this is my first post, but I've already used a lot of the excellent resources on here in my search for a 325i sport. It's an excellent site and I'm sure I'll be calling on you all lots more through the coming months!
I bought this 325 last Sunday: http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C35950?pt=pf
Any opinions on it? I found it was in good condition when I had a look (a few small spots of rust, but an entirely standard car that felt fairly un-abused), and instantly fell in love with the engine when I had a test drive, so I bought it (for less than the asking price!).
First things first, the lack of service history means I've got to do the timing belt to put my mind at rest. Looking through the post here my plan is to do the following all at once: timing belt + tensioner + spring + pin, water pump + gasket, distributor rotor arm, spark plugs, oil drain change + filter, fuel filter, aux belt and tappet adjustment. Is any of that overkill, or is there anything else you'd suggest?
Front brakes also need doing (rears were just done). Can anyone suggest manufacturers of pads and discs that offer something in between 'budget' and high-end? I don't need massive performance, but I'm always nervous of very cheap parts.
Also, final thing. My morning's been very mixed. It's nice and damp in Brighton today, and my commute to work gave me my first experience of getting the tail out (this is my first RWD car!) which was BU-RRRILIANT!
However I also discovered that the flat part of the passenger footwell was damp. Just took a pic under the car and found this http://a4.vox.com/6a00e398d23e79000300e398e10b540005-pi
I'm guessing here, but I think that's not good
I'm gonna get the passenger seat and carpet out this weekend and investigate. Any advice on where else to look/check and how to fix would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Finn
Not an expensive nor difficult place to get repaired tbh. 
I think it is a fair assumption that the MOT is a bit dodgy as that rust IS a fail ! 
A bit of advice on searching for rust, if the car has a sun roof it is stongly recomended to inspect inside the roof skin and sun roof tray where the sun roof slides into. Do this by putting the sun roof in the tilt position and with a torch, from inside the car, look into the roof towards the rear of the car and inspect inside. The problem here is that the two drain holes in the rear corners can become blocked and hold water in this area and along with this are being unpainted (pimer is porous to water) can rot out very easily and be tricky to repair properly. Roof skins are now NLA from BMW but the tray part with the drain holes that the sun roof panel slides into is still availible along with the sunroof panel its self.
