cheap e30

Hey everyone- I stumbled upon a interesting car about 5 minutes from me today. I have been following this guy selling a 91 325i sport in the town I live in. I saw in Friday that he listed that it had to be sold by Monday as he was moving out of state.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/1327115599.html

Here is the ad for the car. I went to check it out. The red leather interior was in really nice shape. It had no radio, crappy tires, no front bumper, and the top half of the engine was dismantled. There is no way for me to know if any of what the seller was saying was accurate because the car didn't move on its own. His dad took the engine apart after he replaced the timing belt and it has sat this way. I thanked them for showing me the car and checked out.

He texted me tonight saying he needed the car gone in 24 hours and he would sell it for $800 or less to me.

What do you all think? I am guessing the engine work is pretty straightforward. The paint was good aside from the front end. This being the last year e30 and having the cool interior are definite pluses. I am guessing I could show up tomorrow with 500 cash and get the car.

It looks like kind of a basket case, and you should probably plan on buying another engine. I highly doubt you could just bolt on the old head to get it running. I'd bet the timing belt broke and you have some bent valves or broken rockers in there.

A used M20 engine is pretty cheap usually, so it depends on your own skills. If you can do an engine swap then $500 for the car would be fair. If you have to pay someone else to do the mechanical work, then it might be best to pass.

An E30 of that age probably needs a lot of work on the suspension bushings as well. These aren't bad DIY jobs, but once again, I'd hate to have to pay someone else to do the work.

You don't take the engine head off to do a timing belt. He bent the valves, for sure. You can get a head anywhere from $100-$350 or less if you score one at the U-Pull-It. My race car wasn't as pretty but had similar front end damage and I drove it home for $1000.

If it's not rusty, the price is probably correct. It factors in that you can't drive it and know how much more work you have ahead of you. Worst case scenario you'll have spent as much making it nice as you could have just bought a nice one for. Then again, it may not be worst case scenario.

He thought he was going to get $2500 for it???

First off, I concur with the others in that it was likely not a timing belt change, but a timing belt breaking (bent valves) that's caused the top end to be taken apart. The seller's ad isn't very forthcoming based on the description you're given, so that would make me really nervous about buying the car. What other surprises is he not disclosing? "Just needs a cold start for the spark" is not the same as the entire top end is off the car!

If the guy mentions in the ad that he's "in debt" that probably means the car has a bunch of deferred maintenance. Things like tires, water pump, suspension, etc. will need to be replaced in the short-term. As long as you factor that into the price, that could work out for you if you're willing to do the work yourself. $500 seems to be a reasonable amount.

What could make that car a money pit would be major rust issues. I'd go over that car very thoroughly looking for rust issues, because those can turn any otherwise good E30 into a money pit.

Good luck!

Thanks guys.

Yea, these guys were pretty clueless and not very knowledgable either. Apparently, the father had done the work to the car. The head wasn't off the car, but the valve cover was off along with what looked like the intake manifold.

I was more curious about it becuase the body & interior seemed clean plus it was the last year of the e30. Someone more handy than me could probably do alright with this car.

dj06482 wrote: He thought he was going to get $2500 for it???

Definitely a case of aiming high. There's a dealer around here that has a similar vintage 318IS that he's selling for $2500, so I'm not sure what the kid was thinking.

I do see the potential in the car, but I'd stay away since who knows what else needs to be done to it. But that's mainly because I have nowhere to store it and work on it.

ccrelan wrote: Thanks guys. Yea, these guys were pretty clueless and not very knowledgable either. Apparently, the father had done the work to the car. The head wasn't off the car, but the valve cover was off along with what looked like the intake manifold.

well that kinda changes things. $800 is about right for this type of gamble given the stakes. It would part down for at least that.

belteshazzar wrote: well that kinda changes things. $800 is about right for this type of gamble given the stakes. It would part down for at least that.

That was my thinking at $500, at least after parting everything you'd have some $$$ for your hassle if all went south. Personally, I think there are better E30s out there, especially if you're not going to do the work yourself.