Look what i picked up last night :)

[LoukenTarzan]

So i know its not the deal of the century but hur it is


1992 325i Auto
155k Unmolested ;D

More to come when i get this free camera for the tool box
...and you arent going to want to see any of it

[Matt341]

Nice looking forward to more pics!

[LoukenTarzan]

crushed hopes for the vert DD

Day I go to look at the car, I get there about 9pm, had to wait on the PO so I did some investigating.

The good:
-No rust really anywhere on the body, But, it is far from perfect.
-To my surprise the axle boots were in tact, the diff cover was dry and the struts aren't completely blown out.
-Flawless tail and fog lights immediately made me smile at the sight of them.
-Bottle caps with center caps and new-er tires.
-Rear bumper needs less trim than the one on the 2dr.
-Tow hitch !!!!!!!

The bad:
-Top is worthless. Has no back window and some tape above the driver window. No worries, I have a window from the old vert I can afro-stitch into it as a temporary as it will keep the rain out.
-Pass Fender needs replacing and pass quarter needs work. I have a fender, no biggie.
-Interior is trashed, everywhere, except for the rear seat back where its almost split at the seams from the sun beating in that rear convertible window ...


Overall I was super stoked so long as the car runs and performs well and I was getting pretty anxious waiting on the seller.

Seller shows up and I immediately start the car. Coolant light is on but reservoir is full of course. Engine running smoothly and noisily as an M20 is expected to. Look at the exhaust and was concerned but the amount of moisture so I let it warm up while asking the seller some questions and toying with things. Guy had never seen the top go down "Because the button didn't work" lol. Figured this was a good point in time to ask how long he had it, work done, if he had a record of when the timing belt was replaced. Title was left open, says he bought it 6 months ago and never titled it cause he couldnt afford to repair the top and use it as a daily. Never did any work to it and no service records. He claimed to drive it around illegally from time to time but wasn't driven at all in recent weeks.

Approaching operating temp, the of amount moisture coming out of the exhaust had gotten better after idling for 10-15minutes. Took a kinda short drive for about 10 minutes, drove it hard and the thing drove really well. Only complaint was the brakes felt soft and worn out. When I pulled back onto the sellers property the moisture coming out of the exhaust had completely stopped. So I figured must have just been condensate built up.

I honestly was shocked, feeling too good to be true... .. . .

Paid the man, got the title and talked for another 20 minutes or so, car running the whole time still not getting hot so we rode out.

Got some attention while getting some gas with a friend, Ryan, pulling up in my red coupe and me in the red vert. Accidentally deleted a good pic like a douche.

Cruise back to leave the car at his place 'til I could replace the timing belt before the 100 mile drive home. Always good to be behind somebody driving one of your e30s while you drive the other. Car ran flawlessly, thing didn't get hot, shifted great, wasn't noisy, and handled well aside from the soft pedal. Leave the car there to figure out how to get it back.

This is where it gets really good, I promise.

Drive the whole 2 hours back home with a big dumb smile on my face looking forward to getting back up there the Teusday. I buy $140 in timing belt service parts in the morning, had a feeling I was forgetting something. The tensioner of course, and its not in stock anywhere. Was a day wait if I would have ordered it in up where the car is at. So I get stuck not leaving til 4pm waiting on the tensioner, conveniently as it turns out. I would have been installing a water pump by that time.

I get to the car and its 6pm. I decide ill just inspect the belt and only replace if it looks really really discolored. Was in acceptable condition and I was tired so slapped the timing belt cover on it, distributor and hose back together and started the car.

And now the best thing about the entire deal
Pop open the coolant reservoir and pour some water in it to make up for coolant lost when I pulled the hose above the dist. Squeeze the return to the rad to purge the air and the thing is empty so I figure the thermostat needs to kick open and I need to bleed from the thermostat housing, but nope. After only a few minutes the car got hot and exhaust fumes were blowing the coolant back out of the reservoir.
this was the car
this was me :letitout:

Blown head gasket hooray, never had to do one, not looking forward to it. Considering the mild smell of fuel in the oil being a sign of rings going bad idk if im going to bother. Ill figure out a direction as days go on.

Obviously I know what the problem is but I have no idea WTF crazy anomaly happened. How does the car run perfectly fine without getting hot while running for an hour? Then blown head gasket the next day? Stop leak maybe? There was a bunch of bits in the coolant including metalling water pump bits.

Glad I didn't install $160 in parts before discovering the head gasket issue.

Im not going to just give up on it. Ill be figuring out what to do and probably changing my mind a bunch of times in the next couple weeks

Ill get pics up soon. still need to go get that camera.

[Ether-D]

Slap a head gasket on there. It's not bad, just time consuming.

[Shftr8]

Was that on CL? I thought about going to look at it if that's the same one. If you need anything I have a salvage yard on 5th Ave south and I have a few e30s

[mlbryant8]

Was that on CL? I thought about going to look at it if that's the same one. If you need anything I have a salvage yard on 5th Ave south and I have a few e30s

What models do you have in the yard and are you open this Sat.? I am near Gainesville and will drive down.

[Shftr8]

What are you looking for exactly? I have a late model 4 door and a early vert. Not a whole lot left but I have a bunch of parts on the shelf. I have E 21s, e36s, e28, e32s, e34s, e39s, e38s, e46s, a e23, and a bavaria

[Peterkaczynski]

hurrayyyy

[LoukenTarzan]

Unlikely, but may be getting ahead of myself...

I finally brought the car home Sunday. Borrowed a car dolly and use my dad's truck. Messed with it again today to verify conditions. Topped off coolant and drive it for 15 minutes, even left it running at Wawa when i went in for ciggs. Not a plume of smoke form the exhaust when driving. A noticable but minimal amount on start up The car runs cool so long as you don't open the coolant reservoir. Weirdest thing is there was no evidence of reduced compression between any of the cylinders. Going to do another compression test at operating temp and find the cylinder i need to look at.

Im trying to make up my mind about what to do with it. A little concerned about the integrity of the head since I really have no info on the history of the issue. I have a complete motor that i have been procrastinating on.
Question is if its worth the time and money going the whole nine with a full rebuild vs just rebuilding the head that has never been hot and slap it onto the virgin m20 block that's in the car. The latter is beginning to make more sense to me.

Slap a head gasket on there. It's not bad, just time consuming.

Just need to figure out what direction im going to go with it.

Was that on CL? I thought about going to look at it if that's the same one. If you need anything I have a salvage yard on 5th Ave south and I have a few e30s

Yea was on CL. I believe we have spoken a few times. You were in the middle of a 24v swap last year?

[Shftr8]

Yea still in the middle of it lol

[AWDBOB]

Looks nice! A head gasket on these cars really isn't difficult at all, so I wouldn't let that stop your momentum. If it comes down to it, pull your head off and get it resurfaced, adjust the valves, and throw seals in if you feel like it. If you keep a decent pace I see no reason why you couldn't do it in a night for your first time.