So I bought an $800 E30... (pics)

[august125]

it won't crank if the timing belt snapped, engine will lock after 1/2 a revolution.

That's reassuring. Now I know I haven't likely bought a car with a brick for a motor.

Looks like a Super eta.

Unfortunately it isn't. 5k RPM tach.


Thanks everyone for the troubleshooting steps and advice.

Believe it or not I STILL don't have the car. I've talked to the yard a couple of times. Last I heard they got a FedEx tracking number for the title and would call me when it came in. That was last week. Gonna give them a call soon and see what the deal is.

[august125]

Picked up the car today (finally). The tow truck driver shattered one of my fog lights. :(

[august125]

Update! Between work and the awful weather, I've had no time to look at the car until just recently.

Here's what I've learned:

• I looked at the title and apparently I'm the second owner ever! So that's pretty cool. The original owner lived in Hazlet, only about ten miles from me.
• In the time the car spent sitting in the junkyard while they blew me off, somebody took the airbox.
• There's an oil service cling on the windshield that says it was due back in September or at a milage it hasn't even reached yet, so it was driving around not THAT long ago.
• The interior is torn apart because somebody really needed whatever was in the glove box. The passenger footwell insulation has chunks torn out of it so they could unscrew the piano hinge. That didn't work so they gutted the console so they could reach in and squeeze the latch.
• The trunk leaks. Bad. Fortunately it started raining today so I was able to see that it was coming in through the tail lights. New gaskets are on their way. Unfortunately, it's been like that for a while so there's already plenty of rust. Gotta get the battery out to see how bad it is. It needs replacement anyway.
• All the doors but the driver's were stuck locked because central locking doesn't activate when using the door keyholes, only the trunk.