Just picked it up! Help me make it great. (Lots of pics)

[Timp]

Yes, I want your recommendations. If this were YOUR daily driver, what would you do with it?

I picked this up in California for 2K. It has a 180K, and it drives very nicely. Has a full service history and was owned by an older woman. It has blue houndstooth!

Some pics below but you can view the entire album HERE:






Little tear on the bolster... Wonder if that's fixable. That's the only imperfection besides a somewhat compressed cushion.





Look like there's some cracked intake right there. I'm not sure what part this is exactly.





The engine bay definitely could use a cleaning and I want to repaint the trim and the mirrors. I'd also like an 'is' valence. What else would you guys do?

The stereo in this car sucks. Would finding the premium sound package be better than just swapping out the 4 speakers with something a little more high-end?

Forgive me for my newbness.

[urbancynic]

I would start with a good cleaning and maintenance.

Timing belt (unless you have PROOF it was done recently)
H2O pump
oil
coolant (when u do the t-belt and h2o pump)
maybe v-belts
hoses
gearbox and diff oil

check out the brakes

Then I would get a Mark-D chip for it.

That crack in the intake pipe isnt a problem if it is the same one you're thinking of before the air box.

If it is after the AFM then you need to fix it.

congrats and enjoy it.

[ZM Blue Devil]

sticker says 172k so if odo not broken you should be fine for a while.
Euro bumpers a must.
Go to home depot and pick up a gallon of spray nine, pressure wash that engine bay after spraying it down with S9. That way you can see where leaks are.
Get a zhp knob and leather boot set and a nice steering wheel.

Congrats looks like a super clean car. Enjoy her.

[MG325i]

do your maintenance work first.
clean engine bay. exterior/interior.

and id suggest searching on the forum for what you like. theres lots and lots of info. find what you like best. go from there.

[straight6pwr]

to make it a nicely modified daily, euro bumpers, H&R sport springs/Koni struts, euroweaves, and some better output lighting.

after that, just spend money on maintenance to keep her running top!

[grippymonkey]

any history of the Radiator being replaced? the one you have looks like it may be ready to crack

other then that get her all cleaned up, throw on some new suspension, and find some wheels/tires to get her looking right!

[YeOldeBuggy]

Fuck all that noise, clean the engine bay, make all of the shit right in it, and drive it. Fuck mods, that car is pristine looking.

Thad.

[bernzpeed]

with engine warm, spray with simple green and start scrubbing, then power wash.

[acolella76]

shameless plug: buy my painted intake manifold.

Looks nice, just get some degreaser and go to town on that engine bay.

[Timp]

I went crazy on the engine bay today with some super clean. Beneath all the dirt and crud was more dirt and crud, so I'll be going back and doing a second cleaning session soon. I'll post pictures too.

any history of the Radiator being replaced? the one you have looks like it may be ready to crack

I have no record of it from what I know. Unless it's included in the 'BMW I' and 'BMW II' inspections in the owner's manual. The woman who owned the car before kept good track of all the work done on the car.

The transmission and diff fluid will need to be changed. The timing belt and water pump were actually changed in January along with a bunch of hoses.

The stereo in this car sucks. Would finding the premium sound package be better than just swapping out the 4 speakers with something a little more high-end and putting in a good head unit?

[DREWHALL]

Not included in those services. If you have all the service records and it doesn't say anywhere specifically about the radiator being replaced more than likely it wasn't done, at least at the dealer. I would put a new one in there soon. Would make the bay look cleaner anyway and avoid headaches later.

Car looks clean though! My opinion on speakers, just get some nice speakers of the factory size with a nice head unit and call it a day. If you really want nice sound talk to StereoInstaller on here, he's an audio genius.

[Timp]

Thanks for the suggestion Drew. I've added it to the list of stuff I need to do...

So I looked in the manual, and the last full BMW II service was back in '98. Ever since then, there's been a few timing belt, water pump notes and random notes on the sides for the years after.

The car was driven less and less after 2000. I think this is when she got her other car. Average(ish) per year miles went from about 11,000 miles per year from '86 to 2000, 6,500 miles per year from 2000 to 2002, and 2,500 miles per year from then to 2005. Anyway, not sure if that means much but I guess I have a lot of maintenance to catch up on.

The car has trouble with hills/inclines I've noticed... Not sure if this is the nature of the ETA engine or if something else is wrong and the engine is overall sluggish. If I'm in 5th gear at 2K RPM, it almost always loses speed, even when I nearly floor it. Is this normal?

[KamakaziX]

The stereo in this car sucks. Would finding the premium sound package be better than just swapping out the 4 speakers with something a little more high-end and putting in a good head unit?

I had a cheap JVC headunit and stock (I believe) premium speakers in my last car. It sounded pretty good I thought. And fairly picky when it comes to sound.

[Tree18is]

another member here has the identical car. looks sweet

[StereoInstaller1]

How much are you willing to spend on some decent tunes?

You can do a Pioneer DEH6300 and a ful set of PS speakers for about $200. It would be a good start, but not exactly stunning. Add a small 4 channel amp, like the MB Quart Onyx 4.60 and things will be better. You could also use one of my subwoofer boxes and an inexpensive 10" woofer, you would run the bass and the front speaker from the amp...that combo sounds absolutely amazing and is still upgradeable.

Car looks nice, keep it classy!