Newbie with first question

#1

Hi all - just joined the forum after months of lurking! I’ve been instructing with NASA and doing time trials with my '95 Carrera for the past couple of years and am looking for a little more of a challenge. I’m going to sell the Porsche and use the funds to buy a tow vehicle, trailer and prepare an E30. I live in Ft Collins, Colorado - about an hour north of Denver.

I loooked at a '87 325is yesterday and have a couple of questions. The car has sat for a year after the "tranny broke." The night it broke some vandals stole the car’s MAF and ripped out some wiring in the area. The car also needs a new hood, because the current one is fiberglass, and the front bumper, air dam and grill are gone. (Not sure why.) The car has about 165k miles, no rust, rough interior and the body is good enough for a race car. There are no visible leaks and the oil looked and smelled OK. I’m not sure the transimission is actually broken - by the way he described what happened he might have broken the clutch instead. He asked $1000, I offered $400, he’s going to let me know.

So assuming I need a new transmission plus the hood, MAF and front bodywork - is it worth doing for $400?

Thanks and I look forward to being able to learn enough to "pay it forward"!

Mark

#2

If you can do all the work yourself, then it might be a decent deal if you can get the car for $400-500. You can use any E30 hood and any AFM from an 87 or later 325i/is is suitable. Nor would the transmission be a problem as any Getrag 260 works. There are still plenty of diving board bumpers in salvage yards, but a spoiler for that car is going to be hard to find. There’s a thread on this forum about cheap home made (ugly) alternates.

#3

The short answer is yes, it is easily worth $400. I’d bet your assumption of the clutch needing to be replaced and the transmission is fine is correct.

#4

One bad thing about cars like these is that they can be missing parts that you are supposed to have. It’s worth $400, but just be careful about finding out what (non-critical) parts you might need. I’m thinking things like the plastic covers behind the headlights and others that the cars should technically have.

Definitely worth $400 though. You might find an ITS racer or someone you can trade the fiberglass hood for the parts you need.

#5

Hi Mark,
Does sound like it is worth it as long as no rust. Sounds like someone was using it as a parts car so you may discover some other things missing. Dave Stackhouse is a good contact for knowing what is in the local salvage yards.
cheers,
bruce

#6

Mark, I just made the transition from a 911 (996) to a Spec E30. It’s really different. I’m suddenly a complete newby trying to figure out how to drive a car with 1/2 the hp, stickier tires, and an engine located…wait for it…IN FRONT, for crying out loud. It’s really different.

You can almost do anything you want and the rear will stay tucked in nicely. You can fly into corners at crazy-speed and the understeer will scrub the speed down and keep you on the track. But as soon as you start heading for the apex, understeer is no longer your friend.

#7

Mark,

Take a look at the donor car note I posted yesterday. This is a running example, plastic bumper car, that already has the proper Bilsteins and some other new stuff you will need. While $1500 is a lot more than $400, you may spend a lot more than that 1100 difference just getting that car to where this already is.

Tell me about your 95 993. I am a 20 year PCA veteran and have lot’s of contacts. Maybe I can help you peddle that car too. Send me details to P911sc44@hotmail.com

Don

#8

If you have decided to go ahead and build a spec e30 I don’t see how you can pass this up if he is willing to let it go for $400 dollars. I would use this as my parts car, and find a better canidate for the race car. Think of all the parts you could get out of it. spare Engine, Transmission if it is good, Diff, Driveshaft…and all the body panels. If I found one like that in my area I would snap it up in a second.

Good luck with your searsch

Greg Moberg