$50 E30, saved from Crack house.

[DMan II]

Just bought (saved) an 89 325i from a squatter/drug house. Got a key and a title, all I know is it has been sitting for about 16 years or so. Hope to fix it and give it a new life. Just joined here and wanted to say hello!








A little view of what the yard looked like, inside the house was just as bad. Broken crack pipes and what not. Lucky with how the condition of the car is considering everything else.....



Edit: fixed picture links

[323i E30]

Hi, welcome!
Really just $50??? The car looks like it would appreciate some maintenance, but that’s one lucky deal!
Do yourself a favor and change the timing belt before you even attempt to start the car. That thing is way overdue, and your engine will be seriously damaged when it breaks while running.

[DMan II]

Good point on the timing belt. I’d hate to put in all that work if it doesn’t even start. But I’d also hate to start it just to blow it up haha.

[323i E30]

Yeah, for sure..
You could expect some rodent related wiring issues.
Might want to check in your air filter housing if there’s a nest in there.

[eseeling]

Don't be in a hurry on anything. Gas tank and gas lines flushed and cleaned. oil in cylinders through spark plug holes, and manually turn engine over (put in gear and lift one rear wheel and turn the rear wheel), etc. blah, blah it's all on the forum somewhere. I would tow it to your garage and check the car for drugs that you might be able to sell and finance your new money pit!

[superj]

ha ha ha/\

dude, that's a good looking car for sitting for so long. i would totally take it also

[DMan II]

So looks like I gotta change the gas, oil, and coolant, fog/oil the cylinders and do a timing belt and water pump. FCP euro’s Kit also has cam and crank seals but I don’t know if I wanna do those. I might just get the cheapest parts I need to make sure it even runs.

The house I’m living at right now doesn’t have a garage, it’s kinda in the forest. And we just got 9 inches of snow, expecting more over the next week or two. Car is currently sitting on the side of my street (half in street half in dirt) so that will be a fun experience doing that work over there.....

[jamespaleo]

Wow. That's a great find, even with the work to bring it back. Reminds me of a 1985 325e I got for free some years back. I had never owned a BMW before that. Bought a manual, my son and I had it running in about a week. It was his first car. It was in about that same shape. Hope the radiator is OK. We had to replace ours - I guess too many years without attention. We also just replaced all the hoses, spark plugs and wires, rotor, O2 sensor, etc. There was more after that, but that got us running. Pretty sure it was a bad O2 sensor that got it parked originally.

[email2285]

Mix like 40% Marvel Mystery oil, 40% PB Blaster and 20% STP in a pump can. Pump as much as you can into each cylinder. Fill them if you can. Let that sit for a few days. In the mean time change the timing belt and hot wire the fuel pump to drain the tank. Then take the back seat out and pop the fuel pump out, change the little filter on the bottom. Put 5 gallons of super in with some fuel injector cleaner.Change the oil and pull the spark plugs back out and lay some rags on top if the holes and in the engine compartment, then crank it. You'll pump all the oil out of the cylinders and prune the oil pump all in one shot. Then put the spark plugs back in and try starting it. Once it fires and it doesn't knock or anything start changing belts, hoses, thermostat, check the radiator, tune or up, etc....

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

[superj]

That is very similar to what I would do /\

[Tzantushka]

. In the mean time change the timing belt and hot wire the fuel pump to drain the tank.

Silly question, if the fuel tank is OE - is there any reason you can't use the drain plug on the tank?

[DMan II]

Been awhile since I visited here but still working on the car slowly. I completed the timing belt, water pump, put a bunch of marvel mystery oil in the cylinders, removed the fuel tank and power washed the nasty sludge in there, new tires, new fuel pump, fuel filter, and various other bits. Currently just have to purge the fuel lines and refill the coolant.

I have been putting it all on an Instagram account if you care to follow along more: https://www.instagram.com/e30tweak/

[superj]

awesome. i was wondering what happened

[Dagamus NM]

Damn, super come up. Look forward to seeing more. Following on IG

[DMan II]

Well I finally got it running today!

Ended up having to pull and clean the injectors and a new relay!!! Got some cool videos up on my Instagram page if you wanna watch.

https://www.instagram.com/e30tweak/

[superj]

that's awesome.

[jamespaleo]

Very cool. Congrats. I love these cars, but I also gotta tell you there will be more do to to it. But heck, for $50 you can do an awful lot to that car and still not have as much $$ sunk into it as it's worth. And prices are going up on these cars, especially if the body and interior are in good shape. You can replace almost all the mechanicals with new parts.