Evening all,
I'm going to look at a nice early 323i this weekend and wondered if anyone had any specific buying advice they could share?
I'm no stranger to 80s German machinery, having owned 3 Mk2 Golf GTI 16Vs and an e24 635CSI in the recent past.
The one I'm going to see looks like it has had a 'light' resto of some new paint onto a generally sound and very tidy/clean base car. It's priced accordingly. I will be keeping it in a garage and using as a fun commuting/weekend car in the summer.
Any advice or tips most welcome!
TIA
Rust!!
You haven't said what body style -vert and coupe are saleable, 4-door saloons not popular and need to be cheap. 323 not a great engine with the performance of the 320 and the fuel economy of the 325.
Colours were generally OK but stick with mainstream
Great cars.............if priced right!
Thank you :)Originally Posted by afcneal
It is a 4 door saloon but it is very original and complete, which is what I look for in a classic.
Performance and economy-wise, I drive an E63 M6 so anything approaching 20mpg would be a significant improvement on where I am now!
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...-miles/7455981
Crazy!!
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
As Neal says - RUST!! And they can hide it quite well.
In no particular order:
Shuttle panel - Can be viewed by removing black grille between bonnet and windscreen. Not as easy on one side as wiper needs removing. A torch can help looking through the grilles if they can't be removed.
Bulkhead - Behind engine on RHS, under fuse box. Difficult to view but possible from inside by pulling back passenger side carpet and looking up.
Front arches - Internally in engine bay, under washer reservoir. Externally at base, adjacent sills.
Sills - Anywhere under body kit. The front underside has a square "well" which is used in the factory for moving the car arround but people incorrectly use it for jacking. It gets crushed and rots. They are often removed when welding work is done.
Foot wells - Front and rear.
Roof - Area around sunroof. Sunroof drain pipes get blocked and/or disconnected and water leaks to the floor (see above).
Inner rear arches - Tend to go at the base where they meet the sill. Can be viewed from underneath but sometimes hard to spot. Preferably remove rear internal trim and view from inside.
Outer rear arches - As above, at base near sill.
Battery tray - Under battery.
Boot lid - Behind number plate.
Boot - Spare wheel well.
Mechanically they are usually OK and if not, spares (both new and used) are generally still reasonably priced.
Last edited by benny.c; 1st September 2017 at 21:58.
Ran several E30's in the 80's and 90's 318, 323 and 325 (Sytners at Hollis Coft). Lovely cars to drive if a little tail happy, from recollection the 323 needed timing belts etc and got through discs and pads. I'm sure the restoration will have covered the usual items, if it's the silver car from Northampton enjoy.
That steering wheel has seen more than 28k miles, it's awful.
Plus the swirls in the paint are terrible, should be prepared properly to ask those prices!
Many thanks everyone!
Yes, it was the silver car in Northampton and it'll be coming up to me in a week or two once a couple of issues are sorted :)
Good advice from Benny there, I would add;
Seats: the backs / mechanism can snap on these and it's a bugger to put right. Make sure they fold and move ok.
Interior trim was tricky to get 10 years ago, I imagine it's harder now.
Lovely cars, wish I still had mine.
I have to ask this: when did the cheaper two door saloon morph into the more desirably sounding 'coupe'?
It wasnt a coupe then and it isnt a coupe now: its a two door saloon. As an aside, the Mk2 Escort two door looks much more like a coupe, but no one has started romancing its description yet, even though the values are stratospheric.
Had a lovely e30 318i on 85 plate for 10 years
Zinnober Red.
Air Flow Meter gave me trouble for a while, until it was diagnosed as the problem.
All good otherwise.Contemplating myself on a Rag top as a weekender.
Ah yes, forgot about the AFM on these, worth replacing. The convertibles are starting to fetch daft money, especially the rare electric roof version
Another weak point on these is the wiring loom connector on the a post base on the drivers door. the opening and closing of the door can cause the wires or pins to break leading to electrical fun and games, normally with the central locking.
I seem to recall that bizarrely, a lot of electrical gremlins (horn, interior light and other internal electrics) relate to a worn ignition switch, which is a simple change to do.
The E30 325's are just crazy bonkers
There is a fairly comprehensive E90 buyers guide in the August edition of Classic and Sportscar which runs to about 5 pages. This edition was available free with Prime Reading if you have Amazon Prime but seems to have dropped off the free magazine list now.
Last edited by Padders; 4th September 2017 at 22:16.
Thanks - I actually subscribe to the magazine but my wife had recycled it!
Were you able to retrieve it from the recycling? If not I can probably send you a pdf or pics of it.
No, sadly not! It had gone out to pasture about a fortnight after it was delivered.
Thanks for the kind offer. I have bought the car I went to look at now, so probably no need of a printed guide.
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