Old BMW fanciers thread

[Minimad5]

Thus would put me off personally 

[Cord Fourteener]

There's an E39 528i estate possibly for sale near me.

I thought my last E46 325i estate was amazing in so many ways and not expensive to buy, though it did cost a bit to run and FTP twice in two years so I'm hoping it's either too f**ked or too expensive so I don't end up with another screwy BMW!

[Cord Fourteener]

But omg that engine, suspension and drive tain. Just lovely. 

[DavidB]

I thought the E46 was such a nice car, they can't possibly get any cheaper really, no doubt they will be going the same way as E30/E36's in five years. The Compact I had was so nice to drive, would deffo have a 325 version.

[sierraman]

The E30 and E36 both good quality cars had that special feeling you used to get with BMWs. The E46, no, that’s when the quality went to shit. I’m sure they’ll go up in value but not off the back of being an especially good car. 

[DodgyBastard]

I bought this one in 2019 for £300!

 

I sold it to a friend for £1000, I'm pretty sure he still has it and hasn't done anything with it.

[barrett]

11 minutes ago, DodgyBastard said:

I bought this one in 2019 for £300!

 

See, whilst I can't get excited at all about the way BMWs look or 'feel', being all Teutonic and solid and boring, there is something really appealing about that shape of estate, although the leather seats are a bit off-putting. I think because these have such a Notting Hill Old Money vibe about them it looks like the sort of car you could own as your one and only means of transport and it would just be doggedly reliable, semi-stylish old-ish wheels which would never look out of place wherever it was parked. I still don't want one, but I really like the idea of them.

My BMW just looks like something a shit coke dealer would drive and has none of the positive associations

[loserone]

13 minutes ago, barrett said:

BMW just looks like something a shit coke dealer would drive and has none of the positive associations

I disagree, shit coke dealers have no taste and wouldn't drive something as old as yours.

[sierraman]

14 minutes ago, loserone said:

I disagree, shit coke dealers have no taste and wouldn't drive something as old as yours.

They’ve all got Golfs now or a white A-class with those naff 3D plates. 

[bunglebus]

I've never owned one but my ex had a 318i touring and once fitted with a set of lowering springs, was amazing to fling about. Didn't have the BHP to match sadly. 

My mate is a serial 3 series botherer and has had various E30 320 and 325s which were enormous fun to drive. The look a bit plain inside but everything is just where you need it, slightly offset pedals aside. I did once poo myself slightly when the brake pedal went to the floor, before realising it was the clutch...

[Six-cylinder]

I bought the cheapest MOTed running  E30 as an expendable track day car so it is bodily rough. It was so bad my favourite garage refused to work on it for me so I had to have it done at a local bodge merchant. Then my son crashed it up a central reservation. 10 years have now passed and I keep bogging it to keep it going because I love it.

 

[DavidB]

7 hours ago, Minimad5 said:

Thus would put me off personally 

I don't even know what that is - sealant, body filler?

[Matty]

Get on this for a coincidence. Went to my uncles this morning to do some work on mine and he's got this in. Owner has had it long term but hasn't used it for 8 years after some pretty major work to the floor pans and cills (done properly I might add). Very solid car, good paint, shagged cam. 320i manual. Around 500 for a cam (with other bits and bobs and labour on- so not a cheap job). Owners been told it has to go by domestic management. Went for mot today, assume it passed, cos I'd gone home by then.

Any interest? 

 

[DavidB]

@Matty I’m interested, where is it?

I went to see the E30 and I think the roof is too far gone … it’s pretty much terminal at this stage and there were other bits of rust all over really.

I was offering him 1500 for it, and he came back with 1800 and wouldn’t budge but he’s losing storage on the weekend so it has to go. Has been offered 2k but he said nobody actually turns up, I felt a bit sorry for him as I’ve been in that situation and he was a nice lad. I think it’s a no.

[Minimad5]

Shit the bed.

I mean you could piss about taking the sunroof out and weld the lot up, but if it's that bad on top, then what in the world is hiding underneath 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, DavidB said:

@Matty I’m interested, where is it?

I went to see the E30 and I think the roof is too far gone … it’s pretty much terminal at this stage and there were other bits of rust all over really.

I was offering him 1500 for it, and he came back with 1800 and wouldn’t budge but he’s losing storage on the weekend so it has to go. Has been offered 2k but he said nobody actually turns up, I felt a bit sorry for him as I’ve been in that situation and he was a nice lad. I think it’s a no.

Accrington. Bare in mind I know absolutly nothing about it apart from 20 mins digging round it this morning, but I'll find out about it and let you know

[Dick Cheeseburger]

6 hours ago, Matty said:

Get on this for a coincidence. Went to my uncles this morning to do some work on mine and he's got this in. Owner has had it long term but hasn't used it for 8 years after some pretty major work to the floor pans and cills (done properly I might add). Very solid car, good paint, shagged cam. 320i manual. Around 500 for a cam (with other bits and bobs and labour on- so not a cheap job). Owners been told it has to go by domestic management. Went for mot today, assume it passed, cos I'd gone home by then.

Any interest? 

 

Pm sent r.e. this late afternoon - @Matty have you picked it up? 

[Steviemillar]

On 02/06/2021 at 18:32, jamescarruthers said:

My giffer neighbour wants to sell his E-reg 520 which he has had since it was a few years old. It’s knocked about a bit but still driving and MOT’d. Are these silly money now?

Any more details on this one?

[Skizzer]

12 hours ago, volvov70 said:

It’s fucked

GIFB

FTFY. What is this, Pistonheads?

(Or did you mean the one in the OP with no roof left? In which case fair point.)

[sierraman]

People forget that whilst it’s hot mostly in Gibraltar it’s also by the sea. Cars on the Costas can rust in some odd places like round the windows that are a real bastard to repair. The roof on that is absolutely fucked, it wants a new skin on. 

I’d go for a car that’s mechanically fucked but with a good body every time. A respray is £2-3k alone. Add on to that the welding etc, I reckon you’d be not far off £4-5k for that to see the road to any standard. Starts making a bodily good one with a bollocksed camshaft a good buy if it’s a couple of grand. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

22 minutes ago, sierraman said:

... The roof on that is absolutely fucked, it wants a new skin on....

Roof skins - especially for sunroof cars - can be difficult to get hold of, and parts donor cars often show similar weaknesses to the car you're trying to repair.

I don't think BMW have had any new roofs produced for their '80s cars since about 1990. They were unavailable when I had my 635CSi between 1996 and 2014.

[sierraman]

13 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Roof skins - especially for sunroof cars - can be difficult to get hold of, and parts donor cars often show similar weaknesses to the car you're trying to repair.

I don't think BMW have had any new roofs produced for their '80s cars since about 1990. They were unavailable when I had my 635CSi between 1996 and 2014.

Short of letting in new metal which wouldn’t be easy on that with distortion, I’d be inclined to joggle a rebate on to the panel then bond it with 3M panel adhesive followed by a skim of filler. Even then it would be a tricky time consuming job. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

18 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Short of letting in new metal which wouldn’t be easy on that with distortion, I’d be inclined to joggle a rebate on to the panel then bond it with 3M panel adhesive followed by a skim of filler. Even then it would be a tricky time consuming job. 

A friend did that for me on the 635 when the rust broke through above the driver's door. Although a competent repair, it didn't last long as it seemed to encourage rust to break out further along.

[sierraman]

4 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

A friend did that for me on the 635 when the rust broke through above the driver's door. Although a competent repair, it didn't last long as it seemed to encourage rust to break out further along.

I would have expected it less likely to rust than a weld. Big advantage is that it won’t distort as it would with a weld. Panel adhesives seem really popular in the US. Reckon you want the good ones like 3M though. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

4 minutes ago, volvov70 said:

There was a guy on E30 zone that replaced the roof of his iS - what a bastard of a job that looked....

I wonder if that's a possible reason why new roof skins became unavailable early on?

[w00dy]

I love E30s. I had a nice 318is which I paid £750 for and unfortunately wrote off exiting a wet roundabout, it did make it back on the road for a year according to MOT checker though.

If I were to have another then I'd pay the premium for a nice one, they love to rot.

[jamescarruthers]

3 hours ago, Steviemillar said:

Any more details on this one?

Well I can certainly get them for you.
 

It’s not mint by a long shot, he’s just kept it going all these years. I’m sure only a few years ago they went on a pensioners holiday in it. It was their everyday car, with a later 5-series in the garage which has only just took over daily duties.

I think it has charging issues as I always see him charging it up and sometimes it doesn’t start very easily when it’s hot. It seems like the sort of think that someone who knows these BMWs could probably fix pretty easily. 
 

Bodywork wise, I think the front wings are a bit frilly and it’s had a repair under the fuel filler area that looks like it might be rusting again. 
 

Car is in Cambridge, CB25 area and if you are interested I can put you in touch by phone. 
 

[DavidB]

4 hours ago, sierraman said:

People forget that whilst it’s hot mostly in Gibraltar it’s also by the sea. Cars on the Costas can rust in some odd places like round the windows that are a real bastard to repair. The roof on that is absolutely fucked, it wants a new skin on. 

I’d go for a car that’s mechanically fucked but with a good body every time. A respray is £2-3k alone. Add on to that the welding etc, I reckon you’d be not far off £4-5k for that to see the road to any standard. Starts making a bodily good one with a bollocksed camshaft a good buy if it’s a couple of grand. 

Yeah, that was the selling point I think, he was saying that apart from all the holes, the body was solid - it doesn't work that way.

I've waited over six months for one, so I can wait a bit longer.

[Matty]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bmw-e30-325i-/194177157057?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

Worth a risk?

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, DavidB said:

Yeah, that was the selling point I think, he was saying that apart from all the holes, the body was solid - it doesn't work that way.

I've waited over six months for one, so I can wait a bit longer.

The Titanic is solid apart from a few holes.