Thoughts on high miler

[BristolE30]

Hey zone,

I’m taking a look at a 160k 320i this weekend and was wondering peoples general thoughts on higher mileage E30’s. Avoid.. or if it looks good buy it?

Appreciate any tips, will be looking for the obvious rust etc but not so keyed up on the mechs.

Cheers
Jo

[Be30]

I don’t know wether this is just completely stupid but personally I think there is a point in mileage where a vehicle has to have important components replaced else it wouldn’t still be on the road.

For e30s I’d imagine this point to be around 120,000 miles ish so by buying one with mileage higher than that you can almost guarantee the work has already been done for you, if not then you will definitely realise when test driving it.


I bought a 318i with 175000 miles on it and it runs like a dream, no problems yet!

Also, try and make sure they have garage receipts/ bills etc for proof of work. It’s easy enough for them to say that they had a new old stock engine put in a year ago but this means nothing without receipts and proof.

Good luck!!!

[paultv]

I agree, look at the service history - if the body is solid and the interior is sound then great - engines are aminently servicable and the M20 is a very hardy lump.

Paul

[BristolE30]

Thanks guys, good info!

Fills me with a bit more confidence, will let you know how it goes.

Cheers!

[Moz]

High mileage usually concerns me less than a vast number of owners. I bought an 11 owner 318i years ago that had 110k but drove terribly. It was like all the owners had totally different driving styles and thrashed the car. The shut of the door, how good are the door seals and the drive will tell a lot about how the car was kept.

Agree with everyone else on receipts and history as suspension will have likely needed wear and tear work at around 120k.

Thanks

[Brianmoooore]

160k miles is not 'high mileage' for the engine/drive train bits of an E30! Providing they have been looked after and serviced properly, it'll happily do that again. My favourite touring was on around 300k when it was destroyed by a porker, and everything on that car was still within factory spec. The only engine work ever done on that car in the 200,000 miles that I ran it, apart from normal servicing, was the renewal of the exhaust vale guides, along with facing up the valves and lightly re cutting their seats. (Injectors weren't ever refurbished, because they spent most of their time switched off.)

[Satan]

Average works out at 6k per year, as long as the car has been maintained then it should be fine, just check for rust as that kills E30's convertibles are or where worse as after about 10 to 12 years they seem to have a new owner every year.

[paultv]

Yeah, I paid 2K for my Cabby 6 years ago - 160K miles - very shady history - awful state - but I like to work on my cars, so a good example would be very dull for me -

I did 23000Km in the last 15 months in it, so I reckon it's worth it - I love a challenge both engineering wise and driving to crazy places in the car!

Paul

[BristolE30]

Thanks for all the response guys. So bit of a curve ball before tomorrows viewing.. found out the car is a cat C write off.

What are your guys thoughts on that? I've called insurance and they said it's not an issue for them as they cover cat C, doesn't increase price.

However do you think for the future it will massively reduce its re sell value? Would you buy a cat C?

Cheers,

[Satan]

Depends when it was classed as a class C write off as years back a dent in a rear wing and a bent bumper would write off an E30, you need more info.

Wait until you get to Gerts and my age, we know a lot about high mileage high maintenance toys for the old boys...........

[flybynite]

Depends what you are buying and for what purpose, but bear in mind that many, if not most E30s now will either have had or need as much work to bring them up to scratch as would have been needed to repair a cat C write off anyway.

It will all come down to the condition it is as it stands now and how much time/effort/money it will take to put it to how you want it.

I would be checking the car carefully to see what I was letting myself in for just the same cat C write off or not.

[Moz]

Is there any more information on the nature of the Cat C?

[Brianmoooore]

The thing that a lot of people fail to appreciate is that a Cat C/D classification is NOT an indicator of the extent of damage to a car in any way. It's simply an indication of the cost of repairing a car as a proportion of its PAV (pre accident value).
The trade value of an E30 would have been around £500 at its lowest point, so any damage that might cost more than £500 to repair (very little physical damage if paint is required), would result in a C classification, and damage that amounts to as little as £300 would result in a class D.
Conversely, in '92, when a year old E30 would be worth about £18k, trade, then it could have received £10,000 worth of repairs and received no marker at all.
I've bought many Cat C and D E30s over the years, and you'd have struggled to find the damage on a few of the Cat Ds, with some of the Cs no more than a bumper and a lightly dented wing.
I also bought a 'clean' E30 at one point, which turned out to be the worst buy I've ever made - it had received extensive damage to the rear right and side, with several panels having been replaced, but not rust sealed to anything like factory standards.

[BristolE30]

Is there any more information on the nature of the Cat C?

Not particularly unfortunately, its been owned by the same guy since 1998, then sold to a classics dealer. The dealer doesn't know the specifics of the incident. The write off was in 2009.. not sure of the value of a 320i back then?

[BristolE30]

The thing that a lot of people fail to appreciate is that a Cat C/D classification is NOT an indicator of the extent of damage to a car in any way. It's simply an indication of the cost of repairing a car as a proportion of its PAV (pre accident value).
The trade value of an E30 would have been around £500 at its lowest point, so any damage that might cost more than £500 to repair (very little physical damage if paint is required), would result in a C classification, and damage that amounts to as little as £300 would result in a class D.
Conversely, in '92, when a year old E30 would be worth about £18k, trade, then it could have received £10,000 worth of repairs and received no marker at all.
I've bought many Cat C and D E30s over the years, and you'd have struggled to find the damage on a few of the Cat Ds, with some of the Cs no more than a bumper and a lightly dented wing.
I also bought a 'clean' E30 at one point, which turned out to be the worst buy I've ever made - it had received extensive damage to the rear right and side, with several panels having been replaced, but not rust sealed to anything like factory standards.

Sounds like a bit of a gamble then! Frustrating thing is the car is a 2 hour train journey away, so can't just pop in and check it out. Would have to be relatively committed prior id say...

Thanks for the info guys

[BristolE30]

The only thing I can make from it all is that is passed its MOT in July 2009. September 2009 it was written off. Then it did not have another MOT until May 2018 - so off the road for a good 9 years after the incident it would seem... May 2018 MOT was pretty clean

[Brianmoooore]

In 2009 E30 values, especially for the 320, (four pot performance, six pot thirst) were near their lowest point, so the bumper/wing/paint scenario would be more than enough to get it declared Cat C.

[mosh86]

The only thing I can make from it all is that is passed its MOT in July 2009. September 2009 it was written off. Then it did not have another MOT until May 2018 - so off the road for a good 9 years after the incident it would seem... May 2018 MOT was pretty clean

Is this the one from YSJ motorsport?

[BristolE30]

The only thing I can make from it all is that is passed its MOT in July 2009. September 2009 it was written off. Then it did not have another MOT until May 2018 - so off the road for a good 9 years after the incident it would seem... May 2018 MOT was pretty clean

Is this the one from YSJ motorsport?

Yup! Decided not to go for it in the end... the write off just didn’t add up and it was all a bit elusive

[mosh86]

Cheers! Might of just saved me a few bucks and a round trip from Scotland.