New to BMW with an ‘89 325ix

[adanzig]

Greetings folks, (I tried posting earlier, didn’t go through, one more time here...)

After trading in my Golf TDI back to VW post-dieselgate, I finally went for my jonesing to own and drive an older BMW. Found this single-owner ‘89 325ix sold by by a retired couple who garaged a completely stock example in their AZ garage. While it has 193k on the ODO and is going in next week for new front Bilsteins, new clutch, and a few other repairs under the hood, there is not a spec of rust anywhere. They ordered a complete exterior trim-off restoration with high-quality oil-based(?) paint, and the interior and engine bay are super clean. I held my breath through smog check, but we passed and now driving with CA plates. Going to keep it mostly stock, but a few interior upgrades are planned, including a short-shift kit, leather sport steering wheel and BMW sport seats (heated) to replace the standard fronts. Sharing a couple of pictures (I’m hoping the uploads go through on this post).

[Richter]

Awesome find! Looking forward to seeing photos of the refresh

[D.Martijn]

Wow, that car is in pristine condition! Great find for sure.
Can't wait to see the further updates on this car

[101]

You, sir, may have the cleanest IX in North America. I'm jealous.

[bimmerman1982]

Wow! Such a good find.

[Echo30V]

Incredible, what a find. That thing is mint.

[notanawdix80]

Nice find! Congratulations.

[ThatM20Guy]

That thing is crazy clean! Very nice find!!!

[Staszek]

Wow nice job!

[2001GTTT]

Car is gorgeous

[adanzig]

Update on 325iX refresh

Finally getting to update where I am on the 325ix - here's a few photos plus a summary of the 'investment' rework...

First a couple of photos from a drive down PCH near Jenner, CA:





Below shows the swapped-in sport seats that were covered with textured vinyl to match the original upholstery (pleather side bolsters), plus M-style shifter on a Z3-short-throw shifter, along with a new M-style 3-spoke wheel to replace the original 4-spoke:


Other work completed that makes the car a joy to drive:
a. Alpine XM BT stereo (mic mounted over steering column), A-pillar BMW tweeters and new 5" speakers all around, Viper alarm with remote locking
b. New front Bilstein HDs
c. Rebuilt rear diff and new bearings
d. Plus new power steering hoses, new fan clutch, new throttle housing, new guibos, flanges, gaskets, seals, etc. to bring this car up to fine working order.
Driving down PCH, the car just handles impeccably, hums along at 80mph.
My only nit is the rear drone that comes in around 40mph (but the high-speed drone is gone with the rear diff rebuild). Not sure if it's a driveshaft balancing issue - thoughts?

[adanzig]

Update on 325iX refresh

Finally posting an update here (scroll down for images): I’ve had the car back now for a couple of weeks and it drives beautifully. Here’s the litany of repairs and OEM parts - a princely sum but worthwhile inve$tment to bring it up to snuff - great work by Gary at Vanguard Motors in SF who used to own one and has rebuilt his own transfer case, so I trust him implicitly):

· New front Bilstein HDs (previous ‘shocks’ had zero oil, drove like a caddy, now handles amazeballs), mounting pads, sway bar linkages
· New clutch assembly
· Swapped out transfer case (previous owner didn’t change the oil and initially drained with all kinds of strange bits and particles; was grinding pretty bad) with a second-hand transfer case (in much better shape!) from a source in Colorado
· Replaced stock shift lever with short-throw shifter/Z3 M-style leather shift knob, replaced cracked leather shift boot with OEM
· Replaced 4-spoke original steering wheel with M-tech 3-spoke
· Rebuilt rear diff, bearings, etc. to reduce rear high-speed drone
· New power steering hoses
· New throttle housing/gasket
· New washer fluid pump that was shot
· New fan clutch
· Swapped standard heated seats for reupholstered heated sport seats with matching textured vinyl inserts (pleather bolsters)
· New Alpine BT/XM radio with telephony/mic mounted on steering column; new 5” speakers all around and added front door tweeters; new alarm with remote locking

325iX Rear Quarter View off PCH


325ix off PCH:


Interior:


Engine bay:


At this point, it’s a joy to drive, handles beautifully, purrs along at 80, exhaust note is fantastic (stock/original). My only real complaint is that there is (still) somewhat of a noise/drone that creeps in from the back of the car around 40mph. The high-speed drone that came in at 65 is gone (thanks to the rear diff rebuild/new diff bearings). Any thoughts from the pack?

[AC_Schnitzel]

no shit.. those seats are the originals? Wow such a beautiful platform to begin with!

Not sure what the noise in the back could be. Is it a clunk/thump/clank? How would you describe the noise, other than droning.

[adanzig]

no shit.. those seats are the originals? Wow such a beautiful platform to begin with!

Not sure what the noise in the back could be. Is it a clunk/thump/clank? How would you describe the noise, other than droning.

Seat frames are second-hand, custom reupholstered.
The drone is a low frequency rumble (almost like a secondary exhaust note, but it’s not an exhaust note I’m sure)

[323i E30]

That's a beauty..!! Very nice.
Maybe get your rear wheels balanced to get rid of that drone. Not entirely sure if that would cause it though.
Any history on the timing belt btw? Having that thing snap would cause serious engine damage.