E30 winter car?

Hi GRM, I'm in the market for a winter beater. A local dealer that I'm friends with has a 325i (sedan) 88? ish for $600. What issues should I be on the lookout for? I've never owned a german car and I've always been afraid of them. Can I buy parts at NAPA or do I have to go somewhere special. I have no problem wrenching on my own cars, but I hate chasing electrical problems. Any advice. (I already have 2 miatas, so I figured I'm due for an E30) What sort of mileage can I expect? Do parts cost more than miata parts?

with you being in canuckia, I would recommend some winter tires. Hankook Winter I-pikes are awesome for the money.

I have no experience, but you can get most parts for a 3 series at autoadvance zoneparts.

It will definately have snow tires. I already have a set of Hak's waiting. Are there critical areas that tend to rust first?

The E30 has an interference engine. So check to be sure the timing belt has been changed on schedule. They frequently have dead guibos too (but those are cheap and easy to fix).

Parts are pretty cheap. You aught to be able to find them just around. www.pelicanparts.com will become a great friend. And holy crap I love their service and turn around time! I've ordered parts one afternoon and gotten them the next day (but that's in Cali).

The E30 is also nifty, in that it has a built in system for recovering CEL codes.

Look for rust in the front floorboards (like right under where your feet go), in the bottom edges of the doors, and around the rear license plate lights under the back edge of the trunk lid. My 325iX has it in all those places and more, but on the good side it doesn't seem to be advancing very quickly (and if this is a winter beater, rust isn't an issue as long as it's not structural...that's why they're called winter beaters. ) If the previous owner doesn't have proof that the timing belt has been replaced recently, do it yourself immediately. Parts aren't that expensive as long as you don't go to the dealer - I use www.stevehaygood.com. You can also get parts from Auto Zone or whatever local auto parts stores you have there, things like alternators, brake rotors, etc. They are pretty user friendly for repair work, get a Bentley repair manual and you can take care of most things at home. Check the condition of coolant hoses and fuel hoses, and replace if needed. The rubber bits in the suspension get worn out and loose, but don't fail catasrophically - the car just makes more noise and the handling gets sloppy, but again in winter ultimate high speed performance isn't that important. They're pretty reliable cars overall.

mw wrote: (I already have 2 miatas, so I figured I'm due for an E30)

Go for it...I have bought mostly brake rotors and calipers at NAPA with good luck.

Get the Bentley book, regardless.

Also your E30 will cancel out those two Miatas.

I miss my e30. Nice little tanks, fun to drive, and the parts are pretty cheap. They also did a nice job of making repairs easy; filters are easy to reach, there is an access port under the rear seat to get to the fuel tank, nice touches.

They aren't a quiet car like you might expect with a higher-end german car, but they are super fun. I think you'll fall in love.