1985 E30 buying advice.

mops

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auckland, New Zealand
#1
Hello.

I'm currently looking at buying a 1985 E30 2 door manual 325 that has done 122000 miles.

I'm wanting to have a weekend car, that I could do some work on, with decent performance. I do realize it's not a new car, but i'm prepared to spend some time and money on it to make it better, just for the fun of it. THe particular one I'm looking at has been driven by older lady

It has a bit of rust, but nothing that I cant fix.

It drives allright, the only issue there I see are the gear shift bushes need replacing and brake is a little bit sloppy (i.e. i have to push it further down than than normally to brake), but it still breaks good. Performance is pretty good, exacly what I would expect from 325 (i never drove 325 beofre, i drove some 318, 320 and 323's).

My only major concernes are with the engine itself:
-valvetrain is REALLY loud. They just changed the oil with some elf synthetic. Thesed no bottom pressure (if I remove oil cap and dipstikc it doesnt blow any gases out of there -> sign of good engine), but you can hear those valves from miles. Can that be fixed with different oil or adjusting valves ?

-looking from the under of the car at the engine, it is coveded in oil and greases, like it was leaking oil from somewhere. What are the typical places those engines start to go ?

lastly, can you tell me what model engine do I have ? the car has badge 325 only (not 'i' or 'e'), the redline starts at just over 6000 rpm.

Are there any aftermarket ECU's that would improve engine performance ?

Would E30 M3 engine head bolt on straight onto that engine ?

Thanks in advance,

Mops.
 
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#2
the valve train just needs adjusting, it's pretty simple and is disscussed (along with everything else you could possibly want to do) in a Bentley service manual; which is a recommended purchased to go along with your e30

not sure about typical oil leak spots

the engine is a m20b25 (not the 'eta')

after market ECU's?, yes, well chips, Jim Conforti is probably the best

the E30 M3 has a 4 cylinder engine, the 325 has a 6, I think to bolt on the head it would require some modification.

Hope this helps,
 

mops

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#3
Thats for very good and precise info.
Does the m20b25 mean that it the 'i' engine ?
Thanks :)

Re M3, I thought that E30 m3 was 6 cylinder engine. If it was 4 Cylinder then definitely it wont fit, I understand :)

Never the less, I'm happy with engine performance as it is, I think good exhause, intage and ECU upgrade will make it all good (aiming at ~220HP)

Thanks :)
 


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