1988 325ix Touring

[bab-91]

My new purchase has given me an excuse to post this and introduce myself.

Turns out that 325ix bits are easier to find State Side than in Germany. :hitler:

Expect to see me floating around the for sale section.

This is my 4th E30, bringing the current E30 fleet up to 3 (I don’t learn from my mistakes), been ‘married’ to the E30 Zone for 10-11 years. From Belfast - Northern Ireland but I moved to Stuttgart March 2017 and had been on the hunt for a LHD e30 325i to replace my RHD e92. Anyone familiar with e30 prices in Germany will know it is nothing short of vomitous. Roll on February 2018 and I was promoted to a location in the Rhineland that is ‘affectionately’ known as ‘The Rock’. Those of you that have served with the Army will know it is called Baumholder/Smith Barracks. Mucho snow and ice, the roads are more Romanian like than velvety smooth Teutonic tarmac. I decided that it would be sensible for something AWD/4WD. A few options were considered (almost bought a 80’s Fiat Panda 4x4 - don’t judge) but set my heart on an IX Touring but starting prices for half decent examples, in Germany, were coming in at €14,000 and nice examples fetching €20,000. :loco:

I had given up looking but like all good things in life, one found me. The E30 Zone came to the rescue in the form of Zoner Nigel Gostelow. LHD 325ix 60,000 Miles, manual, sport seats, royal blue, ticked all the boxes and I’m sure Nigel won’t mind me saying, he spent a fortune on this vehicle. A short flight to the UK and by September 15th she was mine. I will be daily’ing this through winter.

Wish me luck!

Snaps work better on: https://www.instagram.com/bab91/?hl=en

Rob.

[D.Martijn]

Nice ix Touring, congrats! Looks almost exactly the same as mine.
How much did you pay for it as it has very little miles?

Most important question though.. Does it have rust?

[bab-91]

I spied your IX on instagram before, looks great!

It has a very small rust patch just below the window on the boot/trunk lid, half the size of a finger nail. My other touring has an almost identical ‘beauty’ spot. Hood/bonnet has some surface rust on the very front edge. Had it inspected in the UK and in Germany, nothing lurking in the depths. This isn’t my first rodeo with e30’s, rust was the biggest worry.

The vehicles biggest weakness is the paint. At some point in its life, somebody painted the roof and front bumper. By the look of it, it was a blind man on a galloping horse. 7” paint run on the front bumper. That will be fixed at some point but it’s not a priority

It was £8,000 GBP.

[Action Man]

Lovely touring! Subscribe.

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[kronus]

welcome and congrats! looks a lot better than mine :p

[bab-91]

welcome and congrats! looks a lot better than mine :p

Lol. I’ve had a few rough e30’s in my time. You should see my other Touring.
Bought it for £500($650) on what was basically a dare. Strangely solid for a cheap car.

Being new to IX ownership, any tips on what parts I should be stock piling incase of failure would be greatly appreciated.

[kronus]

viscous couplings, front drive shafts, transfer case chains, front half shafts, control arms. everything else is more or less normal.

[bab-91]

Is any of the above available from BMW or are we talking ‘bend over and grab your toes’ money?

[kronus]

For ix things, “available from bmw” money *is* bend over and grab your toes money. But also, most is NLA.

[kronus]

Find a parts car :)

But, the stuff is pretty reliable if you keep an eye on it.

[bab-91]

Good to know, thanks for the tips ��