I'm still not sure exactly what happened, it could be that I have become addicted to E30s. Or possibly I do have separation anxiety since Thelma has been gone to the cage shop for damn near 3 weeks now... I'd like to think that I just have good taste and knew that having only 1 E30 that will be used solely for Chump racing was simply not enough and that I truly needed a nice, clean car to enjoy on the streets and occasionally an OTD.... (wait, that sounds like I'm addicted again... meh, there are worse things to be addicted to!)
But I digress - over the weekend I ended up taking a 2 hour drive with a friend to take a look at a pair of 325is'. Guy was selling them as a pair. And only wanted to get rid of them as a pair. The little I knew from the CL ad was:
-"gold" car - '89 i M/T coupe - (obviously not a true enthusiast since 'bronzit' was not mentioned) was a mechanically sound car with a lot to be desired in the looks department. Good engine, starts quick, idles smooth without noise or leaks. Good clutch. a solid DD. But with seemingly every body panel dented.
-red car - '88 is M/T coupe - has overheating issues, but a clean body.
With this being the midwest, I was concerned about the actual condition of the chassis. I asked for a few pics, which he sent the wrong parts. Oh well. I decided to take the 4.5 hour gamble and drive out there. If the pair showed enough promise, it would be a nice 2 hour drive out there with a buddy and return with 2 cars at a reasonable price. If the cars were shit, well, then I'd have a nice 4.5 hour ride around Michigan with my friend.
Turns out that the red car is amazingly clean body/chassis. Front jack points are still solid. :D zinno paint isn't faded anywhere, no dents, no accidents, interior needs a good vacuuming, but otherwise nice. all electrics work, non-cracked dash, M-tech str wheel, 14"weaves with practically new tires. 1 big spot of rust in battery well, but that was the only place I found rust. LOTS of receipts, and some history (car spent some time in Singapore). Only major issue is the car will over-heat if driver too hard or too long (weird thing, the seller indicated if it was driven easy, it wouldn't overheat...???). After looking through the receipts, I'm 99% confident the overheating is due to a bad head - owner in mid 90's let the timing belt break, bent valves etc - valves replace but all the service records after that indicated overheating issues. My guess is a cracked head... Regardless, a great start for the future run DD. Just need to source a replacement head and it'll be dependable road-worthy.
The gold one is pretty rough looking. RF fender is trashed, dents in trunk lid, poorly repainted hood, few other small dents. Typical rust at front jack points (not through), but amazingly, no rust under battery??? Has a slew of newer parts in engine bay (hoses/intake tube/rad tubes). Runs and drives very well. Could use a tune-up, a brake bleed and alignment, possibly 1 front shock but otherwise is fine. It looks a bunch better since I cleaned it out last night. I will likely replace some of the bent panels with stuff off the chump car (same color, and frankly, I don't care if the chump car has bent parts that could easily get more bent...), do a basic tune-up and sell it as a good daily driver, and fund the fun-times rebuild of the red one.
more pics soon.
And if anyone in Detroit area is looking for a solid daily driver / winter beater and doesn't mind appearance, hit me up!
But I digress - over the weekend I ended up taking a 2 hour drive with a friend to take a look at a pair of 325is'. Guy was selling them as a pair. And only wanted to get rid of them as a pair. The little I knew from the CL ad was:
-"gold" car - '89 i M/T coupe - (obviously not a true enthusiast since 'bronzit' was not mentioned) was a mechanically sound car with a lot to be desired in the looks department. Good engine, starts quick, idles smooth without noise or leaks. Good clutch. a solid DD. But with seemingly every body panel dented.
-red car - '88 is M/T coupe - has overheating issues, but a clean body.
With this being the midwest, I was concerned about the actual condition of the chassis. I asked for a few pics, which he sent the wrong parts. Oh well. I decided to take the 4.5 hour gamble and drive out there. If the pair showed enough promise, it would be a nice 2 hour drive out there with a buddy and return with 2 cars at a reasonable price. If the cars were shit, well, then I'd have a nice 4.5 hour ride around Michigan with my friend.
Turns out that the red car is amazingly clean body/chassis. Front jack points are still solid. :D zinno paint isn't faded anywhere, no dents, no accidents, interior needs a good vacuuming, but otherwise nice. all electrics work, non-cracked dash, M-tech str wheel, 14"weaves with practically new tires. 1 big spot of rust in battery well, but that was the only place I found rust. LOTS of receipts, and some history (car spent some time in Singapore). Only major issue is the car will over-heat if driver too hard or too long (weird thing, the seller indicated if it was driven easy, it wouldn't overheat...???). After looking through the receipts, I'm 99% confident the overheating is due to a bad head - owner in mid 90's let the timing belt break, bent valves etc - valves replace but all the service records after that indicated overheating issues. My guess is a cracked head... Regardless, a great start for the future run DD. Just need to source a replacement head and it'll be dependable road-worthy.
The gold one is pretty rough looking. RF fender is trashed, dents in trunk lid, poorly repainted hood, few other small dents. Typical rust at front jack points (not through), but amazingly, no rust under battery??? Has a slew of newer parts in engine bay (hoses/intake tube/rad tubes). Runs and drives very well. Could use a tune-up, a brake bleed and alignment, possibly 1 front shock but otherwise is fine. It looks a bunch better since I cleaned it out last night. I will likely replace some of the bent panels with stuff off the chump car (same color, and frankly, I don't care if the chump car has bent parts that could easily get more bent...), do a basic tune-up and sell it as a good daily driver, and fund the fun-times rebuild of the red one.
more pics soon.
And if anyone in Detroit area is looking for a solid daily driver / winter beater and doesn't mind appearance, hit me up!
maybe it would have worked if it was on tight, and the brake booster connection wasn't torn in half.... 
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