bought an 88 325is for $800

T77911S · 02-02-2010, 05:01 AM

like someone at work said, does it have a motor? yes, and it even runs, quite well infact. the wheel bearings in the rear are shot and it needs rear shocks. the bearing thing has me a little worried about the condition of the differential, but it seemed fine, but then the bearing noise was so bad i could not tell. it has a small dent on the front fender above the headlight, it took a while before i saw it, and it has a small one on the front hood. i have not found and major rust yet. the battery box looked good so far, i have not pull the batt out, but not rust from the outside. the rubber is missing from the front spoiler. the interior is not bad. the drivers seat is torn but the rest are ok. it has the sport seats in it which i hear are desireable.

mmy daughter will be driving soon, so i will have time to fix it up for her (me). later if she wants something else, i may make a track car out of it. i have had to drive the 911 everyday and would like to give it a break, so i may start driving this soon.

oh, it has AC and the heat works! ac might be a little low but i was surprised the compressor even came on.

i saw a set of 16x8 rims on the bmw side, anyone know if they will fit?

i will get pics up soon.

fuelie600 · 02-02-2010, 05:20 AM

I would have a hard time passing up a $800 325is. I had an 87, it was a great car. Good luck sorting it out. I have been watching for a similar deal for a father/son project. It's alot of car for a new driver though. I've got 3 years until my kid is behind the wheel. I'll keep looking.

Embraer · Embraer's Garage

i picked up an '87 for $400....and everything works. ...even AC! i've been driving it daily since September. I spent $200 for a pair of Blizzak's, mounted on steel wheels (CL find)...and it's been a terrific winter car. Total investment, $600.

T77911S · 02-02-2010, 06:54 AM

i know nothing about bmw's, but i am having fun reading. here is a great thread i just finished, may make the desire for one go up a few more notches.

My "Street Spec" E30 Build - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum

now i know how new guys that come here feel,

tcar · 02-02-2010, 02:10 PM

The 87 325is had standard,

sport seats,

limited slip differential

nice driving car, although not that powerful.

emcon5 · emcon5's Garage

SpecE30

Jared at Pelican Parts · 08:01 PM

The '88 325is is a great car.

the 325is would have come from the factory with

3.73 Limited Slip
M-tech 3 spoke steering wheel
Recaro sport seats
rear trunk spoiler and different front air dam
thicker front and rear sway bars
Springs were a bit stiffer than stock

I would really recommend going through the whole suspension and figure that all of the bushings are going to be pretty well worn. The hardest bits are the rear subframe bushings and the rear bearings. Also, do not use the stock E30 upper rear shock mounts. Upgrade to the E46 units (drop in) with Z3 reinforcement collars.

Pull the valve cover and check the head bolts. If they are hex heads, replace them with the updated Torx bolts. (You can change them one at a time) Also, figure on replacing both the timing belt and the water pump at the same time.

Head work, a Shrick 272 cam, headers, 535i injectors + MAF with a custom chip will make the M20 a very fun little motor.

Check out some of my articles here on Pelican..

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/tech_main.htm

trekkor · 02-02-2010, 11:14 PM

We got our '83 for free...

'98 Volvo for $1k.

Price doesn't always tell the whole story.

KT

T77911S · 02-03-2010, 03:38 AM

limited slip??

cool! thanks for the input. i plan on replaceing all the susp bushings. in fact, one on the front looked to be broken. i ordered 2 rear wheel bearings and the timing belt kit yesterday, from P of course. no water pump. although if wayne sees this, i was trying to look up shocks. shocks are not listed under the suspension screen. i did not see a selection for them until i went to something else and they were listed on the left.

i think spec is 165hp, not bad, but i have seen the weight from 2800 to 3000 lbs.
i have been looking at suspension stuff already. if this car came with stiffer springs, where can i find the stock spring rate and sway bar info so i dont go buy something that is not stiffer. and for that matter, most dealers dont list the rate, the just put them in a catagory, sport, race. i have seen chips that add about 15 hp, headers cost$$$. wow, i have a lot to learn.

this will be nice to drive while i work on the 911, it may help me to not miss it so much.

here is a pic, it was raining so it is not very good.
the 2 dents really show up good in this pic,not that noticeable in person.

T77911S · 02-03-2010, 05:29 AM

here is my list so far. its so much fun buying stuff!

timing belt kit
2 rear wheel bearings
water pump

front susp stuff, not yet ordered.

control arms- should i replace these?
ecentric bushing for control arms- M3 bushing.
sway bar drop links
i would order new sawy bar bushings but P listed 2 different siszes for my car
tie rod ends

anything else? i need a good diagram.

TerryBPP · 02-03-2010, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T77911S

here is my list so far. its so much fun buying stuff!

timing belt kit
2 rear wheel bearings
water pump

front susp stuff, not yet ordered.

control arms- should i replace these?
ecentric bushing for control arms- M3 bushing.
sway bar drop links
i would order new sawy bar bushings but P listed 2 different siszes for my car
tie rod ends

anything else? i need a good diagram.

The rear wheel bearing on these are a btch! Allocate a weekend just for this.

Embraer · Embraer's Garage

even the timing belt sucks. plan on removing the radiator, and most of the stuff in the front

serge944 · serge944's Garage

Timing belt isn't that bad... Removing the hood makes this job a lot easier.

BlueSideUp · 02-03-2010, 10:55 AM

Looks pretty good. An easy recover job on those front seats would be pretty easy.

Dave L · 02-03-2010, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serge944

Timing belt isn't that bad... Removing the hood makes this job a lot easier.

thats what they do at the dealer. Looks like a nice car for the price. I have had 3 e30's. I would like another at some point.

T77911S · 02-04-2010, 05:30 AM

i did a head on a 328e, not too bad. i think we did take the hood off. the weel bearing i am not looking forward to, but i want to drive it. i am in the middle of building a garage, already have the bimmer in there, and need to put the shingles on, if it does not rain.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

great deal!

now, just send $18,000 to Dinan and you will some nice boxes back - stick it on and/or in, and you are set

SoCal911T · 02-04-2010, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jared Fenton

Recaro sport seats

The seats aren't made by Recaro but still very nice nonetheless.

My gray market 323i with the small Euro bumpers.

enzo1 · 02-04-2010, 06:51 PM

800$?? guess this might be too high?

BMW : eBay Motors (item 220550678164 end time Feb-09-10 17:30:21 PST)

T77911S · 06:48 AM

nice.
the only thing i dont like about the bmw is the angle of the steering wheel, i kept looking for the lever to tilt it down some more. it reminds me of driving a VW bus.

i pulled the battery out yesterday, just looked under the tray, did not remove it, but i did not see any rust, not like on the 84 325e i worked on. BTW, what a tease. we change out our optima batterys at work every few years so and we get the "old" ones. went to put one in the bmw and of course, again, the terminals are wrong. i had so many optimas that would not fit any of my cars, i have outfitted all my neighbors american cars. i just put one this chicks chevy last week. i had 2 that sat around for about 2 years, just gave the last one of those away a few months ago. i did get one to fit my mazda truck, but i had to put a block of wood on top of it so the clamp would hold it down.