Just bought this 1987 325is

[HCMW Adam]

Hello all. I was looking for a 325 and found one in the for sale section of this forum. Registered to contact the owners friend and then the owner. Checked it out and it was as advertised. Let the work begin.

[HCMW Adam]

I brought it back to my shop and washed it that night.

[HCMW Adam]

Exterior condition: Not bad.

There are only two noticeable rust areas so far. By the sun roof it looks liek the rust has penetrated through the steel. This may get some silicone smeared into it or get hosed down with paint until it can be properly dealt with. The second spot is the rear deck lid. It is just surface rust. Most of it came off with a green kitchen scrubby pad. That will be sanded a bit and painted.

[HCMW Adam]

Interior Condition: not great.

The back seats are split. Drivers seat has one side of it's support bracket broken. Door panels are in tatters. Under dash is hanging in the way of the pedals. Dash is cracked. Most interior panels in the trunk are just laying on the floor of the trunk.

[HCMW Adam]

Purpose for the purchase: Daily driveable track toy.

I attend a few HPDE events a year in the Houston area. I have borrowed a friends NA Miata for some of them. I am 6'1" and do not find that very comfortable and therefore a little less enjoyable than it could be. I have completed one DE in my 2009 335i. That was a blast but I am not prepared to mod that for better track performance. I have already registered for another event in December that I will be driving my e90 in as this will not be ready by then.

Step one for this car is to get everything functioning properly and sort it out to a mangable state. Anything that does need repair or replacing will get something performance oriented if possible. One example is the interior. If the interior were in great shape I would leave it alone. As it is trash I will replace it with door cards and minimal excess. The back seat will go in the trash and not be replaced.

[sketchkid]

Ya in Houston cause this def look area familiar?


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[sketchkid]

Dope care nothing a lil elbow grease can't fix, it's a few e30 over here in the Webster, clear lake, league city area.


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[reelizmpro]

That's cool. It's got a lot of old school mods.

[Mahalaleel]

Looks like it's gonna need some love. I've never met an E30 that didn't, so no worries! I'm diving into my recent purchase, up in DFW myself.

[Panici]

Welcome, car looks like a decent starting point.
Subscribed for updates.

FYI based on build threads I've seen, your best bet to tackle that roof rust when it gets that bad is deleting the sunroof and cartridge.

This would also remove a bunch of weight up high, perfect for a track toy.

P.S. - You can insert the attached images into your posts (so we don't have to click them). There is a button to do so when submitting posts (you may have to go to "advanced" view)

[HCMW Adam]

Dope care nothing a lil elbow grease can't fix, it's a few e30 over here in the Webster, clear lake, league city area.


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Yuuuup. Memorial area. My shop is on Upland Dr right next to I-10.

[HCMW Adam]

Welcome, car looks like a decent starting point.
Subscribed for updates.

FYI based on build threads I've seen, your best bet to tackle that roof rust when it gets that bad is deleting the sunroof and cartridge.

This would also remove a bunch of weight up high, perfect for a track toy.

P.S. - You can insert the attached images into your posts (so we don't have to click them). There is a button to do so when submitting posts (you may have to go to "advanced" view)

I am planning on making it a slick top. I have a metal shop, so I have the tools. Never done this before, but I can handle it.

[MR E30 325is]

Welcome.

That one looks pretty rough, but also very cool at the same time.

[HCMW Adam]

Further inspection revealed that the spare tire well was worse than previously suspected. Also there is rust below the driver's side carpet. It was covered with some metallic tape, so the PO knew about it. I would have bought the car anyway, but I was a little annoyed with this. What is with the cut up rear bulkhead. Stupid. I am not building a show car, but this is poor work. I will patch it somehow.

[HCMW Adam]

The tires it came with were shot. One would hold air for a week. Two for about three days. The fourth tire leaked while filling it. The spare hold air the best, so it gets to stay the spare. They were 205/50R15's. I think they looked a tad small and some internet calculators agree. I bought three 205/55R15's that were mounted to some Zender challenge wheels and one ebay wheel to make four. One of the Zender's was bashed bad. The other two look fine. Hopefully I can sell them. All four good tires are now on the Fitippaldi wheels.

Zender Challenge 15 inch wheels with Kumho 205/55R15 - 37.7 pounds


Fittipaldi 15 inch wheels with Dunlop D60 205/50R15, dry rotted - 36.4 pounds


Fittipaldi 15 inch wheels with Kumho 205/55R15 - 37.8 pounds


Zender Challenge 15 inch wheel - 18.4 pounds