might be the new owner of '87 325is! What am I getting into?
Posted by land sea air
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The trunk leak will probably go away when you put in the new tail light gaskets. Mine did and I didn't use any sealant.
The passenger window regulator probably only needs to have the motor disassembled and lubed. That's all mine needed. The shaft was stuck in the bushing at the lower end of the motor. Cruise control doesn't work goes under the "good" category. 
Clunk when shifting might be expensive, especially if it's coming from the rear. It could be the u-joints going bad, which means the driveshaft needs to be replaced. There was a thread on that recently. I'm sure you'll find that and read it. Around 200K miles is about right for needing a driveshaft. It'll cost around $400.00 if that's what it is. There's only one expensive part on that list. If the car is priced right, that's not a problem. John |
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Edit: All my advice is based on the E30 from 1989-91. There are some slight differences between the models that I am no expert on. My words could be helpful, or a tiny bit off. Please apply grains of salt and your own research :-)
Being a fairly competent mechanic is all you need to be for these babies! I should know, I'm slightly less and my car is still running 
To affirm what you've said: If the car has been treated well enough, it'll go a lot longer. I say this not because "BMWs are like that", but because mine has NOT been treated well and is up around 250,000.
The electrical at this point in its life will start showing some weird ghost like flukes. But I wouldn't consider it a reason to not buy the car if you know how to use a multimeter and a screw driver. Besides the door tweeters and the rear speakers, there are also kick speakers down where your feet go. they are NOT in the door, but in the frame of the car. If you look closely, you'll see them. To get to them you have to remove the plastic panels. On the drivers side, this means also removing the handle for the hood release.
Also check out the Antenna, as this is a VERY common place for trunk leaks.
This is likely caused by one of two things, neither of them expensive. First, if the windows aren't used often, they can seize up. The other is that the switches will get corroded and need to be cleaned out. If the car lights dim when the switch is pushed, that makes me think the electric motor is getting power, but that the windows are just seized up. Nothing a little work won't fix (just did it this summer after a long winter).
Besides what has been suggested, there is also a single wire plug on the back of the instrument cluster. The instrument cluster it's self has 3 fatty cables going into it, which you can't miss when messing around back there. But the little wire for the cruise control is easy to miss. Ask me how I know 
I'd check electrical grounds first, but if you run out of options, I'd double check it's plugged in.
I hate to say this, but it is unlikely to be the flex disc, and more likely to be either the CV joints (look for torn rubber boots around the joints) or the drive shaft U-Joint. The drive shaft is easy enough to test. You can grab the drive shaft with your hands and give it a good hard turn either way. BMW says there should be essentially no play. If it looks like this, you have a problem. On this car you also can't replace just the U-Joint, but the entire axle. This can set you back $400 if you do the work yourself. I just did this as well, so any further questions or clarifications, just ask (or post a new thread). Cheers! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles  Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2009 03:51PM by Earendil. |
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You seem to know how to check out a car, but since you mentioned possible problems with the drive shaft, I'll note a few more underbelly problems that will set you back a few hundred and a days work...
Check all the protective rubber boots on the axles and suspension parts. If these are torn, the joint could be on its way out. That said the boots on my rear CV joints have been toast for 2 years, but a steady application of axle grease seems to be buying me lots of time so far. If you can get both front wheels off the ground, do so. Then grab either side of a wheel and try and turn it (pushing in and out). If you can get some play in there and the steering wheel doesn't move, you probably have a number of worn suspension parts. You can also watch the opposite wheel, obviously if the right one moves and the left one doesn't, there is a problem that needs fixing. You can look under the car at this point and move the wheel again, you can probably see where all the play is coming from. Many parts on my car were pretty new when I bought it, but the control arms, sway bar links, [a part I can't remember right now], and all the bushings were all shot, having no significant rubber or grease left in them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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With or without the right tools and parts on hand?
It took me probably 8 hours total by myself. If I had all the right sockets/wrenches, a buddy, and had to do it all over again, I could do it in 2 hours probably as long as there were no unforeseen problems. I would suggest having a friend along for this one though, or some ingenuity... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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I realise now I wasn't very clear. The drive shaft its self may twist, due to normal play in the transmission and differential. However when looking at the rear U-Joint, just inches from the differential, you shouldn't see any play from one side of the U-Joint to the other. See my video for an example of what to look at/for. You'll probably need a flashlight for this one, and possible a way to jack up the car (safely!).
support bearing? Not sure exactly what you're talking about here. If you lift a wheel up and give it a spin, a grinding noise from the center of the wheel might indicate bad wheel bearings. Is that what you mean?
Yes, a visual inspection of the flex disk is all you can do. I doubt you could move the drive shaft in a way that would show you something wrong with the flex disk. If you could, I'd put $20 on it failing the visual inspection in a way that would make you want to cry. That said, Flex disks are cheap, and replacing them is easier than replacing the drive shaft.
I haven't a clue :-) Perhaps someone who has seen a bad axle could lend some info? If you guy has 17 years of history, than you may check to see if they were ever replaced. However the rubber protective boots don't last as long as the axle, so if the boots are intact, I wouldn't worry about the axle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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@ Nomis: thanks! I had read about the timing belt and water pump replacement with much chagrin until I saw a sticker on the inside of the fuse box saying it had been done late last year, less than 10k ago I'm sure.
@ Alan: I'll have to check that out. Is this the same place where the brake lights themselves are grounded? @ Earendil: from what I have read the center support bearing is half way along the drive shaft underneath the car, if you hear a grinding or squeaking noise coming from that region while turning one wheel then it could have packed up, also saw a video on youtube (I think) where it was so far gone it had quite a bit of play. Looks like the DS would have to come out if this turns out to be the culprit  I see what you mean about the drive shaft U joint though and I will check it out pre-purchase. (honestly it might not deter me at this point)
couple questions: does anyone know the differences in the 325is? from what I can tell/read it has the front and rear spoilers, a stiffer suspension, LSD (hoping this is true), and just about every interior option. |
Oh that center support bearing! Of course 
The video you saw was probably of my own shot center bearing as well
This is another part that won't set you back much ($40), only time. This one however does involve removing the drive shaft from the car, so could be an all day thing. You can not visually inspect the bearing without removing at least two protective plates, so an audio inspection might be the easiest route. However you will need to be really close to the source of any noise, because the U-Joint is just 2-3 feet away and can also make squeaking/grinding noises. And while excessive play can be a sign of a band bearing, the drive shaft has an inch of soft thin rubber between it and the bearing, so even with a new bearing there is a surprising (to me) amount of lateral/side-to-side play in the drive shaft.
I don't think the suspension was any different (others will correct me here if I'm wrong). The LSD I *think* was standard, but even some none 'is' cars had an LSD, and if the differential were ever replaced, it may no longer have an LSD. There are tags on the diff that can be read though. Do a little search around, and a flashlight, flat head screw driver (for the gunk), a rag and some WD-40 or something should get you a reading off the bottom of a diff in no time. If you can get both rear wheels off the ground you can also test it by spinning a wheel and watching the opposite side. LSD = both wheels spinning the same direction non-LSD = spinning opposite direction. Just about every interior option is correct though. Certainly the sound system was boosted, sports seats, etc. I don't know about trip computer/OBC stuff though, that may still have been optional? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2009 12:17PM by Earendil. |
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Congrats and I do believe you are way ahead of the average new E30 buyer
For the price you are paying and even if you have to spend another $1500 to make it the way you want; you will have a car that should give you another ten years of reliable and relatively inexpensive service 
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I've never heard of this method, but I like it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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Pretty car!
Yeah, you do have to remove the exhaust
If you have a buddy, it's actually a lot easier than you'd think. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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Safe? Like, will the car turn demonic and kill you? Yes, it is safe. Is it environmentally friendly? No... Though you aren't likely to see any increase in hp. I believe a perfectly tuned stock setup would see 3hp from a straight pipe all the way through. Our cars are all a bit less than perfectly tuned these days, and likely have bigger fish to fry than getting air out the pipe. Of course, When I took my exhaust off this summer my muffler started spitting out pieces of my CAT, which means it's probably toast. I'm not bothering to replace it yet for similar reasons as you. Cheers, ~Tyler ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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I'll admit I'm unsure what you mean by "CEL", but if you mean the check-engine light....than dur, you unplugged one of the sensors that the ECU needs to run the engine, of course it's going to throw up warnings
Why exactly would you run it without the airbox (I'm assuming filter was gone as well?) and the MAF unplugged? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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