Sammo

That's well priced for very low kms, but budget pending, would try stretching to an Msport, or better yet, an M235i. This gen is pretty good by BMW standards, if you're going via a dealer though, just throw a warranty on top and enjoy stress free motoring.

Purchased a small pot of POR15 last month from Trade Me - was expensive ($20 or so for 4oz I think) but only needed a little so didn't mind - certainly dries rock hard!

@jjs Retro style is a big part. What surprises my is how normal 190E's and W124's have not taken off at all - I guess they historically have had an 'older' image and are almost all automatic but for a retro cruiser, amazing value for money with build quality, style and great interiors. I'm a one eyed E30 fan but would take a nice 190E over an auto 4 door 318i.

Thought I would get the ‘inner interior’ all nice before the re-upholstered interior goes back in next week. Shampoo’d the carpets, cabin and boot, repainted most interior plastics and put in some sound deadening (mix of butyl and foam I had in the basement) in the spare wheel well, boot, inner rear quarters / arches and doors while I was at it. Came up well, save a few little coffee stains on passenger side that are ordinarily covered by the seat anyway. Can’t wait to get the new seats, door cards and floor mats in!

Add another Tech 2 Black UK import 325i Sport $46,100 via auction Market has definitely dipped a little

I’m in too deep haha

It’s the buyers that set the value at the end of the day. M325i sales I’ve seen in the last two years: Lachssilber Tech 2 $40k (auction) very nice, would go for significantly more now. Red Tech 2 $64k (auction) stunning car Black Tech 2 $50k (low 50s I think) (auction) very nice, not perfect My Lachssilber one $34k (high kms) Silver Tech 1 that a dealer is trying to flick $42k (auction) Bang for buck isn’t a consideration buying a slow 35 year old project car.

15x7 ET24 4x100 - the ones everyone wants - on Facebook to avoid Trade Me fees. Sold my set of 5 recently inside a few hours for $2,250 plus a bottlecap spare with new tyre on it (my weave with the spare had a 20 year old tyre that didn't hold air) They were in pretty good condition - I would have refurbed if I were to keep them though.

Liquid assets! The good stuff will sell within hours at the below prices Set of weaves in decent nick $2000-2500 Mtech 1 385mm $500 (no, not $2,400 like the one on TM) MTech 2 370mm $1000-$1200 Good sport seats UNOBTANIUM

Bit of the old 'No known rust' Or rust free... except for xxx Never know what's hiding in these old girls.

Little update after a average few weeks with Covid / getting annoyed with the car. Did a temp fix on the rust - after hitting it with a wire wheel, it went through the metal in a few more places, revealing 3-4 pea sized holes, through to the firewall near the fusebox. Will definitely get properly fixed in the future, but for now, I wire-wheeled it back to bare metal then patched / treated using filler and POR-15. Bit of an amateur-hour repair, but it should delay the rot a bit and ensure my carpets don't get damp - will check underneath again in spring. Found the source of my front suspension clunk too - went away when I removed the swaybar (suspicions were correct) - likely hitting front subframe or transmission guard due to a little bushing play / bar angle being off since it is reasonably low on standard end links. Going to get new poly bushings and billet reinforced brackets and when I reinstall will make sure suspension is loaded and clearances are fine. Interior reupholstering still in progress, hopefully will get it back next week - door cards are getting fresh vinyl as well with the insert stitched in. Ideally would have kept stock vinyl on door cards, but will be the same as the outer bolsters and seat backs, so should tie in nicely.

Yeah, its looks great, but given my own recent experiences with hidden rust I doubt there are any rust free ones (that have not been disassembled and dealt with) kicking around. Off to treat / bandaid rust on my seemingly lovely E30 😂

Just saw that, looks fantastic! I wonder what the reserve is. Not an M325i but same same really.

Just saw that, I bet its had a hard life but still good value I think.

*Edit* Found the leak - little area in extreme top corner beside fuse box has some rust as pictured - does not seem to be a hole as such, but obviously enough to let water in - pointing a hose here will have water trickle immediately into the cabin over the large area of interior surface rust. Scuttle drains are working very well. Will scrape back, treat, seal for now and keep car pretty dry and level (it usually is). Will get property sorted before next winter. *Edit* Got the interior out getting reupholstered at the moment so thought I would have a look under my passenger carpet (I know I have a small rust hole there from poking around near the Jack points and I suspected a minor leak too). Anyway, carpet is dry on top but wet (backing foam is saturated) underneath. What’s more, got a few rust spots that I poked through plus the apparent source of the leak up high - big patch of scale rust pictured… Seems to be getting in somewhere around the fuse box, hosing all around there however only saw a tiny bit of moisture getting in and the sill drains are working well. Sunroof drains are clear and functioning well too. Struggling to see how so much water could get in, although the car has been parked outside the past 3 or so weeks while we renovate our backyard and there has been a LOT of rain. Guess I’ll keep saving for rust and paint at some point…

I do really like the first gen IS-F - a shame the dashboards are made from plasticine and they have that horrific infotainment / climate combo...

Haha, I'm going to run out of BMW money soon and off to Europe for 5 weeks in September, so things will have to slow down a little!

INH Upholstery - a guy I met through an E30 group - tried a more established place who didn’t seem too interested to be honest. Got a good vibe from Nicholas who is younger but experienced and he knows E30s and seems really keen to put in the time to ensure this is a great job.

Retrim is in progress, all OEM fabric arrived and looks amazing (interestingly same pattern but a different hue to the Relicate fabric which looks a little blue by comparison) Very glad I went with the OEM plus matching bolster fabric (with fresh vinyl for outer bolsters etc - OEM style). As it’s going to take a few weeks, I still wanted to be able to use the car a little so here she is in all her stripped out glory, along with a very tired vinyl comfort seat - no corners for me for a while. Its going to be a great contrast switching out to welded, resprung, refoamed and upholstered sport seats with brand new seat shocks! Will shampoo the carpet, repaint some interior plastics and add a little extra sound deadening while the interior is out too.

Baur Powah

True, although I can't believe Sky Neon is still only HD and stereo sound - my new OLED and 5.1 deserves more 🤣

@Glacial Pace you may have already seen but an N55 manual… not cheap though https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-3641974910.htm

Guy had the fuel pump replaced and one bushing 😂 #winning

Which one is it? Unless you're dropping serious money on an E30 I would go with the general approach of the purchase price being 1/2 to 2/3rds the price to get it properly sorted - rust (yes it will have rust), suspension, electrical, engine, interior... Worth it though.

My new Mtech 2 wheel is all refurbished and looking amazing but unfortunately the horn kept sticking/ staying on (an annoying feature indeed!). Pulling it apart I found this hot mess of semi detached solder, shagged spring plates and added copper wire, possibly to offset the lack of spring in the plates? Anyway, managed to rebend plates so they click back. Will also resolder everything to make it all solid for another 20 years or so.