How long do they last?

[jasonsc]

Looking at a 2-owner completely unmolested 88 325is with almost 300k on it. I'm new to e30's, so I'm wondering how many is too many when it comes to miles on the car?

[nando]

As long as you're willing to maintain it. These cars are already 30+ years old - if they were poor quality and suddenly disintegrated at an arbitrary mileage, it probably would have happened by now. ;)

[Kershaw]

I've seen 60k mile e30s I wouldn't buy and 485k mile e30s I would love to have the money to buy.

[MR E30 325is]

I've seen 60k mile e30s I wouldn't buy and 485k mile e30s I would love to have the money to buy.

Seconded.

History beats mileage every time.

[e30strokr]

Seconded.

History beats mileage every time.

I got my first one with 300K and the new one with 240K no issues... just give it a once over... I don't think its luck...haha

[getouth]

Mine has 281k and I rev it to 7200 rpm several times per week. As mentioned before maintenance and history are key. if it was kept up it will last a very long time. look up million mile bmw on YouTube or Google.

[TobyB]

You will have to replace parts no matter what- pleasantly, almost all the disposable parts
are still available.

It's shocking what a full set of rear bushings can do to tighten up a 'loose old car'-
and then add new dampers, front bushings, etc, and it's almost like it's new.

Things like door hinges are about the worst of it.

t

[mjposner]

To check the health of the engine, perform a compression test. If well maintained and all cylinders are at the right number should be good to go. Make sure to check when timing belt was last done, its a interference engine.

[jasonsc]

Awesome... thanks for the advice.

[Shangsta]

Yeah perform compression test. My first e30 had way over 500k miles

[ForcedFirebird]

Compression on a fresh m20b25 is ~180-185psi. I have seen them with 120psi across the board and still run fine (albeit burning oil and down on power). As long as they are even, the engine was fairly maintained. I've had a lot of e30's over the years, highest mileage I had personally was 378k.

Mobil did a test on an e30, put it on a dyno, rolling up and down the RPM's for a million miles and tore it down for inspection. There was very little wear, but they followed the maintenance schedule to the tee (including the catalytic etc)...

Too bad big eye glasses and mustaches are out of style, unlike the e30 lol

[e30strokr]

[QUOTE=ForcedFirebird;4741559]Compression on a fresh m20b25 is ~180-185psi. I have seen them with 120psi across the board and still run fine (albeit burning oil and down on power). As long as they are even, the engine was fairly maintained. I've had a lot of e30's over the years, highest mileage I had personally was 378k.

Mobil did a test on an e30, put it on a dyno, rolling up and down the RPM's for a million miles and tore it down for inspection. There was very little wear, but they followed the maintenance schedule to the tee (including the catalytic etc)...

Too bad big eye glasses and mustaches are out of style, unlike the e30 lol



just remember that Mobil one synthetic is not the same synthetic that we get today due to that synthetic Vs semisynthetic lawsuit

[ForcedFirebird]

just remember that Mobil one synthetic is not the same synthetic that we get today due to that synthetic Vs semisynthetic lawsuit

Even conventional oil probably would have done the same. More than the type of oil, I was leaning towards the longevity of the m20 when properly taken care of with that video link.

When choosing an oil for the m20, it really needs to have the correct zddp content, though. Since the rockers are more like an obsolete flat tappet cam than a modern roller or bucket-style OHC, the oils today are lacking the lube needed for parts to slide together. Well, that and modern catalysts tend to die prematurely when they burn zinc, so it has been all but eliminated from most oil.

We have seen a few wiped cam lobes at the shop over the past few years.

[e30davie]

The mobile test is interesting, but you gotta remember that a million miles over ~18months on a nice smooth dyno is very different to 300,000miles over 32years driven on rough roads

Things just wear out over time. Plastic deteriorates, rubber goes hard and cracks. Bushes become sloppy, Its these annoying things that need changing that can make 30year old cars tedius to own.

Reality is, everything except rust and paint can be fixed easily by bolting new parts on. When i buy old cars i buy purely on body and paint condition. 1200bucks will overhaul an m20 head and new headgasket (with DIY), but you dont get much professional panel beating for 1200bucks, and my DIY panel beating skills suck.

[Kershaw]

Absolutely. And the wear on the engine is not really entirely realistic either. It's not sitting in the cold over night, then started again, then sitting the cold, etc.