BMW 325es..buy or pass??

I have found a 325es for around $800 on Craigslist. Seller says that it needs an oil pump. Pictures say it needs cosmetics, basic maint.etc. Best case scenario, I would remove a cheap out filter from the car and solve all of its ailments, worst it would need an engine swap. Haven't actually caught up w/ the person that knows most of the history on the car, but is this worth pursuing? Would be used as a DD first, autox and HPDE school down the road. I would prefer an "is", but they're out of the price range right now. Also, would prefer not to buy something that needs too much work, as I have another car that fills those duties quite nicely.

What's the general opinion of the e30 knowledgeable???

Will

You just want us to convince you not to get it.

Is it a standard?

ummmm........yes,please? And yeah, I think it has the manual tranny. I need to call the guy. His wife didn't know much about it.

You can Auto X an ETA car. its competative in the BMW class's. So if its an only an oil pump re it wasnt run with no pressure you can leave the engine in. But you can find non running e30s for $500.. about every other month.

its easy to swap to an" I " engine. just need the engine, engine harness and ECU. bolts right up and the chassis harness hooks right into the engine harness.

B

Make sure the problem is not a busted timing belt. This car sounds like it needs a lot for $800. ETAs are still fairly plentiful -- and cheap.

I bought a running 4door auto ETA car for $600 off this forum, all it needed was a wheel bearing.

ive actually pulled the oilpump off mine when i did the oilpan ( i shattered mine, gotta be careful, they are vulnerable ) it is doable with the motor in the car if you can wedge your hands into small places. big hands = undoing a motor mount and jacking.

I know a guy who recently wrecked his '87 325is. He might be parting it out, I'm not sure if it was repairable damage or not. The engine was strong. He's local to you (and me).

Price is at least 300 too high, otherwise why not?

Carson -- Could you find out if your friend's e30 is repairable and what he might want for it? And how is your car coming along?

Everybody else -- Ok, this sounds likes its not as good a deal as I first thought. I'll keep looking. Thanks for the info. P.S. - Anybody interested in a good A2 golf gti? Needs an engine( aba short block, rd hydraulic and jh solid head included ). Some assembly required.............

I have a complete 1.8 VW on the engine stand in the garage that'll fit that A2, haha. I seriously do not need another car right now though.

Willie, I'll check with him and see what's up. Here's a picture from when it was all one piece:

Which car did you want progress on? Check my profile for my Reader's Rides pages.

Carson wrote: I have a complete 1.8 VW on the engine stand in the garage that'll fit that A2, haha. I seriously do not need another car right now though. Willie, I'll check with him and see what's up. Here's a picture from when it was all one piece: Which car did you want progress on? Check my profile for my Reader's Rides pages.

Your e30 is the one I was referring to. Have you done anything recently to it? And which 1.8 motor do you have and it rebuilt and ready to go? Spring is coming and I'm getting frustrated again, I guess. I need to drive something fun again. It's been too long.

Correction -- Apparently I was confused. I thought that you used to have an e30. Scratch that thought............

Nope, although I convinced the guy that bought that one that that was the car he needed.

The engine I have is a Brazilian 8v out of a Fox. It's a junkyard engine that came with my Fox when I got it, I've never had it in a car or heard it run, apparently it has 40k on it. The Fox didn't need a new engine, so let this be a lesson: don't buy a new engine for a car that's got a bad coolant temp sensor.

I don't know how difficult it would be to fit it in a transverse configuration and in an A2. It's a CIS-E engine. I'm not too much of a VW guy so I don't know a lot about them. It is slightly different than my buddies Digifant A2, I don't know what GTis were.

if I had an es.. I would do one of two things.. M52 (or S if you can find one) or an M42/44 with supercharger.

I would be more inclined to do the m/42/44 swap as it would be more hp than the engine that is in the car with less weight

Mad -- Not really wanting to do a swap right now. I want something I can drive for awhile and tweak as I go;

Carson -- I think the only diff. between the fox motor and cis-e based gti motor( which is what I have) is the valve size and the manifold layouts. Not 100% sure about that, and I'm tired so don't quote me on that.

Thanks for all the advice on the e30. Turns out the car is $500 obo, which is good but I got some even better news today. We're expecting our first dependant...umm child in the fall of this year. So, I might just have to sit on the vw for awhile. I just need to be patient about getting it back together. I wasn't real sure about the e30 anyway.