First time buying an E30 advise please !!

Post Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:29 pm

Post Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:38 pm

Looks solid from photos. I'd say 3k might be slightly on the high side.

Remove rear door cards or ask the owner to and look down for rust. Also check bulkhead and engine bay for rust as well as outer sills underneath where the rear arch joins the sill. Make sure engine isn't tappety and check carpet to see if its wet and any leaks anywhere. Also check for rust under boot carpet. Cheers

Post Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:50 pm

matt86 wrote:Looks solid from photos. I'd say 3k might be slightly on the high side.

Remove rear door cards or ask the owner to and look down for rust. Also check bulkhead and engine bay for rust as well as outer sills underneath where the rear arch joins the sill. Make sure engine isn't tappety and check carpet to see if its wet and any leaks anywhere. Also check for rust under boot carpet. Cheers

Thanks for the advise mate ! Ill take it into account when I go see it.

Post Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:54 pm

JBentley95 wrote:
matt86 wrote:Looks solid from photos. I'd say 3k might be slightly on the high side.

Remove rear door cards or ask the owner to and look down for rust. Also check bulkhead and engine bay for rust as well as outer sills underneath where the rear arch joins the sill. Make sure engine isn't tappety and check carpet to see if its wet and any leaks anywhere. Also check for rust under boot carpet. Cheers
Thanks for the advise mate ! Ill take it into account when I go see it.

Ok, main problem with e30's is rust so just look everywhere.

Would be best to take someone with you that knows e30's well. If you put a post on here there may he someone local to you that could help you check it over.

Be careful you can spend 2000+ and end up with a rotten shifter.

Also check stamped vin number on bulkhead matches with the one on the logbook

Post Mon Jul 06, 2015 10:57 pm

Is that a hole on the scuttle ( left of pic by the rubber trim)or am i seeing things..!
Also looks kind of rusty by that fusebox too, if thats the case the likelihood of worse lies beneath the fusebox!
Check it out before paying a deposit!

Post Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:08 pm

ajay wrote:Is that a hole on the scuttle ( left of pic by the rubber trim)or am i seeing things..!
Also looks kind of rusty by that fusebox too, if thats the case the likelihood of worse lies beneath the fusebox!
Check it out before paying a deposit!

Yes it is a hole, I didn't spot that either.

They go under the fusebox close to the suspension turret too as one of mine has gone there

Post Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:15 pm

Yes i think it is”¦ I did notice it before. Could that cause any major problems ?

Post Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:38 am

The car has definitely had some front end action as both wings have been off. The bonnet fit is poor, the rear valence is rusty by the tow eye, the interior is a retrim and nasty council ICE installs are seldom done on nice cars..........

The pictures are pretty crap, they show so little of what matters that one could be forgiven for thinking the seller had gone out of his way to NOT show any of the bits that matter !

Tread VERY warily !

Post Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:59 am

pacerpete wrote:The car has definitely had some front end action as both wings have been off. The bonnet fit is poor, the rear valence is rusty by the tow eye, the interior is a retrim and nasty council ICE installs are seldom done on nice cars..........

The pictures are pretty crap, they show so little of what matters that one could be forgiven for thinking the seller had gone out of his way to NOT show any of the bits that matter !

Tread VERY warily !

Donedeal drought = grumpy Pete.

Post Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:02 am

The last picture shows there is rust appearing on the offside (driver's side) scuttle as well

Post Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:11 pm

Also add the moody non genuine BBS wheels (check the centre caps) and the sunroof doesn't look to fit properly at the front. The tyres look as though they may be too high a profile, 205/60 E36 size.

Look at the mounting for the washer bottle too (where the round black retaining disc screws down) - that looks like some pretty grim rust but it needs looking at in person rather than relying too much on photos.

Missing front wing bolt as well.

Plus NFS is a Scottish registration - not good news on the rust front. If these things can be spotted from a few photos, I dread to think what it's like in the flesh.

Post Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:18 pm

No one else noticed the 15A fuel pump fuse?

Post Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:30 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:No one else noticed the 15A fuel pump fuse?

I was too shocked by the sight of a fusebox lid with its catch intact !

The slippery seller undoubtedly fitted that to distract us paedos and throw us off the scent

Post Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:34 pm

If you use it much and the mileage goes over 200K, it'll be hard to get much of the purchase price back I'd have thought (come resale)

Post Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:41 pm

Thanks for all the advise. Think I'm gonna pass on this one its a long way to go for a viewing and I need it as a daily runner (80 min round journey to work). Think I might have to hold back on an E30 until circumstances change... and my budget increases.
Cheers for all the help !

Post Wed Jul 08, 2015 7:02 pm

What's been fitted inline on the top radiator pipe?

Also missing bulkhead loom cover, near side gutter trim and wrong kind of foglight switch fitted. not even close to a 3k car IMO.

Post Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:04 pm

High vis in the boot. Done.