What's good/bad on '86 325es?

[SewerRat]

My kid is thinking about buying an '86 325es for his first car. He's looking for economy (for now) rather than go fast. Anything in particular that he should be looking out for before buying? I'm suspisious of it already because it has 175,000 miles on and the owner says he doesn't know anything about the history as he's only had it a year or so. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[MrM3]

timing belt. also make sure its not leaking oil, coolant, or power steering fluid, other than that you should have a mechanic check it out to make sure its a sound car.

['85 318i]

economy not to go fast... same story i gave my parents. now i have a car that cost me $1200, $350 under the hood and I can whoop alot of brand new honduhs.

[viali8]

i bought a 87 325 for my first car this past summer with 177,000 miles on it at an auction. i bought it for 425 bucks. the trick is to get it really chip cause u know your gonna have to put some money into it. when i bought it i found out that it needed a new driveshaft and timing chain(also get a new water pump cause the laber is already done when fixing the timing chain) those where the major things i had done. other stuff i did on my own. spark plugs, change oil, cap and rotor, change trans. fluid. 10,000 miles later it runs like a champ. solid as a rock. and i really put that car through alot this past fall. approx 40 miles a day if not more. good luck

[BimmerKris]

I was very suprised with the economy of the eta, pretty good for a 6 cyl. Very reliable motors and easy to fix yourself. Mine has got 325 000 km's on in and runs great

[crazvanc]

how old is your kid, I gotone for my kid brother, he was burning rubber like crazy with it, crashed it a couple of times, still runs overheats, but runs, 325 es it is very economic but not an economy car at all. you shoud drive one the acceleration is sucking you in they do not like to cruse they like to race.

['85 318i]

they suck at top end though my 318 can beat a 325 once i get to about 5K in second, i start pulling up on them, shift to third pull a half car till about 5K then i pull like nothin to fourth or i shut down...

[e30_driver]

Don't let him get it if you don't want to have him speeding, if he is a good driver though he may be able to handle it. In reality the 325es is a much faster and better handling car than the 325is provided an aftermarket chip is added. The low rev engine is a 2.7 which means that it is more reliable as it ages. It retains as much torque as one could desire, mixed whith a hp chip and the special 's' suspention it makes for a great car. If he plans to drive it on snow though I would recommend being with him for the first couple of times because having that much torque on a rearwheel drive in winter is challenging at first to say the least -especially if he has a heavy foot.
As far as the problems you should look; all the above are valid however I would recommend looking closely at the rear wheel well's for rust, and listen on the driver rear for a hissing noise (this would indicate a new fuel pump would be needed).

Good luck,
Chris.