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Thread: Bought a car that was parked for years.

  1. #1
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    Bought a car that was parked for years.

    So as the title states, I just bought an 86' 325e that has been sitting for years. I got the car for a steal of $400. The reason that the car was so cheap is because the PO parked the car a few years ago and never moved it so it's been rotting away and I offered him $400 and he took it. Now my question is what should I do to ensure the car starts up fine, it had a full tank of gas which I will drain. The oil and coolant need to be changed but what else could I do to ensure a good start?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Also there is an m50 forsale on CL for $150 right now, would that be a better choice to deal with over the m20 "e" motor? What would you do? Buy the m50 and not even deal with the origial motor?
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  2. #2
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    I would get the M50 just because the swap is relatively easy, your probably going to want to do it eventually anyways, and then you wont have to worry about fixing up an engine thats been sitting for so long.

    Pics of car?

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  3. #3
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    A $400 e30 and a $500 M50 sounds like money that literally couldn't be better spent if the engine runs and if you cant stick your foot through the floor. I love it.

    - 98 m3, techno/anthrazit cloth, 124k and officially worthless - 89 m3, alpine/black 143k and officially old - 2000 323it, tiag/grey, 169k and officially boring

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    I would get the M50 just because the swap is relatively easy, your probably going to want to do it eventually anyways, and then you wont have to worry about fixing up an engine thats been sitting for so long.

    Pics of car?
    I think this is what I'll end up doing, the m50 is listed for $200 so I'll end up buying it this week! I'll post pictures once I get back to my house.

    Quote Originally Posted by notMpowered View Post
    A $400 e30 and a $500 M50 sounds like money that literally couldn't be better spent if the engine runs and if you cant stick your foot through the floor. I love it.
    Yep I'm doing the swap! Decided not to deal with the headaches of the old engine. The m50 is only listed for $200 so after everything I'll be about $600 into this car!

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  5. #5
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    Wow I misread the OP, the M50 is a steal. Start a build thread! With the low initial cost I'd say you could dump some serious money into some fun stuff as well and still be way out on top for what the car is worth when done.

    - 98 m3, techno/anthrazit cloth, 124k and officially worthless - 89 m3, alpine/black 143k and officially old - 2000 323it, tiag/grey, 169k and officially boring

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by notMpowered View Post
    Wow I misread the OP, the M50 is a steal. Start a build thread! With the low initial cost I'd say you could dump some serious money into some fun stuff as well and still be way out on top for what the car is worth when done.
    Yeah haha, pretty cheap. My buddy is buying my motor for $100 so after that the m50 will only cost me about $100 out of pocket. I'll start a build thread once I get more parts in and actually start working on the car! For now the goal is to clean it up and have it on the track by September!
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  7. #7
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    If you aren't going to use the M20 engine, try firing it up for giggles and see what happens. You might be surprised, a jump start and that car might run.
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by pizzaman09 View Post
    If you aren't going to use the M20 engine, try firing it up for giggles and see what happens. You might be surprised, a jump start and that car might run.
    Im going to try that tomorrow, I'm going to put some new fuel in along with some additives and try and fire it up.
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  9. #9
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    how many miles on the E30?
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by crotter View Post
    how many miles on the E30?
    The odometer says it's at 140k but we all know how that goes lol. I can't really tell but I'm assuming it's in the 200k+

    - - - Updated - - -

    Update: So today I gave the car a quick wash then decided to check the engine out a bit. Turns out it has oil which look to be in good condition and its topped off with coolant, so I said eff it and threw in a battery that I had laying around and tried to start it. The car started to crank but it didnt run. My father who is a mechanic for 20+ years said to try starting it with carb cleaner so we gave it a shot, surely enough the car cranked over and started right up while my dad sprayed carb cleaner into the intake manifold! Tomorrow Im going to drain the tank, check to see if the fuel pumps are bad and whatever needs to be done!
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  11. #11
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    323i E30 is offline ⅂!ʈө !ƨ l!ʞө ɐ ʇөlөbµouө
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    Nice buy, also for the M50!
    Keep in mind that the M20 has a timing belt, and since it has been sitting for years I would guess that that thing is old and brittle by now.
    It might run for a few miles and then snap on you. Not much of a problem in your case, but would be a waste of a nice engine regardless..
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  12. #12
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    Personally if you want to get an M50 in it, I wouldn't play around with the M20

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  13. #13
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    Yeah I know, I would be putting more money in maintence than I would spend on the m50. Only reason I'm messing with it is because I'm giving the motor to my friend.
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    This should become a pretty cool build man. Good for you for getting it for so cheap.
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  15. #15
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    I have almost the exact same car... '85 325e coupe which I also paid $400 for and it hadn't run for years at the time of purchase. My opinion is that you should stick with the M20B27. It is an incredibly reliable engine (more so than the m50 imo) and has the low-end grunt to move the e30 with eta gearing. It also delivers reasonably good fuel economy. Replace the timing belt & water pump then just drive the thing. The old fuel may be fine to burn though too - I ran a whole tank of 5+ year old gas through mine with no ill effects. An M50 swap will cost you significantly more than the M50 itself and unless you've seen the M50 run, I would not just trust a blind purchase. Furthermore, having performed the swap multiple times (in my '85 no less, same car...), you'll hardly pick up any performance. It's just not worth it unless you have more work planned. Either go for a larger 24v engine or don't bother. I hope you have an e36 transmission too because the G260 has an overdriven 5th gear that will make the car a complete dog with the 2.93(is '86 2.79 still?) final drive & 2.5L M50.
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyrix2k View Post
    I have almost the exact same car... '85 325e coupe which I also paid $400 for and it hadn't run for years at the time of purchase. My opinion is that you should stick with the M20B27. It is an incredibly reliable engine (more so than the m50 imo) and has the low-end grunt to move the e30 with eta gearing. It also delivers reasonably good fuel economy. Replace the timing belt & water pump then just drive the thing. The old fuel may be fine to burn though too - I ran a whole tank of 5+ year old gas through mine with no ill effects. An M50 swap will cost you significantly more than the M50 itself and unless you've seen the M50 run, I would not just trust a blind purchase. Furthermore, having performed the swap multiple times (in my '85 no less, same car...), you'll hardly pick up any performance. It's just not worth it unless you have more work planned. Either go for a larger 24v engine or don't bother. I hope you have an e36 transmission too because the G260 has an overdriven 5th gear that will make the car a complete dog with the 2.93(is '86 2.79 still?) final drive & 2.5L M50.
    Yeah I got the car "kind of" running, turns out none of the fuel was garnished and I just drained it all out and threw new spark plugs in. The car idles but at like 400rpm so we checked fuel pressure and sure enough it was pretty low, the intake fuel pump took a crap so it's not getting enough pressure to the fuel rail. I am going to see if I can find one this week and get it running. As far as the car getting an m50 I know it will cost a lot more than the actual motor, only reason I'm looking into is because I want to boost it and I'm more familiar with the m50.
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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by e46cruiser View Post
    Yeah I got the car "kind of" running, turns out none of the fuel was garnished and I just drained it all out and threw new spark plugs in. The car idles but at like 400rpm so we checked fuel pressure and sure enough it was pretty low, the intake fuel pump took a crap so it's not getting enough pressure to the fuel rail. I am going to see if I can find one this week and get it running. As far as the car getting an m50 I know it will cost a lot more than the actual motor, only reason I'm looking into is because I want to boost it and I'm more familiar with the m50.
    How low is the fuel pressure? The M20B27 has a 2.5 bar FPR so you should see roughly 28-30 psi @ idle. I'd also suggest to think really carefully about your next moves - you don't want to dump a ton of money into a crap car or a car that isn't exactly what you want. If you decide that the car is solid and you love e30 sedans with diving boards, define your power goals. Anything under 400 whp and I'd stick with the m20b27. The m20 will hold that power with nothing more than an MLS or O-ringed block + head studs. Hell, metric blues are probably good enough. If you want higher power goals, move to the M52B28 which comes from the factory with forged internals. I only went with an M50 because it fell into my lap and I blew the M20 up under boost
    1985 325 - 5 speed - LSD - M50NV - MS2/extra - AEM UEGO - TiAL MV-R - 750cc injectors - HX35 - Blunttech Manifold - 3" exhaust
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    Such a low idle can also easily be caused by vaccuum leaks.
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  19. #19
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    Well guys I got the m20 running for a whopping $80 bucks! I replaced the spark plugs, intake fuel pump, and cleaned the injectors. I got the intake pump for $70 dollars instead of the normal $180 or so because the guy at the auto parts store messed up my checkout and I paid $10 for my friends new spark plugs! My dad got me some gas so I also threw that in. I found out the car has 139k original miles, it was parked in a garage it's whole life, and cleaned regularly even though it didn't run. I'm going to keep the m20 in the car for a couple of months while I build my m50 or m52 on the side. I know that I will start off with a power goal of like 350rwhp and then just keep wanting more so my plans are to do a full build, also got to refresh the chassis and all it's suspension components!
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  21. #21
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    I only have the pics from above. This is the only one I took after I finished it. Untitled by Victorg85345, on Flickr
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    Untitled by Victorg85345, on Flickr

    for any of you that still care I got the car running and I've been driving it every now and then. Got it all cleaned up and it needs a detail pretty badly! As far as the engine, it's running pretty damn good, everything seems to be in great shape! I'm going to keep the m20 as a spare motor so I will be doing an "I" head swap while I build my m50 on the side.
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