Oz/Euro 323i parts compatibility with 325i or 320i?

[agisthos]

I just now found the thermostat housing is also not the same, different design and different number of sensors. The 325e from 1985 is correct though.

Who knows, its possible a previous owner put in a new coolant system from a newer model, and RealOEM is correct but this car is not.

It just means I have to be careful with what I buy.

[lukeADE335i]

The dealer can be pretty helpful if you take in your VIN and need a part identified. They just plug your VIN into the ETK.

Of course, your specific car could be like grandpa's axe by now, I know mine is :)

[agisthos]

I have now ordered bits and pieces from almost every BMW supplier on planet earth.

As far as shipping to Oz goes, Schmiedmann and FCPEuro are the cheapest, ECS/Turner very good, and Bimmerworld the worst (Often 2x the price of ECS/Turner for the same goods).

[jeffnhiscars]

I wouldn't trust ECS to deliver a cheeseburger if I lived next door to them. Shipping overseas...you take your chances

[nando]

Its disappointing to find out that RealOEM cannot be relied upon if you have a RHD 323i from 1984. I have tried the exact VIN number, as well as manual field entry.

It keeps throwing up parts and image breakdowns that do not match. I have found the 325e from early 1985 has the accurate commonality with my car, in some cases.

A perfect example is the radiator. I wonder how much else of this database is inaccurate.

The database itself is pretty accurate (I have found errors but they are rare). But the diagrams, especially the older ones - are more for reference in many cases.

realoem.com is just the BMW ETK with an online interface. It's the same database a BMW dealer would use - pictures and all.

[Woodsy]

Hi agisthos - I also have an 84 323i (just bought it) and I'm in Geelong (Vic). I've been reading the full length of this post and was wondering if there is any update??.... as in, have you identified a reliable 'go to' site for parts look-up and of course supply. In the past, wherever possible and for a wide variety of vehicle makes, I have used Rockauto.com - they are very competitive. BUT, and this is the same issue that you have already faced, because Rockauto is an American site, it is limited to American model listings, and we both know the story from there. Any new advice would be really appreciated - cheers.

[twright]

You can find non-US parts with Rockauto: Just get the part number that you want through Realoem and then go to the part number search at the top left of the page and put your part number there.

A lot of non-US parts will show up there.

[agisthos]

Hi agisthos - I also have an 84 323i (just bought it) and I'm in Geelong (Vic). I've been reading the full length of this post and was wondering if there is any update??.... as in, have you identified a reliable 'go to' site for parts look-up and of course supply. In the past, wherever possible and for a wide variety of vehicle makes, I have used Rockauto.com - they are very competitive. BUT, and this is the same issue that you have already faced, because Rockauto is an American site, it is limited to American model listings, and we both know the story from there. Any new advice would be really appreciated - cheers.

Hi. In the time since I made this post I ended up doing about 20 international orders from almost every E30 supplier around the world. For the 323i I found many, many parts that are not compatible with the 325i.

So using realoem.com to get the correct part number, it was then Schmiedmann in Denmark that had all the 323i stuff. Well they do not stock them.... they have a 3-5 day wait as they order the parts in from factories in Germany, so you get a bit of a delay to process the order. But you can get 90% of what you need from there, and the shipping to Australia is cheap and via fast DHL.

I found ECS/Turner to be fast and great as well. I think when ECS purchased Turner a few years back there was fulfilment and shipping issues that has sullied their reputation, but I did not have a problem during 2020 and I did 6-7 shipments from them.

btw Woodsy check out the E30 323i diagram thread I made at Bimmerforums...

[Woodsy]

That's awesome - much appreciated!

[lukeADE335i]

There is a Haines manual that covers 6 cylinder e21 and e30s, effectively M20 powered 3 series from 77 to 87. It has some good info, but is a bit weird as from memory it refers to the e21 as the 'series 1', and the e30 as the 'series 2'. I used this a lot in my e21 days (I had a 323i that I converted from K-Jet to L-Jet, so the manual was good because I could compare wiring diagrams etc between the e21 and e30 in the one manual.

https://workshoprepairmanual.com.au/Item/BMW-320-320i-323i-325i-6-Cylinder-1977-111

There were lots of tweaks early on in the production of the e30 though, so you really need to look up your specific VIN. In Australia we even had an e30 318i with K-Jet injection and a 4 speed manual in 1982 / early 83! Basically it was the e21 driveline fitted to the e30, presumably to run out some engines & transmissions at the end of the e21 production run. My brother in-law had one, and they were pretty much impossible to get information on.

Great work on getting stuff out of international suppliers in 2020 Agisthos! With Australia Post's woes, I'd assumed international shipping would be just about impossible so didn't even try to order any parts internationally.

[agisthos]

There is a Haines manual that covers 6 cylinder e21 and e30s, effectively M20 powered 3 series from 77 to 87. It has some good info, but is a bit weird as from memory it refers to the e21 as the 'series 1', and the e30 as the 'series 2'. I used this a lot in my e21 days (I had a 323i that I converted from K-Jet to L-Jet, so the manual was good because I could compare wiring diagrams etc between the e21 and e30 in the one manual.

https://workshoprepairmanual.com.au/...inder-1977-111

There were lots of tweaks early on in the production of the e30 though, so you really need to look up your specific VIN. In Australia we even had an e30 318i with K-Jet injection and a 4 speed manual in 1982 / early 83! Basically it was the e21 driveline fitted to the e30, presumably to run out some engines & transmissions at the end of the e21 production run. My brother in-law had one, and they were pretty much impossible to get information on.

Great work on getting stuff out of international suppliers in 2020 Agisthos! With Australia Post's woes, I'd assumed international shipping would be just about impossible so didn't even try to order any parts internationally.

Luke you are the only person I know who has seen these K-Jet variants of the E30. An E30 with K-Jet and 4 speed manual from 1982 must be one of the rarest ever!

Yes that E21 Haynes manual (no.815) is much better for the E30 323i than the later Haynes E30 manual (no.1948) or the Bentley E30 manual. I have them all.

Believe it or not, DHL shipping never stopped during all of COVID, when everything else took months. Usually DHL express takes 4-5 days from the US/EU. during COVID that doubled to about 10 days, but that sure beat waiting 2.5 months for some of my other shipments. I think it was because DHL operate their own fleet of dedicated cargo planes, while a lot of other shipping is done via the cargo holds of passenger aircraft, which obviously stopped during covid.

[Tzantushka]

Believe it or not, DHL shipping never stopped during all of COVID, when everything else took months. Usually DHL express takes 4-5 days from the US/EU. during COVID that doubled to about 10 days, but that sure beat waiting 2.5 months for some of my other shipments. I think it was because DHL operate their own fleet of dedicated cargo planes, while a lot of other shipping is done via the cargo holds of passenger aircraft, which obviously stopped during covid.

+1 no problemo with DHL deliveries from Schmiedmann during COVID 1.0 and 2.0 here in AUS.

[lukeADE335i]

Luke you are the only person I know who has seen these K-Jet variants of the E30. An E30 with K-Jet and 4 speed manual from 1982 must be one of the rarest ever!

It would have been pretty rare. After my brother in-law bought it he brought it to my place so I could check it out and I have to admit I was a bit shocked when I opened the bonnet and saw the K-Jet. I've never seen another one. I did the upkeep on it for him up until he cooked the engine and it eventually dropped a rod.

The really early ones are interesting as there was an overlap with e21 production. I had another friend with an Australian delivered 1983 e21 323i that shouldn't have existed as e21 6 cylinder production technically ended in 1982.