Everybody knows that winter is not the best time to run soft-tops, especially those fabric-roofed cars that dwell at Shed's end of the automotive spectrum.
For less than a grand, the sort of ripped-hood, cracked rear screen, mouldy interior problems you get with an old soft-top motor generally make a convertible shed a distinctly risky undertaking for inclement weather conditions.
On the other hand, winter is absolutely the best time to buy a convertible shed, as the cold weather, wind and rain depress the roofless market almost to the floor.
This, then, is the reason you see this (mostly) gleaming E30 BMW 325i sitting before you. As E30 3-series go, this one's a pretty desirable spec, too: It's got the powerful 168bhp straight six, it's a manual, it has leather (in dark blue to match the hood), and it looks to us as though it's an SE model as well.
In short, its spec is about as good as a 3-series cab's gets without the car being the mega-rare M3 version.
So why's this one so cheap? After all, this generation of 3-series cab normally fetches north of the magic £1k. A clue, we reckon, lies in the seller's line that "the arches are good and solid altough (sic) it does has (sic again) rust running along the sills and bottoms of the doors."
Ah. That probably indicates some serious rot so, even if it does pass its next MOT, the one after that is going to be doubtful unless you chuck a large lump of cash (no doubt far more than the asking price) at getting those sills fixed.
Still, if it's a short-term chunk of open motoring you're after, you could do a lot worse than this 325i for £995.
Our advice? Buy it now, stick it in the garage, run it when the weather's dry and bright and get rid of it next August, while the weather's still good and the car has some MOT left. You might even make a profit on it...
Advert is reproduced below:
e30 325i convertible manual (1990)
e30 325i convertible, in silver with dark blue leather and matching hood. The car has 9 months MOT and 4 months tax. The hood is in excellent condition. The arches are good and solid altough it does has rust running along the sills and bottoms of the doors. It has a small scrape on the drivers wing and dint in the drivers side boot. It runs and drives very well, has 4 excellent tyres but centre caps missing.Heater motor not working, hot air does come out of the vents but no blower. Any inspection welcome. £995 no offers
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