2003 330i msport on facebook

[sjbglobal 6]

So I viewed this yesterday https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/825572324668334 and realised its the one that overheated and sold on Trademe for 1k in stonefields a few months back. I viewed it yesterday and the seller has done the disa, water pump, radiator and expansion tank. Issues I could see: valve cover and ofhg are very leaky, front passenger window regulator is stuffed, electric mirrors don't work, car has both fans missing, external temp sensor and coolant sensor is faulty, brake pad light is on, and it has quite a rough idle/stumble even when warm. Panel and paint is pretty rough, there's lots of little dents and scratches that don't show in the pics. He said the lowest he'd take is 2.5k. It kind of seems like he's selling it half way through fixing it which makes me think he's found something bad with it (maybe the headgasket is bad and the head bolts are stripped or something), he had the engine out of an e36 when I was there so he knows what he's doing. Anyway hopefully this helps someone 

Edited November 14, 2020 by sjbglobal

[LemonHunter 583]

Thanks for the heads up, some of his listing, namely electronics working, is a little different to your description 

[sjbglobal 6]

3 hours ago, LemonHunter said:

Thanks for the heads up, some of his listing, namely electronics working, is a little different to your description 

Yeah I was pretty disappointed, if it was tidy it could have been a good find

[zero 1162]

Viscous fan was stuffed so he got halfway through an electric fan conversion before he lost interest/money.

 

I think headgasket is good but i cant guarantee it.

Edited November 15, 2020 by zero

[sjbglobal 6]

On 11/15/2020 at 9:03 PM, zero said:

Viscous fan was stuffed so he got halfway through an electric fan conversion before he lost interest/money.

 

I think headgasket is good but i cant guarantee it.

Probably, just seemed like an odd place in the project to sell, it's not a very attractive buy at the moment. I should have scanned it to see what the misfires were but the panel and paint put me off anyway

[zero 1162]

I spent four hours working on his car to try and help him out.

But he ignored EVERY single piece of advice I gave him and thought he knew better so I gave up.

Some people cant be helped 

[zero 1162]

Hes just sold it to a wrecker for $1200 minus the bumpers and lights.

 

What a colossal waste of a car that had real potential

[sjbglobal 6]

1 hour ago, zero said:

Hes just sold it to a wrecker for $1200 minus the bumpers and lights.

 

What a colossal waste of a car that had real potential

Dang, so you didn't think there was anything catastrophically wrong with it? just saw he's trying to get 1k for the bumpers and lights. Why on earth didn't he just fix it up, assuming the rough idle wasn't anything major it could have had the issues sorted for well under 500. It seemed to drive ok

[qube 3570]

didnt it sell for 1k? if so he made $200 already and on the way to make another grand. from his POV hes winning.

its just a pity it sold to a non-enthusiast who could have brought it back to life quite easily.

[zero 1162]

He bought it for close to $1500 and put a few hundred in it.

 

It was an easy fix if only he would listen

[sjbglobal 6]

@qube @zero @Sammo what do you guys think this is worth? It's been serviced regularly apparently, going to view it today, not sold on the interior but I guess we'll see.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2871637119?bof=4GDbglre

Be interesting to see what this goes for as well

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2872315518?bof=g5pXJcTt

 

[Sammo 2550]

1 hour ago, sjbglobal said:

@qube @zero @Sammo what do you guys think this is worth? It's been serviced regularly apparently, going to view it today, not sold on the interior but I guess we'll see.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2871637119?bof=4GDbglre

Be interesting to see what this goes for as well

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2872315518?bof=g5pXJcTt

 

Grandad spec may mean less likely to have fallen into the wrong hands.

No mention of preventative maintenance but just budget on a cooling system refresh and sorted.

[sjbglobal 6]

1 hour ago, Sammo said:

Grandad spec may mean less likely to have fallen into the wrong hands.

No mention of preventative maintenance but just budget on a cooling system refresh and sorted.

It's lovely to drive, panel and paint is great, everything works. Only work needed that I could see was half the headliner is gone and the FCABs were both pretty loose (tie rods too maybe, hard to tell if all the movement is from the bushings). There's also a decent oil leak which I think is the oil filter housing gasket, the vcg looked like it had been done. The interior has some wear but some leather reconditioner would probably freshen it up nicely. Seems like its been well looked after, had a bunch of receipts at the dealer going back to 2008.

How hard is a headliner to diy? I've heard it's usually 5-600 to get it done properly, is that right?

My wife found the msport seats a bit hard, and it seems like all the msports in our price range have probably been thrashed or have issues. So I think I'm happy with this, just need to factor in work needed to the price.

[qube 3570]

Headliner diy isnt too hard. All up $150 or less in parts and your time. 
 

I think price is high for non desirable spec and those kms and if it needs work. 
 

 

[Sammo 2550]

1 hour ago, sjbglobal said:

It's lovely to drive, panel and paint is great, everything works. Only work needed that I could see was half the headliner is gone and the FCABs were both pretty loose (tie rods too maybe, hard to tell if all the movement is from the bushings). There's also a decent oil leak which I think is the oil filter housing gasket, the vcg looked like it had been done. The interior has some wear but some leather reconditioner would probably freshen it up nicely. Seems like its been well looked after, had a bunch of receipts at the dealer going back to 2008.

How hard is a headliner to diy? I've heard it's usually 5-600 to get it done properly, is that right?

My wife found the msport seats a bit hard, and it seems like all the msports in our price range have probably been thrashed or have issues. So I think I'm happy with this, just need to factor in work needed to the price.

Nice - some clear lights and wheels and would look really good in that colour.

Sounds like pretty cheap fixes and new tie-rods and LCAs will make it drive even better.

[zero 1162]

@sjbglobal I will be selling my car soon. Its a black msport 325i touring if that interests you.

[leichtbau 525]

@sjbglobal Get amongst it

[sjbglobal 6]

15 hours ago, qube said:

Headliner diy isnt too hard. All up $150 or less in parts and your time. 
 

I think price is high for non desirable spec and those kms and if it needs work. 
 

 

 

10 hours ago, zero said:

@sjbglobal I will be selling my car soon. Its a black msport 325i touring if that interests you.

I bought it for 3600, fairly happy with it as I found full service/inspection history (mostly at the dealer) going back to 2001 in the glovebox and most of the common issues have been addressed, cooling system and ccv done in 2015, ac evaporator done this year, spark plugs/brakes/tires all done in the last few years as well etc. Might do a progress thread in the showroom section, probably not much interest in a non-M but I plan to do some work on the interior to make it a bit nicer.

[Smac01 12]

On 11/24/2020 at 12:20 AM, zero said:

@sjbglobal I will be selling my car soon. Its a black msport 325i touring if that interests you.

Can you PM me with details?

[zero 1162]

@sjbglobal

Congrats, and definitely do a project thread.

Swapping the interior wood trims out with a gloss black set will make a huge difference to the interior 

[sjbglobal 6]

On 11/25/2020 at 2:28 PM, zero said:

@sjbglobal

Congrats, and definitely do a project thread.

Swapping the interior wood trims out with a gloss black set will make a huge difference to the interior 

Yeah definitely keen to swap or paint the trim. The tan is growing on me, but I might change some of it to black, probably headliner/pillars since they need redoing anyway (although black headliner does make a car feel smaller) maybe door cards/center console as well. Depends how brave I feel with vinyl paint or what I can find at pickapart haha.