i went with a 1990 325i sport that was in bad need of some major tlc.
it has 150,000 miles on it and came with all the bits, tool kit, owners manual and a full bmw service history up until 2006 (125000 miles) when it left England and went to north Ireland where the trail stops and abuse almost defiantly took place!
rust had set in in usual areas such as front floor pans, rear arches, tailgate, bottom of wings, scuttle roof etc
.cloth interior was also badly worn/damaged!!
reason i bought the car is because it was dirt cheap
and the the running gear was very good. engine, diff and box are all bone dry with not a single drop of oil anywhere, not leaking / burning oil or coolant and no overheating issues.so heres a few pics of it when i got it first
sorry about bad quality
underneath is dirty but dry . .
first day i got it another one was in to the garage for tyres!!
its a real shame the car was abused and let go after 2006 because reading through the service history its obvious the previous owner kept it mint and minded it very well. major work was all carried out at main dealer including head gasket & bolts , timing belt & water pump and regular coolant changes and brake fluid changes!
so before i went spending money and taking things apart i drove the car daily for over a month to fing every little niggely problem. so not surprisingly it dindn't take too long to notice the wipers not working and not very long after that i noticed the heater not working!:mad: these two problems coupled together have a real bad effect and lead to having to drive in the rain with your head out the window in a fully fogged up cab.
so a wiper motor was first on the list, got one, fitted it and life was made easier! while i was in the general location of the heater motor i noticed the fan wasn't spinning freely so out with it, loads of wd40, loads of elbow grease until spinning freely, new fuse and yet another problem sorted.
next problem was hand brake seized and front ball joint and inner tie rod worn so new shoes and pads in the rear and free out mechanism and full track rod assembly and ball joint in front.
time for a pic or 2 . (sorry for lack of pics, not east remember everything)
next small problem was a bad connection in rear lamps so sandpaper and grease and a tweak with a pliers strengthened contact and solved that one. reverse lights not working yet as i need to fit new switch to gearbox which i have but didn't get around to doing yet.
so thats all the small stuff over, time to ruin every sunday of my winter
took it all apart to find and eliminate every speck of rust and it didnt take too long to find it!!
scuttle was rotten bad and had ben stuffed with filler
what looked like a hairy head had been stuffed around both rear arches!!!
so started cutting out holes and doing my least favorite job ever which consists of measuring, cutting and bending endless amounts of times followed by welding and grinding and so on and so on . .
all rust out and time to replace holes with new 1.5mm shiny steel
this piece took ages to do . .
got a new scuttle panel and pillar of bmw, was a pain to get because had to bring in the book with proof of ownership as chassis number is printed on new panel.
this tail piece wasn't easy either. bent the correct angle in a piece, welded it on and then had to weld new piece on to that to act as runner for rubber boot seal.
made up piece for wing as i had no time to source new one and i am tight!!:p
Had to replace bottom piece of both rear inner arches also
now don't shoot me, i know its not the neatest or tidyest bit of fabrication but its underneath the skirts, its structurally strong and water tight and it will be pasted with seam sealer and stone chip guard so its good enough for me
That's pretty much all rust eliminated now. i done a few more typical small bits in the floor that i forgot to take pics of.
Applied seam sealer and stone chip guard sealer to all repaired areas (forgot to take pics of course!!)
boot lid was beginning to rust underneath the silicone type rim around it so wire wheel was out again, cleaned it up, painted and sealed . . and of course forgot to take pic again!!
both rear floor pans were in surprisingly good condition so cleaned them up, welded covers in place, more seam sealer and stone chip guard stuff!!
the car had previously been undersealed so underneath , although its dirty, doesn't need attention. however while i hade the wire wheel in my hand i cleaned a few areas and done them!
underneath rear bumper was done along with inside front quarters, lower wings and sills
so now body is finally good.:dance:
Don't know if i mentioned but car is getting a full respray in its original diamond black and after loads and loads . . . and loads of sanding it is ready and will be getting done within the next 2 weeks (hopefully).
also have a full new scorpion exhaust & manifold gaskets, a black leather re trimmed interior as well as many other goodies laying around to install so until next time wish me luck!! :dance:
also noticed a bit of confusion about the existence of a ''k plate sport'' so to clear that up . . . .
all numbers matching, not reported stolen, scrapped etc . . the plates were changed by a previous owner in 2005 from a g plate to the now pate. i don't know why they were changed (personal preference maybe) but all this was carried out in the correct manner and car is 100% legal and legit. so now at least that's one thing put behind us . . 
had lost their gas and wouldn't push the seat up or down or back or forward. . . i guess that just slipped the sellers mind when counting my money .. 
