E30 Zone

i have a bmw e30 318is red has been sat on the drive since last august, and befor that stored since 2010 its a 4 preivous owener car , it had £1500 spent at cotswold bmw less than 2000miles ago new chain and sprokets and exhaust and speedo and fluids gaskets seals etc the car paint has gone a bit flat and few small dents and scratches,front skirt is missing and rear spoiler laquer cracking and off colour but the interior is good one crack in dash and seats good apart from side vinal trim peeling back. its very straight and origanl car, the bbs wheels 14" like new its on steels at the moment due to tyres perishing on bbs. its has service book with good history nearly all at bmw dealers. its mot till august no tax.
advice do a clean it up get the small bits of paint work done tax it use it for a while or sell as it and what would be the value diffrence, i dont have much time as of work and other hobbies its a shame to see the car sat on the drive. Ive been watching some of the feed back for cars for sale and must say im bit lost what to do.
regards james

sorry about my spelling and grammar

what's your location ?

cheltenham gloucestershire, i cant seam to get the pictures to show up>

If you put image 'tags' around each of the http links you posted above you will get an image.

e.g.
would result in

the big question is how do you value the car, now and after the bits are done on it

IMO, assuming the mileage is still under 100k, could be a 3k car with all the issues addressed and sorted. Assuming there are no other rust issues of note (I did notice a bit on the rear panel) a prudently spent £1000 should get it up to scratch.

Nobody will pay 2k as it is, indeed I reckon 1k is nearer the mark so it is definately worth your while investing some time and money into it for the best return.

Is it supposed to be this pink?

Worth spending some time and money on I'd say. Get some Farecla on that bonnet. Ultimately your heart has to be in it.

I would be seriously interested in your car mate.
Thing is as said above it needs time and money spent on it.

If you were willing to sell for around £800 to £1000 perhaps we could talk.

depends on the problem areas for rot. my advise is to take pictures of the common problem areas for rust/rot

it will be obvious it will have rust but to what extent, lift all the carpets, take door cards off, get the carpet out the boot, towing eyes & rear panel. If these area are good i'd say its a £1500 car.

whilst i appreciate mechanically its likely to be spot on, but the biggest killer of these cars is tin worm. i'd much have buy a solid shell with knackered running gear than a rotten shell with good running gear

i have a good bonnet for this

Grrrmachine wrote:Is it supposed to be this pink?

Bonnet looks fine to me.

looks f00ked to me .

That's not fooked at all, that's an easy fix.

Rav335uk wrote:That's not fooked at all, that's an easy fix.

right oh .

i think my bonnet will be cheaper

Cheaper than knocking a small ding out? Doubt it

FinalD wrote:Cheaper than knocking a small ding out? Doubt it

can you access the rear to knock the dent out



bash on .

Have the clocks been adjusted, I can just about make out 00195*.

its new speedometer fitted at cotwold bmw the millage when fitted is on the in voice.i think its in photo number 2.

the photo order is bit all over the place themost recent photos are of the car whith steel wheels on, thank you all for the advice feed back.

veeza wrote:its new speedometer fitted at cotwold bmw the millage when fitted is on the in voice.i think its in photo number 2.

That is a major fail Why do main dealers insist on fitting a zeroed speedo? It is not as if they do not know how to adjust them to the correct mileage

ive just had all the carpet out in the boot will put photos up bit later, was bit of mission lost sum skin on my knuckles, and amazing how the rear light bulbs are fitted, these cars are so well made

i no and the price of the speedo to cotswold BMW is not far and i have the reciets and service history and mot would they be able to rejust the milage to correct millage on the plus side it dose look very fresh the rest of the cabin is like new

The dealer will not reset it. They will give you some b0llox about it is against the law etc etc. Obviously if it was one of their own cars it may be a different matter.....

It is a pretty straight forward job that can be done form start to finish by anybody familiar with these cars in less than an hour. I personally would do it as your cars usp is that it is sub 100k and it has comprehensive dealer history. A zeroed speedo will flag up warning signs and lots of potential victims may shy off.

Put it in for an MOT , get the BBS back on it, refit the correct front spoiler, get it valeted and get it on ebay with a detailed ad and be sure to use spell checker ! Don't be offended but poor spelling and grammar in a for sale ad imply that the seller is careless and lazy, just the sort of person people do NOT want to buy a car off !

If you are going to correct the speedo, then do it before any MOT, otherwise it will look even more dodgy with the reading disagreeing with the recorded reading.