FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
01-01-2008, 08:50 PM
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FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
Name: Kevin
Location: Richmond, Va
Contact: Kevin@PerformanceAutosport.com or PM on this site.
Mileage: 174,430
Price: $4500 w/ K1s, $3900 w/o.
I'm finally parting with my beloved E30. The only reason I'm doing this is so I can purchase another car thats equally as fun that I've literally been trying to buy since 1999. Well, the owner said he'd finally sell it to me, so I've got to liquidate my fleet to gather up the funds...the E30 gets the axe. The Cobra is next!
I'm writing a lot in this description to fully educate any possible buyers. Please take the time to read everything because I may have answered your question in this post already!
It's a 1989 325i that I bought about a year ago. When I bought it, it didn't run. I spent a little money here and there and brought it back to life. In the process I replaced the plugs, distributor cap, fuel filter, guibo, center driveshaft bushing and a few other odds and ends that you'd typically replace when buying a car that has been sitting for over 2 years.
While cleaning the car up after getting it running I found a stack of receipts of previous work. I had previously decided that I would be doing a timing belt on this car due to the unknown history, but after looking through the stack I found that it had been done at 140k, which was only 34k miles ago. Around the same time, the balljoints were replaced which was my other big worry. Obviously something you'd want to look into if you were thinking of tracking this car, but they are in fine shape.
Now here is the list of things that do not work on this car:
- Wipers. The wipers do not work. There is an obvious short in the system somewhere and I do not have the time or patience to figure it out. If you put a brand new fuse in the wipers slot and hit the stalk it will jump the arms up about 1 inch, then pop the fuse. This shows me that the stalk is in working order, as is the wiper motor...but its popping the fuse everytime. Perhaps its a simple fix...dunno.
- Blower Motor. Again, this does not work properly, but it does work. If you place the blower motor on any speed 1-4 and start the car, the blower will run for about 5 seconds, then shut off. When I bought the car it used to work fine every time and one day it just cut out and now it does this weird run for a few seconds. Again, an electrical gremlin that I dont have time to diagnose. My loss is your gain....or something like that.
- Driver's Door Panel. This is not on the car, but will come with it. The previous owner stated that he removed it because the window wouldn't go down. Of course that means you must rip the door panel off and prod around with a stick until you give up. And thats just what they did. He managed to knock the window off the track and I was left fixing it. I did, and of course the only thing wrong with the window was a dirty connection inside the button. Two minutes later, I had functioning windows. I've yet to put the door panel back on due to not having the right clips and being entirely too lazy for my own good.
- Headlights. The headlights are aimed horribly. Now I know what you are going to say..."come on, that takes 30seconds to adjust..just how lazy are you?" Well, pretty lazy, but thats not the point here, the problem is that the adjusters seem to be seized or at least I'm scared I may break one everytime I try to adjust them. Therefore the headlights remain aimed about 10 feet ahead of the car and slightly to the left. The high beams on the other hand kick copious amounts of ass. Even with the Lamin-X they are very bright and being that I travel backroads all night long, they are all I need.
- Gauges. Since the day I bought it, none of the gauges have worked. From searching E30'ish forums I've found that its a known problem and a simple fix...if you have patience to pull the cluster out and replace two little batteries....patience of which I do not have.
- Glovebox. Idiot previous owner did a Wolverine job on this one. Luckily I have a glovebox that I bought a while back thats in perfect shape that will be included in the sale. I guess this is sorta negative, but has a happy ending. You'll see what I mean in the pics.
- Foglights. One is broke. I have 2 non-broke foglights that will come with it. See a trend? I plan on fixing things...just never get around to it.
- Cosmetics. It's not perfect. It has scratches, it has chips. If it was really nice I'd either ask a lot more for it, or keep it...so do I need to elaborate more on this? On the other hand it is dent and ding free and as you will see in the photos, cleans up very nicely.
Thats about it for all the negatives on this car. I'm being very honest and will answer any and all questions, so if you got them...try me.
Now for the positives!
- Suspension. 2 days after getting the car running I called up Ground Control and ordered a set of Bilstein/GC Coilovers. The spring rates are 550f/700r, and they were chosen specifically by the guys at GC when I told that I wanted a car that could be daily driven and taken to the track for a HPDE every now and then. The car rides very well, it's obviously stiff, but it's not bone-jarring, pissing-blood kinda stiff. It's very nice. On top of the coilovers I also ordered a set of Ground Control Camber/Caster plates. Once these were installed a did a very basic backyard alignment, but I would recommend to the next owner to get it properly lined up. For the rear I bought Ground Control rear shock mounts. The suspension has roughly 3,000 miles on it if I'm not mistaken...thats it.
- Exhaust. The stock muffler was chucked in the dumpster and replaced with two glasspacks. The car retains it's stock cat and creates just the right amount of noise, not too loud at all. After welding these in place I dyno the car and it made a very healthy 144whp...and I forgot the torque, I can look that up.
- K1's. 15x7 +27mm Kosei K1s. The track addict's wheel of choice. I'm allowing these to go with the car for a little extra due to the overwhelming fact that this car looks 42 times better on K1s then the bottlecaps, therefore I know that the next owner will want these wheels. I know I will regret this decision because these K1s also fit 2 of my other cars...but so be it. Keep in mind that you can save yourself $600 by letting me keep my precious Koseis. More importantly keep in mind that I will NOT part these wheels out, so don't ask. The wheels are wrapped in 225 Sumitomo HTRII's...nothing special, but they are round and hold air.
- Other stuff. I added a "is" lip, makes a big difference in overall appearance I think. Lamin-X'd high beams, takes two seconds to rip off if it's not your taste. Euro grills! These little buggers were on my E30 M3 and I kept them because I'm a big fan of euro grills. Now I guess I'll let them go on this E30 even though I know this wont be my last. VIR Sticker. Now even if you've never been on the track, everyone will think you did! BMW CCA Sticker. I've heard this can get you out of reckless tickets...it's a must have in your back window...I'll let the next owner keep it.
Now for some photos since everyone has already skipped past all the text and this is all that matters....
Location: Richmond, Va
Contact: Kevin@PerformanceAutosport.com or PM on this site.
Mileage: 174,430
Price: $4500 w/ K1s, $3900 w/o.
I'm finally parting with my beloved E30. The only reason I'm doing this is so I can purchase another car thats equally as fun that I've literally been trying to buy since 1999. Well, the owner said he'd finally sell it to me, so I've got to liquidate my fleet to gather up the funds...the E30 gets the axe. The Cobra is next!
I'm writing a lot in this description to fully educate any possible buyers. Please take the time to read everything because I may have answered your question in this post already!
It's a 1989 325i that I bought about a year ago. When I bought it, it didn't run. I spent a little money here and there and brought it back to life. In the process I replaced the plugs, distributor cap, fuel filter, guibo, center driveshaft bushing and a few other odds and ends that you'd typically replace when buying a car that has been sitting for over 2 years.
While cleaning the car up after getting it running I found a stack of receipts of previous work. I had previously decided that I would be doing a timing belt on this car due to the unknown history, but after looking through the stack I found that it had been done at 140k, which was only 34k miles ago. Around the same time, the balljoints were replaced which was my other big worry. Obviously something you'd want to look into if you were thinking of tracking this car, but they are in fine shape.
Now here is the list of things that do not work on this car:
- Wipers. The wipers do not work. There is an obvious short in the system somewhere and I do not have the time or patience to figure it out. If you put a brand new fuse in the wipers slot and hit the stalk it will jump the arms up about 1 inch, then pop the fuse. This shows me that the stalk is in working order, as is the wiper motor...but its popping the fuse everytime. Perhaps its a simple fix...dunno.
- Blower Motor. Again, this does not work properly, but it does work. If you place the blower motor on any speed 1-4 and start the car, the blower will run for about 5 seconds, then shut off. When I bought the car it used to work fine every time and one day it just cut out and now it does this weird run for a few seconds. Again, an electrical gremlin that I dont have time to diagnose. My loss is your gain....or something like that.
- Driver's Door Panel. This is not on the car, but will come with it. The previous owner stated that he removed it because the window wouldn't go down. Of course that means you must rip the door panel off and prod around with a stick until you give up. And thats just what they did. He managed to knock the window off the track and I was left fixing it. I did, and of course the only thing wrong with the window was a dirty connection inside the button. Two minutes later, I had functioning windows. I've yet to put the door panel back on due to not having the right clips and being entirely too lazy for my own good.
- Headlights. The headlights are aimed horribly. Now I know what you are going to say..."come on, that takes 30seconds to adjust..just how lazy are you?" Well, pretty lazy, but thats not the point here, the problem is that the adjusters seem to be seized or at least I'm scared I may break one everytime I try to adjust them. Therefore the headlights remain aimed about 10 feet ahead of the car and slightly to the left. The high beams on the other hand kick copious amounts of ass. Even with the Lamin-X they are very bright and being that I travel backroads all night long, they are all I need.
- Gauges. Since the day I bought it, none of the gauges have worked. From searching E30'ish forums I've found that its a known problem and a simple fix...if you have patience to pull the cluster out and replace two little batteries....patience of which I do not have.
- Glovebox. Idiot previous owner did a Wolverine job on this one. Luckily I have a glovebox that I bought a while back thats in perfect shape that will be included in the sale. I guess this is sorta negative, but has a happy ending. You'll see what I mean in the pics.
- Foglights. One is broke. I have 2 non-broke foglights that will come with it. See a trend? I plan on fixing things...just never get around to it.
- Cosmetics. It's not perfect. It has scratches, it has chips. If it was really nice I'd either ask a lot more for it, or keep it...so do I need to elaborate more on this? On the other hand it is dent and ding free and as you will see in the photos, cleans up very nicely.
Thats about it for all the negatives on this car. I'm being very honest and will answer any and all questions, so if you got them...try me.
Now for the positives!
- Suspension. 2 days after getting the car running I called up Ground Control and ordered a set of Bilstein/GC Coilovers. The spring rates are 550f/700r, and they were chosen specifically by the guys at GC when I told that I wanted a car that could be daily driven and taken to the track for a HPDE every now and then. The car rides very well, it's obviously stiff, but it's not bone-jarring, pissing-blood kinda stiff. It's very nice. On top of the coilovers I also ordered a set of Ground Control Camber/Caster plates. Once these were installed a did a very basic backyard alignment, but I would recommend to the next owner to get it properly lined up. For the rear I bought Ground Control rear shock mounts. The suspension has roughly 3,000 miles on it if I'm not mistaken...thats it.
- Exhaust. The stock muffler was chucked in the dumpster and replaced with two glasspacks. The car retains it's stock cat and creates just the right amount of noise, not too loud at all. After welding these in place I dyno the car and it made a very healthy 144whp...and I forgot the torque, I can look that up.
- K1's. 15x7 +27mm Kosei K1s. The track addict's wheel of choice. I'm allowing these to go with the car for a little extra due to the overwhelming fact that this car looks 42 times better on K1s then the bottlecaps, therefore I know that the next owner will want these wheels. I know I will regret this decision because these K1s also fit 2 of my other cars...but so be it. Keep in mind that you can save yourself $600 by letting me keep my precious Koseis. More importantly keep in mind that I will NOT part these wheels out, so don't ask. The wheels are wrapped in 225 Sumitomo HTRII's...nothing special, but they are round and hold air.
- Other stuff. I added a "is" lip, makes a big difference in overall appearance I think. Lamin-X'd high beams, takes two seconds to rip off if it's not your taste. Euro grills! These little buggers were on my E30 M3 and I kept them because I'm a big fan of euro grills. Now I guess I'll let them go on this E30 even though I know this wont be my last. VIR Sticker. Now even if you've never been on the track, everyone will think you did! BMW CCA Sticker. I've heard this can get you out of reckless tickets...it's a must have in your back window...I'll let the next owner keep it.
Now for some photos since everyone has already skipped past all the text and this is all that matters....
Last edited by FlimFlam; 01-01-2008 at 08:54 PM.
01-01-2008, 08:51 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
01-01-2008, 08:51 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
Thanks for looking. As I said above, if anyone has any questions feel free to contact me via mail, PM, or post right here in this thread. I'm a motivated seller since I've got another car I've got to jump on so I'd be willing to listen to offers.
$4500 w/ K1s
$3900 w/o.
NO TRADES.
01-02-2008, 04:36 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
bump for a e30 owner!
good luck with sale
if you don't sell the k1's with the car, please let me know
good luck with sale
if you don't sell the k1's with the car, please let me know
01-02-2008, 05:14 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
The blower issue might be a bad "sword"... I had a similar issue with my 90 535i.. It is under the glove box and when it goes bad it shuts off the blower prematurly.... It is an easy fix for the next buyer!
Bump for a hard to find E30 325i!
Bump for a hard to find E30 325i!
01-02-2008, 05:42 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
I've never heard of this "sword" of which you speak. I guess I need to do more research. If its an easy fix I'll do it now so I can have some more control over my heat on these cold mornings!
01-02-2008, 05:47 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
Those wheels belong back down in the Peninsula...
01-02-2008, 05:49 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
lol, so says many.
btw, those aren't daves. I still have daves..don't be hatin.
btw, those aren't daves. I still have daves..don't be hatin.
01-02-2008, 06:08 PM
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
This is a "sword removal from the God of E34 websites....
I am not fully sure if these are installed in the 325I, but my 535i would do this all winter long. The heat would work on setings 1-3 for a little bit ten kick out. I could only keep it in 4 for any heat.
E34 Sword
If you scoll down the page you will see why they call it the sword.
I am not fully sure if these are installed in the 325I, but my 535i would do this all winter long. The heat would work on setings 1-3 for a little bit ten kick out. I could only keep it in 4 for any heat.
E34 Sword
If you scoll down the page you will see why they call it the sword.
01-02-2008, 07:03 PM
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srsly?
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Re: FS: 1989 325i - Richmond, Va - $4500.
possibly very interested, i'd like to come look at it.