Noob: My 325iC Arrived Today

[funcrew]

After spending ridiculous number of hours on this forum and the other one you guys don't like, and looking in vain for a suitable E30, I finally bought one off eBay and had it shipped from Long Island to Las Vegas.

I just took it on any easy spin around the block, because it appears to be way overdue for a timing belt. Garage queen until I get that done. It's easy to see why you all like these cars so much - I'm hooked!

Still, there's a lot of work to do with this one just to deal with the PO's deferred maintenance, before doing any mods. So here's my uneducated rundown of the car:

THE GOOD
325i Convertible
63K Miles (appears legit from service records and CarFAX)
5-Speed
No obvious rust - but haven't checked under the carpets yet
Runs, shifts, & steers great

THE BAD
Dirty paint
Oily engine
Barely-working convertible top release lever
Old convertible top
Rusted trim around windshield
Stupid driving lights under front bumper
Hood release sticky & out of adjustment
Brake release lever button recessed in lever
Busted seams in back seat
Cracking leather in front seats
Dipstick oil black as tar UPDATE: Service records show oil was changed a number of times, so at least it wasn't a top-it-off deal for the last 19 years!
Busted vent under windshield
Probably lots of other stuff I haven't noticed yet









By the way, my boy in the last pic thinks he's going to get this car eventually - I told him maybe when his old man kicks the bucket, and only if he's good to me in my old age :)

[Raff]

Congrats on the new car.

[Justin B]

holy crap. only 63k miles??? Nice!

Looks like it should be a really nice car. A couple things here and there, and a really good cleaning and it'll look 1000x better.

Stupid driving lights under front bumper

LoL, fugly factory fog lights :P

Good luck with it.

[dinanm3atl]

Very nice...

It's an e30 so they always have a "list"...

62,000 miles man! NICE

[kellie]

The things on your list are so minor, but don't worry...as soon as you complete them, you'll have a new list. It's one of the quirks of owning and old car, and it's really rewarding to cross things off. Even if you're just going to add something else in its place.

Congrats on the new car, it looks like you found yourself a good one. Like the others said, with a good cleaning, it'll look great. That leather has some major potential. Take good care of it, or we'll hunt you down.

[bronzit_is]

Sea Foam that bad boy

[Mfever]

haha only a light weight, the car has had only one timing belt replaced.

[mbonder]

These are all really easy fixes, most in the same day in fact:

THE BAD
Dirty paint--Good wash/clay bar/polish/wax--This could take all day if you are extra meticulous and want it to really shine!

Oily engine-cosmoline plus a bunch of gunk sucks--powerwash that valve cover and then paint it

Barely-working convertible top release lever-Just get a new lever and trim piece, this is the same as the passenger's side door latch (just upside down)

Old convertible top-almost all need replacing at this age, consider it a required cost of ownership

Rusted trim around windshield-switch to later model black trim

Stupid driving lights under front bumper-Convert to plastic bumpers from later style cars (direct fit for cabbies, much nicer looking, and way better fog lights)

Hood release sticky & out of adjustment-get in there with a grease gun and shoot away

Brake release lever button recessed in lever-push the e-brake handle down if you can, or pull it off completely, then twist the button to make it come out a little more and shove that handle back on

Busted seams in back seat-find a new upper seat portion or have it redone (almost all cabbies suffer from this deterioration.

Cracking leather in front seats-see above-also, check out creative options in Atlanta (forgot his user name here) but he makes upholstery kits for our cars that you can fit on with a little elbow grease.

Dipstick oil black as tar-oil and filter

Busted vent under windshield-Pry this up and replace it with a new one, cheap even at the dealer.

I would get that timing belt done ASAP!! You can do it yourself if you are handy and have a spare weekend to mess around. Search about it here to find more info.

Matt

[e30cbe]

congrats on ur new car - any e 30 in good nick is a special car - wish u tons of good time with it

[kellie]

Cracking leather in front seats-see above-also, check out creative options in Atlanta (forgot his user name here) but he makes upholstery kits for our cars that you can fit on with a little elbow grease.

Great post, and I agree with everything but this. You can definitely rescue that leather with some Leatherique.

[thereisnoyun]

Great post, and I agree with everything but this. You can definitely rescue that leather with some Leatherique.

rescue? not really. When the leather crack, you can merely hide the crack by using leatherique, the dye or conditioning will only cover up the blemishes. In a cabrio, it wouldnt really work unless you lube your seat with fanaticism. It will dry and it will show the lines again with one summer of driving, if you drive it all the time.

just fyi, I do upholstery too - everyone has a different level of acceptability so its a mood point. Leatherique is just a bandage if the leather already cracked.

[Tricked 323i]

Great post, and I agree with everything but this. You can definitely rescue that leather with some Leatherique.

Nice pick up, with only 62 miles on it. I totally agree you can dye those seats with great success. If you do not go Leatherique, here is some referrals on my dye kits. My kits are waterbased so you can put conditioners on them afterwards. thereisnoyun, I have seen your girls car but have yet to see yours, any pics?
Kevin

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=37462&highlight=josh+dye

[funcrew]

Thanks to all - I have a 4-day weekend coming up, and all the timing belt, water pump etc are already here waiting. Will also start in on the list of fixes from mbonder & others.

The service records indicate that PO complained of oil leak from front of engine. I will replace the front cam seal & o-ring while I'm in there for the TBelt, hopefully that was the problem.

I took my wife out tonight for a spin with the top down, a little chilly & breezy but she got the grins right away.

[Julien]

Ha, reminds me of my 325ic:

If you have any cabrio specific quesitons feel free to ask me!

Julien

[Pac0]

Good buy on the car, and good bye to the wallet.