Less rust and hopefully some reliability- the Midwest Daily iS

[mike.bmw]

Sorry to hear it's too far gone. Glad you caught it now before starting to daily it!

[e30austin]

Sorry to hear, man. That sucks.

[Staszek]

Save all the parts you can for the next XI! There is an 88 for sale here in IL, although its described as rough.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/cto/d/libertyville-1988-bmw-325ix-e30/7055390189.html

[AWDBOB]

God damn... not where I hoped this was going. RIP

These E30s can hide detrimental rust pretty well, a friend of mine bought a car in PA that looked quite minty from the exterior with no signs of rust until we jacked the car up and I was fearful to get the jackstands under it let alone drive it.

Hopefully something reasonable comes up soon, maybe a rwd with snow tires is the ideal candidate.

Man, same here. And I 100% agree regarding E30s hiding rust. Most people look at the battery box and if there's no rust present it gets a "rust free" sticker slapped on. My brother has daily'd his fairly rust free iX for 6ish years and just pulled it apart this year to check for rust....and he found it.... everywhere.

I am assuming this car was purely a winter car, so they didn't care much for fixing anything in proper fashion, they just caulked over whatever rusted area was there and then undercoated over it. Once I started poking at some of the harder to find/reach areas it was scary how little metal was left on this car.

I got to thinking about it, and 99% of the snow we get is cleared within a day or two. Thus, I am starting to doubt my actual need for AWD as long as I have a set of proper snow tires (which I have). It seems at least 2x as easy to find a clean RWD E30 because they weren't used as snowmobiles.

Sorry to hear it's too far gone. Glad you caught it now before starting to daily it!

Sorry to hear, man. That sucks.

Thanks, gents. It's a pain to arrive at this point after spending time on it, but I'm glad I found all of this before I wasted any more time on it.

Save all the parts you can for the next XI! There is an 88 for sale here in IL, although its described as rough.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/c...055390189.html

Man, that thing is rough haha! Seems there are either cars that should be parts cars priced from $1500-4500 or quite nice cars that I don't want to spend that much money on.

I think I'm just going to expand the search to include a RWD M20b25 car (since I already have all of these parts), and if I find a decent iX I find one, but I am starting to have my doubts.

Good news is, I have an MT1 wing, refinished 15" weaves with new tires, an 885 fully rebuilt with a new cam/rockers, and pretty much every other e30 maintenance item ready to go, as well as a RWD manual swap if I find an auto car...... so whenever the right car comes along, it should be able to make quick work of it.

[Staszek]

Man, same here. And I 100% agree regarding E30s hiding rust. Most people look at the battery box and if there's no rust present it gets a "rust free" sticker slapped on. My brother has daily'd his fairly rust free iX for 6ish years and just pulled it apart this year to check for rust....and he found it.... everywhere.

I am assuming this car was purely a winter car, so they didn't care much for fixing anything in proper fashion, they just caulked over whatever rusted area was there and then undercoated over it. Once I started poking at some of the harder to find/reach areas it was scary how little metal was left on this car.

I got to thinking about it, and 99% of the snow we get is cleared within a day or two. Thus, I am starting to doubt my actual need for AWD as long as I have a set of proper snow tires (which I have). It seems at least 2x as easy to find a clean RWD E30 because they weren't used as snowmobiles.






Thanks, gents. It's a pain to arrive at this point after spending time on it, but I'm glad I found all of this before I wasted any more time on it.




Man, that thing is rough haha! Seems there are either cars that should be parts cars priced from $1500-4500 or quite nice cars that I don't want to spend that much money on.

I think I'm just going to expand the search to include a RWD M20b25 car (since I already have all of these parts), and if I find a decent iX I find one, but I am starting to have my doubts.

Good news is, I have an MT1 wing, refinished 15" weaves with new tires, an 885 fully rebuilt with a new cam/rockers, and pretty much every other e30 maintenance item ready to go, as well as a RWD manual swap if I find an auto car...... so whenever the right car comes along, it should be able to make quick work of it.

So is the ix drivetrain in the car you bought any good?

What about taking a regular coupe and swapping in the drive train and suspension?

[AWDBOB]

So is the ix drivetrain in the car you bought any good?

What about taking a regular coupe and swapping in the drive train and suspension?

It has a good VC but it’s auto. The front suspension is shot.

Unfortunately, we don’t get off that easy. The iX chassis has vertical strut towers and various other different bits that make dropping an iX drivetrain into a RWD car not worth the effort.

I’m following up on two leads this week for late model RWD cars, I’m hoping one of them turns out to be decent!

There is also a Lazurblau iX up for sale with fresh paint and less rust than normal for $4K, but it’s auto and needs a VC (which I do have).

[packratbimmer]

I have a rust free shell in WV that I would trade for a RWD shell or something interesting. Its a CO car that has been garaged the 13 years I have owned it.

[AWDBOB]

I have a rust free shell in WV that I would trade for a RWD shell or something interesting. Its a CO car that has been garaged the 13 years I have owned it.

That sounds nice in theory, I don’t know if I have it in me to reshell a car haha more looking for a cleaner complete chassis that needs a HG or something along those lines. Thanks though!

[packratbimmer]

It is not going anywhere for now. Its getting scarce out there as far as rust free bodies go, especially 2-door versions.

[Nick_S]

Bummer man! I lucked out 9 years ago buying mine outside of Columbus. It has one small rust spot still and that's it. Hope you find a replacement soon!

[AWDBOB]

It is not going anywhere for now. Its getting scarce out there as far as rust free bodies go, especially 2-door versions.

The rarity of a clean 2dr iX is high. I've had a few really nice iXes, I certainly took them for granted.

Bummer man! I lucked out 9 years ago buying mine outside of Columbus. It has one small rust spot still and that's it. Hope you find a replacement soon!

Yep, that was the golden age of being able to find cars that were well maintained and taken care of. 99% of the "deals" out there now have already been destroyed by other people at this point. Also, you are lucky, because from what I've seen looking at Midwest cars over the past few years, Ohio does not treat it's vehicles very well.

[AWDBOB]

[amcp]

Score. Hope theres nothing hiding like the last one.

[Ausatz]

Holy crap, I need to start talking to whatever e30 gods you're talking to.

[AWDBOB]

Score. Hope theres nothing hiding like the last one.

Thankfully the seller was a saint and put up with a zillion questions and got me every photo I asked for. When I went to check the car out, I spent a few hours combing over every corner to get a clear indication of it's condition. Ultimately, getting the right chassis is worth so much. The car looks rough but with a few weekends of work, while still driving it, I think it'll come around.

With the immediate needs being a steering rack and sunroof repair, I will be driving this thing in short order.

Holy crap, I need to start talking to whatever e30 gods you're talking to.

Hey sometimes it all works out the way it needs to! You're probably smarter than I am, though, in that you've been building/investing into one E30, whereas I am spread so thin, subsequently abandoning projects, changing paths, and....never getting anything done.