newbie ?, why so cheap?

[austingrackle]

Totally green here, never had a BMW, always a wanna-be, working on "being"..
I've been looking in my local papers for some time now at the early to mid eighties 325's, keep finding in particular 325e's for $2000 and under with around 70,000 to 100,000 miles. I admit I know very little about these cars but these prices seem very reasonable. I've always had domestic vehicles and I'm surprised at the good pricesof these cars, sometimes far better than a domestic of the same year/miles. Are these year and model cars notorious for something I don't know about that makes them so cheap? (bad engine, parts expensive/impossible to get, flies apart at highway speed?) Any help is appreciated, flame on guys.

 

[jrt67ss350]

Yep, mid 80s 3 series cars can be had cheap. They are fabulous cars that will last forever if they have been maintained throughout their lifetime. The engines will literally last forever. My 1987 325e has 275,000 miles on the entirely original powertrain with no rebuilds ever. Still runs like the day it was built, burns no oil whatsoever, passes emissions testing with flying colors, and still gets 28 mpg. The original clutch lasted 260,000 miles. Parts are plentiful. There are numerous highly reputable mail-order/internet partshouses, and the dealers can still order nearly everything for these cars (my dealer here even stocks most of the commonly replaced E30 parts).

They are great little cars that love to be driven fast - they are as stable at 100+ mph as most cars are at 50 mph. The E30 BMWs were TRUE un-Americanized German cars.

 

[bmw555]

True cost of BMWs is in maintenance, but 20yo cars should not be expensive anyways, I would go for it.

P.S.
Please remind me, does E30 has carburetor or it uses fuel injection already?

 

[jrt67ss350]

True cost of BMWs is in maintenance, but 20yo cars should not be expensive anyways, I would go for it.

P.S.
Please remind me, does E30 has carburetor or it uses fuel injection already?

Fuel injection. One of the most common misconceptions about the E30 is that the 325i was fuel injected (since it has the "i"), but the 325e was carbureted (since it didn't have the "i"). This is NOT the case; the 325e was always fuel injected and actually came before the 325i. The 325e was introduced in 1984, and was the first six-cylinder 3 series model. The 325i didn't come along until 1987.

Maintenance isn't bad on the E30s. If you are at all mechanically inclined, you can do most of the work on the car yourself in your driveway - E30s are actually very simple cars. There are a few jobs here and there that require BMW-specific tools (you can buy them when/if needed from the online retailers like www.bavauto.com). If you are not mechanically inclined, then it's good to find an independent BMW or German auto shop in your area - most of them will have very reasonable labor rates. In the town where my parents live, there's a shop owned by an old German BMW mechanic that specializes in E30s - he is excellent, and he only charges like $45/hour labor. BMW dealers will gladly work on them, but their labor is obviously very expensive.

 

[epj3]

To add on the fuel injection thing that you might find interesting...

The first BMW to use fuel injection was the 2002 Tii (turbo). It wasn't electronic fuel injection though, it was a mechanical fuel injection. BMW was also the first car company ever to use a computer to manage the engine - so bmw had the first computer controlled fuel injection system, and that was in the mid 70's.

Though I would like to know what domestic car from the early 80's you find that cost more than an E30 with the exception of the vette and collectable cars. You can buy a 5 year old premium brand domestic car (lincoln, mercury, cadillac, etc.) with 1/4 the miles of say a 1988+ E30 for the same price.

But yea, if you find one and you own metric tools already, go for it. It's a learning experience, and you can't beat a balanced RWD car. Best investment you can make on the car is a Bently manual from Bavauto for $35. Things to check are the rubber suspension pieces, make sure the timing belt has been changed (on a 6 cylinder), check for oil pan leaks, and also make sure all the electronics work fine. I replaced the clutch myself in a friends garage with the car on jackstands, so if you put your mind to it, the car isn't that bad to work on. When you do, you really get an appreciation for how well engineered and built the car is...they are amazing pieces of machinery and really did make history.... bmw's were semi popular before, but the E30 is what made BMW big - and for a reason.

 

[bmw555]

Fuel injection. One of the most common misconceptions about the E30 is that the 325i was fuel injected (since it has the "i"), but the 325e was carbureted (since it didn't have the "i"). This is NOT the case; the 325e was always fuel injected and actually came before the 325i. The 325e was introduced in 1984, and was the first six-cylinder 3 series model. The 325i didn't come along until 1987.

Maintenance isn't bad on the E30s. If you are at all mechanically inclined, you can do most of the work on the car yourself in your driveway - E30s are actually very simple cars. There are a few jobs here and there that require BMW-specific tools (you can buy them when/if needed from the online retailers like www.bavauto.com). If you are not mechanically inclined, then it's good to find an independent BMW or German auto shop in your area - most of them will have very reasonable labor rates. In the town where my parents live, there's a shop owned by an old German BMW mechanic that specializes in E30s - he is excellent, and he only charges like $45/hour labor. BMW dealers will gladly work on them, but their labor is obviously very expensive.

Good rates, I took my car to mechanic just once when I just bought it, I wanted to revise the suspension and they charge $99/hour, it's Berkeley Motor Works shop, they seem to do good job though. If anybody knows good and not expensive BMW mechanic in Bay Area please let me know.

 

[epj3]

Good rates, I took my car to mechanic just once when I just bought it, I wanted to revise the suspension and they charge $99/hour, it's Berkeley Motor Works shop, they seem to do good job though. If anybody knows good and not expensive BMW mechanic in Bay Area please let me know.

That's more expensive than most dealers... the local dealer is $79/hour I believe.

 

[bmw555]

That's more expensive than most dealers... the local dealer is $79/hour I believe.

Bay Area is expensive place to live

 

[bmw555]

To add on the fuel injection thing that you might find interesting...

The first BMW to use fuel injection was the 2002 Tii (turbo).

This is not quite correct, they were making fuel injection engines long time before that , read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_801

 

[austingrackle]

Another ?---emissions

How about emission equipment on these? Are they like the gm products I've dealt with in the 80's that had the over populated spaghetti vacuum lines and seemingly endless pumps, exhaust rails, circulators and doodads cluttering up the engine bay for the sake of lowered emissions?
TIA, just trying to see what I'm about to jump off in to.

 

[jrt67ss350]

How about emission equipment on these? Are they like the gm products I've dealt with in the 80's that had the over populated spaghetti vacuum lines and seemingly endless pumps, exhaust rails, circulators and doodads cluttering up the engine bay for the sake of lowered emissions?
TIA, just trying to see what I'm about to jump off in to.

Emissions-wise, these cars are actually pretty simple. They have very few valves, vacuum lines, etc. Of course, they have the standard fuel vapor recovery system with charcoal canister just like all other cars, they obviously have a catalytic convertor, they have a single O2 sensor, and that's about it - the emissions are largely controlled via engine management by the engine computer, not tacked on emissions equipment. They don't have PCV valves, EGR valves, or exhaust air injection systems or anything like that. There are actually very few vaccuum lines on these cars - one line to the fuel pressure regulator, one line to the fuel vapor recovery system, and one line to the brake booster. That's it.

Here's my car: www.cardomain.com/id/trauns Go check out the engine compartment pics and see for yourself. The engine compartment in the six cylinder cars is a little cramped in spots simply because of the length of the engine, the fact that these aren't big cars, and the fact that you always have to work from the side of the car since the hood opens forward. The four-bangers have a lot more room in the engine compartment.

 

[bmwjc3]

I paid 500.00 for my 87 325e but I bought it from a kid at work and it had some right front body damage. I paid 100.00 to be able to strip down everything I wanted off of an 88 bmw in the junkyard before they were going to crush it. It was black and the body was straight. So for 600.00 I had a straight BMW all black and it looks like almost new. Sometimes you can just find a great deal. My car was booked at 1600.00 from the DMV but that is ok, because to me it is worth more. Good luck and keep in mine they are great cars and can be bought for little money. Upkeep sometimes will cost more than the car, but it is worth it in my opinion.