Sold!!!
1990 BMW 325IX – Automatic
Sterling Silver Metallic paint over Light Grey interior
VIN – WBAAB031XLEC95196
142,000 miles
Car in Washington DC
$6,000 - Price lowered $1,500!
I have owned this IX for just under 10 years. I bought it on the boards in 2008 from someone who found it sitting in the back of a dealer lot with a blown engine. The engine was apparently hydrolocked, had a cracked block, and was declared a total loss by an insurance company. The PO found a replacement IX block, rebuilt it, and got it back on the road... so essentially new engine at 74k, when I bought it.
Since owning it, it has been my sole daily driver and I have put ~68k miles on it, and 30k of that was in first 2 years. Since then barely 5k a year. Adult owned and hyper-maintained by a BMW shop here in DC for most of that time. I have around 400 photos hosted of the car, so you will get a pretty good feel for the car:
Exterior – https://imgur.com/a/ISalS
Interior – https://imgur.com/a/vVvqn
Engine – https://imgur.com/a/RLhZp
Under - https://imgur.com/a/qNRW8
Extra - https://imgur.com/a/2tE55
As you will see in the exterior photos, the car looks great from 10-20 feet, but up close it is clear it was subjected to a poor paintjob at some point in its life. That said, the reason you want to buy this car is not the paint, but everything else under the paint. Unless you’ve got a friend to cut you a deal on a full respray, this will never be a show winner… but it is a super reliable, no-expense-spared car. Case in point. Around 15k miles ago I needed new front axles. Instead of taking a short cut and getting them rebuilt, I had 2 brand new ones shipped from BMW in Germany, for around $1,300 each. The car also comes with an extra transfer case that is known to be good, as I had it in the car for 2 years while sorting a leak in the original (which is now back on car). The car also comes with a spare front differential. Between these spares and the new axles, all you need to pick up is a rear differential and you’re covered on the expensive IX bits for a long time.
MAINTENANCE - Tough to describe car. What can I say, everything is well maintained. My wife drives car too (one car household)… no way I ever wanted her stuck, so things have always been fixed well before they broke! Due to an idle issue that took forever to solve last year, just about everything one can replace in engine compartment was – coil, plugs, cap rotor, blue and brown temp sensors, throttle position sensor, air flow meter (rebuilt by Bavarian Restorations), fuel filter, fuel pump, etc… it ended up being the still new looking Ireland Engineering spark plug wires (replaced with stock BMW wires). Battery is new. Alternator is new. The car starts easily and idles smooth. No vacuum leaks. The starter was the first thing I replaced on car, so it now has 68k worth of starts on it. Works fine now, but given the degree that everything else is maintained, will likely be the next thing to go… but no indications that will be anytime soon.
As an example to show how this car is maintained, for $225 earlier this year I ordered a new charcoal canister, because the original one was rusty and didn’t look good in engine bay. New coolant tank. New windshield washer reservoir. New washer pump. All the hoses/vents between the gas filler and top of tank were replaced, as were all the soft fuel lines in engine bay… the skirt around the gas cap is new. The antenna grommet is new. The main relays in engine bay are new. The fan clutch is new. The radiator is new. The hood ground strap is new. Throttle cable is new. Hood release cable is new. Roundels are new. Essentially, if I could order it and replace it… I did. Adult owned. No expense spared. I have a stack of receipts to help keep track of what was done. The guys at TheBMWMiniStore in Ohio are going to miss me!
SUSPENSION - The IX has the common Bilstein shocks and H&R springs. The front and rear upper strut mounts are relatively new, as are the control arms. The rear also has thicker X5 spring pads on them, which gives the car an level stance... some IX droop a bit in the rear. This has perfect spacing between wheel and wheelwell. Replaced sway bar earlier this year because it was rusty, new bushings at that time as well.
AIR CONDITIONING - AC has been converted to R134. Compressor, expansion valve, condenser, and o-rings throughout replaced. Works, but I recharge at beginning of summer. Not sure if that means there is a fixable leak or, as I was told "just what they do” (though I lean toward the former). Nevertheless, it has worked in DC summers.
EURO TRIM – As you will see in photos, the car has euro trim all around. This deletes the turn signals on the side of the bumpers, which cleans the look up a lot. It also has euro front grills and black kidneys. I have the original chrome kidneys if you want them. The car also has the rare euro trunk lid trim panel. The car also has a new Mtech II steering wheel and IS front lip. I will also throw in IS rear spoiler, which I was going to install… but couldn’t bring myself to cut into trunk! (Edit- I pulled the rear spoiler out and it is rather beat up... now worth including in sale. Better to go get one that is in good condition)
SEATS – The stock comfort seats were replaced by sport seats. The front seats have been recovered with soft vinyl/leathery material. I swapped over the heat elements, so you have heated sport seats, which didn’t even come from the factory that way. I didn't do the rear at the time, but should the rears rip or something (or you just want to), I have the guy’s email address to get the same stuff as the fronts (he’s on ebay).
STEREO - The stereo is German Audio Specialties all the way… and sounds amazing. Best sounding stereo I have had in an E30 in 20 years of owning them. Kenwood head unit, amber screen, with Bluetooth capabilities, steering column mounted microphone, and remote. Head unit can hook to Ipod (not iPad as originally typed) or Iphone (early models). It has a Sirius connection too. (Oh, stock antenna is stuck. Haven’t listened to terrestrial radio for years and it froze) The power comes from JL Audio 500/5 Slash amp… when they used to make good stuff. All the power you need. High quality wiring used throughout. The speakers are all stock BMW E34 woofers with Dayton tweeters installed in premium audio tweeter pods in doors and premium housings in rear. Please read a bunch on the R3V electronics page before thinking about swapping these out for some "name" brand. GAS handmade crossovers are used to direct the sound between the speakers. Finishes off with the so called Luke Box, ported enclosure with an Infinity Reference (I think) 10” sub and a GAS amp rack. The way the sub is built and aimed, the bass is strong, but the car doesn't sound like a rattle trap from a mile away.
WHEELS/TIRES – The car comes with 5 stock 15” basketweaves. Last winter I pulled these off and shipped to Wheel Tech in Chicago, which may be the best wheel repair place in country. All 5 wheels were straightened and refinished. No curb rash on any of them, which you will see in photos. Tires are Kumho Ecstas, which are asymentic, non-directional tires. This means there is an outside and an inside, but it doesn’t matter which way they run. This allows me/you to rotate all 5 tires, keeping them generally even wear. What you don’t want with a VC transfer case is to get a flat and pop on a spare that has drastically different wear than the other 3. Having a spare in rotation avoids needing to get 4 new tires if you lose a tire. The car also comes with 4 snow tires on BMW steel wheels with BMW factory “snow caps” (which may be NLA now). I don’t have the best snow tires on there, but they do the job well. If the car goes up north, I would invest in Blizzak or Hakkapeliitta.
LIGHTS – The lighting is Hella H4/H1 bulbs. Way better than sealed beams, but not HID level. Fog lights were replaced last year, I believe.
ENGINE - Obviously, a lot of effort has been put into the engine to keep it looking nice. The valve cover and intake manifold were both powder coated. The exhaust headers have been a pain. They flaked off powder coating and also high temp paint. What is on there now is what people use to paint chimney pipes... a hotrod forum told me that is best. I have no idea how well it will hold up, but already it is better than the paint. I will include the extra in case you need to touch up.
EXTRAS - Speaking of extras, check out the photos I have linked in the Extras folder above. In addition to the transfer case and front differential (which may be worth around $1k on their own now), I am including a bunch of spares I had, as well as some E30 tools and books.
CONS - The ABS system works sporadically. I have a spare ABS ECU if you want to try and sort it out (I am told you need an oscilloscope to do it right and actually see the signal coming from each corner). If you do not, I am including ABS delete kit with sale (search E30 ABS delete on youtube). The drivers side window regulator has gotten really slow in the last few weeks; it is not long for this world. I have included a driver and passenger unit I pulled from a junkyard car. These are NLA as far as I know. The heating and cooling fan now only works on level 4. Needs a new resistor, which is a $50 part, IIRC. I noticed an oil leak off back side of the engine somewhere… it is clearly slow, for I only noticed it when I put the car on a lift to take photos. The two flex brake hoses that jump to the rear subframe were not replaced when the ones at the four corners were. Make this a priority! Next time you are anywhere in there, replace them. Order them after you win and just have them on hand. My guy said they looked good so he didn’t want to run up my bill to replace them. I wish he had now. The rear defrost doesn't work. I did confirm power at window, so likely needs new window, around $250 IIRC.
That is it. Sorry for the long thread. Labor of love. This is a super well cared for E30 and I hope it can go to someone on here. After 20 years of solely driving E30s, I do not know what I am going to do when this one is gone! I live somewhere without a garage and without parking now, so I need to make some changes. Happy to answer any questions.
$7,500 obo.
1990 BMW 325IX – Automatic
Sterling Silver Metallic paint over Light Grey interior
VIN – WBAAB031XLEC95196
142,000 miles
Car in Washington DC
$6,000 - Price lowered $1,500!
I have owned this IX for just under 10 years. I bought it on the boards in 2008 from someone who found it sitting in the back of a dealer lot with a blown engine. The engine was apparently hydrolocked, had a cracked block, and was declared a total loss by an insurance company. The PO found a replacement IX block, rebuilt it, and got it back on the road... so essentially new engine at 74k, when I bought it.
Since owning it, it has been my sole daily driver and I have put ~68k miles on it, and 30k of that was in first 2 years. Since then barely 5k a year. Adult owned and hyper-maintained by a BMW shop here in DC for most of that time. I have around 400 photos hosted of the car, so you will get a pretty good feel for the car:
Exterior – https://imgur.com/a/ISalS
Interior – https://imgur.com/a/vVvqn
Engine – https://imgur.com/a/RLhZp
Under - https://imgur.com/a/qNRW8
Extra - https://imgur.com/a/2tE55
As you will see in the exterior photos, the car looks great from 10-20 feet, but up close it is clear it was subjected to a poor paintjob at some point in its life. That said, the reason you want to buy this car is not the paint, but everything else under the paint. Unless you’ve got a friend to cut you a deal on a full respray, this will never be a show winner… but it is a super reliable, no-expense-spared car. Case in point. Around 15k miles ago I needed new front axles. Instead of taking a short cut and getting them rebuilt, I had 2 brand new ones shipped from BMW in Germany, for around $1,300 each. The car also comes with an extra transfer case that is known to be good, as I had it in the car for 2 years while sorting a leak in the original (which is now back on car). The car also comes with a spare front differential. Between these spares and the new axles, all you need to pick up is a rear differential and you’re covered on the expensive IX bits for a long time.
MAINTENANCE - Tough to describe car. What can I say, everything is well maintained. My wife drives car too (one car household)… no way I ever wanted her stuck, so things have always been fixed well before they broke! Due to an idle issue that took forever to solve last year, just about everything one can replace in engine compartment was – coil, plugs, cap rotor, blue and brown temp sensors, throttle position sensor, air flow meter (rebuilt by Bavarian Restorations), fuel filter, fuel pump, etc… it ended up being the still new looking Ireland Engineering spark plug wires (replaced with stock BMW wires). Battery is new. Alternator is new. The car starts easily and idles smooth. No vacuum leaks. The starter was the first thing I replaced on car, so it now has 68k worth of starts on it. Works fine now, but given the degree that everything else is maintained, will likely be the next thing to go… but no indications that will be anytime soon.
As an example to show how this car is maintained, for $225 earlier this year I ordered a new charcoal canister, because the original one was rusty and didn’t look good in engine bay. New coolant tank. New windshield washer reservoir. New washer pump. All the hoses/vents between the gas filler and top of tank were replaced, as were all the soft fuel lines in engine bay… the skirt around the gas cap is new. The antenna grommet is new. The main relays in engine bay are new. The fan clutch is new. The radiator is new. The hood ground strap is new. Throttle cable is new. Hood release cable is new. Roundels are new. Essentially, if I could order it and replace it… I did. Adult owned. No expense spared. I have a stack of receipts to help keep track of what was done. The guys at TheBMWMiniStore in Ohio are going to miss me!
SUSPENSION - The IX has the common Bilstein shocks and H&R springs. The front and rear upper strut mounts are relatively new, as are the control arms. The rear also has thicker X5 spring pads on them, which gives the car an level stance... some IX droop a bit in the rear. This has perfect spacing between wheel and wheelwell. Replaced sway bar earlier this year because it was rusty, new bushings at that time as well.
AIR CONDITIONING - AC has been converted to R134. Compressor, expansion valve, condenser, and o-rings throughout replaced. Works, but I recharge at beginning of summer. Not sure if that means there is a fixable leak or, as I was told "just what they do” (though I lean toward the former). Nevertheless, it has worked in DC summers.
EURO TRIM – As you will see in photos, the car has euro trim all around. This deletes the turn signals on the side of the bumpers, which cleans the look up a lot. It also has euro front grills and black kidneys. I have the original chrome kidneys if you want them. The car also has the rare euro trunk lid trim panel. The car also has a new Mtech II steering wheel and IS front lip. I will also throw in IS rear spoiler, which I was going to install… but couldn’t bring myself to cut into trunk! (Edit- I pulled the rear spoiler out and it is rather beat up... now worth including in sale. Better to go get one that is in good condition)
SEATS – The stock comfort seats were replaced by sport seats. The front seats have been recovered with soft vinyl/leathery material. I swapped over the heat elements, so you have heated sport seats, which didn’t even come from the factory that way. I didn't do the rear at the time, but should the rears rip or something (or you just want to), I have the guy’s email address to get the same stuff as the fronts (he’s on ebay).
STEREO - The stereo is German Audio Specialties all the way… and sounds amazing. Best sounding stereo I have had in an E30 in 20 years of owning them. Kenwood head unit, amber screen, with Bluetooth capabilities, steering column mounted microphone, and remote. Head unit can hook to Ipod (not iPad as originally typed) or Iphone (early models). It has a Sirius connection too. (Oh, stock antenna is stuck. Haven’t listened to terrestrial radio for years and it froze) The power comes from JL Audio 500/5 Slash amp… when they used to make good stuff. All the power you need. High quality wiring used throughout. The speakers are all stock BMW E34 woofers with Dayton tweeters installed in premium audio tweeter pods in doors and premium housings in rear. Please read a bunch on the R3V electronics page before thinking about swapping these out for some "name" brand. GAS handmade crossovers are used to direct the sound between the speakers. Finishes off with the so called Luke Box, ported enclosure with an Infinity Reference (I think) 10” sub and a GAS amp rack. The way the sub is built and aimed, the bass is strong, but the car doesn't sound like a rattle trap from a mile away.
WHEELS/TIRES – The car comes with 5 stock 15” basketweaves. Last winter I pulled these off and shipped to Wheel Tech in Chicago, which may be the best wheel repair place in country. All 5 wheels were straightened and refinished. No curb rash on any of them, which you will see in photos. Tires are Kumho Ecstas, which are asymentic, non-directional tires. This means there is an outside and an inside, but it doesn’t matter which way they run. This allows me/you to rotate all 5 tires, keeping them generally even wear. What you don’t want with a VC transfer case is to get a flat and pop on a spare that has drastically different wear than the other 3. Having a spare in rotation avoids needing to get 4 new tires if you lose a tire. The car also comes with 4 snow tires on BMW steel wheels with BMW factory “snow caps” (which may be NLA now). I don’t have the best snow tires on there, but they do the job well. If the car goes up north, I would invest in Blizzak or Hakkapeliitta.
LIGHTS – The lighting is Hella H4/H1 bulbs. Way better than sealed beams, but not HID level. Fog lights were replaced last year, I believe.
ENGINE - Obviously, a lot of effort has been put into the engine to keep it looking nice. The valve cover and intake manifold were both powder coated. The exhaust headers have been a pain. They flaked off powder coating and also high temp paint. What is on there now is what people use to paint chimney pipes... a hotrod forum told me that is best. I have no idea how well it will hold up, but already it is better than the paint. I will include the extra in case you need to touch up.
EXTRAS - Speaking of extras, check out the photos I have linked in the Extras folder above. In addition to the transfer case and front differential (which may be worth around $1k on their own now), I am including a bunch of spares I had, as well as some E30 tools and books.
CONS - The ABS system works sporadically. I have a spare ABS ECU if you want to try and sort it out (I am told you need an oscilloscope to do it right and actually see the signal coming from each corner). If you do not, I am including ABS delete kit with sale (search E30 ABS delete on youtube). The drivers side window regulator has gotten really slow in the last few weeks; it is not long for this world. I have included a driver and passenger unit I pulled from a junkyard car. These are NLA as far as I know. The heating and cooling fan now only works on level 4. Needs a new resistor, which is a $50 part, IIRC. I noticed an oil leak off back side of the engine somewhere… it is clearly slow, for I only noticed it when I put the car on a lift to take photos. The two flex brake hoses that jump to the rear subframe were not replaced when the ones at the four corners were. Make this a priority! Next time you are anywhere in there, replace them. Order them after you win and just have them on hand. My guy said they looked good so he didn’t want to run up my bill to replace them. I wish he had now. The rear defrost doesn't work. I did confirm power at window, so likely needs new window, around $250 IIRC.
That is it. Sorry for the long thread. Labor of love. This is a super well cared for E30 and I hope it can go to someone on here. After 20 years of solely driving E30s, I do not know what I am going to do when this one is gone! I live somewhere without a garage and without parking now, so I need to make some changes. Happy to answer any questions.
$7,500 obo.
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