3-Series (E21, E30)Chat relating to the BMW 3-Series from 1975-1983 and 1984-1991 line. Specific models: BMW 315, BMW 316, BMW 318, BMW 318i, BMW 320/4, BMW 320i, BMW 320/6, BMW 323i, BMW 320i. E30 Family models include: BMW 325e, BMW 325i, BMW 325is, BMW 325ix.
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what im meaning to ask is.. how hard can they be driven? i also want to know some basic info... rear end gears, posi? etc etc.
car is a 1988 4 door BMW 325i.. maintained very well, its BONE stock not a single mod to it.. just a cd player :-P
has the 4spd automatic.. how tough is this transmission? does it hurt the transmission when you manually shift it? is there any safety device that won't let the car go back into 1st at say 80km/h type thing?
whats the rev limiter on this car?
anything i should worry about when driving this car hard?
by the way.. i can't believe how awesome this car is for its age..
hey man i have 87 325es stick...if you are racing it or driving it hard alot man. shifting i would get 1500 and drop a stick in it...transmissino switch so you can have 5 speed and you wont have to work about screwin up your car
you know? if it revs to 5 bills like mine then you should only rev up to like 3.5 or 4 to be safe!
__________________ <span style='font-family:Arial'><span style='color:blue'>1987 BMW 325es</span></span>
well since you have an 'i' engine yours can rev to 6500rpm now and 6800rpm with a chip. redlining it daily isnt a bad thing, the engine is very strong, you have to worry more about the driveshaft/transmission instead of the engine. so just be careful when you hammer and lift off the gas that the driveshaft doesnt shudder, and i wouldnt manually shift a high mileage auto tranny that much, theres nothing to gain by doing that it just might be a little more fun. i think since you have a 88 and a auto trans. you have a 4.10 open differential
Originally posted by 88'325@Aug 1 2003, 01:42 AM yeah mileage is 260 000 KM
tranny seems to "clunk" when slowing down (the automatic downshift back into 1st gear)
whats the deal with that?
its done this since bought in 1994
the automatic transmissions can't take much punishment at all. Yours is now clunking because the tranny is not happy.
I manually shifted my 318i auto tranny and sure enough it lost reverse then all the other gears. Save yourself the hassle and get manual if you want to thrash it.
I drive my 87 325is with 150000 on it ,"Hard "most every day for past 4 yrs...its auto and I manual shift mostly with no motor or tranny problems ever.. touch wood ..... Not to say its a bad idea to take it easy on a high mile tranny..
just my experience... and I do have a 94 325 for a back up so if i break it im not stuck...
good luck and enjoy............................
I have always heard that the auto trannies suck but i dunno, never driven one. As for a manual car. Well they take a lot of shit. Take my car for instance.
I solo it and drive it daily. And when i drive it daily i drive it like i solo it. The only parts i have ever replaced were when i bought the car, the plastic pieces on the strut towers just rotted away from age. I mean there are minor things falling apart on mine, but i really cant complain, the gear on the sun roof has cracked, the plastic moulding to hold the interior lights has cracked on one side, and my clutch is shot.
__________________ <span style='font-family:Geneva'><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:red'>Fox</span></span> <span style='color:gray'>the Pirate</span>
Diplomacy is saying "nice doggy" until you find a rock.</span>
I live my life one quarter mile at a time, and for those 23 or more seconds I'm free.
What do you think about doing the 5-speed swap? Is this something that you would consider?
IMHO, manual is the way to go, always has been always will be. If you are looking to beat your car, there's no other way to do it.
I've got myself an '86 325es that I'm currently parting out. I still have all the parts for a 5-speed conversion. Only problem is, the parts are still on the car.
Well let me tell you... I have an 89' 325i Conv. I bought the car really cheap because it had a small knocking in the block, I drove it for 11 months and then the knocking just got louder... it sounded like the piston was gonna fly out at any minute. The last day I drove it, I drove it for 45 minutes at 85 miles and hour and the car still ran strong but of coarse very loud. I think my car is a testimony for BMWs and their durability and reliability, BUT I replaced the engine and now my tranny wont work... it will not go into reverse or any of the drives. So now I'm looking to replace the tranny... ghead. Let me tell you about another one I had, I owned an 1980 320 and that car had 380,000 miles until we had to let it go, but I drove that car strong and hard and it never left me stranded anywhere... so these cars with the right maintenance they will run 4ever.
I push my 89 325iS to its rev limit few times a week, but only for like .5 seconds, and I race on canyons roads every day at high RPM's, my car has 198k on it, and it runs great. No problems at all, the only thing you have to worry about it your tranny wearing because its auto...Do what the other guy said and get a 5spd.
__________________ I hate: people who haven't died yet that I hate. L337 Co-Founding Assistant Executive Director Product Maker of Sunset Sig's Inc. 2000 BMW M Coupe - Dakar-II - S52 "You gotta fix the nut behind the wheel before you fix the bolts on the car"
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..... Not to say its a bad idea to take it easy on a high mile tranny..
ghead. Let me tell you about another one I had, I owned an 1980 320 and that car had 380,000 miles until we had to let it go, but I drove that car strong and hard and it never left me stranded anywhere... so these cars with the right maintenance they will run 4ever. 
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