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Found a car that is an ITA car. Has the ETA motor, coilovers, wrong diff, and no headlights.
Car looks decent though, and has a cage with all the right saftey equipment. I think I can get the whole car with spares for about $4k.
OR, should I keep and prepare my '89 325i, which has all the right running gear, but needs all the race/saftey prep?
Going to keep the '89 regardless, but should I convert the '89 or just buy this 4 door I just found?
The ex-SCCA cars I’ve seen have generally had important items removed (like ABS) that are painful to restore, plus with the wrong running gear and suspension, you are really starting out in the hole.
I’d pass on that one and build from what you already have. It will be cheaper and likely less frustrating in the long run. Depending on where you live cages don’t cost much more than $2k, and after subtracting $1K for the pain and suffering that car is sure to cause, you aren’t very far ahead. Also, it’s entirely likely that the cage is not SE30-legal, so if you decide to move forward be sure to check for compliance in that regard.
I have just completed doing both both safety race prep and drive train/suspension swap.
I have about $3.5-4k in the safety/interior prep expenses including cage, race seat, mounting brackets, harnesses and nets.
I have near twice that in donor motor/rear end, rebuilding motor, suspension, new gas tank, fuel pump…
Which would I not do again? Hard to say. Depends on which day of the week it is. Financially, it’s a no brainer - start with a good running car. The advantage of swapping out all the mechanicals is that if you’re like me, you’ll put all new/rebuilt stuff in to avoid working on old busted stuff all the time.
You could race the ITA now, just not in Spec E30.
Not much help am I? 
Well, I figured I could sell the motor, diff, and coilover setup and get some cash back.
The car has a current logbook for SCCA and NASA…guy races GTS1 I think and ITA. So, I think that means the cage would be legal. The cage looks good as well, with the bars hidden in the dash, rather than taking up space in front of the dash.
I’m going to have to pull my current I motor out at some point to get it rebuilt anyway, along with the tranny (getrag rattle).
My DD 325 is in absoultely awesome condition at the moment.
Its a tough call. I am weary though because I haven’t had the best luck with buying cars in the past, sans one purchase.