1988 Alpine White 325iS Build

[KIRIEIW]

Whats up guys, guess I'm starting another build thread. Today I was lucky enough to pick up a 88' 325iS.. off the original owner. He's owned this thing 32 years and somehow I was the lucky guy he wanted to sell the car too. He told me a few interesting stories about the car,, guess he bought it back in 88' since his co worker had an e30 and he'd always drive it/ really loved driving his co workers e30 around. He got a DUI driving in this thing back in 92' and the 325iS got impounded, he picked it back up the following day from the impound lot for like $120 bucks back then. Was cool hearing the stories he had with the car.

I'm lost for words he choose me out of everyone over the years who wanted to buy it, maybe timing was right for the sale or maybe he just thought it was going to a good home. Regardless I hope he know's it went to a good home who'll take great care of it. Current plans are to reseal the entire top end of the engine and rebuild the shift linkage.

I towed it home this afternoon, since it's leaking gas at the fuel filter. I don't think I'll ever sell this damn car.. He was very sad to see the car go, I'll make sure to pay him a visit one day in the future. All original 32yr old Alpine White paint, all original leather seats.. Drivers seat is torn at the typical bolster but still...



Anyways, onto the pics;




Here's a picture right outside his home, before I even owned the car when I went and saw it last month.











And back home at my house this afternoon.

[Beau B]

Nice, have the same, 88 325iS White over tan, but a few more miles :) 137k miles..

[mjweimer]

Nice find! Looks like a nice original and unmolested car and bonus points for being a 1 owner with cool stories...nothing like being the #2 caretaker of a well-loved car.


It will be fun to watch you work through this project. Are you planning to build it as stock refresh or other?



MJ

[KIRIEIW]

Honestly the biggest surprise to me is the damn iS lip survived 32 years! Even the base models have missing lips, how this iS lip never got ripped off is shocking.. Must have been a careful driver. Anyways though the plan for this thing is to refresh the M20, well the entire car I suppose. I bought the car because I missed having a M20 around the house.. Now either the e36 M3, e34 S50 Wagon, or e30 S50 coupe will be listed forsale in the next few weeks.. I haven't had the heart to choose which of the three just yet.

She wasn't a cheap ride though let me tell you, the owner found out by a quick google search how much his little 325iS is worth these days in 2020.. I had to bite the bullet though because I knew I'd kick myself over it later. The car reminds me so much of my first e30 I sold years back, I miss that little coupe.. Sadly the new owner of that car made it a track car and it no longer has headliner, carpets, or a crack free dash.. To "each his own" I suppose.


https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...ed-e30-project





In other news I made a $1,2xx FCPEuro parts order this afternoon.. Real updates will come soon







The ///M badge will be removed eventually, came with the car. New control arms, new head gasket (due to the common oil leak from cylinder 1 on M20s), cooling system refresh.. Tons of new parts on the way!!

[mike.bmw]

I'm in. Looking forward to seeing the refurbishment!

[KIRIEIW]

Today I was looking outside the house and saw my little 325iS looking rather sad.. The previous owner washed the car 3 days ago (very nice of him to do, not something I asked of him) but I decided while waiting on my thousand dollar FCPeuro order I'd give the car a nice little detail. I went with a toothbrush in all the typical places where a ton of dirt collects, clay bar'd the entire body, polished all the paint and finished with some "bead maker" paint protectant.



The previous owner mentioned he payed someone some months back to detail the car but we all know it's hard to find a good detailer.. They did an OK job I suppose but missed a ton of spots. I spent a good 4 hours cleaning everything but I must say it came out great, definitely was worth the effort!

[mjweimer]

POW! All that hard work paid off - just looks great.

I think your plan to keep the M20 and generally refresh the car is spot on, it sure looks like the right candidate for a light restoration. I think you made a strong buy with this one and I don't envy your decision on which of the other cars moves on to the next owner.


MJ

[KIRIEIW]

So I saw a "e30 Part Out" listed on Craigslist 2 days ago, $1300 for the entire car or parting out. Man honestly looking back today I somewhat regret not saving the car, but I just own too much crap and really didn't know the title situation. 91' 325i Convertible 5 speed manual, running and driving, ALL matching VIN stickers and never repainted. The seller parting out the car only bought it for the two front seats, to install in his 70's 2002.. He didn't know much about e30's.


I was the first person to show up, everything was still on the car when I arrived. After about an hour of working though I had an extra late model valance (with fog lights), Front/ Rear bumpers complete with all mounting hardware/ shocks, an extra basketweave center cap, tons of little things all for $250 bucks. My buddy grabbed the iS spoiler and instrument cluster.



Now I have the option to swap the 325iS to plastic bumpers, and seeing that my 325iS is a 88' model I wont need to modify anything.. its a direct bolt on bumper swap for 1988. I do for some strange reason enjoy the diving boards on the car currently.. But it doesn't hurt to have options in the backyard . How does R3v feel about diving boards these days on 88's?


















The rear bumper is cracked sadly, but he only wanted an extra $10 bucks for it... Though I think it was worth taking since he included the rear bumper shocks/ mounting hardware for that $10 bucks which is all needed for the bumper conversion. Not to mention the side markers/ bumper trim pieces..

[AWDBOB]

The ‘88 iS is in my top. I would 110% leave the diving boards, especially because the car cams that way. I absolutely love the look! I wish my ‘90 iS was an ‘88. My ‘88 iX was my favorite car that I’ve ever owned, and it was largely due to the late valances with the diving boards.

This car looks fantastic! Can’t wait to follow the build.

[mjweimer]

Does it just rain E30's on the West coast? Amazing...great parts score and whether or not you use them they are easily passed along.

I vote conversion - I had an Alpine '88 325iS and never liked the late model valence + diving board combo....I'm good with diving boards on the early cars (especially with the iS cow-catcher) or small bumper late cars but to my eye the '88 mix looks somehow incomplete. It will be interesting to hear all of the feedback as I'm sure it will be a good conversation.

Searching local craigslist now....lets see....yup....not a single E30 part listed....



MJ

[2mAn]

It’s tough to say which way to go. On my 88 the diving boards grew on me but once I converted to plastics I never looked back.

[KIRIEIW]

Alright guys, some real updates. Got the cylinder head off this afternoon and dropped it off at the machine shop. I'll have him hot tank the head clean, give it a light resurface and the main thing I want done.. Valve stem seals. The seals are 32 years old.. I figured it's about time they get replaced.


The timing belt was.. in interesting condition . Wonder how much longer she had till it would have snapped or skipped teeth. In the meantime while waiting on the machine shop I plan to rebuild the shift linkage, sand blast the thermostat housing, clean the block, too much for me to list.









On a side note; I found a period correct CA license plate sticker on eBay, the new MONTH stickers they issue these days are Blue. The old school MONTH stickers were Red up until the 80's or so (my understanding). One of the things I love is she still has the original CA plates from 88', which you could never re-assign to the car if you ever got different license plates issued..

[jhaurimn]

Nice pickup! Have you considered euro bumpers or are you sticking to plastic late bumpers?

Look forward to seeing progress on this. Got a thing for white cars? :P

[D.Martijn]

Looks like a great original survivor! Did the 325iS also came with the one piece hood insulation (+ the longer seal around the engine bay) ? I just bought one for my 325iX Touring since the 3 piece pads are falling apart. I thought it only came on M3's and Diesels.?

Great job on replacing that timing belt, looks like it was time lol

[KIRIEIW]

Thanks guys, sadly euro bumpers wouldn't fit since it's an 88'.. Though I do love me some euro goodies .

And regarding the hood insulation, majority of the US e30's came with the large one piece.. excluding the 318's. I've owned a good handful of e30's, maybe more then a handful.. Anyways from what I've seen in the US, all 325i models came with the large one piece hood insulation while the 318iS came with 3 piece foam. 89' was a strange year your 325i may or may not have the large one piece hood insulation. The longer seal seemed to be discontinued sometime in around 90' on the US models, all my 90' and older e30's I owned had the longer engine bay seal.

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Alright guys some more progress.. I got all my parts in the mail the other day. I dropped off the new valve steam seals at the machine shop so hopefully he'll be done with the head sometime next week, in the meantime I started working/ installing everything I could without the cylinder head. I cleaned the block, piston tops, manifold gasket mating surface(s). Can't wait to get the head back, I'm ready.


Today I installed new engine mounts, the water pump, and spent a great length of time cleaning the block and head bolt holes. Also pressure washed a ton of parts clean like the timing covers, valve cover, ect. Oh and I painted the water pump pulley and the coolant pipe since they weren't looking that pretty.



In other news, my 95' M3 is gone. Did I make the right choice selling the M3 for this 325iS? I have no clue. I have yet to even driven the 325iS.. I literally haven't driven this car once! I see M3's a lot more often then 325iS's so maybe it was the right choice.. Regardless I had to sell something make room.













Primer coat..










Oh yea, I also re sealed the oil filter housing with brand new seals.


































Oh and lastly I totally spoke too soon earlier, check out how the from iS lip was mounted