DAharon
05-13-2005, 08:06 PM
Hi guys, I've been an on and off lurker on this board, and right now I'm considering an '83 320i that's for sale near my house. I drive a '90 RX-7 at the moment, and it's apparent to me that with gas prices the way they are, it's about time to consider something a little more practical.
I test drove the 320 and it seemed to drive pretty well. There was a little bit of noise that I think was coming from the transmission, and the brake pedal was soft. It did stop pretty well with firm application though.
The paint is not in the best shape, but not that bad either. Just faded. The interior is in great condition. Amazingly good condition for a car of this age I think. The dash has some small cracks in it and the sunroof headliner isn't too good, but thats the worst of it. The speedometer doesn't work and the odometer reads 0. CarFax says it had 93,000 miles on it in 2000. But then 84,000 in 2003.
I checked the underside of the car and the trunk as best as I could, giving the floor boards some good solid knocks, and I couldn't find any rust anywhere on this car. The framerails look nice and straight.
It's slow to rev, but goes to 7k relatively smoothly (but there isn't much power up there). I think the rotary has spoiled me in that regard. The engine bay is nice and clean, with no rust anywhere, but somewhere along the line the radiator overflow tank disappeared, so there's just a 2-liter bottle taking its place right now. It also has an old set of headers. I'll be taking it to get inspected before I buy, and the inspection includes a compression test.
He initially said that he was asking for $1500 for this car. I informed him that they usually go for less than $1000. He said he could meet me half way.
So what I'm looking for is your opinion on how much this car is really worth. If I bought it for $1200 would I kick myself in the pants later?
I'm not really concerned with straight line speed engine wise (good gas mileage is more of a concern), but under no circumstances am I willing to sacrifice handling. Can I get this car to match the RX-7 in the handling department if I throw some konis and GCs on and replace the bushings?
I test drove the 320 and it seemed to drive pretty well. There was a little bit of noise that I think was coming from the transmission, and the brake pedal was soft. It did stop pretty well with firm application though.
The paint is not in the best shape, but not that bad either. Just faded. The interior is in great condition. Amazingly good condition for a car of this age I think. The dash has some small cracks in it and the sunroof headliner isn't too good, but thats the worst of it. The speedometer doesn't work and the odometer reads 0. CarFax says it had 93,000 miles on it in 2000. But then 84,000 in 2003.
I checked the underside of the car and the trunk as best as I could, giving the floor boards some good solid knocks, and I couldn't find any rust anywhere on this car. The framerails look nice and straight.
It's slow to rev, but goes to 7k relatively smoothly (but there isn't much power up there). I think the rotary has spoiled me in that regard. The engine bay is nice and clean, with no rust anywhere, but somewhere along the line the radiator overflow tank disappeared, so there's just a 2-liter bottle taking its place right now. It also has an old set of headers. I'll be taking it to get inspected before I buy, and the inspection includes a compression test.
He initially said that he was asking for $1500 for this car. I informed him that they usually go for less than $1000. He said he could meet me half way.
So what I'm looking for is your opinion on how much this car is really worth. If I bought it for $1200 would I kick myself in the pants later?
I'm not really concerned with straight line speed engine wise (good gas mileage is more of a concern), but under no circumstances am I willing to sacrifice handling. Can I get this car to match the RX-7 in the handling department if I throw some konis and GCs on and replace the bushings?