New owner

[driftwood]

Hi. I have an "F" reg' 325i. I've only owned it for 4 days and never owned one before so I'm looking for some advise. Is my car a facelift or pre facelift? What's the difference? Where's the best place to get body panels? The rear inner and outer arches need a bit of attention...

[Grrrmachine]

Well done, and good work on getting a proper E30!

If you want to learn more about the cars, the Wiki is a good place to start. This page has info on facelifts, panels and rust:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Bodywork

[e301988325i]

Welcome, obviously best place for panels is BMW, however if you want to be able to afford them then aftermarket is the only option.

Your car as standard based on '89 F reg; is a plastic bumber facelift model, motronic 1.3 engine management, an 8.8:1 compression engine known as an 256k1. Probably 3.64:1 diff if it's not a touring or auto. Manual will be an overdrive gearbox with a 0.8:1 output.

Check the fuel consumption, less than 24-25mpg combined and something is probably up.

[driftwood]

Thank's for the replies. Mine used to be a track day car and has no interior. It also has a badly fitted roll cage. It has an lsd but I don't know what the ratio is. I assume the gearbox is "standard", except for the quick shift and worn out bushes. I'm really looking forward to getting my car sorted and back on the road. It sounds brilliant!

[mcbonio]

Congrats driftwood,

The 325i is the pick of the bunch, you'll have a lot of fun with her, especially all the little surprises that pop up as you get to know your car.!

Like any older car it will need bits doing to it depending on how much of a perfectionist you are. But its all worth it, even to this day every time I start my 325i up it puts a little smile on my stupid face.! E30s have this mad way of captivating a guys heart, like a school kid with a stupid crush... ahhhh

Ok Ok gushing over... This is the place if you need E30 help, the guys are a knowledgeable bunch and are always willing to help with advice and give decent prices on parts if you need them.! I've saved thousands doing jobs myself from advice given here.!

Good luck and welcome to E30 zone!

_mcbonio

[Rtaylor2208]

It won neccessarily be a facelift on a F plate as mine is a 89 G Plate and is pre facelift.

Best way for us to tell for sure is to stick up a few pictures. The biggest giveaways is metal bumpers are pre facelift and plastic are post.

Also the rear lights are different pre and post.

[cecotto479]

Keep up at the back Taylor.

Only convertibles got past the '88F without facelift body shells and even they had the facelift mechanics.
An '88F saloon will be a facelift, a post '87 but pre 1991 model year (late 1990 build) convertible will be pre facelift body with facelift mechanics. Earliest facelift convertibles were 1990 H plates.

[Rtaylor2208]

Boyd, spot on, never read the original post for some reason had it in my head it was a cabby.