E30 Zone

Hi all,

I'm after a car to run around in for a bit of fun, and I've pretty much decided to go for an E30 325i. I've seen one that I'm likely to plum for but I just wanted to ask a few questions with regards to it.

It's quite an early model sitting on a D plate which I thought was an '87, but the seller believed it to be an '86 and a friend of mine thinks that the early ones had quite a bit less power than the latter models. Is this the case? Is there anything I should be aware of with these cars? It's in pretty good condition with only 65,000 on the clock and a fair amount of history to back this up. All the usual checks seemed to give the thumbs up, such as fluids, no blue smoke etc etc. Only issue being that they had bought the car for a bit of track day fun and have striped it out, whereas I'll be running it on the road more than track, so will be looking for a complete interior to put back in, are these easy to get hold of and realatively inexpensive? Also it sounded pretty loud and throaty (which I was quite impressed with) but is this normal?

Any help and general advise about these cars is much appreciated as I'm a newbie to them!

Thanks in advance.

Early models tend to have more power due to the higher compression ratio..

interior is easy to find depending on what you are after..

yes they are pretty "throaty"

65000 miles if its been looked after is nothing for the M20B25 engine fitted to the 325i.

Main thing to look for is rust, EVERYWHERE!

Welcome by the way.

My '86 325i has over 200K miles on the clock. I doubt the one you're looking at has been fully run - in yet!

Thanks all, sounds pretty good to me! To be honest I was actually abit put off by the mileage as it sounds a bit too low (if thats possible!) but it does seem to be genuine. I did/do have another car inline for a viewing which is an Alpine white 325i Touring, that has a much more realisitc but still fairly low 133k on the clock and a reported 'near on full service history'. Main attraction with this car would be that it actually has an interior!

Anyone else found Direct line to be unreasonably cheap with insurance quotes? I dont think they do mods though so I'll be having to keep it pretty standard.

A pretty 'pub banter' question to ask, but what sort of power does the 325 have? Any idea of weight?

171bhp was the factory figure

Looked after they go for ever, my brothers touring has done in excess of 225k and still going strong. Only issues are the body work.

Unladen but with a full tank weight of a 2dr saloon is aprox 1200kg depending on equipment level. Tourings weigh aprox 80kg more.

Unless it's a Touring with AC and a sludgebox. Mine seems to weigh a lot more than 1280kg.

Better balance and aero of the touring more than makes up for the extra 80kg over the saloons, not to mention the better quality construction from being made in a much more modern factory than the saloons.

Brianmoooore wrote:Better balance and aero of the touring more than makes up for the extra 80kg over the saloons, not to mention the better quality construction from being made in a much more modern factory than the saloons.

I would not say there is a vast difference in bodyshell construction quality.

early cars are a lot quicker and lighter and better on fuel Tourings are gerat cars but they have the lesser later engine so will be a lot slower and use more fuel. Treat the 65k with caution but if its not rusty i would fancy the earlier car. the early engines seem to be a bit noisier but obviously the exhaust is a factor too. As for interiors sports interiors are hard to come buy and refurbing them is a pain in the arse.

I had a 1986 c reg 325i which I bought with 56000 miles on the clock. It was complete and virtually standard apart from induction kit and back box. The general condition the original seats and foot pedals etc lead me to believe that the mileage was genuine. It was one of the nicest cars I've owned.

Despite the interior being mint, it was a horrible biege colour so i changed it for a leather recarro style from a later 325ise model. Post face lift the rear quarter panels are slightly deeper which means that the interior trim will not quite fit either side of the back seat, standing proud of the back window by a few cm. Mine was a two door car so I'm not sure if its the same with a four door.

You definately need to watch for rust though and without proper care the engine and running gear will out last the rest of the car.

pnd wrote:early cars are a lot quicker and lighter and better on fuel Tourings are gerat cars but they have the lesser later engine so will be a lot slower and use more fuel. Treat the 65k with caution but if its not rusty i would fancy the earlier car. the early engines seem to be a bit noisier but obviously the exhaust is a factor too. As for interiors sports interiors are hard to come buy and refurbing them is a pain in the arse.

Later cars are not a "Lot" slower but there is a noticable difference.
Its not exactly night and day so to speak.

Sport interiors are not that hard to find and refurbing them is not that hard for someone with a basic level of skill.

There are a couple of guides on renovating sport front seats.

E30Gheko wrote:Post face lift the rear quarter panels are slightly deeper which means that the interior trim will not quite fit either side of the back seat, standing proud of the back window by a few cm. Mine was a two door car so I'm not sure if its the same with a four door.

All post and pre facelift interior parts are interchangeable with one another.

The only differences in the rear quarter panel that you mention are the height of the wheel arch with the pre facelift saloons being higher and the other difference in the rear quarter is area below the rear bumper which is deeper on the post facelift cars. None of this will effect the fitment of interior trim.

All convertibles, pre and post facelift have the lower rear wheel arch profile.

Thanks for all your input.

I'm going to look at the Touring tonight as its only 20mins from my house. I figured I may as well make a well balanced decision, and I've got a mate who was a BMW technician, and now works for Thorney coming along to give expert advice.

I will be using the car as a daily driver and this is the reason that I have a difficult decision to make. The 4 Door D plate I saw on Sunday has been bought by the current seller off someone who had modified it for track use. This being some kind of up-rated suspension, up-rated brakes, and a completely stripped out interior. This did however give me the chance to see the car inside out and there was no rust to be seen anywhere! It really was impressive. I used to own a MK1 MR2 so I've had my fair share of rear arch rust issues! I could only see a small patch about the size of a 5p close to the bottom of the rear arch and that was it. The body work was so solid, the seller believes the car must have been garaged and I'd be inclined to agree. The major downside however is that as a daily drive I will be needing to put an interior in, and that’s not just a set of rear seats, it needs everything, carpets, door cards, boot liner, the lot!

So what do you guys think? Will I be able to take advantage of this 99.9% rust free 4 door, of if the Touring seems ok, should I just go for that? Days are getting shorter and colder to be outside fitting interiors!

Back from the Touring viewing and its thrown up as many questions as answers! The car was a 'good honest' daily driver. The previous owner was a BMW mechanic and as such the car had good service history. It did however sound a tinsy bit tappety to my ears but I've very little experience of how what these cars sound. It also had a small oil leak I noticed on the floor where it had been parked, I believe from the sump gasket. The Interior was full leather lined glorious luxury, and immaculate, somebody must have been using leather feed! The downside was a pretty rusty passenger side rear arch, which in my eyes would need a replacement arch welding in. Overall a really nice car though.

So the decision is; 4 door with much cleaner bodywork and less miles but needs a complete interior, or Touring with rusty patches, sligthly scruffy around the edges but a more honest feel and leather lined luxury. Oh also electric everything, 4 door has 'keep fit' wind up windows.

The touring sounds like a more desireable car what with the history and spec. Tourings a generally worth more than 4dr E30's anyhow and as long as its solid, a bit of tidying is to be expected with a 2yr old car. M20 engines do tend to sound a bit "tappety" normaly but the sump gasket is a bit of a pain to replace.

bss325i wrote:The touring sounds like a more desireable car what with the history and spec. Tourings a generally worth more than 4dr E30's anyhow and as long as its solid, a bit of tidying is to be expected with a 2yr old car. M20 engines do tend to sound a bit "tappety" normaly but the sump gasket is a bit of a pain to replace.

I hope a 2yr old car is not dirty/messed up at all still hasn't reach its warranty lol

Chase007 wrote:

bss325i wrote:The touring sounds like a more desireable car what with the history and spec. Tourings a generally worth more than 4dr E30's anyhow and as long as its solid, a bit of tidying is to be expected with a 2yr old car. M20 engines do tend to sound a bit "tappety" normaly but the sump gasket is a bit of a pain to replace.

I hope a 2yr old car is not dirty/messed up at all still hasn't reach its warranty lol

Oops, missed off the 0!

What is the full spec on the touring? What is the full spec on the ex track car? Normally we say on here that the most important factor is rust but if you are happy with the work needed to rid the car of rot, then I suspect the balance tips in favour of the touring. I can't see a decent track suspension setup being much use on the road unless it is top of the line and fully adjustable for ride height etc.
If you have found sport leather in that touring and it is in great condition its probably worth £6-700 on its own.