BMW E30, what to look for?

[stevep944]

An E30 has always been one of the cars 'on my list'.
There's a nice looking 325i near me for sale, which I'm very tempted to take a look at.
I know very little about these cars though, is there anything in particular I should look out for, apart from the obvious stuff?
Presumably rust, rust and more rust. I'm fairly ok with mechanical stuff but don't want to end up with loads of hidden bodywork issues.
thanks.

[Turbofocus]

stevep944 said:

An E30 has always been one of the cars 'on my list'.
There's a nice looking 325i near me for sale, which I'm very tempted to take a look at.
I know very little about these cars though, is there anything in particular I should look out for, apart from the obvious stuff?
Presumably rust, rust and more rust. I'm fairly ok with mechanical stuff but don't want to end up with loads of hidden bodywork issues.
thanks.

An ex owner of one,these are great cars however....

Rust and more rust due to the age of these cars now (20 plus years old) and years of possible neglect.

They rust at the bottom of the front wing by the doors, easy enough to replace the wings as bolt on.

They rust at the bottom of the windscreen in the corners where they meet the wing, windscreen and dashboard out to repair.

Rear panels rust around taillight and towing eye, new rear panel or cut out and repair.

Inner rear wheel arches can rot, remove the rear seat and rear quarter panel trims and check behind.

Floor pans can rust where it meets the front wheel arch.


The big one.....

if it has a sunroof. The sunroof drain tubes are at the rear of the roof and go down the c pillar.
These tubes rust and the rust spreads to the inside of the roof skin.
Evidence of this will be rust bubbles on the roof around the edge of where the sunroof tray/cassette is bonded to the roof skin.

You can laugh when you see adverts saying slight surface rust on roof. Its a cut off and fit new roof to fix job in my eyes.
Even ones without it showing outside may be rusting inside already so check inside the sunroof tray by camera etc where possible.

[cahami]

As already said RUST everything else is fairly robust and cheaply repaired take the grills off of the scuttle and have a good look and prod and also as previously said sunroof tubes can cause major problems.

[stevep944]

Thanks guys all very useful info.

[truck71]

In addition to the rust comments, check for accident damage/ poor repairs. Back in the eighties these were the yuppie car to have if you couldn't stretch to a 911 and were driven enthusiatically. The handling is fairly senior on the limit and many were launched into the countryside. I know, I did it twice..

Also, check the gear lever- it's likely to feel very sloppy but positive and functional. Can't remember if this needed a simple re bushing or if it was more expensive fix. Some of the later 325i sport models came with a lower ratio diff IIRC giving a claimed acceleration advantage- not sure how you know what you've got.

Great car BTW.

[mark.c]

As all the guys above have said....These cars really are at a stage where most mechanical issues are repairable and worth the effort but rot can consign them to the bin.
A quick check you can do for the roof (assuming the owner will let you) is park the car tail end down a slight incline, open the roof and gently pour some water down the roof channel both sides...it should pour out at the back of the car behind the rear wheels...if it doesnt then ask yourself where its going...also you can gently push on the headlinning on the base of the sunroof channels whilst sat in the back seat, these can be very cruchy and rotten long before you get rust showing through the paint on the outside.

Great cars mind you, Im currently running an early M3 and a 320is and have had a fair few 325's in the past...tread carefully and if you get a good one I'm sure you will love it!

Mark

[Neonblau]

Rust. Everywhere.

On a more helpful note get yourself on here

www.e30zone.net

and check out the Wikis, which cover just about everything. It's also a good source of advice and many of the cars which appear on eBay, Gumtree, Pistonheads and AutoTrader will be known to someone.

[stevep944]

Thanks again that's all good helpful stuff, will join that site and start learning more.
This is the one I was going to look at, purely as it's very close to me and most of the ones you see for sale are over the water in mainland UK:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

[Turbofocus]

It looks ok.
Leather has worn on the front seats and steering wheel.

The plastic body kit down the side which is standard fit can also hide serious corrosion by the way.

[truck71]

Looks like it's running non standard BBS alloys which may or may not be a good thing (are the tyres fitted the correct size?), look for any other modifications that again may or may not enhance the car. If it's been dry stored then check for leaks/drips from anywhere in the drive train/ hydraulics etc- seals dry up and what have you. Looks good but pricey so needs to be excellent IMO.

[Neonblau]

I'd agree with evrything the two posters above have said, especially as dry stored cars can reveal a host of leaks the first time it rains.

For the asking price I'd also say it was a bit leggy but you can judge that on condition and what needs doing to it.

[80quattro]

I've had a number of aged BMW's, some of which were E30's. IMHO, a 325i Sport is overrated compared to a nice spec 325i SE that you would pay half that price for.

E30zone is the place to go, the guys on there are super knowledgeable, if not slightly obsessed with ripping the piss out of eachother mercilessly

Also, be careful with an NI car, they lose their previous owners from the logbook when they travel back to the mainland. I have first hand experience of this, having a '3 owner' M535i that spent time over there, and a 2009 320d M-Sport that apparently I'm the first owner of after 74000 miles.

[stevep944]

I wouldn't discount other models than the sport, far from it, some nice looking 325's or 320's about too.
Even this is quite tempting:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C467677
Don't worry I am from NI so know all about the zero owners thing, I've bought several cars over from England and suddenly become the first owner!
Thanks for all the comment and advice all.

[4rephill]

The plastic sill covers trap water inside them and hide any signs of rust in the sills. This corrosion doesn't get picked up on the MOT inspection because the tester is not allowed to remove the cover!

I'm not talking about a bit of surface rust either. On My old 325i Sport both the inner and outer sills on both sides had corroded severely - And this was a car that was serviced all it's life by BMW (money no object!), and had passed the MOT at BMW only 6 months before! Without removing the covers the sills looked perfect! The Technician who saw the damage said that in a side impact, My car would have folded in half!

Cars that have been driven enthusiastically can rip the diff mounts out so check them out carefully!

My car looked pretty much like the one in the advert (including the black paint), almost immaculate, and yet underneath, the sills had rotted away, the sunroof drains had severe corrosion in them and the diff had ripped out! After 13 years of loving ownership, she had to go!

If you do get an E30 325i Sport, do yourself a big favour and get the sills checked out by removing the sill covers.

[farbbm]

4rephill said:

The plastic sill covers trap water inside them and hide any signs of rust in the sills. This corrosion doesn't get picked up on the MOT inspection because the tester is not allowed to remove the cover!

I'm not talking about a bit of surface rust either. On My old 325i Sport both the inner and outer sills on both sides had corroded severely - And this was a car that was serviced all it's life by BMW (money no object!), and had passed the MOT at BMW only 6 months before! Without removing the covers the sills looked perfect! The Technician who saw the damage said that in a side impact, My car would have folded in half!

Cars that have been driven enthusiastically can rip the diff mounts out so check them out carefully!

My car looked pretty much like the one in the advert (including the black paint), almost immaculate, and yet underneath, the sills had rotted away, the sunroof drains had severe corrosion in them and the diff had ripped out! After 13 years of loving ownership, she had to go!

If you do get an E30 325i Sport, do yourself a big favour and get the sills checked out by removing the sill covers.

Alot of valid points raised here. I currently own a 87 325 Sport and have had it over 5 years slowly working my way through getting the rust sorted. Be under no illusions these cars can end up as money pits. I keeping thinking maybe I should get rid of mine and get an E46 M3 or 996 911 instead but if I regretted the decision afterwards I could never go back as trying to fine one like the one I currently own and know would be all most impossible without having to spend silly money. It's not even as mines fully finished yet and proberbly never will be. At least SWMBO likes it and doesn't mind me spending money on it every year.

[161BMW]

Rust, rust and more rust
Accident damage
The mechanicals are usually much more straight forward to fix
Plenty of New Genuine BMW Parts available in the BMW Dealer Network or you can save money with used BMW Parts
Models to go for except M3
325i Sport
325i SE
Make sure has LSD
Recommend pre-purchase inspection before buying

[lowdrag]

Had a 325i Sport in the day and loved every minute of it. That jewel of an engine was one of the major things, but so was the tail-happy driving in the wet.



Off topic, but it was preceded by the 323i:-

[4rephill]

lowdrag said:

Had a 325i Sport in the day and loved every minute of it. That jewel of an engine was one of the major things, but so was the tail-happy driving in the wet.



Off topic, but it was preceded by the 323i:-

I owned My 325i Sport for 13years and found it to be a superbly balanced car (on a twisty road it could surprise quite a few faster cars due to the handling), although I always did wish it didn't have quite as much initial under-steer (the engine weight played a big part in that!).

I ran Mine with Uniroyal rain tyres all round and never really had any of the famous tail happy moments that they were famous for (and I never really hung around it! - It was always driven in a "sporty" manner! ).

Shortly after buying it I spent a fortune at BMW having a brand new engine fitted, all the brake components replaced, and all of the suspension components replaced (including the anti-rollbars), and when the car came back I was amazed to find that it felt exactly the same to drive as before the work was carried out!

I loved that car!, but she eventually rotted out in secret from beneath Me to the point where she was beyond saving!

I replaced her with an E36 328i Sport which is a great car in itself, but the E30 meant far more to Me!

We spent 13 happy years together and I'm not ashamed to say that I cried when she eventually went for scrap!

[sim16v]

I've always loved them, especially as my dad had a few new ones back in the day!

This is my old 320is, I wish I still had it!





my old normal 325i Sport



And my track car....

[williamp]

Here was mine, back in the late 90s. Askmid shows its still around. Would be great to see it again..