What to do? feel free to give your 2 cents

[Reichart12]

Doesn't look too rusty. Grab some new springs, do the maintenance, and enjoy it. Fix a little more each month as you drive it and find more problems. Simple as that.

[Schnitzer318is]

Didn't look too scary to me...

It's going to depend on what you are looking for in a final car really. A good looking and solid driver (after the minor fixes) is what you have there.

If you are looking for a pristine car... maybe sell that one and buy another. But you will pay twice the price you got this one for. Just a heads up.

[AWDBOB]

LAWL that shop is full of shit if they tell you that work that needs to be done is 'too extreme and you need to sell it.' And if you do feel that the list is too long, you're not the type to own an E30.

Battery box done at a reputable E30 bodyshop costs anywhere from $250-600, and is not an immediate repair. Your rear perches are most likely fine because it's not sagging like every iX I've owned that needed rear perches.

Billys/H&Rs are standard procedures on any new-to-you E30 ($670), A/C is more than likely a simple fix if you take the time to track it down, and sports seats pop up for sale all of the time on here, especially passengers seats.

Valve adjustment takes an hour of your own time. Bushings cost next to nothing and just take time, given you really need them. Brakes take 30 minutes/axle and are cheap as hell.

Etc etc.

These are all super common problems that you'll find in any car you buy unless you spend $10K on an iX. I say nut up, fix the immediate items first, and slowly cross things off the list while you enjoy the car. It just sounds like they don't want to deal with the vehicle since they're not gonna make $20K off of you.

Sike your iX is a piece of junk sell it to me for $500

[fiveightandten]

Carfax isn't exactly useless for accident data...but pretty close to it. They've fooled people into thinking that their records are all inclusive, which couldn't be farther from the truth. My ex-girfriend's Acura RSX-S was in 1 major accident (rear quarter panel welding), 3 small accidents, and had the engine replaced due to hydrolocking it at 15K miles. The hood was replaced twice. The front bumper replaced 3 times. 60-70% of the car had paint work on it. Guess how much of that is on the carfax report. NONE. And the work was done at the dealer and other reputable shops. Forget carfax.

Anyways, that looks like a typical northeastern E30, but doesn't look too bad. I see some rust spots here and there. Is that rust in the spare tire well, or just crud?

In our area, when you buy a car this old, you really should pull it apart and see if/where the car has rust. Yank the tail lights and bumpers/trim off so you can see what's going on. Have a good look on the underside of the car as well. Luckily the underside isn't cosmetic. You can easily grind out surface rust and re-coat with POR15 and new undercoat. Noone will see it under the car. Rust on painted panels is a different game.

*Any* E30 is a serious endeavor to own long term, and at this point they're really only for enthusiasts, or people with deep pockets for shop bills. I have a 70K mile rust free E30, and even that car has been a handful to bring up to speed, by non-enthusiast standards. They're just old cars, it comes with the territory.

By the way, we can't really see what's going on with that battery box with the battery and the tray in the way. Looking from below would be better without that stuff removed.

It sounds like you've decided to keep the car, so I guess we'll be seeing you around.

[estoguy]

I notice a big issue why you're having problems in the battery area - it's not being vented.

Many of the issues you listed are things you can fix yourself, given time and research.

[noid]

WOrth saving, doesnt look bad at all.

[stonea]

Well I'll give you my two cents and as a bonus a little story too. I bought my 1988 325ix 2 years ago and never really turned a wrench on a car. My car had all the problems your does and and two years later it has fully rebuilt brakes (including hard lines) complete brand new suspension (minus control arms) the serious rust or at least the stuff that worried me has been patched and taken care of. The rest has been POR-15 and fiber glassed for now. Haven't done valve timing on my car, but I did do it on my dad's.

Now for things that are still wrong with it; AC is dead (but who actually has working AC) and anyways I'm currently piecing together a retrofit. Dash is more cracked than it is an actually dash anymore, but I'm gonna flock it eventually. I still have misc stuff like non working sun roof, bad central locking, windshield washer, and my car definitely need body work.

All in all your car sounds like any other e30 that anyone and everyone has experienced. I'm lucky enough to have my dad and uncle help me out, but honestly most of the stuff I've learned has been here on r3v. Anyways I gave my 2 cents and I hope you bite the bullet and end up keeping the car!

[AntiScope]

So the short story is I found a 91 325ix. Bought it. Thought it was in better shape than it is. Iam sure that story has been played out many times. So not to bore you with the details I will jump to the topic.

My dilemma: A very reputable location has advised me to give up on the car. They restore cars like make classic cars show quality again. So I know they know what they are talking about. But is it worth it to just give up on it?
Known issues:
Needs new battery tray (rusted)
Needs work to cover of gas tank (still not 100% certain of what's wrong)
Needs valve adjustment
Needs new suspension kit
Needs new brake kit
Needs some wiring work. (Electric windows don't work while running)
AC dead
Dash cracked
Needs new trunk lock
New seat of any type to match (currently has 1 sport and 1 comfort seat)
Minor rust around body. Some in wells/under body. ( I'm no expert so it's hard to tell how bad it is)

So if I do the work myself is it worth it. Iam sure it will cost insane money for them to do all this work...

What do you guys think is a 180k some rust ix worth this work? Or should I suck up the loss and move on?

I'm from Westfield :D

and that sounds like a lot of work for a shop. I bet it would cost more than it's worth putting into the car. Many of the jobs you listed are good DIY projects. Don't forget that trying to do at least some of the work yourself can be a good learning experience!

[e30onBBSs]

My car is shit compared to this man drive it until it stops which will probably be a while if you do the work! And if you've never done a valve timing it will probably take more than an hour first time. Like someone else said, figuring out the problems and correcting them is part of the fun! Sometimes it sucks in the moment but when you get behind the wheel and turn the key and the engine sounds better, and the car drives better it will be worth keeping. I say go for it, get a bentely and a voltmeter and tools if you don't have them and dig in!

[Bbruins72]

Thanks everyone. I really am motivated to get this thing running smooth. I have researched a lot of parts and things I suspect it needs from my initial conversations with the tech and what I know it needs. Biggest issues he told me about to get it to pass inspection is the gas tank issue. I still don't know whats wrong with it. He said it looked like someone fabricated a cover or something? I looked up new tanks and DAMN are they pricey!
Also New Rear Nuts need to be welded to the under body. Some ass clown that changed the seats out must have ruined the old threads or hole that the bolt goes into because no bolts are in place and holes look way to big for a stock set rail. The seats can be raised up, only the two front bolts are holding them in place. I am thinking a welding job would be an easy fix here.
Honestly here is the experience I have on cars:
Change oil/Tires
Change lights/fuses/radios/Sensors
Bolt on items (exhaust)
Short throw shifter
Strut bars
As you can see crap, simple things a 10 year old could do. So I want to learn these skills and get it running strong, but I am wicked nervous about jacking something up and making a bigger more expense mess.
Heres a picture of it the first day I got it. I Drove it to get a six pack (engine felt great and transmission and clutch very good). And when I came home the sun was shinning on it like it was meant to be. So I snapped this picture!

[stonea]

Spend a lot of time looking in the ix sub forum. There's a lot of bad information out there about it. Also try looking for local part outs for the gas tank

[jhaurimn]

An easy way to see if the car has been in an accident is to look for vin tags on the fenders. I cant see any in your pictures, but your engine bay picture is blurry. They would be visible when you open your hood.

It looks like a pretty solid ix honestly. Interior could use some refreshing

[jalopi]

OP your first post made the car sound like a clapped out POS. aside from the broken spring it looks to be in stellar shape (what's even wrong with the battery tray?)

your car is in pretty good shape, unless you have rust bubbles popping through the paint or actual holes you have nothing to worry about

[Northern]

looks like an above average iX. Probably in better shape than any of my cars. That shop is on crack.

If you do want to sell, I'm sure someone on here would be quick to take it off your hands.

[mbonder]

That car actually looks like a good starting point, especially for a vehicle that is located in the rust belt, where many of these cars have succumbed to far worse and people still attempt to bring them back.

My advice to you is to find someone on this board that is willing to walk you through some of the work that you are looking to do. There are many write ups and videos online (make sure to get yourself a Bentley Manual from Amazon ASAP), but there is no substitute for having someone there that has done it before. If I weren't going away for the entire month of July I would offer to come up for a visit and talk you through some of the work you need done. We could easily swap out the suspension and brakes in a day and have that car riding pretty.

If you don't have records for the timing belt replacement I would put that as the first thing on the list above everything you've listed. Easy way to hit everything mechanically is to replace a bunch of stuff while you do that job:

Timing belt and tensioner
water pump
thermostat
ignition rotor
Distributor cap
valve cover gasket
cam plugs
spark plugs
Accessory Belts
Main radiator hoses

While there you can also replace the coolant temp sensors and take a look at the intake boot for leaks and replace the air filter. I like to be all-inclusive when I do maintenance that way you don't have to go back and do anything else for a while, but you don't need to do all of this if you have records of replacement of some of these items within the last 40k miles.

Find an e30 buddy, buy him a six pack and a pizza, watch and learn. The e30 is a perfect car for someone to learn repair procedures on because it is basic enough that you can literally change most everything with a simple socket set, screw drivers, and a few pliers.

If you need some help, feel free to PM me, I'd be glad to walk you through things and can provide further contact information.

Matt