E30 325e Questions...

Found a high mileage 325e (190,000 miles) thats an automatic. If I buy this for a daily, how long should I expect to be able to drive this before It quits?

I've seen at least 2 E30's go for 250K miles or more, but I know they were taken care of...

Do these generally last quit a while?

Those eta motors are so understressed that they seem to never die. I have personally seen a 490K mile one that had never been opened up and it ran great.

They do kinda drive like a diesel in stock form though. All low end grunt and then they get wheezy after 4000 RPM.

our challenge e30 325is has 253k miles on it. the last 2400 of which are entirely autox/challenge/event miles i.e. hard ones.

the only thing i'd really worry about on an e30 like that is the auto trans and rust. most anything else can be fixed relatively easily or cheap-ishly. fuel tank and rear brake lines are very common rusty problem areas too. e's last a long time mechanically usually too since they rev so low they dont wear themselves out as fast and dont shock load the drivetrain as much as a 5sp iS might.

plus a 5sp swap isnt too hard to do if the auto does quit.

i'd love a 4dr 325e 5sp for daily driver duty someday. a chip and rear gear really wakes them up too.

I concour.

what year is it?

belteshazzar wrote: I concour. what year is it?

year is 87

So i went and looked at it, it certainly looks rough. The paint is WAY faded. Though it is for the most part rust free! There was water in the truck on the lefthand side near the tail light which makes me believe it needs a tail light gasket. No water below the spare.

Engine didnt run hot nor did the transmission shift odd. But the engine does idle kind of high, say around 1500-1700. But once put into "D" it doesnt idle so high. Coolant wasnt milky, neither was oil. Guibo may need replaced. Upon turning off the car it kind of "clunked" but certainly not in a threatening way..

Brake pedal is STIFF. But car does stop, maybe needs a new brake booster? A little hesitation starting...

Front windows wont roll down? he said he believes it needs new motors, im thinking switches...

Gonna shoot him a real lowball offer tomorrow. Im thinking $500-$700? What say ye esteemed board?

In all I would say it definitely needs a good tune up, and maybe a little more work.

I'd offer 500 or less. It sounds like it's getting close to the fix it or break it threshold.

Gotta admit that I am watching this one closely.. I have a similar car that I am about to put on the market. (86 325e auto 4door)

TIMING BELT! If there is no record of when it was last changed, change it NOW!

carzan wrote: TIMING BELT! If there is no record of when it was last changed, change it NOW!

Planned on it!

BoxheadTim wrote: I'd offer 500 or less. It sounds like it's getting close to the fix it or break it threshold.

I feel like you are right. I think I know what he paid for it, I think it was for sale locally about two months ago and he said he has only owned it about two months. I think he got taken for a ride and overpaid.

Rough idle may be a torn intake boot, those seem like they are always bad and they are actually really inexpensive.

Mine does the water-in-the-left-fenderwell thing too. I think it's a design feature.

Power windows...Just swap some switches around to see if that's the issue. I had one motor in mine that would short each time you tried to use it. Most E30 window parts are the same so it's not hard to swap in a used one, or if you find a 318i you can change to manual windows.

It's an eta. I wouldn't pay too much for it in that condition. We use them as parts cars for 325i's.

I'd imagine an eta with an auto must feel especially sluggish. OTOH, manual-equipped etas are actually pretty nice to drive.

the etas make a nice basis for a 2.7is

Too bad so sad... Still no E30 in my life I lowballed $600, he said he would like to see more out of it and I dont think I would want to pay more in the condition its in... sigh...

Guess Ill continue being on the lookout into the school year... crap...

you have mail...

cxhb wrote: Too bad so sad... Still no E30 in my life I lowballed $600, he said he would like to see more out of it and I dont think I would want to pay more in the condition its in... sigh...

Hang on to your $600 for a couple of weeks. After about 5 more people pass on it, he may even call you.