Opinions/Advice on BMW 325ix?

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M.M. - 18 Feb 2008 03:41 GMT

I'm thinking of buying a 1989 BMW 325ix with auto trans from a neighbor.
It's been fairly well maintained and appears to be in decent
shape...interior looks good, body is straight but could use paint (it's
an Arizona car so probably no rust), decent tires, brake rotors look
good, most everything works, don't see any leaks. etc. It has about 175k
miles on it....about 35k on the timing belt. It drives pretty well but
I'm sure it could use suspension bushings, etc. He'll take about $1800
for it. So, anything special to consider about the car? Any particular
weaknesses to look for? Am I crazy to even consider it? I really like
BMW's and have owned (and worked on) a couple 2002's and a 1600, so I'm
somewhat familiar with them. It would be kind of a project car but I'd
like to be able to drive it regularly but it would not be my primary
vehicle. I don't intend to restore it, just refurbish where necessary.
Any advice would be appreciated...

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E28 Guy© - 19 Feb 2008 21:06 GMT

Go for it. It's just like any other E30 only it has more drivetrain
and a few odd body parts (those wheel lip flares). 175K is not too
many miles on that engine, but it may be close to plenty on that
slushbox. Are you handy enough to bolt in a 5 speed?
--
C.R. Krieger

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Dean Dark - 19 Feb 2008 22:40 GMT

>Go for it. It's just like any other E30 only it has more drivetrain
>and a few odd body parts (those wheel lip flares). 175K is not too
>many miles on that engine, but it may be close to plenty on that
>slushbox. Are you handy enough to bolt in a 5 speed?

And if you *are* handy enough to bolt in the 5-speed, there's plenty
of help on the 325iX Yahoo group. 175K is low to normal mileage for
those guys.

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Dan.

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M.M. - 19 Feb 2008 23:50 GMT

> And if you *are* handy enough to bolt in the 5-speed, there's plenty
> of help on the 325iX Yahoo group. 175K is low to normal mileage for
> those guys.

Thanks for the pointer. I'll check them out...

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M.M. - 19 Feb 2008 22:55 GMT

> Go for it. It's just like any other E30 only it has more drivetrain
> and a few odd body parts (those wheel lip flares). 175K is not too
> many miles on that engine, but it may be close to plenty on that
> slushbox. Are you handy enough to bolt in a 5 speed?
> --
> C.R. Krieger

Yeah, the trans is my main concern. If it was a manual I'd snap it up.
OTOH, he's had the car pretty well maintained by a good independent
German car shop and they told him the trans was fine a few months ago
when they did a fluid/filter change (he has receipts going back a few
years). I could probably do a trans swap but I think it'd be more work
than I would really want to do, not to mention locating all the parts.
He's gonna let me take it for a couple days so I'll probably put it up
on ramps and look it over pretty close. Except for the sunburned paint
it's in real nice condition cosmetically so it's very tempting...

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