For Sale: 1978 BMW 320i, BBS RS, 3.64 Limited Slip, etc. Needs Towed and Much Work.

[epmedia]

SOLD

Sorry such a long read, the '78 has much history with wife and I.

Wife and I don't live with the '78 in Spring Valley, California any more (East San Diego county, 91977). Wife does visit it several times a year.

I'll post pics later, this is just a feeler. So far I'm thinking about the best offer over $1300.00.
If any questions, comments; please fire away.

Purchased car in 1999. Car has been on Non-Operation status with the CA Dmv since 2013. Have clean Title, on my desk. The last engine run was about September 2019. Ran the engine ~20 minutes from a gas can through spare hoses and a new fuel filter. The fuel tanks need to be re-conditioned. Minor dent from a 'car lift' on the bottom of left? fuel tank (idiots). The fuel guage was fairly accurate in 2013. This '78 was Not originally equipped with an in-tank fuel pump (good ).

All steel braided fuel hoses are original, did not leak, but need to be replaced, also other fuel hoses should be replaced. Not sure of brake system condition, was fine in 2013. Not sure of Clutch system condition, was fine in 2013. Engine cooling system needs flushed. All fluids/filters need replaced. Engine could use a re-fresh + valve work. *Should use heavy-duty oil filter (Canada version) and 10w-40 engine oil during cool California weather.

Needs some wiring work under hood (rodent damage). Front Shock absorber-inserts are worn out. Rear main engine seal leaks oil (my fault). Front brake rotors have surface rust from sitting (may not roll easily). Bald tires will hold air for several days or longer. Carpet removed and trashed. Rust on floor pan and around throttle pedal. Inside trunk had some flaky paint and surface rust; years ago I cleaned it well and coated the trunk deck/spare wheel area with roofing tar and tar paper . Rust in typical areas outside body. All original Air Conditioning components removed and recycled.

Left rear subframe bushing is 'torque tweaked' a bit. Front coil springs were cut. There's a 'temporary' section of exhaust pipe that never got welded. I installed a momentary button for the cold start injector (a quick fix at the time) - a rodent ruined the wires at the cold start injector plug. Ignition Ballast wire replaced with copper wire and ceramic style Chevy ballast (Ford ballast wire would have been a cleaner choice).

Previous owner had sport style mirrors installed and had the rear parcel cut to accomodate large speakers - both installs have botched appearance. Some un-noticalble body damage behind the Rt headlamps, mostly straightened out by hand and only barely noticeable with the hood opened. We have one key for the car (lost the duplicate). Ignition switch is worn and about due for repair/replacement. The pictures I have were from Pre-2013, I may get more pics 'as it sits'. Reason car was placed on non-op in 2013 is because tires were bald and we had two other vehicles to drive.
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BBS RS 070 ET16 15x7" (3 piece)
One wheel is bent (now placed on the front right?) - noticed this many years ago while on the dyno machine.
The Bent wheel does balance well enough to not notice a shimmy, even while driving ~83+ mph. Yes, I got a speeding ticket for that.
No wheel spacers installed, must use sticky weights (not hammer-on type weights). There's only ~4mm wheel-to-tierod clearance.

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3.64 limited slip differential (not the common 3.91 limited slip)
Break-away torque seemed to be within spec prior to 2013 (I forget the spec #).
Some oil seepage from the front seal and/or cover gasket.
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Larger than oem front sway bar + Rear sway bar. Tokico rear shocks + adjustable spring height (probably still work great). Momo steering wheel.
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BBS front air-dam and Zender side skirts.
Some damage (sheet metal bandaid in pic), fully functional.
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BMW Recaro seats
Definately need reupholstered to bring back their original glory.
Structural repairs accomplished on the outer seat rail perches.
Passenger seat rail is missing a roller. A replacement roller can be easily duplicated with machine tools and round-bar stock.
Seats not secured, only temporary placement. Box of seat rail hardware in car.
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Car has +200k miles on it. Unknown miles on engine. Engine was rebuilt with higher compression pistons prior to ~1995, mileage on engine unknown (probably 120-150k).
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New California Certificate of Title, because lost the old title.
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Spare parts to be listed after verification.
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Again, needs to be towed and needs much work.

[jjgbmw323]

If you decide to sell the RS separately let me know...

[epmedia]

That's a possibility, JJG. Too soon to tell. One would also need to supply 4 replacement wheels and mounted tires that hold air for atleast several days
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I'll add pics as I find them..
Here's the seat rail perch structural repairs. I did the structural for the left and right seat 'outer perches' only. The left and right seat 'inner perches' are structurally good.

For the left seat.
3-seat-rail-perch-rivets.jpg

4-seat-rail-installed.jpg

For the right seat, mock fit before install prep.
1-seat-rail-iron.jpg

2-seat-rail-iron-mock.jpg

[okieflats]

The main issue is transport. Someone close needs to buy it. I'm sure I would buy it if it were not at the opposite end of the state. Hey and regular gas is now $6.39 a gallon in California so even if I had a trailer and a big truck it would be expensive to haul it 550 miles (1,100 round trip).

[epmedia]

These 2 pics were taken about the time I ran the engine (while on non-op), about September 2019. You may see the rust under the right tail light. Rust under the left tail light should be about the same. There's some rust under the wishshield too, I'll try finding more pics (later) to show this.

non-op-rear-2019.jpg

non-op-side-2019.jpg

These are the piston tops (just for reference) as I removed the cylinder head to replace the head gasket about 2010?

A spare reactor (exhaust manifold) should be in the trunk in a box (I have to have this verified).

dirtydeck.jpg

oilfill.jpg

I always used a heatshield!
Using a Ford type '1-way air injection valve' with a steel adapter. This is an old picture too.

spk-plug-wires2.jpg

[m3her310]

PM’d !

[epmedia]

These pics were probably about 2010, sometime after new tires were installed (bald tires since ~2012).

center-caps.jpg

rt-rear.jpg

rt-front.jpg

[jaredmac11]

Guess I'm heading over to California. See you soon

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[epmedia]

PM’d !

I messaged you back. 'So far' the sell is already pending, sorry.

Guess I'm heading over to California. See you soon

Sell is already pending. Shux, had not even finished posting pics
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Here's more pics of wheels that I was going to post. Pics were taken sometime prior to non-op in 2013. Washed car and took pics while car was still wet .

Curb rash, not sure if this is the bent wheel.
rt-front2.jpg

Dented lip on this wheel.
l-rear.jpg

Other two wheels.
l-front.jpg

rt-rear2.jpg

[jaredmac11]

Seems like a good project from someone. Hope you get a fair price. I sold my 320is for under 5 and I think it could have gone for more.

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[epmedia]

Should be arriving to new home soon.

78-E21-going-to-new-home.jpg

1978 e21 320i Electric Diagram PDF File here

[jaredmac11]

That's gonna be a great project for someone.

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[epmedia]

That's gonna be a great project for someone.

Oh darn! the back seat (improper-beige color) is in the shed. We missed a few other spare items too. Fortunately the new owner is not too far from these items.

[gsumzzz]

Ep hope that u r well these days! R u out of the e21s now? Great deal for the new buyer. That lsd is a $1000 part alone. Take care.

[320iAman]

Ep hope that u r well these days! R u out of the e21s now? Great deal for the new buyer. That lsd is a $1000 part alone. Take care.

Indeed, Hope your well here too, with gas price climbing to $7 per gallon with no end in sight gas guzzler cars are going to cost a small fortune every fill up regularly.

Randy