My £350 E30 320
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:09 pm
When I joined the Zone a few weeks ago, I was just about to buy a 320 off a mate. I'd not seen it, because he lives in Croydon and I live in West Yorkshire. A distance of 220 miles. I'd seen photos but you know what it's like. They always look better in them. It looked good, so I bought it for the princely sum of £350. I posted some pics up at the time but none that I'd taken.
Today, finally, I was able to get the train down and pick it up. Phil was selling it because he hadn't used it since buying it last year. Its only done 800 miles since the last MOT. When I got to his, he'd been having problems with the battery holding charge, so we had to go out and buy a new one. £79! Phil said he'd pay. Top bloke.
The body is very sound. One arch is mint, the other is starting to bubble. The OS scuttle is starting to bubble, and the NS is mint.
£350 you say?
Here's the drivers sill
Looks nice and straight
The good scuttle (that's dirt)
The bad one
Under the bonnet
The interior is passable, but has bits missing. eg: The ECU cover under the column, the triangle bit by the drivers mirror, the blanking plate in the passenger door pull. There's a chunk missing out of the drivers window seal. I've got a replacement to fit. The radio is shit. There isn't an aerial, just a grommet where it should be. The drivers electric window button has a broken connector and the sunroof handle has come off (a new one came with it).
On the plus side he left some change for me
Under the bonnet the clips holding the headlight backing plates are missing
and WTF is this?
Driving wise, it seems to go ok, but feels a bit lethargic at low speeds. I don't remember my old 320 being like this, but five years of driving a mad Anglia Van may be making me think they should be more spritely. I did the 220 miles home at a decent motorway cruising speed, only stopping once for petrol, and it didn't miss a beat. It even got a couple of admiring looks from passing cars.
There is also a metallic scraping sounds at low speeds that seems to be coming from the N/S/R wheel. It may be just the brake drum rubbing because it's constant, rather than a rumble of a knackered wheel bearing. Doesn't sound like diff whine either (any ideas anyone?).
Tomorrow, I'm getting it up on the ramp at my mates garage to have a proper look underneath. Previous advisories have mentioned corroded brake pipes, and they don't seem to have been replaced. I'll probably change those then put it in for its MOT which runs out in four weeks.
After that I'm going to replace the bushes and lower it a bit. Then I'll be collecting the parts to do an M52 conversion.
Today, finally, I was able to get the train down and pick it up. Phil was selling it because he hadn't used it since buying it last year. Its only done 800 miles since the last MOT. When I got to his, he'd been having problems with the battery holding charge, so we had to go out and buy a new one. £79! Phil said he'd pay. Top bloke.
The body is very sound. One arch is mint, the other is starting to bubble. The OS scuttle is starting to bubble, and the NS is mint.
£350 you say?
Here's the drivers sill
Looks nice and straight
The good scuttle (that's dirt)
The bad one
Under the bonnet
The interior is passable, but has bits missing. eg: The ECU cover under the column, the triangle bit by the drivers mirror, the blanking plate in the passenger door pull. There's a chunk missing out of the drivers window seal. I've got a replacement to fit. The radio is shit. There isn't an aerial, just a grommet where it should be. The drivers electric window button has a broken connector and the sunroof handle has come off (a new one came with it).
On the plus side he left some change for me
Under the bonnet the clips holding the headlight backing plates are missing
and WTF is this?
Driving wise, it seems to go ok, but feels a bit lethargic at low speeds. I don't remember my old 320 being like this, but five years of driving a mad Anglia Van may be making me think they should be more spritely. I did the 220 miles home at a decent motorway cruising speed, only stopping once for petrol, and it didn't miss a beat. It even got a couple of admiring looks from passing cars.
There is also a metallic scraping sounds at low speeds that seems to be coming from the N/S/R wheel. It may be just the brake drum rubbing because it's constant, rather than a rumble of a knackered wheel bearing. Doesn't sound like diff whine either (any ideas anyone?).
Tomorrow, I'm getting it up on the ramp at my mates garage to have a proper look underneath. Previous advisories have mentioned corroded brake pipes, and they don't seem to have been replaced. I'll probably change those then put it in for its MOT which runs out in four weeks.
After that I'm going to replace the bushes and lower it a bit. Then I'll be collecting the parts to do an M52 conversion.
)
lol or a rottweiller spec seat!!