Who wants a 1988 BMW 325iX

Long story short, my cousin wants to get rid of her 325iX. I was going to take it, as I am a freak for E30 BMWs. We dragged it to my buddy's shop in Boston to see what would need to be fixed to drive it home to Florida. We love them road trips in crappy cars. The list is a bit too long for me, I don't need a fourth old BMW and I don't really have time to get it. Car is Diamond Swartz with black interior, comes with thousands and thousands of dollars worth of receipts. She owned it for about ten years. Car has rust issues, but nothing terminal. here is an expert report. I have a few pics and car really doesn't even need paint. I have a clear title. First person to make a reasonable offer can pick it up and be in E30 heaven with the rest of us. We got it running, it needed a fuel pump and a battery, here is the rest of the list:

I cant find the transfer case guy I used in the past, I think they got out of the business

Shifter needs to be rebuilt, it has enough corrosion on it that it’s hard to move so might as well replace parts on it with short shifter. Transfer case is removed to rebuild shifter, and transfer case is bad(4wd does not work) so you should replace the transfer case at this time. My cost on one is $1811, parts to repair cost more than that. Rear shock mounts are blown out Rear shocks are KYB and marginal Left parking brake sticks Brake lines are about to rust out(front to rear, and above subframe) that is very normal V-belts tired, not horrible Rear subframe bushings tired Front control arm bushings tired T-coolant hose underneath intake is no good and leaking Right front strut mount is cracking Intake boot is cracking Throttle body needs to be removed, cleaned and lubricated as the throttle is sticking No reverse lights No right rear turn signal Left rear and both right side markers don’t work Fog lights don’t work Hood release handle gone and latches seized, should be replaced Right door latch needs replacement

Chassis rot is certainly not terrible, but could use some patchwork

Marc Feinstein German Performance Service, Inc. www.germanperformanceservice.com www.partwerks.net Please note our new address and phone number. 70 Hichborn Street, Unit 1 Brighton, MA 02135 617 206 4604

If it was drivable.. I would be all over it. But towing from boston to Atlantic City would be prohibative

Get insurance on it, then tow it, be reimbursed by your insurance company, profit?

Since it's an '88, that car will have have all the bells and whistles - leather sport seats, power windows/locks/sunroof, onboard computer. The '89 and later bumpers are a bolt on, too.

YEA! EIGHT (8) CV Joints to leak!!

And sometimes we have to accept that no matter how much we want to, we just can't save them all.

I no longer feel bad about the long list of crap that my truck needs.

One was dumped into cash for clunkers here. It's compete, should be at the junkyard any day now. B&B Salvage, Mt Joy, PA coming from Jones Honda. If it helps anyone...

I've heard those transfer cases are often worth more than an entire iX. Which is really too bad - they're awesome cars, and I'd love one myself (especially in Maine). That's why I opened this thread. But that list of issues is too much for me to tackle and put on the road before the snow flies, and more than my cheapskate budget allows.

yes.. and I am about to embark on an all winter project of fixing up my Ti. I do not need two BMWs that need work

I love 325ixs! Its getting harder and harder to find a clean one these days though!

Come on you sissies! This E30 is in better shape than the one we fixed up for Tommy. $600-800 buys it. It does run and drive. Most of that crap can be fixed in a day or two.

Yea a transfer case rebuild is easily over 3k. For a car with Rot id say that is its death warrent, To bad, like mentioned aboce the IXs are getting hard to find.

It sound more like a parts car for another IX. or is some one had alot of time to do a ground up rebuild, that happened to have a transger case laying around.

It says right in the notice that a transfer case is $1800 rebuilt. This car is too nice to part out.

ddavidv wrote: One was dumped into cash for clunkers here. It's compete, should be at the junkyard any day now. B&B Salvage, Mt Joy, PA coming from Jones Honda. If it helps anyone...

Are drivetrain parts salvageable under C4C though?

Josh wrote:

ddavidv wrote: One was dumped into cash for clunkers here. It's compete, should be at the junkyard any day now. B&B Salvage, Mt Joy, PA coming from Jones Honda. If it helps anyone...

Are drivetrain parts salvageable under C4C though?

I thought so, but none of the scrap yards around here will even talk to you.

Sorry i read 1800 as a used one. If its rebuilt with a warrenty that is great. I had a friend in Cali just spend over 3 k to have his replaced.

There are tons of cash for clunkers cars in the yards here, and they say you can buy anything but the block, crank, rods and heads. I saw an LT1 with the whole top end of the engine removed though, and there is no way that they really enforce it. Everything else they dont care. The 2 things that are kinda annoying about that are that the cash for clunkers cars arent always well makred, so if you are looking for an engine in a car that could have been, you have to pull it apart and check for damage, and if you want efi parts off of an engine (say a tpi for a chevy or something) its about 2x as much as buying the engine complete.

Tim Suddard wrote: Come on you sissies! This E30 is in better shape than the one we fixed up for Tommy. $600-800 buys it. It does run and drive. Most of that crap can be fixed in a day or two.

so tempting....