Messages

1

General Topics / Greetings and help with purchase.

« on: February 22, 2008, 09:11:27 PM »

That's a nice car, thanks for pointing it out. A little far for me though as Knoxville is almost 400 miles away. I check the Memphis (100 mi) and Nashville (160 mi) Craigslist listings several times a day though.

2

General Topics / Greetings and help with purchase.

« on: February 22, 2008, 04:56:01 PM »

I'm starting to get scared off of this car which sucks because it took me 8 months to find a semi- local 2 door E30 that
a: wasn't an 325 eta automatic
b: didnt have copious amounts of rust
c: didnt have a TRASHED interior.

This one is rust free and has a 95% perfect interior but I'm really getting bummed here.

3

General Topics / Greetings and help with purchase.

« on: February 22, 2008, 04:03:54 PM »

It would be used as a weekend car because I have a company work car (Crown Vic Police Interceptor:D ). But I would like something very reliable. So you dont see them as daily driver worthy?
Pricewise Ive seen these cars everywhere else for $3500ish so I didnt think the price was that bad. Maybe Im wrong? Educate me.

4

General Topics / Greetings and help with purchase.

« on: February 22, 2008, 01:24:54 PM »

The engine turned over as well, no problems there. With the aftermarket stereo a novice might simply have not wired the antenna to move it up and down There is a 10 inch sub in a box in the trunk. I've tried to get maintenance records but this owner didnt get them from the previous female owner. I agree that I think the car should of had basketweaves.
    I have mechanical abilities but zero BMW experience so please forgive my ignorance here. There are quite a few assumptions here. Very well maintained interior can "sometimes" be an indicator of a well maintained car.  I try to look for little things as clues. The trunk area is clean and well maintained and the engine compartment isnt "overly clean" like something was being hidden. This stuff might not add up to a hill of beans but may be good indicators. I figure that at 216k that the profile gasket has already failed by now and been replaced.
    The current owner, who is a truck driver, said that he saw the car for sale in south Georgia somewhere, bought it and said it drove flawlessly on the 300+ mile trip to West TN, Everything works. The guy bought it for his kid to drive in high school and I imagine with him being a truck driver and gone all week he would want something in as good of shape as possible. But the kid never got it because of his grades dropping like a rock.

Please...more comments. This is extremely helpful.

5

General Topics / Greetings and help with purchase.

« on: February 22, 2008, 11:11:42 AM »

Thank you for the reply! So something relatively minor then. Hmmmm....I have half the mind to offer $1800 in current non-running condition. Might work, might not.
Let's say worse case scenario and more gas doesnt fire it up. Pass on it or bring it home and tinker with it? Slight gamble there.

6

General Topics / Greetings and help with purchase.

« on: February 22, 2008, 09:25:23 AM »

Greetings everyone, Chris from West Tennessee here. I've been lurking for a few months trying to learn as much as possible to make an educated purchase on an E30 when I come across one.Well, since I have found one interesting here lately I thought that I might ask some questions.
I was driving home a couple of weeks ago and out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright red, late model E30 sitting behind someone's home and decided to ask about it. On closer inspection it is a '91 318is, 5 speed, in beautiful condition with a fabulous black and tan interior. 216,000 miles.
The story is that this person bought it from the original owner for their teenage son, however his grades dropped and the kid never got a chance to drive it. He did spend considerable time with it in the driveway and had an aftermarket stereo installed. Long story short, he ran the battery down and ran it out of gas (been cold here in Tennessee) keeping the heat running. So the car has been sitting still for a couple of months. Has new tires, brakes and calipers and the owner says it needs absolutely nothing but gas and a battery.
So I set up an appointment to check the car over (it was raining that day so I couldnt do much) and the owner had to work. So he left the key in the ignition for me and trusted me to test drive it. A gesture of goodwill and trust it seems. I brought 4 gallons of gas and a strong jump box with me.

Now the problem:After pouring it in and hooking up the box I turned on the key, heard the fuel pump come to life the starter spun freely but it would never fire off. I tried repeatedly for 4- 5 mins, in 20 -30 second bursts till the jump box drained.  I did notice that the gas hand barely moved, staying on the low end of the reserve, and the car is on the slightest of inclines.
E30's that arent ragged out are extremely hard to find here in rural Tennessee. The asking price of $2250 (might be able to get it for $2K) is within my budget and the car looks fabulous. The owner was surprised it didnt start when I talked with him on the phone. Due to tornados in the area the past few weeks he just doesn't have the time to check into it.

My question: Does this sound like a minor, stupid little something (maybe needs more gas, etc.) and I should snap the car up or should I keep looking as I have religiously in the papers, ebay, auto trader, cars.com, forums, etc. for another nice car in my budget (which is exceedingly hard)? I've done a few searches on cars not starting and there have been a wide range of causes and frankly has me confused enough to ask the forum for help.

I apologize for writing a book but I figured the more info I could give, the better it would be for some sympathetic souls to help. Any light the wisdom of the forum could shed would be appreciated. Below are a few pics of the car.

God Bless,
Chris