Looking at a 92 e30 cabrio with 210,000 miles, want some advice.

[Olly84]

Got a quick question ya'll, I'm going to look at a late model e30 325i Cabrio on Saturday. Has 210,000 miles. Odometer has been fixed so miles are accurate. The good: new struts, shocks, bushings, brakes, hoses, rotors, exhaust, new tires. He says it's a good driving car. I have an e46 and e39 and have wrenched on them before, I don't know anything about E30s.

Didn't mention cooling system refresh, or timing belt.

Power steering doesn't work because steering rack "seals" are leaking? He currently has the power steering belt taken off and drives with no power sterring. How involved or expensive a job is that?

AC doesn't work

Right blinker makes buzzing noise when activated, but doesn't blink.

Top is in ok shape, but rear window is foggy. Interior is decent, but seats need to be redone.

I'm too busy to do much to this car besides change out the spark plugs and coils, everything else will need to be done by a shop. With that in mind, what am I looking at in repair costs to do timing belt and replace the seals in the steering rack?110317213_10105120453277444_4612007334987201916_n.jpgScreen Shot 2020-07-23 at 1.04.48 PM.jpg


He's asking $5000 USD cash or best offer for it. I'm iffy paying $5000 for an e30 with 210,000 miles...that hasn't had every single thing replaced. What do y'all think? What else should I look for. Thank you in advance for your help!

[superj]

got some dings and dents but doesn't look horrible.

timing belt would be my main concern. there are lots of little bmw shops in nc that work on e30s so you should be good for any work you need done. well, I know there are on the eastern side but I didn't go much to charlotte other then for the airport but you should be good because they have all the other particular automotive shops in your area so one should be good for e30s. there are a few people on here that live in your area, too.

the steering wouldn't be an issue for me. we removed ps on both of my kids cars because they said that other then turning from a dead stop, it felt fine to them. one had a badly leaking system and didn't want to spend the money to replace the stuff so we capped everything like I did back in my e30 autocross days. he loves it. the other son had no problems but just took his off for who knows why, but he did.

the rack and stuff is not hard to replace and parts can be bought from amazon, ebay, rockauto, etc. other then the rack, I buy the front end parts in a kit on ebay. that was the cheapest place I had found and they worked great on the 86 325e I had two years ago. one of my son's friends wanted it so he has it now and loves it.

fixing it is going to be up to you and whether its an inspection point in north Carolina's safety inspection criteria.

ac could be super easy, could be more expensive. no idea on that till you get into it.

the signal could be just a stuck relay, improper bulb, or could be just the hazard light button is sticking. it could be other stuff, of course, but generally those are the issues for blinkers. push the hazard button a few times and see what happens. the button gets sticky so be prepared to pop it out and clean it up, or replace if you wish to do that

[jr02518]

I would offer him $2500 and when he says no, say Thank you. His expectation of the cars current value is not reflecting it's current condition.

To get this car into just driver condition is going to burn your time and money.

Fixing the rack will lead you to taking a hard look at the oil pan gasket, that is leaking. The motor mounts are on the list once you have the crossmember off the car to give an opportunity to clean the mess from the failed rack seals.

Yep, take it to a shop and have them do a pre sale inspection. Then he might have a clearer picture of his car.

[superj]

I forgot to mention that I think the price is high, also. sorry

[westija]

I don't think this price is high, provided no major body work or rust is needed. A well sorted one will be twice that.

[msservices]

Exactly...I’m sure in California nice e30s are laying around for cheap, not so much here in the Midwest or anywhere on the east coast