$800 to high? 89 2 dr. auto. needs motor

[lilium.don]

Found a complete 89 2dr, alpineweiss, automatic. Pretty clean, 2nd owner, 142k miles, the car is in NY and it has only been here for about 5 months. It spent its entire life in Arizona and has extensive service records. This was the only reason I am interested in it.

Price to high ?

[Collin]

Automatic with no motor. $500 sounds a bit more reasonable for a body in the condition you're describing.

[dirty30]

sounds about right, good 24v swap chassis if anything

[lilium.don]

seller is firm on $800, NY/ Long Island cars are always damaged by salt and rust damage , clean southern cars are rare. My IX looks like swiss cheese. 24v Swap is the only reason for the car

[nando]

does it need anything other than the motor?

being an automatic doesn't mean anything if you are doing a swap anyway, except that they are usually in better overall condition. I say go for it..

[bmws50b30]

i looked at that car. from the ad it looks nice but after seeing it and asking a senior citizen member here, i decided i don't want to pay her original asking price.

don't forget the electrical issue. i saw a dent in the front of the hood, on the DS fender, DS rear quarter and there was paint coming of the PS rear quarter, which looks like rusted underneath. the interior was dirty and damped. under the battery tray had rust surface rust. cluster doesn't work. i didn't see any cracks on the dash though and it has an alpine head unit.

if you have the time and willing to pay that much, i'd say go ahead and get it. it was just not worth my time, even to part it out.

that's just my opinion

[nando]

i looked at that car. from the ad it looks nice but after seeing it and asking a senior citizen member here, i decided i don't want to pay her original asking price.

don't forget the electrical issue. i saw a dent in the front of the hood, on the DS fender, DS rear quarter and there was paint coming of the PS rear quarter, which looks like rusted underneath. the interior was dirty and damped. under the battery tray had rust surface rust. cluster doesn't work. i didn't see any cracks on the dash though and it has an alpine head unit.

if you have the time and willing to pay that much, i'd say go ahead and get it. it was just not worth my time, even to part it out.

that's just my opinion

in that case, I'd pass. The original description made it sound like it was a clean rolling shell that only needed a motor for $800..

[TexasTerp]

I don't think you should pay anything over $600 for a shell, even if it is clean, is the current owner an enthusiast or just someone who owns an e30? if the latter, really read up and do everything you can to get him down, $800 is too high even if it is firm. Service records don't mean anything if the motor isn't running, body work and suspension records are great but if the main selling points are minimal rust and service records for a non running car, I'm not sold on the price.

EDIT: after reading the bmwS50b30's post, PASS $800 is a waste of money in that condition. The amount of time needed will be more than that car's worth just to get it ready for a 24v swap. Why bother? If you really want it, make sure to point out everything that bmw250b30 mentioned and really assert yourself as an expert (even if you're not) and she'll have to cave or lose a sale, I doubt many people are truly looking to buy a car in that condition. The non-working cluster alone will drive non-enthusiast buyers away

[bmws50b30]

a female drove the car but she knows a little about the e30 and enjoyed the car. she even mentioned she wanted a 2002.

the motor is trashed. she ran it about 3 miles without oil before she realized she busted the oil pan, hence the fairly new pan. the mechanic found metal shavings in the old pan. i forgot, it has a new battery but not the right size ;)

[lilium.don]

I recognized all of these things, the body will clean up very well in my opinion, the hood and front of the pass fender need some attention. I have the paint left over from my ix and a wet sanding and polishing would be in order for any e30 i encounter. I am really just fed up with repairing rust. Every other e30 I have encountered up here has battery box and rocker issues. I was interested in the car solely for a swap.

[TexasTerp]

If you're fed up with repairing rust then you're only choice is to move, the past 5 months have been winter, which means the start of salt damage and probable rust. If you have the money and want it, I say go for it, but you're still going to be repairing rust on it soon enough. Dirty and Damped interior can mean possible/probable floor board rust as well so don't forget to check under the carpet.

If you can spend the money, do it. It's your money not ours.