite well. It was only a few years ago that 30K would be top dollar and there aren't too many collectors in Toronto to compete with.

I had a 1900 M3 that was an original Canadian spec car. It was one of approximately 125 cars that were ever shipped to Canada. I lived in Mississauga and sold it back in 2011 for about 18K. It had 200,000 KMs on it.

It was hard to sell, many tire kickers. I had many people from the states interested, I eventually sold it to someone from Montreal.

A car with 60K that has mostly sat is going to need tons of maintenance but when you're done it's still a 60K car or 37K mile car so it should be an investment grade car. It's older than 25 years old so you'll have the entire US market to sell it to in the future.

Even though she claims it was mostly garage kept and never winter driven I'd thoroughly check the windshield cowl for rust, lift up the rubber seal around the window and take a peak. Check in the trunk on the left side under the factory jack cover, look for rust in that crevasse. Also pull the battery cover on the right side of the trunk and do the same. Check along the bottom of the doors and around the sunroof seal. Check on the firewall and behind the shock towers, you're looking for splitting or rusting.

When you start the motor listen for piston slap when the motor is cold, listen for timing chain slap when cold and once warmed up listen to see if the valves are in adjustment. Check the front right side of the timing cover for an oil leak. If it's leaking the cylinder head has to come off to fix it properly and that could get costly. Look between were the engine and the transmission meet for an oil leak that would indicate the real main seal is leaking.

When the car is running put your head in front of the drivers rear wheel and listen for a humming/high pitched sound from the external fuel pump which would indicate it's on it's way out. With the engine running see if you can hear a clatter sound coming from the transmission that goes away when you push in the clutch, that would be an indication of the transmission input shaft bearing going. If you rev it up and it seems to have a hesitation before really revving it'll probably need a set of intake manifold gaskets. Check the toolkit in the trunk to ensure the spark plug tool is there. They go for $400 used and are specific to the E30 M3.

I recently got back into an E30 M3, check this thread:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=342191

I specifically looked for a California car so I wouldn't have to deal with any rust.

Good luck! If I think of anything else I'll update the thread.

[Powling]

This could really work out! From your description it sounds like a 45 to 65K car in today's market. If you can get it for anything under 30K I'd say you did quite well. It was only a few years ago that 30K would be top dollar and there aren't too many collectors in Toronto to compete with.

I had a 1900 M3 that was an original Canadian spec car. It was one of approximately 125 cars that were ever shipped to Canada. I lived in Mississauga and sold it back in 2011 for about 18K. It had 200,000 KMs on it.

It was hard to sell, many tire kickers. I had many people from the states interested, I eventually sold it to someone from Montreal.

A car with 60K that has mostly sat is going to need tons of maintenance but when you're done it's still a 60K car or 37K mile car so it should be an investment grade car. It's older than 25 years old so you'll have the entire US market to sell it to in the future.

Even though she claims it was mostly garage kept and never winter driven I'd thoroughly check the windshield cowl for rust, lift up the rubber seal around the window and take a peak. Check in the trunk on the left side under the factory jack cover, look for rust in that crevasse. Also pull the battery cover on the right side of the trunk and do the same. Check along the bottom of the doors and around the sunroof seal. Check on the firewall and behind the shock towers, you're looking for splitting or rusting.

When you start the motor listen for piston slap when the motor is cold, listen for timing chain slap when cold and once warmed up listen to see if the valves are in adjustment. Check the front right side of the timing cover for an oil leak. If it's leaking the cylinder head has to come off to fix it properly and that could get costly. Look between were the engine and the transmission meet for an oil leak that would indicate the real main seal is leaking.

When the car is running put your head in front of the drivers rear wheel and listen for a humming/high pitched sound from the external fuel pump which would indicate it's on it's way out. With the engine running see if you can hear a clatter sound coming from the transmission that goes away when you push in the clutch, that would be an indication of the transmission input shaft bearing going. If you rev it up and it seems to have a hesitation before really revving it'll probably need a set of intake manifold gaskets. Check the toolkit in the trunk to ensure the spark plug tool is there. They go for $400 used and are specific to the E30 M3.

I recently got back into an E30 M3, check this thread:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=342191

I specifically looked for a California car so I wouldn't have to deal with any rust.

Good luck! If I think of anything else I'll update the thread.

Thanks a lot for going into such detail, this will help A LOT when I see / start the car. Much appreciated!

[Aveman]

Thanks a lot for going into such detail, this will help A LOT when I see / start the car. Much appreciated!

No problem, glad to help. I assume this is the kind of information you were after besides three pages of "BUY IT NOW SIGHT UNSEEN!"

[Powling]

No problem, glad to help. I assume this is the kind of information you were after besides three pages of "BUY IT NOW SIGHT UNSEEN!"

Haha exactly, but a lot of people have provided good information on pricing which helps too.

[Aveman]

Haha exactly, but a lot of people have provided good information on pricing which helps too.

Yeah if anything it was good motivation I bet, one thing I agree with is if it looks good to you I wouldn't chance waiting until spring to pull the trigger.

The motor is what can get costly on these cars so you can determine a lot just by hearing it run, you should be able to detect things like rod knock etc. If you hear valve clatter don't be too worried as this motor naturally has some valve clatter. It has a bucket and shim valve train and they tend to be noisy, your typical car has hydraulic lifters so you'll hear next to no valve clatter.

By not test driving the car your worst case scenario would be the synchros are shot in the tranny, which would be highly unlikely with 60K. Next would be the wheel bearings are no good and the suspension needs work. This will be part of the maintenance you should be prepared to deal with as it's sat so much.

[steve68]

If you buy join Fillipo's M3 sig group, so much knowledge there, they will help with anything, some guys are here too,

I have a 62K M3, guy want to buy it from me during thanksgiving for 5K, told him it can sit in my garage,

[Shock(/\)ave]

Thanks! I'll be sure to contact you if I need anything!

If you aren't interested in being shown what to look out for on a good low mileage car, or an inspection of the car you're about to buy, there's no need to contact me.

I assume this is the kind of information you were after besides three pages of "BUY IT NOW SIGHT UNSEEN!"

That's easy to write when it's not their money on the line. ;)

Buyers have been burned badly by rushing into things, but when you're dealing with a rare car that's in high demand in a market like this one, you have to be prepared to act and take as many precautions as possible without losing the car to someone else.

I wouldn't chance waiting until spring to pull the trigger.

If you do, there's a very strong chance it'll be sold to someone else. I would have missed out on all three of the cars in my signature if I didn't act quickly and make the deal happen.

[DER E30]

I came here for the pics! Where are they?