BMW 316i (Possible) Restoration Advice Greatly Needed!!

[falamon]

Good afternoon all PistonHeaders!

This is my first post, and due to being at a bit of a loss where to ask for advice, my colleague sent me in this direction, hope you can help!

Basically, I need some advice of much more experienced BMW users than I.

The story begins...

I bought a (1990 G Reg) 316i from a friend a couple of years back, it had had a partial engine rebuild, and was in mint condition, completely original.

Bought it for £850, it's also in Malachite Green, which is quite a rare colour so i've been told? (could someone confirm)?

It has done just over 100k, but before the "accident" it ran like a dream.

I basically crashed it, at a "no right turn" junction, which was poorly signposted. The car caused about £2000 worth of damage to a Seat, and the BMW ended up with the Seat in the rear quarter panel.

It's completely squashed the rear quarter in, about a foot. I'll put some pics up tomorrow for you to see the extent of the damage.

I'm not sure if the body is twisted, but I had a rough quote about 2 years ago, and the guy said "it'll either need a panel welded on and pulled out, or the whole section cut off and re-fitted with a new one (and filled flush etc) as you know, the quarter panel is all flush with the car, and can't just be unbolted and bolted back on... for about £400-500...

Since the crash, it's sat on a drive, and has developed a leak in the boot, and some in the passenger footwell.

Basically, i've got some money saved to restore it (I love it dearly) and thought I would ask if anyone here thought it would be more worth scrapping the thing and spending 3-4k on another one, or spending the 3-4k on sorting it out? I've had countless arguments with parents on whether it's worth it or not... Just wondering what others thought?

Given the colour, and the quality it was in before the crash, hopefully it wouldnt take too much to put right, but there may be all sorts of issues which have developed since, I wouldn't know...

Any advice would be greatly recieved, pics to follow tomorrow!

Thanks all,

Alex.

[Frances The Mute]

Let the car go. Seriously. It's worth the square root of fk all - especially as it's been left stood for so long. Plus, it has a boat anchor for an engine. Probably the worst engine BWM has ever made.

I appreciate you may be attached to it, but if you wish to spend that sort of money putting it right, please put the money towards a nice, worthwhile example of the E30 such as a 325 which will be a far more entertaining and valuable car to own.

[falamon]

A good first answer. It's going to be a tough call to make, i'll assume most people will say the same as you, would like to hear a few more responses, but i think it'll have to go to the scrapyard in the sky...

Would it be worth anything in scrap?

Also, you mean the 316i engine in general was the worst engine? Not E30's in general ?

[billzeebub]

£3-£4k goes a long way these days and should get you into a very nice six cylinder E30/36, even a good E46..

[falamon]

Thank you all for your answers, really appreciated everyone

Had a bad feeling it was going to be a case of scrapping her and buying another...

I know it's petty, but I was really attached to the colour! No one seems to sell them in green really.

Does anyone know any good sites (obviously here is a great one) for any good E30's?

Also, would my current one be worth anything in scrap (parts, on ebay etc) or just worth taking to a scrappy for £100 or something?

Thank you all, really good to get some realistic answers to my indecisive problem.

[falamon]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3314494.htm

Is the 2.3i any good? This example looks almost too good!?

[Super Slo Mo]

falamon said:

Thank you all for your answers, really appreciated everyone

Had a bad feeling it was going to be a case of scrapping her and buying another...

I know it's petty, but I was really attached to the colour! No one seems to sell them in green really.

Does anyone know any good sites (obviously here is a great one) for any good E30's?

Also, would my current one be worth anything in scrap (parts, on ebay etc) or just worth taking to a scrappy for £100 or something?

Thank you all, really good to get some realistic answers to my indecisive problem.

It's worth a good bit more than that in body panels (front wings, doors, bonnet) alone, if they're in reasonably good condition. If the interior's mint, someone may want it for their restoration project.

Get onto the BMW forums and ask the questions there.

[E30M3SE]

www.e30zone.net

[Frances The Mute]

falamon said:

Also, you mean the 316i engine in general was the worst engine? Not E30's in general ?

The M40 in the 316/318 is shocking. Thankfully, they saw the error of their ways and developed the M42/44 replacements which were far more becoming of the brand. Whilst the M20 is more than showing it's age, it sounds great and goes well (except the M20B20 unit which just sounds great)

E30 stuff does bring decent money if it's in good nick. Problem is, the 316 was generally an austere car as the first owners were shelling out all of their hard-earned on the car, not the options list. That's not to say it's not been upgraded over the years by other owners, of course.

[falamon]

Thank you for your advice. As above post, i'm now seriously thinking about this car - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3314494.htm

What does everyone think? Is the 2.3 a good engine? Could it be tweaked for more power?

Also, does the mileage look genuine?

Thanks for all your help.

Alex.

[E30M3SE]

falamon said:

Thank you for your advice. As above post, i'm now seriously thinking about this car - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3314494.htm


Also, does the mileage look genuine?

Thanks for all your help.

Alex.

On the whole it looks alright.

The interior is all wrong, he's put 'grey' sports seats into a car that originally had blue seats and the door cards and carpet etc are still all blue........ massive fail!

Is the mileage genuine? No real way of telling from pictures especially when the seats, steering wheel have been changed out...............

Gear knobs and peddle rubbers can be had for peanuts.

You need to go and look at it and check over the service history, also check the MOT history probably all be genuine and above board.

[falamon]

Cheers mate. That link you sent me looks good too!

I'm sceptical but might be worth taking a trip to look at... I did think the seats weren't original!

Is that red one, one you're selling? Looks a good'un.

[E30M3SE]

falamon said:

Cheers mate. That link you sent me looks good too!

I'm sceptical but might be worth taking a trip to look at... I did think the seats weren't original!

Is that red one, one you're selling? Looks a good'un.

No, no connection to the red car, just it is in the same part of the world as the one you have link'd, at the same money but is a 325i and 6 years newer, if your going to look at one in Wiltshire you may as well look at both and access one against the other to get a better 'feel' for them.

To be fair he says in the ad that he has changed the seats, it just looks wrong IMO with blue carpets and door cards with the grey seats.

Regardless of what the ad's say you have got to check these thing over for rust, what looks like a sound car on top may be rotten underneath.

[falamon]

Yeah, could be worth seeing both of them.

325 may be a little too much for insurance, but doubt it can be a whole lot different...

I'm currently in a 1.6 Peugeot 306 Sedan, so anything larger than that will be lovely to drive.
The second link you sent me really is another nice example! Wouldnt be able to get it on classic insurance though (but does it make a massive difference)?

Full leather and in red, bodywork looks stunning!

Do they usually rust in the same places? (my 316 has the standard arch rusting)...

Thanks.

[E30M3SE]

Insurance should not be an issue a friend of mine has a E30 325i Motorsport Convertible reg'ed 1992 on a classic insurance policy.

Rust wise, the arches, the battery tray, the front footwells and jacking points, front and rear valence, bulkhead (which should also be checked for stress cracks), under the fuse box, rear wheel wells, sunroof, around the rear no. plate lights, bottoms of the door (inside and out), strut towers..... basically everywhere.

ETA

Not sure what your budget is,

Edited by E30M3SE on Wednesday 2nd November 15:28

[falamon]

My god, that is gorgeous. If i only could afford the extra 1-2k, it would be on my drive by this weekend!

Has anyone experience of what a broken E30 could fetch in parts?