Sometimes life takes some major turns. I moved to Germany 6 years ago for work and reluctantly had to sell my 1993 M5. The last several years I have been completely out of the car world but that is changing this year. With a new job back in the automotive industry and a move to Munich in the near future, it was time to finally work on getting my German drivers license and find a new project. I didn't have to look far and over the weekend I struck a deal on a 1990 325i touring owned by a younger BMW engineer. I never saw myself owning a red car but I also never would have picked a green M5 and that car turned out to be an amazing project so here we go.
The Good
The car is a really great spec in my opinion. Slick top, 5 speed, cloth interior with factory E30 Recaro seats up front, M-tech 2 wheel, cassette holder, large OBC, power front windows, crank rear, AC, headlight wipers, and tilt headlights. Currently sitting on ST shocks and springs.
The Bad
Open diff, AC compressor was removed by a previous owner but came with the car so some work will be needed there, a few missing trim pieces for the rear hatch but most of them seem to be still available from BMW and the stereo isn't currently working but did work at one point under the last owner.
The Ugly
There is rust but the major areas have been previously repaired. Both front doors need to be replaced but the seller provided spares. There is a little bit of visible rust on the rocker but the rest of the under body looks really clean all things cons
At the moment I plan to go through the car in detail and build an OEM + driver for the warmer months. I have toyed with the idea of doing a motor swap in the future but that would disqualify it from getting historic plates so there's a good chance I will keep the M20 in it. It also seems that the 325's weren't nearly as common as 316/318 models so maybe it's for the best. Either way, I'm stoked to be back in an E30 and looking forward to getting my hands dirty and driving this thing all over EU.
Bonus picture of my old M5.
The Good
The car is a really great spec in my opinion. Slick top, 5 speed, cloth interior with factory E30 Recaro seats up front, M-tech 2 wheel, cassette holder, large OBC, power front windows, crank rear, AC, headlight wipers, and tilt headlights. Currently sitting on ST shocks and springs.
The Bad
Open diff, AC compressor was removed by a previous owner but came with the car so some work will be needed there, a few missing trim pieces for the rear hatch but most of them seem to be still available from BMW and the stereo isn't currently working but did work at one point under the last owner.
The Ugly
There is rust but the major areas have been previously repaired. Both front doors need to be replaced but the seller provided spares. There is a little bit of visible rust on the rocker but the rest of the under body looks really clean all things cons
At the moment I plan to go through the car in detail and build an OEM + driver for the warmer months. I have toyed with the idea of doing a motor swap in the future but that would disqualify it from getting historic plates so there's a good chance I will keep the M20 in it. It also seems that the 325's weren't nearly as common as 316/318 models so maybe it's for the best. Either way, I'm stoked to be back in an E30 and looking forward to getting my hands dirty and driving this thing all over EU.
Bonus picture of my old M5.
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