Your Thoughts Guys

[franan]

I am looking at this ad I was thinking about buying it for my nephew. What do you guys think.

https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/6315442353.html

[e30davie]

Can you weld in new sections yourself where the rust is?

[cheffy30]

there are much better deals out there for that money... i'd pass it

[SkiFree]

Do not buy unless you are trying to do your nephew in, or you are masochistic about rust repair.

[e30fix]

Pass. way too much metal work needed for that price. If you have 3k to spend on an e30, be patient and you'll find something a lot better with that budget.

[Kershaw]

More like $1200

[varg]

$3,300? That thing is a pile. Are rustbuckets with cracked dashes actually going for $3,000 these days?

[Stanley Rockafella]

there are much better deals out there for that money... i'd pass it

Yeah, maybe on the west coast, not anywhere near Jersey.

The main thing is that the timing belt has been addressed recently. Other than that it looks like a great little project. At least the seller is honest about the amount of rust and not trying to hide it by saying it's "only a spot or two" like most for sale on CL or various forums.

Considering it's has all the important S package things, I'd say it's a little on the high side for the price but a great project for your nephew to get his hands dirty with and learn how to turn wrenches.

[rturbo 930]

Yeah, maybe on the west coast, not anywhere near Jersey.

No dude, I live here and that thing is way over priced. It has rust in several places (and maybe more) and it doesn't even run. That's a $1000 car IMO.

I'll give the guy credit for honesty, and although that rust isn't really serious, the spot on the driver's side isn't exactly small, and may need multiple patches to fix it all. And that's what you can see.

[Steve L]

One thing for sure, is that you will find extensive rust on the underside of this car, as well. If the floors look that bad, you can be sure that the brake lines don't look much better.
When I was young and poor, I worked on rust buckets like this car. It isn't fun to break every bolt that needs to be removed. This car is a very nice parts car, but not to be restored. These E30s are very expensive to restore and the owner of this thing will dump thousands into it just to get it structurally sound. Returning it to an attractive state will take thousands more.

On the positive side, the IS air dam isn't that easy to find and the fog lights are no longer available from BMW. I would have gladly paid $600 for it.

[Staszek]

I have to agree, even in NJ that price is really high. I say $1000 at most, but look for something that is not rusted through the rockers.

[TobyB]

Seems like a lot for a car you can see through...

...back in 1990, in PA, a good friend bought herself a 2002.
It had no rockers at all.

I didn't have the heart to bring it up, but made sure that we took my car...

t

[e30fix]

to be honest we are pretty spoiled in the west coast with not having to deal with rust much. but with 3k if your really patient you can find a better car in the west cost and have it shipped. I have personally never paid more than 1500 for a clean 325is but i check craigslist every hour or so.

[Staszek]

to be honest we are pretty spoiled in the west coast with not having to deal with rust much. but with 3k if your really patient you can find a better can in the west cost and have it shipped. I have personally never paid more than 1500 for a clean 325is but i check craigslist every hour or so.

I was able to get a basically rust free car in the mid west for less (had a few small spots that were fixed). But nothing like what this car has. I would say if you do have the time get one from Cali.

[e30fix]

this one just came up a day ago. it looks like a way better and its under your budget, plus im sure you can bring it down a bit with some negotiating.

https://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/d/bmw-1989-e30-3-series-2-door/6331795202.html