Just Bought A Solid 325is Cheap - BMW Forum

twitty · 02-26-2005, 05:40 PM

My 3 month search/research project is over, purchased a 89 325is 5- sp for a great price ($700, guy just bought a '01 325, just wanted to move it). I'm jacked! I was planning to buy a nice one for ~$5k, but this deal was too good to pass up. Now I want to make this more-than-decent car nice.

car has 194K, runs/drives as it should, has new timing belt, exhaust. exterior is average, some minor rust spots below doors and at back plate, interior is good overall.

I figured right off the bat I would get a tune up, maybe K&N, and have the rust taken car of, my guess costing ~$1K.

what other work would you folks recommend to improve my new ride? thanks,

-twitty

TMac325is · 02-26-2005, 06:04 PM

welll ummm... detail it... check out the wheels, if they have rust, id get some new wheels and tires. if they dont, id take the wheels off and clean them up well, then put them back on.. i dont have much experience with that, does anyone know if that would require a 4 wheel alignment?

anyways, there are DIY on detailing/cleaning up the engine bay. throw up some pics of your car when you get a chance

e30fanm3 · 02-26-2005, 07:03 PM

there cant be any rust on the wheels, and you cant do a 4-wheel alignment on it, just tune it up, if it aint broke dont fix it, just start thinkin about mods. killer deal dude! i thought 1500 for mine was good but damn nice find! see what happens when you have a little patients. yea get rid of the rust first

Kowalski · 02-26-2005, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TMac325is@Feb 26 2005, 04:04 PM
welll ummm... detail it... check out the wheels, if they have rust, id get some new wheels and tires. if they dont, id take the wheels off and clean them up well, then put them back on.. i dont have much experience with that, does anyone know if that would require a 4 wheel alignment?

anyways, there are DIY on detailing/cleaning up the engine bay. throw up some pics of your car when you get a chance

[snapback]299941[/snapback]

if the rims arn't too nice you can get them re powder coated. its pretty cheap and then get them balanced.

egk2 · 02-26-2005, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kowalski+Feb 26 2005, 09:26 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kowalski @ Feb 26 2005, 09:26 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-TMac325is@Feb 26 2005, 04:04 PM
welll ummm... detail it... check out the wheels, if they have rust, id get some new wheels and tires. if they dont, id take the wheels off and clean them up well, then put them back on.. i dont have much experience with that, does anyone know if that would require a 4 wheel alignment?

anyways, there are DIY on detailing/cleaning up the engine bay. throw up some pics of your car when you get a chance

[snapback]299941[/snapback]

if the rims arn't too nice you can get them re powder coated. its pretty cheap and then get them balanced.

[snapback]300021[/snapback]

[/b][/quote]
Check to see if your wheels are rusty?

used How about take care of all the maint. items first like:
Cooling system, control arms, control arm bushings, strut mounts, rear shock mounts, etc...
After you got that straight then suspension is the first must do mod for an e30, it totally tranforms it, looks and performance wise.
Good luck.

e30fanm3 · 02-27-2005, 05:15 PM

his wheels didnt come powder coated so he cant get them re-powder coated. turbax will re-finish them for like 120 bucks or so a piece

Gomerino · 02-27-2005, 08:16 PM

As stated above, definately check out the suspension.. this could be really sloppy if it wasn't maintained and might take your biggest chunk of $$.. in both E30's I've owned, this is where I found the biggest probs/maint. issues

twitty · 02-27-2005, 09:51 PM

thanks all, to follow up:
Everything looked/felt fine with suspension/ride - I actually was pleasantly suprised, it drove nicer than lower-miles cars I tested. shit, my girlfriend was ready for some action after she drove it she was so revved up by how well it perfromed. thought i might have felt something in fornt end, maybe control arm, but hell, we have potholes the size of LA sinkholes here in boston now, so who knows. I'll get it looked over, if anything is questioable, I'll just get it done if price is reasonble.

I have used the search engine here, so I kinda know, but what's the best bang for the buck for suspension/contol arms/bushings? and how much would that run done at a shop?

e30fanm3 · 02-28-2005, 04:09 PM

it depends on what you wanna spend if you wanna go cheap then get bavauto springs and KYBs. if you want to spend a little more then go with the bilstein sports its worth the extra money i think, as far as control arm bushings go if you are gonna lower it then get e30 m3 offset bushings, if not then make sure you get the solid bushings