What to do? feel free to give your 2 cents

[Bbruins72]

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?

[ButtJuice]

Post pics of the car and we'll give you accurate opinions.

[Bbruins72]

Your right I should upload some pictures I will do so tomorrow after work. The body was repainted prior to my purchase. The paint job is decent but upclose clearly a poor spray can be noticed in a few spots. Otherwise from the surface or photo the car looks amazing.

I will upload some pics tomorrow

[flyboyx]

first of all, you can't buy one of these cars and expect to be able to take it to a shop for restoration. you will simply lose your ass on it. so now that the option of paying someone to fix it is off the table, get your head wrapped around the fact that if you keep the car, you are going to be the one fixing it. if you aren't up to the task, you need to sell the car and save yourself the headaches.


more specifics would help. transmission? year? color combo? # of doors....etc?

pretty much everyone here will tell you that your car is crap if it has an auto trans.

the items you listed don't sound too serious other than the rust. i am pretty sure i have fixed worse.

does the xfer case work? what is your investment/budget?

where the hell is agawam?

[rturbo 930]

I think you could pay a shop to do the rust repair if it's just the battery tray, and a few other small spots. The rest, except the wiring issue, sounds like pretty basic stuff that shouldn't be too hard to do even if you're new to working on cars.

Pics would help a lot, but the big question I have right now is: What did you pay for it, and how much are you willing to put into it? How nice do you want it to be when it's done? Absolutely perfect, or just a decent driver?

[Hooffenstein HD]

Honestly, that sounds like a typical E30. Sounds like that shop isn't too familiar with E30s because the 325ix is a desirable car and it's probably worth saving.

The only thing that is more serious than the typical E30 problems would be the rust.

Valve adjustment - needed every 15,000km
Needs suspension - good excuse for an upgrade
Needs brakes - they're cheap and easy to replace
Dash cracked - Most of them are
AC doesn't work - Half the board deletes it for weight reduction, the other half are old
Electric windows could be as simple as a relay but I have no idea. Manual windows all the way.

[george graves]

Eeek. You took an e30 to a restoration shop? They don't want to touch a car unless they know they are going to get 5k or more out of you (I have to assume more like 50k would be normal for them)

first of all, you can't buy one of these cars and expect to be able to take it to a shop for restoration.

Or even a shop for repairs really. I can't see owning an e30 and not doing most of the work yourself. Yes, there are a few people on this board that are too dam busy making a living, so a $500 repair bill for a timing belt is just easier for them. That I get.

It sounds like you have little or no experience on working on cars - so, here's my advice....

Find someone locally with an e30 or BMW, and ask for help. Tempt them with beer, pizza, or what ever. 90% of e30 repairs are SOOoooo clearly outlined online, in the Bently, or on the forum. Even youtube is getting more and more e30 related videos (forget the name of the gent that is putting up those videos - someone post a link) For the rest - get some help from a local.

A decent craftsman metric tool set will run you a few hundred, and parts are more-or-less cheap from blunt (blunttech.com) - and once you do a few small repairs, you'll won't be afraid of doing bigger ones.

[101]

as said above - most of this stuff is pretty basic and doing it yourself will get you familiar with E30's.

Is your car:
Automatic or manual?
AWD system working?
Coupe or sedan?
Does everything else besides the windows work correctly?

What are your objectives with the car? Will it be a winter beater or something you want to put on the car show circuit?

Overall will you be putting more $$$ into it than it is probably worth? Yes. We all do. If you're in to make money or break even, this definitely isn't the adventure you're looking for.

[Bbruins72]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. You confirmed some of what I was thinking about expected repairs and that this is not abnormal stuff.
More details - I paid 4K for the car. It is an manual (i too did not want a automatic). It is a 4 door. Red new paint. Looks good. But again I think it is hiding some of the imperfections. I do not know much about mechanics. Have done typical minor repairs on other cars. Bolt on replacements. Etc... by no means am I experienced or close to an expert in auto mechanics. I have been watching DIY repair videos and repair articles.

Agawam is in Massachusetts.

Again thanks everyone. Pics to be uploaded tonight when I get home from work trip.

[Bbruins72]

I have a few pics like this :


Pictures of troubled/qquestionable areas to follow.

[noid]

Its an E30, you need to fix stuff, and will consistently need to fix stuff. That is part of the fun.

[Bbruins72]

Pictures:

[Bbruins72]

Few more pics

[88BlackS-ETA]

Check the rear spring perches, they tend to rot out on IX's. I would never take a e30 to restoration shop, they only work on "real cars". It really all depends on how much rust there is. Everything else is an easy fix.

[Bbruins72]

I am hoping to get the car back from the shop next week. The guy at the place is an e30 owner as well. He is very knowledgeable and honest. I truly believe they are not trying to rip me off. In fact I never even thought that. I think they are just shocked by how nice it looked vs how it looked after the inspected it. I due trust the BMW tech and this shop.

He has told me he found Bondo type repairs from a possible front end accident. The carfax shows no accident. But again I am too much of a novice to know any better on what could be wrong.