Joe's 325i Sport - now M20B28'd - finally back on the road

[TriggerFish]

So.

I've wanted one of these for about two years. I've finally left uni and got into a position where buying one was worthwhile/justifiable.

I had been holding out for a white one, but this came up locally so I went to have a look, and ended up buying it.

Most of you most likely saw this on eBay in Wycombe. I was wondering why it took so long to sell, but thought it would be worth paying it a visit as it was only about 20 minutes away, and it seems fine on the whole.

It's had 5 previous owners, was been garaged stored, has done 7,000 miles since 2006 with the same owner since 1996, and has less rust than my e46. I think the spare tyre is the original too!

Spec includes luxury items such as mechanically adjustable rear headrests (oooo), heated driver's door lock (aaah), heated leather seats (working), map/mirror lights and wipers for the headlights.

First thoughts are it drives great! No banging/clunks/noises/sloppiness. Just needs the speedo wires replacing, and the driver's seat reclining mech. fixing.

I met up with a friend after buying it, as he lives just around the corner from the seller, and when parked up already had one person ask questions about it, and take a couple of photos on their phone.

My first thoughts were to use it for fast road/track use, but I'm thinking I'll just restore it to factory fresh, and modernise a couple of bits like the brakes and new shocks/springs.

Not much else to say for now, but here's some photos:







And one with a friend's 330cd



It's really dusty in the photos, but will give it a good polish and wax over the weekend.

Current status update is that there's a fuel leak, and currently not starting. Will investigate, along with a full service, over Easter. The car never smelt of petrol on the test drive, or for the first day of ownership, but when I parked it up last night, it stank. The smell went overnight, but returned when I cranked it over this morning. The leak is at the front of the car, so I'm hoping it's just a pipe that's come loose or something.

Anyway, I'll try and keep this updated as I go, but don't expect any wild changes!

[mcbonio]

Looks great chap.! Nice buy.!

The fuel hoses in the engine bay perish, start following it from the fuel filter onwards, theres only a few pieces in there so not hard to find.

[bab-91]

So.


I'm thinking I'll just restore it to factory fresh, and modernise a couple of bits like the brakes and new shocks/springs.

Right choice. I think Pacerpete has cruise control for sale, it's always a nice addition or upgrade to e46 power steering.


When I bought my e30 it leaked fuel after the 400 mile drive home. Turned out to be a loose jubilee clip! Hope you get it sorted soon.


Best of luck with your new steed!

[Fal_325i]

I remember it well from ebay, was up for strong money, Wycombe and e30's are normally not a good combo, but this looks good, do remember seeing the car circa 1999 in the Naphill area, the chap who used to own it was a bit of an arrogant toss bag tbf.

[TriggerFish]

Cheers guys.

Yeah, the original eBay price was much too high IMO. I might have over paid a bit, but I'm still happy with it. It was in Walter's Ash, so one of the nicer parts of Wycombe (having seen some complete crap in Wycombe, I'm well accustomed to the usual type of seller..). The owner in 1999 woulda been this guy's dad, who I didn't meet.

Found the cause of the fuel leak too:



Doesn't seem like proper braided fuel hose either. Will pick some up tomorrow and get it fixed.

Also hopefully fixed up the speedo today too after improving on this repair effort:



Next things to attack are the seats (back doesn't lock, can't alter the height - pistons?), swap out the radio for my old one iPod one (will look rubbish, but it's better than the current aftermarket one for now), fix the headlight washers, and bleed the brakes (and eventually replace), new tyres, and then attack the rust. (Not sure what order yet though.)

I was under it earlier for the speedo drive, and it looks mostly very good under there. Maybe a little bit of work needed on the sills, but I think that's about it, but I knew that when buying it. Possibly some work on the battery box at some point in a couple of years, but maybe not.

[bab-91]

Check out Blaupunkt SQR88 on YouTube.


Right period radio & it plays iPods.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Nice buy mate!

Love an original tech II Sport!

Good luck with it!

[TriggerFish]

Well, I've made some headway with this - I've fixed all the seats (just needed lubricating) and have a fully working set of headlight washers now. However, I've come across some minor rust patches.

These photos are a selection taken over a period of time since I got it until this morning. They're mostly in chronological order as I discovered new bits as I stripped the car down further.

Currently, it's in a bodyshop to have the holes fixed, new outer sills fitted and the inners repaired and then a complete respray. Not particularly happy with the car if I'm honest, and I really wish I hadn't bought it, but not really sure where else to go with it... Yes, I know it's my fault, I don't need telling this!

Anyway, photos say a 1,000 words, but this is a nice warning as to why you shouldn't buy anything from Wycombe, and why bodykits and mastic are bad!

Passenger's footwell







Driver's









Boot after cleaning it up a bit



Inner passenger's rear arch (as seen from the boot)



Battery box



Until now, the car was at a friend's place who restores classics (1930s era) cars for a living, who was meant to be welding it up, but the work just wasn't getting done, so I bought it home, found a bodyshop and set about ripping it apart to see what I had







Inner passenger's rear quarter panel



Inner driver's rear quarter panel



Sweet merciful crap!



I managed to cut this much out in about 30 minutes



Whatever this is (scuttle?) is solid











This hurt to see



These were taken today at the body shop, and is with the car up on ramps. I dunno which side this, but it's the sill and floor. Not much of a join there!





Driver's side rear



Passenger's side footwell





Driver's side footwell







And yes. It has MOT until March! I've written to VOSA...

On the bright side, once it's done, I know I won't have to worry about it again for a good number of years, and it'll be dry stored, so shouldn't get wet enough to be a problem.

[beemermech]

YIP IV GOT THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH MY BAUR MATE

[Gert_8]

Wow, just goes to prove a car can look pretty sweet on the outside with that on the inside.

I'm already subscribed to your thread so looking forward to the work to come. Well done.

[pacerpete]

Tigerseal FTW !!


Alas, these sort of issues are becoming the rule, not the exception


I remember that turd on ebay. Was the seller a garage owner IIRC ?

[jimbom30cab]

Pretty standard stuff there mate, most of them are like that. Have fun and keep up the good work. Love the old skool resto threads like this

[TriggerFish]

Good luck, Pacer will be at the kitchen towels as the Kleenex just won't cut it.

A white respray wasn't what I had in mind!

Tigerseal FTW !!

Was the seller a garage owner IIRC ?

Tigerseal and cardboard. Can't forget the card!

Yes, he was. This was his car though, not one he was selling on. Glad I do my own servicing when you see the sort of bodges he's made. It wasn't his garage that MOT'd it (can you do your own car?), so I'm guessing it was a mate's, not that that's any better.

Pretty standard stuff there mate, most of them are like that. Have fun and keep up the good work. Love the old skool resto threads like this

Sad to see though when it's sat on your drive The really gutting thing is, I saw one visibly in this condition and turned it down. I really wish I'd gone for that instead now, as at least I'd have known I was buying into a world of problems.

[jimbom30cab]

Don't be sad mate, they are all like this in fact many are worse but ALL of them are minters in the seller's descriptions and priced second only to the crown jewels.

the roof repair is probably the critical one here, all the rest is routine patching.

[TriggerFish]

Yeah, the roof is a kicker. Annoyingly, it's not one he's hidden either, unlike the rest of the car.

Oh well, live and learn, it's only money at the end of the day...

When it's done it can join the elite £10k Sports club at least! Yay!

[jimbom30cab]

Absolutely, there are loads of disillusioned members of the "I think my sport is worth 10k" club.

Back on planet earth...... do a good job and keep it as long as you can, you'll love driving and maintaining it.

[TriggerFish]

If the insurance ask - I'm happy to go with £10k

Aye, it's left a good impression from the tiny distance I've driven it so far - much more 'connected' and involving feeling than my 330d daily. Got an 067 rack to go on it though as the standard one is woeful!

[polsta]

Just get it done and once done youl have a better the devil you know sorted car

One thing I'd asvise before paint , with the bulkhead and inner sill and visible floor issues - its absoloutly vital to get the all the floor pan sound deadening stripped out , rust forms and hides under that and you can bet you'd have at least surface rust under it of not more, shame to do the rest and leave that be thinking its ok to then rust out later , although it may be on your list I thought from expirience I'd point that out , plus once its a taken back and sorted , you can then re paint it with new deadening and it be like new

Also get them to have a very close look and poke at the strip that goes across floor pan to bulkhead join , a strip of sealant goes right across over an overlapping join there just after where the floor pan curves up

And also take back all the inner arches sealant too and get that rust checked and re sealed , as Jimbo will know he always does that and there's always rust , a lot of people ignore that , rust hides under that good looking sealant

It took me 2 years to do my car, keep the faith and once done youl love it

But if areas are too bad and too much bodgery has to be done , maybe just patch it all up and not spend too much and drive and enjoy it instead of spending fortunes

But like Pete says this is the norm and it takes a brave man to really hunt out the rust and do it properly , instead if just thinking its a restored car after a quick re spray

Good luck

[bss325i]

They are not ALL like this and that's a fact.

Although there are a lot.

[jimbom30cab]

The 100% MUST DO is to go back to bare metal in the rear arches. See my tech 1 resto thread to see why.

All the best

[jimbom30cab]

ok, "All" is a bit digital, agree....most of them are like this.

The ones that aren't are exceptional cars and impossible to price accurately as they are bought by collectors who pay what they need to secure the right car.

[Duke137]

Shit me buddy!

I too remember this turd on the bay of evil too, to the untrained eye it looked good but all that glitters isn't gold

Anyone else reading this thread thinking of buying a sport just remember that non-kitted cars are the way forward

Good luck, hope you don't scrap it and make it good, I would be tempted to delete that sunroof...

[aimlessrock]

Good grief... that's some rust...this will make a worthy resto..subscribed

[SHAKEELE30]

and this is why high wycombe and b'ham are on my "no-go" list, total scumbags selling patched up scrap...

[polsta]

To be fair RE non kitted cars comments ... Most of them issues are just general e30 rust areas/problems and nothing to do with a body kit and could be any car - ie floor,jacking points,roof, bulkhead,rear pockets

[bss325i]

ok, "All" is a bit digital, agree....most of them are like this.

The ones that aren't are exceptional cars and impossible to price accurately as they are bought by collectors who pay what they need to secure the right car.

Again that's a load of c rap as there are plenty of nice rot free E30's out there and not the sort that are impossible to price and only bought by collectors.

One of my customers has 6 rot free very nice E30's, all hum drum models that no "collector" or invester would be interested in.

I also happen to own a couple as well,

There are still rot free cars out the Jim, you just need to stop buying rusty ones and put your hand in your pocket.

[Speedtouch]

It has the exact same level of rot in the same places as a 1989 Tech 2 Sport I bought. Have you checked behind the rear numberplate shroud yet?

Mine was so bad, it made the Zone Wiki guide on rust (see 'Boot Lid').

[TriggerFish]

and this is why high wycombe and b'ham are on my "no-go" list, total scumbags selling patched up scrap...

Add Luton to that list!

[TPS]

Don't be sad mate, they are all like this in fact many are worse but ALL of them are minters in the seller's descriptions and priced second only to the crown jewels.

the roof repair is probably the critical one here, all the rest is routine patching.

+1

[TriggerFish]

It has the exact same level of rot in the same places as a 1989 Tech 2 Sport I bought. Have you checked behind the rear numberplate shroud yet?

Mine was so bad, it made the Zone Wiki guide on rust (see 'Boot Lid').

Yeah, the striker plate bit has gone. Otherwise mostly OK. Its down to a shell, just the drivers seat left in, so its all exposed.

I'll reply to the other comments later, but some interesting and useful points raised!

[polsta]

ok, "All" is a bit digital, agree....most of them are like this.

The ones that aren't are exceptional cars and impossible to price accurately as they are bought by collectors who pay what they need to secure the right car.

Again that's a load of c rap as there are plenty of nice rot free E30's out there and not the sort that are impossible to price and only bought by collectors.

One of my customers has 6 rot free very nice E30's, all hum drum models that no "collector" or invester would be interested in.

I also happen to own a couple as well,

There are still rot free cars out the Jim, you just need to stop buying rusty ones and put your hand in your pocket.

Barry you do mention that chaps 6 e30s everytime this comes up , you say that they are models that no collector would be interested in .... Yet he owns 6 e30s , so is obviously a collector himself.... !!!! and having a 6 rust free e30 collection he's obviously carefully searched them out for his collection , and each one isn't driven a the time every day hence being rust free, as they are a collectors cars and if offered for sale would be priced accordingly i expect

[Duke137]

What I mean Polsta is this car would have been weighed years ago had it not been a "Tech 2" it has been patched up and served to a victim accordingly

There are a couple of examples on Ebay at the minute worth a look for being solid:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-BMW-316I ... 2a3f1daad6

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-H-BMW-E3 ... 58b157ecee

Both "non-desireable" models but I still prefer both of those over the OP's car, even if it was solid and not a sorry mess

[bss325i]

ok, "All" is a bit digital, agree....most of them are like this.

The ones that aren't are exceptional cars and impossible to price accurately as they are bought by collectors who pay what they need to secure the right car.

Again that's a load of c rap as there are plenty of nice rot free E30's out there and not the sort that are impossible to price and only bought by collectors.

One of my customers has 6 rot free very nice E30's, all hum drum models that no "collector" or invester would be interested in.

I also happen to own a couple as well,

There are still rot free cars out the Jim, you just need to stop buying rusty ones and put your hand in your pocket.

Barry you do mention that chaps 6 e30s everytime this comes up , you say that they are models that no collector would be interested in .... Yet he owns 6 e30s , so is obviously a collector himself.... !!!! and having a 6 rust free e30 collection he's obviously carefully searched them out for his collection , and each one isn't driven a the time every day hence being rust free, as they are a collectors cars and if offered for sale would be priced accordingly i expect

Regardless of what you, Jim or I say, the fact is not ALL e30's are rusty and they are not all owned by collectors.

[polsta]

Of course not all e30s are rusty, sports are usually more rusty just soley down to the fact that over 25 years most have been driven and enjoyed and seen a hell of a lot more road and rain action and a different type of yes and owner from new and right through the years, to the likes of base model autos and more doors

And not all e30s are rusty but lets face it - a massive percentage of all e30s posted/purchased by zoners are bought in the cheaper to mid of the price range , and rarley if ever in the strong money range paying a slightly over the odds or too money for a top example

I bumped in to a local chap a few weeks ago, I drive past him up by the hill where the zone meets in my car and tooted the horn , parked in a layby in a red cabby, I pulled up 5 minutes later and he pulled up for a chat , a non zoner/non forum using type chap about 45-50 years old , anyway we had a nice chat ..his 320i auto cabby, we chatted a bit he had a look around my car loving it I said about the resto etc ,he asked where I got the paint done as he needed the bonnet painting, said hed just paid £5995 for his,he'd always wanted one but didn't know much about e30s he asked me what I thought I said that's quite strong money .. Then had a good look around it , well it was gleaming top to bottom , not a sign of rust and both sides all arches were pristine all the trim and rubber was imaculate , absoloute pristine black sports leather un marked not the usual cracked worn cabby interior, lovely roof etc the whole car was just lovely and gleaming, bar just the bonnet top needed re painting a few marks and slight laquer peel

I said actually fella you've paid good money for a very very good car and its a cracking example , he smiled and said so I've not been done then ?

Most zoners do not buy or pay for such examples yet fish around in the lower range hoping for a rare gem that's going to be a lot better than it is without the price tag