What do you think of that??? (325i)

Post Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:58 am

Hi!!! I'm french so my english might not be perfect!!!

I found a E30 325i 87 that have a little but more then 200 000Km for 1500$ (it's in canadian dollars). It has a rebuilt engin (0 Km) a rebuilt tranny (0 Km) and a new clutch. But it doesn't start because the ECU (witch is also new) is supose to recive 2 signal from the crank sensor but the engin onely give 1!?!?!? The guy told me that it's a 20 min job at any garage!!! And there are also some rust on the front fenders and the floor.

My question are:

-What is that thing with the ECU and the signals??? Any body know that???

-For the rust, I taught that BMW were in galvenised steel (in frensh it's acier galvaniser) SO if there is a little but a rust or event more then that It should be easy to fix OR when the rust start it doesn't stop??? Remember that I live in Quebec-Canada and we have really bad winter!!!

-What do you think of that car??? I know mecanic, I'm not a mecanic I just do some at home, but I know a good body shop and some people that have some garage!!!

Thank for the info!!!

Post Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:39 pm

Does anyone know some thing that could help me???

Post Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:20 pm

the front 'fenders' are bolt on so not an issue

rust on the floor could be depending on how bad it is.. catch it now and sort it. any pics of the offending areas?

Post Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:02 pm

iceturbo wrote:The guy told me that it's a 20 min job at any garage!!!

If it is that easy to fix: He had better fix it then.
Then you'll be able to inspect a running car that works.

If, of course, he can't fix it easily - or for instance the gearbox is shot or something, then your money is safe. Buying a non-runner for scrap money is fine, but no one pays runner money for a non-runner. If it does ever work then do check under the oil filler cap for valve gear cleanliness and in the coolant - 325i M20 engines need good coolant and oil to last well.

In general I find things are often 'easy to fix' until you actually try to fix them....

Post Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:11 am

Globulator wrote:
iceturbo wrote:The guy told me that it's a 20 min job at any garage!!!
If it is that easy to fix: He had better fix it then.
Then you'll be able to inspect a running car that works.

If, of course, he can't fix it easily - or for instance the gearbox is shot or something, then your money is safe. Buying a non-runner for scrap money is fine, but no one pays runner money for a non-runner. If it does ever work then do check under the oil filler cap for valve gear cleanliness and in the coolant - 325i M20 engines need good coolant and oil to last well.

In general I find things are often 'easy to fix' until you actually try to fix them....

I cald BM today and they told me that a brand new ECU as tu by program before working!!! The guy told me that the ECU is new so that could be the problem!!! Plus he told me that que car start, but it die after a couple of secondes!!! So the car "work"!!! He say that the car die because it doesn't receve the corect crank signal!!! about the gear box, what do you mean by "shot"???

Your right, I will make a oil change and a coolant change before starting using it because all of that is probably really old!!! But what type of oil should I but in a M20B25??? 10W30, lighter or thicker???

Jhonno wrote:the front 'fenders' are bolt on so not an issue

rust on the floor could be depending on how bad it is.. catch it now and sort it. any pics of the offending areas?

He told me that when he check under the car he doesn't see any hole of rust!!! He told me that the mecanic told him that!!! But he is suppose to send me a couple of pics of the under of the car so I could be able si see if there is a lot of rust or not really!!!

I could show you some pics of the car if some one show me how!!!

Thank you a lot guys for your help!!!

Post Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:33 am

iceturbo wrote:So the car "work"!!! He say that the car die because it doesn't receve the corect crank signal!!! about the gear box, what do you mean by "shot"???

My point is that if the guy is such an expert on the problem with his car then a) Why doesn't he fix it, and b) If you cannot fix it, you are stuck with no car and no money.

Shot == broken. If you cannot run the car you do not know if the gearbox works at all, jumps out of gear, there could also be any number of problems with the propshaft bearings, clutch, diff, brakes, wheel bearings, charging system, suspension, steering etc.

In short if you buy a non runner - you have to do so on pure faith. More specifically you have to put your faith in a man who refuses to fix a $20 problem on his car that would earn him an extra $250+ on the selling price.

In my experience after you have given someone else your money faith alone sometimes isn't enough... and 325i cars are not _that_ rare!!

Post Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:42 am

Globulator wrote:
iceturbo wrote:So the car "work"!!! He say that the car die because it doesn't receve the corect crank signal!!! about the gear box, what do you mean by "shot"???
My point is that if the guy is such an expert on the problem with his car then a) Why doesn't he fix it, and b) If you cannot fix it, you are stuck with no car and no money.

Shot == broken. If you cannot run the car you do not know if the gearbox works at all, jumps out of gear, there could also be any number of problems with the propshaft bearings, clutch, diff, brakes, wheel bearings, charging system, suspension, steering etc.

In short if you buy a non runner - you have to do so on pure faith. More specifically you have to put your faith in a man who refuses to fix a $20 problem on his car that would earn him an extra $250+ on the selling price.

In my experience after you have given someone else your money faith alone sometimes isn't enough... and 325i cars are not _that_ rare!!

I've never said that he was an expert!!! He braught it at a garage and the mecanic told him that!!! And for the ECU problme he told me that it came from a IX (but he is not a 100% shur) and that it's why the car don't work, because the ECU is looking for 2 crank signal but because the engin send onely 1 the ECU is fucked and shut every thing down. He told me that you have to "copy-paste" the program in the ECU and it will work perfect!!!

Of corse, the tranny could not work but it's brand new!!! And it's not a civic, it's not every one who rebuilt those, plus it come from a place that onely rebuilt tranny!!! It's not coming from a little garage in a back yard!!!

For the money, I could easely put 1000$ (still in canadian) on the car!!! I'm not buying a 1500$ negociable BM because I have 1400$ in my acount!!! Ok, I dont have 100 000$ but I know there is some work to do on the car, I have a little bit of money and I know a couple of person!!! They are not specialised in BM but some know VW!!!

And even if I but 1200$ on the car and after that it's in perfect condition with a brand new engin, brand new tranny, I will have a reliable BMW!!! SO I will have a car that has a NAME, that is really fun to drive and that I could bush a little with out being scared of blowwing my 200 00Km engin or tranny!!!

But If you (or any one) think that I'm wrong and that the car will always be broken Because BM is shit and it's always broken (like a VW) tell me that write now before I do that big mestake!!! But I think that BM is a car that is well desing (not onely the shape but all the enginiring in the car) and that the onely problme that I could have is the age of the parts!!! But If the engin is new and the tranny, the other things are little problem!!!

So tell me what you guys think!?!?!?

Thanx!!!

Post Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:58 am

... Anyone???

Post Mon Jul 03, 2006 8:13 pm

anything on an e30 can be put right relatively easily but without seeing it its hard to give definate answers.if the garage says its an easy 20 minute job to fix it then tell them to do it then call you back.if it was so easy they would have already done it to get the maximum price on resale.or knock the price down accordingly.

Post Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:17 pm

If everything can be fix easily en a E30 well that fine for me!!!

And for the price, remember it's 1500$ nego can. (I think it's like 1000$ euro) so it's not expensive!!! I've been told that a car like that worth 5000$ can.!!! So I think that worth it!!!

Post Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:34 pm

Faire Attention...
It seems that you are quite excited about this car. This is good. But you must be sure that the car is ok. Make it work ok before you buy.

I have to say these guys writing here are very logical.

If the problem is easy to fix - get a mechanic to fix it first, verify it is ok, then buy.

The question is - if it has had all this work done to it - all this money spent on the car - reconditioned engine, tranny etc. then why hasn't this simple problem been fixed?

If you fix the simple problem you can check that all the other work is ok.

Good luck

Post Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:25 pm

OK, so your car has the twin pulse setup or single ?

the ECU's are not hardware compatable between the two types regardless of the software employed

If it cranks, fires and then dies I'd suggest th ECU is fine, and theres a fuelling issue , check/.replace the fuel pump relay and DME relay before going for the ECU.

Post Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:37 am

Ant wrote:OK, so your car has the twin pulse setup or single ?

the ECU's are not hardware compatable between the two types regardless of the software employed

If it cranks, fires and then dies I'd suggest th ECU is fine, and theres a fuelling issue , check/.replace the fuel pump relay and DME relay before going for the ECU.

Do you say that the 2 type (single and double pulse) need not onely different program but different ECU??? So I might need to buy a new ECU for the single pulse, right???

And the car crank, fire, start but after a little it shut off!!! But It start!!!

And what is the DME???

Thanx!!!

Post Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:36 am

toby wrote:Faire Attention...
It seems that you are quite excited about this car. This is good. But you must be sure that the car is ok. Make it work ok before you buy.

I have to say these guys writing here are very logical.

If the problem is easy to fix - get a mechanic to fix it first, verify it is ok, then buy.

The question is - if it has had all this work done to it - all this money spent on the car - reconditioned engine, tranny etc. then why hasn't this simple problem been fixed?

If you fix the simple problem you can check that all the other work is ok.

Good luck

I have your answer!!! He live at 2h of car from the closer garage that can do it!!! So imagine the price of the towing!!! Plus he don't have enough money to plate it and assure it!!! So imagine the towing!!! That is why he won't make it fix!!!

So the problem is not the problem it self but bring the problem to the guy that know the answer!!!