Thinking of getting this for a project but has some issues, look plz

[schrotauto]

Ok so my Jetta has beeen having some issues for the last year or so and i have been borrowing this 1990 325 from the girlfriend's dad for last week. The car is, well, driveable... Let me start with that i used to live in germany and i love BMW's styling especially the older ones like from the late 80's. I used to own i think an 88 325 over there and had fun with it. One of my fondest memories of driving that car was trying to meet my, then, girlfriend in Berlin for the weekend and getting lost so i was cruising at 240kph for like 30 min trying to make up time lol. Thats 150mph... Anyway back on topic... So this car has some issues but i would not need it to work all the time or want to drive it everyday. I am kinda thinking that i will have it for when my Jetta is not cooperating and i have to get that worked on. The BMW has some electrical issues and some mechanical issues i would have to deal with and i know that now. I just dont want to get something that i know needs work but later relize cant be fixed with what i am willing to put into it. I am pretty sure it needs new ball joints, i say this bc the front end wanders feels really vague, and over bumps sometimes the right front wheel will shake when i am on the brake over a rippling bump. Also assume it needs new bushings all around. Which i am ok with fixing. Next would be the exterior, which is in over all good shape the paint is faded but the body itself is in amazingly dent free condition. Also could not find rust on it. The inside has a good bit of wear. The car is almost 20 years old now so thats ok. The door handle on the inside needs to be replaced and the electronics are shot. The gauge cluster is all messed up. The odometer and trip meter dont work anymore stopped at 114k miles so who knows. The tach, water temp and fuel gauge work but that is about it on the gauges. The owner says there is an electrical draw somewhere he cant find and if it sits over a couple weeks without being turned on the bat will be dead. The ac and heater dont work maybe just a bad blower motor. All those things i am willing to work on as long as they can be fixed with a reasonable amount of money( meaning a couple here and a couple there over the course of a year or so, i do all the work myself). I dont care about the ac but a heater is a must, and the gauges need to work. The motor runs great when you get on it. It idles kinda wierd, owner says if you put anything less than high grade gas it has a stalling issue. The cel comes on and flashes at start but it passed emissions this year so... The lifters or valves sound like they tap at idle, but the tbelt snapped a year ago and he had the valves worked on at that time. It doesnt smoke, but i have not done a compression check. And one last thing, the headlights are not lined up where they should be one points higher. I cant see any evidance of a wreck but i cant count it out as the srs light is on in the cluster by the sun roof. The car has a good bit of issues like you can see but i would like to make it reliable first before doing anything major like rebuilding the motor. What do you guys think? i dont know if these isues are common older bmw things or not so help me out. Ja oder nein for buying this as a project car. And i would only buy it if he hoooked me up and let me have it for like 500 dollars
actually i see a spot of rust near back taillight in the pic lol

[tjmonsen5]

Those are simple problems.

The heater could be two things, but you didnt say if it doesnt blow, or if it doesnt have any heat at all.
If it doesnt blow, it is probably the blower motor resistor, which is located right underneath the fan. This is basically under the windshield, and you access it by opening the cover in the rear of the engine bay. 30 dollar part. Or blower motor itself is shot, although i havent heard of them not being able to turn on at all. If it blows only on the highest setting, it is definetley the resistor.

For no heat coming out of the vents, its the heater valve or the heater core. They are in the center console, underneath the heater controls. Somewhat more expensive, around 200 bucks.

for the SRS light, it could be a wire disconnected in the steering wheel ( since i believe your car has an airbag) or the seatbelt wire is not connected under the seat.

For the bad idle, check all of the vacuum hoses, actually just replace all of them. Any vacuum leak on these engines will cause it to either idle or run badly.
You can clean the idle control valve with carb cleaner, it will help it out.

Headlights, pop off the black plastic covers in the engine bay and each headlight will have a long adjustment screw, actually i believe there are 2 screws per light. Mess with them untill you get it where you want it.

For the cluster, its easiest to just buy a working used cluster. The SI Batteries are probably dead, and replacing the odometer gears are expensive.

[schrotauto]

thanks for the quick reply. Yeah there is nothing turning on when you turn on the fan and no air comes through.

And the seatbelt light is illuminated right above the srs light so they might be a connected issue then.

For the gauge, i guess i forgot in all the info i have put up there, the gauges will randomly work for like 5 min at a time every couple hours and then stop working (edit* the mpg gauge will go out and come back usually with the spedo) . My brother is a master tech and says it sounds like it is a grounding issue if it they work then turn off again.

Is there a big used car part market for private sellers here in the us? like vwvortex.com is the biggest forum in the world for vw's and you can find anything you need from someone there. Just wondering if there is a big network of people selling and buynig stuff, and i hate ebay

anymore thoughts from anyone?

[greese]

Xhange all fuses frist. DME relay next. DME will reset, then see what happens. This is a Bronzit, the ultimate color. Fix it or sell it to me!

[schrotauto]

Searched for meaning of DME and the best i could see is it is the computer? And where is the relay? i assume its in a relay box under the hood or something i havent realy dug around yet. And is that color rare or something?

[tjmonsen5]

you can find all the used parts you need on here. A website dedicated to the E30 is www.r3vlimited.com

For new parts I like to order from www.pelicanparts.com , i have spent ALOT of money on that site. All parts are OEM and great quality.

lol he is being sarcastic about the color. Its basically the most hated BMW color.

[schrotauto]

oh lol thanks for the info. I had a golf this color and i hated it too. The paint is bad on the roof and trunk lid so if i did get it, eventually it would get painted like a silver or something.