Euro Slice... 1985 323i

[rThor432]

Congrats on picking that up. Looks extremely clean for the price. I almost hate to hear that you are stripping it down, but I would be a hippocrit if I said anything.

What is the FMV on bumpers like these? I'd like to get a bit more aggressive "body kit" for it, but I'd also like to keep these euros for backups as well...

Not sure what FMV means, but here are my Euro cars with a bit more agressive bits added on---

[BrewCity11]

FMV= Fair Market Value

Black and White! Love em both.

[mikeedler]

you really should not hack that car apart and make a so called "racecar" out of it. keep it stock and just slowly "restore" it. in 10 years you are going to regret raping that car-- it will be worth alot in a few years if you take care of it.-- here in Germany the 323i cars are almost extinct.

put some 15"euro weaves on it and a M tech I suspension on it 20mm lower than stock, a nice muffler and you will have one of the nicer cars on this forum.

think before you kill that car.

[rThor432]

FMV= Fair Market Value

Black and White! Love em both.

Ah. Well I've bought/sold complete sets of Euro bumpers for around $400 in the past.

And thanks.

[StereoInstaller1]

I am gonna go with Mike on this one.

You want a race car, find an 85/86 ETA and hack all you want.

Clean that little $422 bitch up and keep it. Light mods or even stock, but restoration is the answer on that car.

Luke

[NINE31]

Well, the problem is, there is no American title to the car. It has 179k on it and was registered illegally for some time apparently. So I can't really clean it up and drive it, since I don't feel like paying the fines when I get pulled over!

Plus, this is a joint-venture car, so Im not the sole owner of it..

[BlueJ85]

Yo. I'm the other owner/driver of this car. I can go out to my garage and look at it any time I want to :D.

It was a pretty good deal.

I've been doing a little research and it appears that the car IS federalized, even though it has the Euro bumpers. Looks like we got an insane steal of a deal on this one. There must be a title out there. (anybody want to offer us a CF report??? Please???)

I am gonna go with Mike on this one.

You want a race car, find an 85/86 ETA and hack all you want.

Clean that little $422 bitch up and keep it. Light mods or even stock, but restoration is the answer on that car.

Luke

I know Jason doesn't want to hear this but I have similar thoughts on the car. I guess what I have in mind is doing modifications that could easily be undone while keeping all the stock parts. For example, weight reduction = removing rear seat but keeping it. New wheels & tires but keeping old ones. I'm undecided on exactly what I have in mind for the car as well but I feel like I would also be saddened to see it get COMPLETELY torn apart and built up, since it seems to be so rare.

Any words on maintenance we should be doing to it right away?

[StereoInstaller1]

General maintenance stuff like timing belt, belts and hoses, valve adjustment is all expected in E30 ownership, IMO.

Cam seal, oil leak find and fix, flush power steering fluids (and all other fluids) take apart the doors and lubricate locks/windows, replace suspension stuff...on and on.

Grab a Bentley and get busy!

Luke

[BlueJ85]

GOOD NEWS!!! Car is legal and has had a US title. Now it's just a matter of getting our hands on the title!!! :D

That is super sweet. As soon as I can get a title and some insurance this thing is becoming my non-snowy day daily driver!!! Or my every other day daily driver heheh...

(currently have a 99.5 VW Jetta for a DD)

[rThor432]

GOOD NEWS!!! Car is legal and has had a US title. Now it's just a matter of getting our hands on the title!!! :D

Music to my ears... very nice.

And you know, you can drive a nice car on the track? Nothing wrong with that. Actually most of the guys I know track cars that are nicer than most people's daily drivers.

[BlueJ85]

That's exactly what I'm saying. We are talking over exactly what we will do.

Don't worry--this car will not be completely torn apart and made into a track-exclusive car. Our plan is to make it a street-legal but mainly track car, so it will look awesome and perform awesomely as well. Not only do we not want to "destroy" it, but we also aren't advanced enough in body work, etc. to do everything like that.

As of now we're talking about getting a new dash, newer/bigger/better brakes, wheels & tires, lowering it, sway bars, strut bars, racing seats, but of course first and foremost the title/insurance and then general maintenance.

There IS a small rust hole under the driver's seat. That is also one of the first things we need to look at fixing. The tie rods need to be replaced...and once we take a little more time to look at 'er we'll see what else is in need of being done.

But I'm excited that it's legal!!! Or that it will be!

[skota]

legalizeit ;), such a good buy. A set of weaves would looks soo good on there.

I'll be sure to check out on of the autocross's next year.

[Eric]

hey is the gearbox have 1st down below reverse?

if it does sell it to me and put a stronger overdrive gearbox in!

[rThor432]

hey is the gearbox have 1st down below reverse?

If it does sell it to me and put a stronger overdrive gearbox in!

:d

[BlueJ85]

hey is the gearbox have 1st down below reverse?

if it does sell it to me and put a stronger overdrive gearbox in!

Haha nice try...no, the gearbox is like

R 1 3 5
2 4

Could use a firming up (I guess there's a how-to somewhere here), it's completely sloppy...but what do you expect from a 23-year old car that has, according to Carfax, only had one owner???

Edit: That doesn't show up like I want it to...2 is below 1 and 4 is below 3, as with a standard 5-speed gearbox...