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Thread: e30 buyers guide

  1. #1
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    e30 buyers guide

    I realised my thread was down so I am resposting this for another guide.

    The complete Buyers guide to purchasing an e30



    Since I see posts about this all the time I thought I would take the time to consolidate all the information you need to know about buying an e30 of just about and flavor, most of the information I am passing along I have seen first hand when looking at cars, I think I looked at about 5 e30s before buying one. A lot in this article I am going to assume the person looking for a car does not know a lot about cars in general.

    Here's a few things to keep in mind when picking an e30.

    1. General Information

    A. 318i
    B. 318is
    C. 325 (aka eta)
    D. 325e
    E. 325i
    F. 325is
    G. M3

    Keep in mind, I = Normal Car, IS = Sport Model, E = Economy

    There are others but chances are you wont find them.

    Instead of typing all the specs out of the engines, a complete list can be found here.

    To make things simple, when I refer to the engine "M20" think any of of the 325 series, "m40/2" think 318i or 318is, "s14" is the m3. I am not going to cover the m3 at all, it is a completely different car, any information you would like to know about buying one can be found on www.s14.net



    2. Things to look for on ANY e30:

    First, look to see if there are any record of engine service, ESPECIALLY check to see if the timing belt on the m20 has been changed, and the timing chain on the m40/2 has been changed. If they have not put this first thing to do on your repair list, get it DONE. If it breaks say goodbye to your engine. Also, check to see if the water pump has been replaced. Water pump and Timing belt/chain are the first repairs you should do to any e30 without previous documentation!

    Here is a list of common easily repairable problems found in e30s.

    1. Window switches: They dont work well, they just suck you can buy new ones or repair.
    If none of the windows work, there is a breaker button for god knows why on the dash, its right above the deck somewhere by the hazard button. It has a red outline, push it and see if that solves the windows not working problem, I have seen a lot of people tricked by this one.

    2.Hole in the intake boot:

    See that big black 90 degree boot thing on the right? (Note I don't have my airbox connected) If the car doesn't want to idle or stalls, chances are there's a hole in that thing. Its like $20 new and 5 min of time with a screw driver you can change it out



    3. Dead Speedo, Tach, Or odometer: The odometers are prone to break in e30s, if it is you may want to question the miles on the car. They are a pretty simple fix if it is, goto www.odometergears.com and pickup a new gear set. If all or more of these are dead it may be a bad SI board, which isnt a big deal. They are easy to replace and you can get them on ebay with new batteries cheap. The main thing to worry about is the correct mileage on the car.

    4. Broken seatbelt clips. I have seen a LOT of e30s with broken seatbelt clips. They are not too hard to replace. It will require you to pull the seat out of the car but its not hard. I would suggest getting new ones from the dealer. I think they go for about $30 a pop.

    5. Door Locks: Try the key in all door locks including the trunk. See if they are sticky or jammed. If they are you are generally SOL, My old 325i and my m3 both have this problem, I just expect locks on e30s not to work. Easy work around is just getting a keyless system.

    6. RUST!!!

    There are several places on an e30 to check for rust.

    A. Rear license plate light: Check around the lights for rust, This is a very common place to find it

    B. Tail lights: open the trunk and pop the cover off the rear tail lights (just two plastic screw things you spin) check around there for rust!

    C. Under the doors!! The window seals are prone to wear out, I didn't check this on my first car and had some horrible rust. Feel and look under the door to see if there is rust





    7. Performance:

    If you made it his far without walking away good! So lets move onto the test drive.

    While driving here are some thing to check, and some questions to ask yourself.

    A. Let go of the steering wheel while going straight on a nice paved road, make sure the car does not veer off on its own, if it does, you probably need an alighment.

    B. Do this again while braking, does it veer now?, Is there any brake grinding of squealing?

    C. If the owner is not with you, hit some potholes! Check to see if the shocks are blown, do they make an awful noise when you hit potholes? Does the car "shudder" when you hit them? This may be a sign of blown shocks.

    D. Try cornering hard, can you hear the wheels grind? If they do it may be a bad wheel bearing, which can most people cannot replace and will have to take to a shop.

    E. Is the exhaust loud? Check for leaks or holes

    F. Redline it! Does all hell break loose if you get to redlines? I did that to one e30 and it just killed it, the engine acted like crap afterwards!

    G. If the car is manual, pull over, push the clutch down, put it in 3rd.. Now Drop the clutch. If the car dies instantly good! that means the clutch is probably in ok condition, if that car pulls itself forward a bit before stalling the clutch may be going out.

    H. Test the cruise control!



    8. General things too look for that are not e30 specific:

    A. Is the paint faded or chipped?

    B. Tires!! How much tread is left? Are they all the same brand and model? Is there any unusual wear marks?

    C. Check all the lights, see if any are blown or whatnot

    D. Check the AC

    E. Let the car idle for a while, does it overheat? This may be a bad fan clutch (the mechanical fan on the front of the engine)

    F. Does it overheat after driving a lot? Could be a bad water pump

    G. Is the coolant black or grimy looking? This is probably a bad head gasket (lots of work for you to do, lots of money for a shop to do)

    H. Pop the hood, Are there any parts with numbers written in "paint" on them? These would be parts for a salvage yard, may make you question some things. Although it may not be a bad thing, its just something to keep in mind about the overall care of the car.



    9. Trivial things you may or may not care about.

    A. Check the dash, if its cracked it sucks to replace. But can be done

    B. Recline the seats all the way back, then pull the lever to make them come up, do they come up on their own? Or are they broken and need to be pulled up by hand?

    C. Headliner ripped? Whats the overall condition of the interior? Think about how hard or what it would cost to fix problems.

    Bumpers, bumpers, bumpers! By Ryan Stewart

    There are a lot of different bumpers out there and there are a lot of people who hate thiers so maybe we should cover some of the basics of the E30 bumpers.

    First there are the E30s made before 1988. All E30s made before 88 either got the international chrome bumper or the very large aluminum and rubber 5mph bumper that looks like this:



    These cars can NOT take the plastic bumpers without heavy modification shown in Jordan's tech article. And no, there is no easy way that doesnt result in it looking horrid.

    For cars made in 1988 and beyond you CAN install the plastic bumpers everyone knows and loves because those cars have the lower rear arches. On the cabrios you may want to install the latter valance to finish the update but they are a bolt on mod (except for cutting the tow hook):



    For those of you who have the late model International bumpers you might wanna know, "How can I be more Euro?" Well dont fret, you too can have the opportunity. The only difference in the late model Euro bumpers is the deletion of the sidemarkers. You can get the trim that doesnt have the sidemarkers and then sell your sidemarkers to someone in Europe, they are the shizzle over there.

    Now before you guys with the ugly, horrid, evil US 5mph bumpers start crying there is an out. The international market bumpers for the early cars were slick little chrome units that look great and are a bolt on mod (only drill 2 holes) for the early cars.

    These are what they look like over the stock US valance and with a stock rear:




    Then if you have plastic bumpers and money (they are expensive) you can install the mtec2 bumper covers and bodykit:



    Just to reiterate. Unless you have lots of money or own a bodyshop you cant have plastic bumpers look right on a pre-88 car.



    10. Going in for the kill!

    If everything is looking pretty good to you here are some tips for buying a soon to be e30 (hopefully)

    A. GET A CARFAX, I cannot stress this enough, although its not the best tool, its an easy one to use. Carfax can show if anything has happened to the car.

    B. Get a blue book quote! www.kbb.com Although this usually doesn't upload to a lot of e30s, its a nice tool to hold over the owners head to try to get them down in price.

    Bargaining: Here's some lines I use to try and get prices down

    "The car looks nice, but it does have a lot a miles, and you know that takes away from value"

    "Yeah but, blah blah blah is wrong with it, and you know the cost of getting these things fixed will add up to be a lot even though they are not big issues"

    I always low ball on my first offer, just to see how the owner will take it. Just see what their reaction is and take it from there. ALWAYS try to get them down, I mean hey, you don't have anything to lose might as well try!





    I think this about covers all the basics to buying an e30, I hope this was helpful. Happy hunting!



    References and tech site for help

    www.bimmerforums.com

    www.r3vlimited.com

    www.bmwboard.com

    www.e30tech.com

    www.bimmerworld.com

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Baur e30, Baur 1602, Bav
    I have owned over a dozen e30s and still have a few around.
    Also a few fellow BMW CCA members are looking for track cars and buying e30s. I have been asked for info on what to look for. Here is what I put together and Please let me know if I have anything incorrect.

    The easiest way to check a E car Vs an I car is the Tach.. An E car has a redline at 4,500 adding at 5k. The I car is 6300 ending at 7k. Yes I know you can put a I cluster in a E car and it works fine So a 2nd way to check is look at the intake amafold. The E cars have a cold start fuel injector on the passenger side and the idle stabilizer next to it. The I cars don’t have this injector and the idle stabilizer is on the drivers side.

    Common problems.
    Speedos break at 80 to120k. If its works DONT push the reset button when the car is moving. There are 3 companies making gear kits to fix this.

    Inside door latches are plastic and break, these are pretty cheap at the dealer. But again the local U pull it always has a a car on the lot with them.

    Trans linkage gets really sloppy. At 100k. Parts are cheap but not easily accessed. If you put a Short shifter kit in it will replace most of these parts. A Z 3 shifter is an improvement. It can be done by feel from under the car, but if you are doing a clutch it’s a good time to replace these parts. Also order the gasket/seals and replace them if you have the trans out of the car.

    Drive shaft center bearings go bad. You will get a vibration and thumping between the seats. Not to hard to fix, some cars need the exhaust removed and the heat shields. Do yourself a favor and replace the Guilbo ( the rubber donut at the front of the driveshaft) if you already have the driveshaft out to fix the bearing.

    Clutch for cooling fan goes at 130- 150k. If the car starts running hot in traffic check this. You can jump the Red sensor on the radiator to turn on the electric fan. If this cools down the car I would say it could be the clutch. I have had to replace this on 90% of the e30s I have owned. Living in FL overheating is an issue, I have never purchased a new one. I go to the local U pull and grab one off a junked car, they are pretty interchangeable. I have used them off 5 series as well as 7 series.

    Power steering racks leak, I know people that have pulled off the belt and driven the car for another 100k miles W/o power steering. You can get rebuilt racks, or many people use the Z3 rack since it has a quicker response.

    The auto trans will start shifting hard at 120k miles and go out at 130 to 150K miles.

    The manuals will loose 2nd gear at 250k miles. I find used manuals at the local u pull about every 3 months for under $50. I also have had the master clutch cylinder fail on every car at about 120-150k. At that point I replace the master and slave cylinder.

    Rear axle cv covers. These split and if they are damaged and the car has over 150 K miles just send them out to be rebuilt or replace them. I use to be able to get remanufactured axles for about $100. But when I tried to find some in July of 07 there were none around, so I sent them out to be rebuilt.

    Timing belts should be don’t every 90k, yea you can run them up to 120k But if it breaks you will be replacing Valves, or the head.

    Everything but the transmissions and steering racks are cheap to fix. Under $100 if you do it yourself And/Or use parts from the local junkyard.

    I have friends that are autocrossing cars with 250K miles on the engines and being very competitive. These cars are in my opinion the BEST that BMW has built, I have seen cars with over 300k miles with original engines. So don’t be afraid of a car with 100k or so.

    I hope this helps..

    Barry
    Last edited by bam2002; 08-16-2007 at 09:51 PM.

  3. #3
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    The two four-cylinder engines available in the US on non-M e30's were the M10 and the M42. The M40 was not available in the United States.

    M10- 105hp, SOHC, 1984-1985 on 318i
    M42- 138hp, DOHC, 1991 on 318is(2 dr) and 318i(4 dr)

    Both have timing chains and are 1.8 liter.

    The M10 uses a distributor but the M42 uses individual coils fired by the ECU.

    The M10 is a bit of a dinosaur and the M42 is quite a good engine.
    www.M42Club.com for more information the M42

  4. #4
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    1987 325is, e34, Z3, e39
    It's useful to split these up into Cheap and Easy, Easy and PITA/expensive fixes.

    Cheap and Easy
    Trim, shift boot, window switches, etc.
    Taillight gaskets ($10, frequent cause of trunk leaks)
    ABS overvoltage protection relay, $25 or replace internal fuse w/ $1 fuse and soldering
    Antenna gasket, $2

    Annoyingly costly but easy
    Fan clutch ($80-$100, never buy used)
    Taillights ($120, expensive even at boneyard)
    Windshield/rear-window lock strip replacement, $30 eachand easy if you can find the $10 tool.

    Annoying
    Odometer failure, $75 for three tiny plastic gears and 1-2 hours of careful work
    Service indicator light bar or tach failure, $125 to replace SI board or $5-10 for new batteries to solder in.
    OBC light bar, $30 and 1+ hours the first time (Or $3 and a soldering iron, but still 1+ hour)
    Driver's lock cylinder, $35 kit (easy) and removing interior door panel

    Painful
    Rust, such as the unreachable license plate light area
    Swapping cracked dash, $100-$150 used, $500 new, several hours
    Loose shift linkage, $15-$100 in parts/upgrade, but may require dropping exhaust
    Steering rack leak, $100-$300 for used/rebuilt rack, significant under-car labor (it's never a leaking $3 dust boot)
    A/C, assume empty system requires a rebuilt compressor, new drier, new seals. $300-$800. (Some hoses are over $100 each.)

    I didn't mention timing belt because you should just replace it unless you have both an on-car sticker and matching service receipt in the past two years. There have been several stories here of broken timing belts where the seller had falsely claimed recent replacements. Timing belts reliably last well over 50K miles and 5 years, but they don't last for twice that interval. Failures are usually reported at 80K-90K miles and just after buying a car. Unless you have receipts, replace the water pump with the timing belt and every second change after.

  5. #5
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    First I would like to say that both the concept and the execution of the buyer's guide are for the most part dead on. If only potential new owners of e30's will take the time to find and read it. There is just one little thing that bothers me, and, yes I am oversensitive about this. If you are going to take time to list the models that the guide applies to, why not list them all. If you add the es and the iX to your list I am pretty sure it would be complete. And both models while scarce are available. I own one of each. I'm espcially surprised that the iX was left off given their popularity and the fact that if there is a natural habitat for AWD bimmers it is your neck of the woods.





  6. #6
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    good info guys thanks

  7. #7
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    1985 323i Tc Baur
    New to the board and E30's Thanks for the information... I love this 323 Baur!

    Anyone have a good roof (convertible guy/gal)?

    -Soc

  8. #8
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    good work...I'm sure all the newbies out there can really use this!

    IF not, then they'll find out after they buy their first e30...lol

  9. #9
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    too many bmws
    pretty good... vote for sticky.
    '91 SpecE30 #523
    '12 F30 328i Sport Line
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  10. #10
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    About Timing

    I am pretty sure I have a timing problem. I'm in Germany and driving a /euro spec. 1990 BMW 318i and there is a little service light on with a little clock looking thing on.

    But how hard is it to set or fix the timing, and what are the step by step instructions on doing so?

    I am a do it myself kinda guy.

  11. #11
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    Timing belt is covered in any of the Bentlys- haynes type manuals. There are timing marks on the cam gear, front of the engine and crank pully. All you need to do is line everything up. This would only be helpful if you jumped a tooth on the belt. This is very rare, they usually just break. Then you have a trashed head.. Since youll bend valves and break rocker arms.

    Unless you have a Euro engine ( since your in Germany I guess this is the case) has the distributor on the side of the block to adjust timing. RE rotate the distributor to advance or retard timing. On the US cars its all done but the ECU- computer. I have not worked on a Euro 4 cyl. On my Baur 323 I can rotate the distributor, therefore I use a timing gun on the front pully.

  12. #12
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    1990 BMW 318i coupe

    It's Euro

    yeah it's a Euro bimmer.
    It also sounds like there is a push rod rattling in it sometimes.
    but I also found a cracked vacuum line going into the intake off of the air intake.
    I need to look at it more. and before I come back to the states i might get a m3 or 5m motor an tranny to swap it out.

    will a 2003 745LI V8 engine fit in the my '90 bmw 318i?
    Last edited by brimmer555; 06-21-2009 at 05:09 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

  13. #13
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    good info thanks

  14. #14
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    Spec E30, 91 318i
    added to FAQ/DIY thread

  15. #15
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    s13 240sx 87 MonteSS
    hello very new to this i was tring to post but i dont even know how?? so im just going to throw this in here i was looking into buying a 87 bmw 325es the only problem is the car is automatic shuld i go buy a manual 325 or is this ES worth swaping from auto to manual

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by ONE LOVE View Post
    hello very new to this i was tring to post but i dont even know how?? so im just going to throw this in here i was looking into buying a 87 bmw 325es the only problem is the car is automatic shuld i go buy a manual 325 or is this ES worth swaping from auto to manual
    depends on the price. typically, it is cheaper/easier to just find a 5-spd to begin with.
    '91 SpecE30 #523
    '12 F30 328i Sport Line
    '00 F-350 Dually
    BMWCCA #360858 NASA # 128290


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  17. #17
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    Tee-hee, I'll be using this tomorrow... Thanks!

  18. #18
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    s13 240sx 87 MonteSS
    the guy wants 2200 im shure i can talk him down he said he did the
    TIMING BELT CHANGED, VALVES CHANGED , HEAD GASKET CHANGED. WTER PUMP CHANGED. its got 140xxx so im going to try and find out how long ago he did it
    int ext seems to be clean to me i have to look at the car though

  19. #19
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    I liked the comment of the low ball offer. My mom gave the guys selling it a low ball offer, 2 K for what they listed as 3. I was so nervous as I wanted this long hunt for a car to end, but in the end it worked with a compromise. 2,500 for the second cleanest e30 we'd found after months of looking.

  20. #20
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    14,000 views and only 19 replies? What has the forum come to?

    Excellent thread, lots of great information up there.

  21. #21
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    s13 240sx 87 MonteSS
    ill wonderin if i shuld go with a automatic 325 es
    the guy wants 2200 im shure i can talk him down(2000) he said he TIMING BELT CHANGED, VALVES CHANGED , HEAD GASKET CHANGED. WTER PUMP CHANGED. its got 140xxx so im going to try and find out how long ago he did it
    int ext seems to be clean to me i have to look at the car though...??? there is also a 89 325 4 door im looking at for around the same price but odometer broke at 140000 and guy said it prob has 150000 but it has pleather int.??? witch 1 shuld i go for please help me out bmw people


    any advise let me know how to post a thread??
    Last edited by ONE LOVE; 09-21-2009 at 01:14 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

  22. #22
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    dont buy an auto 325e, it will be slow! Check out the 89, it will be a 325i and be much faster!

  23. #23
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    s13 240sx 87 MonteSS
    its a (es) thts y im looking at it but i guess im going with the 4 door if its cleann i guess it will be a littel different?? i just dont like the thought of a hand crank roof and the interior idk if its even hand crank im new to this and kinda diving in head first ??? pointers help wuld b great im good wit cars i turboed my s13 240sx and made it manual and such??

    do i need to be a member for longer to post a thred or something if you culd held me by telling me how to start my own wuld b nice
    Last edited by ONE LOVE; 09-21-2009 at 02:12 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

  24. #24
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    Honestly? I say keep looking...

    If you want one of the 2 I'd say go with the '89...

    325e's (and es' for that matter), are nice and torquey for daily driving... But trust me on this... You'll want more than what it can give you...

  25. #25
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    s13 240sx 87 MonteSS
    are there that many differences between the 2 door and four

    there is also a 2 door 1991 318IS but i dont really want a 1.8 enless it actuly better in hp a torque
    Last edited by ONE LOVE; 09-21-2009 at 02:35 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

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