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E30 325IS Delphin, high miles advice

2K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  MrM3 
#1 ·
hello everybody. I have been reading this forum because I am really interested in E30s and eveyrone seems to be real nice here.

right now i drive a '96 civic which i really liked at one point. I still do love this car, it's reliability and the modifications that i have done to it, but am getting into older cars with more character now. the civic is getting too boring pretty much.

I desire a red 325IS first, but i found and drove this one earlier today.

http://www.netvista.net/~steve/sale/BMW325is.htm

With the Asking price of 3900, it seemed a bit steep, though i do respect the modifications he has done. I made an offer but before i say what i made, i'd like to know what anyone else would say for an offer on this car?

But, my prime question is: Are there too many miles for me to feel safe being the 4th owner of this E30? the engine, as you can see is very clean, but that doesn't mean much. If anyone could give me information i'd appreciate it. thanks!

-mischa
 
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#2 ·
Welcome Mischa! :wave

thats a beautiful E30. those mods are very tasteful, that car is well worth 3500-3700 imo with the fresh paint, even 3900 isnt that bad considering all the money he's put into it. you wont find many e30's with a 4yr old paint job either. i'm sure that car was driven hard so i'm not sure how many miles are left on the motor, but if it ran smooth in the test drive it probably has another good 50-75k miles left. if you got the money for a engine swap or rebuild then jump on this, but if not, you can get a lower mileage e30 for cheaper if your looking for long term reliability.
 
#3 ·
i talked to a friend today and he said to have it checked out at one of the M service places that are all around (at least here in northern california). he said to get it checked out for about 100 dollars or something. I know getting it checked out is really worth the money but considering the fact that i don't have enough money for a swap, this may not be teh car for me. from the test drive, it ran smooth despite the fact that the owner said people complain about the rough ride.

thanks for the response mrm3.
 
#4 ·
Originally posted by mischa@Sep 22 2003, 04:53 PM
i talked to a friend today and he said to have it checked out at one of the M service places that are all around (at least here in northern california). he said to get it checked out for about 100 dollars or something. I know getting it checked out is really worth the money but considering the fact that i don't have enough money for a swap, this may not be teh car for me. from the test drive, it ran smooth despite the fact that the owner said people complain about the rough ride.

thanks for the response mrm3.
np, the rough ride is due to the suspension mods not the engine. i still think you should go for it, even though its got high mileage. if you get a different one, after a while you'll really learn alot about these cars and what makes them great and you'll wish you wouldve got this one cause this guy really knew what he was doing when he dumped all that money into it

those M20 engines are really strong and 210k miles wouldnt be bad at all if it was an old mans car who maintained it well, i think you should make your final decision after you get the results from the service station because if the motors in good shape that car would be a real gem
 
#6 ·
Originally posted by mischa@Sep 23 2003, 03:20 AM
http://lukasbmw.com/new_page_3.htm

Would that guy be right when it comes to an E30 between the 100 and 150k mile status?
if this is what your referring to...
Steering rack $ 500
Control arms $ 500
Driveshaft $ 800
Radiator $ 250
Brakes $ 500
SI Board $ 250
Timing belt $ 400
Battery $ 100
Clutch $ 800
Various electronics $ 0-1,000
Auto Transmission $ 1,000

then you should make sure you recieve all or most of the service records from the car your buying. alot of e30's are still on their first clutch which can take well over 200k miles of normal use from what ive seen, the timing belt is a given (hopefully the owner kept up with that), same with the battery. the driveshaft should be more of a 200k+ concern i think, and is probably your biggest problem with that car imo. but alot depends on the car, not all e30's run into the same problems at the same mileage. for me, at 130k miles, the SI board cost about $30 and that, including timing belt and seals, are the only repairs ive needed on my car
 
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