Might be joining the club soon, could i have your guy's opinion?

[Fritzy]

 he's asking $2,800 not sure if this car is worth that, i'm pretty new to e30s in general so any buying advice would be helpful! thanks


-> http://mankato.craigslist.org/cto/4451373265.html <-
*claims to have a fresh clutch installed
*a pair of 2 newish tires

[DesktopDave]

I'd vote no. Car sounds a bit beat up. No pics of the interior, it has hood pins and a it's a sedan. If it was a 318iS coupe, $2800 would be a good price, maybe.

The 318i sedan was BMW's one-year bargain basement car, it came pretty much stripped. Mine had power windows, power locks, A/C and a crank sunroof. The iS coupe had the upgraded suspension & sport seats standard, along with other available options.

I ran the numbers through Edmunds.com, they suggested it was worth $432 private party sale. I feel that's a bit pessimistic. I bought mine in 2009 for $700. It was in far better shape, though it wasn't running.

[Fritzy]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah i live about 4 hours away from this guy, so the price is everything for me to follow through with this. Any ideas about the price as is? I really want an e30 and it's pretty rare for me to stumble upon one that's close to me.

[DesktopDave]

E30s are great. If you haven't owned one yet, I'd look for an eta. They're a lot cheaper, far tougher, and nearly as much fun. I know this will sound like heresy, but the alu diving board bumpers are really good at protecting the car from fender benders. They're ugly, but that keeps the cars pretty cheap.

Motor swaps are really easy too, in case you find a rusted hulk like an E34 to donate a motor. The E30 is nearly indestructible, except for rust. You can also drop virtually any year M42/44 into any model E30, given a few parts like the intake & oil pan and a spliced wire or two. It's all well documented at R3vlimited. Behind all the teen pissing contests there is a lot of really great info there.

IMHO turbo M10 > M42.

Ever try SearchTempest? I highly recommend it. It's a bit odd, but works very well for multi-city CL searches. Here's a search for E30, under $2500, in Minneapolis:
http://www.searchtempest.com/search?location=55001&maxDist=350&region_us=1&search_string=bmw+e30&keytype=adv&Region=na&cityselect=zip&page=0&category=8&subcat=sss&minAsk=min&maxAsk=2500

Turned up a few fun cars:
$800 project car:
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/cto/4438651098.html
$2500 325eS runner (needs a new hood ):
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/cto/4452782584.html
Nice car, unlisted price. IMHO he's out of his gourd looking for an E36 M3 trade:
https://madison.craigslist.org/cto/4458563658.html

I might have found your car...how far away is Cedar Rapids from you?

https://cedarrapids.craigslist.org/cto/4432372272.html
Get him to text you some pics, then hit him with a $2000 offer and see if he'll deal. Any E30 seats will fit that car, but the BMW sport seats are devilishly expensive to replace, that's a negotiating point in your favor.

[deansweet]

I'd say $2k w/stereo is all I would spend on it...
The hood pins concern me.
Sure would have been easier to fix/replace the oem bracket. If he did this to the hood, who knows what else has been altered. 

[Fritzy]

found this one, almost seems perfect. i called and might go out of my way to check this car out. the only downside is that it's windshield needs replacing, but it doesnt seem that big of a deal. what do you guys think?

->http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/cto/4440821382.html<-

[DesktopDave]

Doesn't seem like a bad car, IMHO still overpriced. It does seem to be in really nice shape though, and they are right about the car's advantages. They seem to be enthusiasts, and those are the best people to buy cars from. They've listed quite a few of the required service items, which is excellent.

OTOH they're quoting dealer prices. A timing belt & water pump is roughly $200 and an afternoon. ECS Tuning sells a full kit for $160, I'll bet you could assemble the parts even cheaper than that.

I'm just sniping, I know, but if they fix up BMWs, why would it need a windshield? If it was recent damage, I'd understand, but a new one can be less that $200. That can be a ticklish job to install, but the E30 is just a rubber seal with a locking strip, not an adhesive bond.

Given, the market for E30s is heating up a bit, but I still think it's too expensive. For that kind of money, I'd be sure the A/C and heater both work perfectly, and that a desirable ratio LSD is installed and functional. A 3.73 medium case diff should be stock for that car.

[deansweet]

I paid $146 to have the windshield replaced in the 318is...