How Much Would You Pay For This Car?

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: Radman
I wouldn't buy this car. I don't think I would take it for free.

I wouldn't take if for free either.

A little over 6 years ago I got an 87 Cherokee from a buddy with 135k on the clock for free. It had issues. Lots of issues and I was a ware of some of them. It ended up needing:
-new battery & cables
-new tires, shocks, and a brake job
-new front steering stabilizer
-new power steering pump reservoir
-new radiator and water pump
-all new CCV tubing
-new U-joints on the front half-shafts

The difference being, those issues only cost me $1100 to fix which wasn't a bad investment for a vehicle I drove for four years during the winter and survived 3 rear end collisions.

 

[JHZR2]

OK, let's review:

-Valve cover gasket appears to be leaking, rec. replace and monitor for other possible leaks: Easy, less than $20 part. Good photo-op.

-Crankcase vent hose appears to be seeping, rec. replace: If it is the one that takes the place of the PCV and goes from a tube on the VC to the intake snorkel, that is super easy and cheap.

-Power-steering low-pressure line appears to be seeping/leaking, rec. replace and monitor other possible leaks
-Power-steering pump also appears to be leaking, rec. replace line first and monitor pump for possible leaks: The ZF PS reservoirs in these cars seep. They just always do, no matter if you reseal them or what. Id probably do the line and the cap gasket, then watch. It only takes ATF, so I wouldnt worry too much.



-Differential rear cover appears to be seeping, rec. reseal: Agree, but not due today. I would put new fluid in though so its fresh and youre topped off.

-Transmission appears to be seeping/leaking from shift shaft seal and output shaft seal, rec. replace and monitor for other possible leaks: Same as for the diff. Use Amsoil MTF. Easy.


-Cooling system appears to be seeping, rec. diagnose possible leak: What is?


-Coolant staining found around expansion tank: Is the expansion tank built into the radiator? It is on mine. Check cap gasket first.

-Belts appear to be age-cracked, rec. replace: Agree. No biggie.

-Front brakes have approximately 3 mm of material left, rec. replace when light is illuminated: Front and rear have lights. Nothing to do here.

-Rear brakes have approximately 1 mm of material left, rec. replace when light is illuminated: ditto

-Brake fluid appears to be dirty, rec. flush as per BMW spec :agree, clutch too.

-Resonator and muffler both appear to be rusted and rattling, rec. replace exhaust system: Pass smog? What is rattling? The rubber donuts get soft and cause the exhaust to sway. Id check all hangars first before removing.

-Rear shocks appear to be original, rec. monitor for possible future leaks: OK, nothing to do.

-Rear shock mounts appear to be original and torn, rec. replace: easy.

-Rear trailing arm bushings appear to be original, rec. monitor for possible future tearing: OK

-Rear sway bar end-links appear to be original, rec. monitor for possible future play: OK

-Front struts appear to be original, rec. monitor for possible future leaks: OK

-Front bump stops destroyed, rec. replace: Agree

-Front lower control arms appear to be original, rec. monitor for possible future play: OK.

-Front lower control arm bushings appear to be original, cracked, and torn, rec. replace: This may get pricey, but worth it.

-Both tie-rods appear to be original and have excessive movement, rec. replace and align vehicle: Easy. I got moog ones and have been happy.

-Front sway bar end-links appear to be original and have torn boots, rec. replace: OK, easy.

-Rec. align vehicle: Do it at a BMW shop, there are specific weighting procedures.

-Flex disc appears to be original and oil-soaked, rec. repair oil leak first, then flex disc to prevent future oil-soaking: Watch this one. Concur.


-Engine mounts appear to be original, sagging, cracked/torn, and oil-soaked, rec. repair oil leak first, then engine mounts: Agree, but no big deal.

-Transmission mounts appear to be original, sagging, split, and oil-soaked, rec. repair oil leak first, then transmission mounts: Agree.

-Fuel filter appears to be original, rec. replace: super easy.

-"Inspection" light illuminated upon arrival, rec. perform proper Inspection service: OK, easy to reset.

-Engine oil appears to be leaking badly from front camshaft seal, rec. replace and monitor for other possible leaks: How much $$$ for this? Id say this needs to be done first.

-Timing belt age is unknown, rec. customer check records to see if belt is due to be replaced: Concur.

-Oil pan gasket appears to be leaking, rec. replace leaks furthest forward and upwards first, clean, then monitor for possible leaks: this is an easy replacement. Concur with plan.

-Oil filter/gasket appear to be leaking, rec. replace and monitor for further leaks: Easy.

-Alternator appears to be a newer remanufactured unit

-Radiator appears to be a newer aftermarket unit, "Made in Spain" printing was found: OK

-Shifter found to be sloppy, rec. shifter rebuild: Agree

-Transmission may have internal issues, 5th gear detent: Could be serious.

-Third brake light does not illuminate upon brake application, rec. diagnose and repair: Agree.

-Clutch pedal appears to stick intermittently to the floor, rec. diagnose and repair: Is it sticking, slave cyl or something else?

-A/C compressor clutch appears to not engage, rec. diagnose and repair: Do this if you decide to keep the car. For your climate, may not be needed.

I think you could learn a lot with this car, only very few items are actually serious. The rest are fairly simple DIY.

 

[95GeoPrizmGuy]

You only want it to learn how to drive a standard - Why don't you just rent it for a couple of weekends? I had a co-worker who used new-car test drives to teach his son. I mean, how long do you really need it?


It's funny how I've been wanting to learn standard and this never occurred to me until you said this

looks like im going to have to rent a car soon.

as for this BMW...depends on how much you like it...i would only pay the cost of a roller considering it sounds like its gonna need a new everything almost

 

[hemitom]

waste of time and money (would be for me anyway). But to each his own .

 

[Jim Spahr]

One problem with buying a 25 year old BMW is not that it will require a lot of repairs and labor. It's that the parts and labor are so expensive. I $ay $tay away.
One problem with the BMW suspension is the upper control arm bushings wear out prematurely. The cost to get a mechanic to remove the upper control arm and then get a machine shop to press out the old bushing and press in a new one is so expensive you can buy a new control arm with new bushings for about what the parts and labor are to get a local mechanic to do it. Oh yes, don't forget to have a four wheel alignment done afterwards.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
One problem with buying a 25 year old BMW is not that it will require a lot of repairs and labor. It's that the parts and labor are so expensive. I $ay $tay away.
One problem with the BMW suspension is the upper control arm bushings wear out prematurely. The cost to get a mechanic to remove the upper control arm and then get a machine shop to press out the old bushing and press in a new one is so expensive you can buy a new control arm with new bushings for about what the parts and labor are to get a local mechanic to do it. Oh yes, don't forget to have a four wheel alignment done afterwards.


Our E21 is a different beast but frankly, parts are dirt cheap. The front brake rotors and pads were just replaced this summer for about $150 for top of the line stuff. I can't do that on my 1993 truck and I spent more than that on just pads for my 2006 car this fall. Old BMW's are not quite the same as the new ones for complexity and expense of parts. I'm not trying to say they're all cheap, especially for OEM stuff, but it's not unreasonable in many cases. Especially when this car appears to need seals in more cases than not instead of major component replacement.

 

[yesthatsteve]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
What's a maintained version of the same car go for in your area? $2-3k?
I see the odd old rust free bmw for sale up here with a collection of receipts showing half that stuff replaced in the last couple years for $2-3k.
As an investment I don't think you'd ever get the cost of parts out of it, but maybe if you want an autocross or track beater it could be a worthwhile project if you want one. Scrap price plus $100 sounds fair for it.


LeMons? Chumpcar?

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
You only want it to learn how to drive a standard - Why don't you just rent it for a couple of weekends? I had a co-worker who used new-car test drives to teach his son. I mean, how long do you really need it?


I don't know if I would feel safe driving it, knowing that the tie rods are loose and the rear brakes are gone.


Even loose, the car probably outhandles your Prius... And unless the brake lining light is on, BMW feels it is perfectly safe to drive with the pad material left.

 

[antonmnster]

There's a bunch of [censored] in there. How could they possibly know whether all those parts are original, or whether they've been replaced 4 times over the last 25 years? It took more time to write about the 3rd brake light than it would have taken to replace it.

There might be a lot of oil "seeps", but that not the same as a bad leak.

I don't think I'd pay any more than any other car of that vintage, but I'd understand that there's going to be a pretty long list of projects. The major advantage here is that with a CA car there is no rust. It just might be worth the trouble.

 

[Texan4Life]

$1000

 

[Vikas]

That inspection report is good if you were buying 3 or 4 year old car. This is a 25 year old car. Why would anybody expect it to be brand new?

 

[ToddGak1]

This is true, if I wanted this car I would not expect perfection. Repair would be enjoyable and money I spend would be outweighed by satisfaction of fixing. In my country cars of this age would be respected.

 

[RPMster]

If the body is straight, no rust, interior is decent, engine compression is good, and electrical system is good, then it's worth $1,000. If you put $3-4 G's into all the mechanical stuff, and another G into cosmetic stuff, you will have a fun project and a sweet bimmer for $5 G's. Or just buy one that's been babied/garaged for about the same money, or a little less.

 

[fdcg27]

Critic,
I would expect you of all people to know better.
A really good e30 is going to be priced accordingly.
You probably need to keep looking.
I got lucky enough to find my e36 at a little under 105K with service records going back to its new car delivery in Florida.
20K later, I've found the car to be very satisfactory and no more demanding than an old Honda.
I paid 4.5K for the car, with a two year old top, so I'd say I did okay.
There are good old BMWs out there.
This car would be a worthwhile project, and could be a running project if that's what you want.
If you want a turnkey car, move on to something else.
Also, if you are willing to spend a bit more, take a look at Z3s.
They're later cars, and the 4 cylinder cars are as trouble free as any e30 or e36, from what I've seen.
Finally, if you can't manage three pedals, you can't call yourself a driver.
A stick is so rewarding and entertaining to drive that you'll wonder why people buy automatics when sticks are available.
And yes, I'm much older than you, and have had a stick car as my daily driver for the past thirty years.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27

They're later cars, and the 4 cylinder cars are as trouble free as any e30 or e36, from what I've seen.
Finally, if you can't manage three pedals, you can't call yourself a driver.
A stick is so rewarding and entertaining to drive that you'll wonder why people buy automatics when sticks are available.
And yes, I'm much older than you, and have had a stick car as my daily driver for the past thirty years.


I paid $3k for my 91 318i with 72k in 02. It had a flood title, but there were no signs of it, and it has been a great car.

Some would say with a flood title I paid too much, but I bought it to learn to drive stick, and it has been a great car since. Id buy it again if I had the chance.

But when I bought it, it was perfectly straight, interior looked like new, etc.

It now has a bit of rust underneath, but still is straight, not a single dent, interior as new, etc.

I have learned a lot working on it though. As a small and simple car, it is easy to do repairs, diagnose stuff, etc.

I even rebuilt the ABS on it!

The key is that critics car must be absolutely rust free and cosmetically perfect. At 25 years, it may need paint, but cant have dents or dings either, IMO.

At that point, $1000-1500 IMO is OK, because it is a good platform to build from and learn from. Worst thing that could happen is he ruins the clutch and decides MT isnt for him, so unloads it for $800.

 

[fdcg27]

Yeah, if the car is straight, rust free and fairly free of dents and dings, it is worth 1-1.5K as a project.
If it is a runner, as the one Critic is mulling over appears to be, it could be a daily driver project car.
It would be more engaging to drive than any Toyota, much less a Prius, without doubt.
The clutch shouldn't be that hard to do on these RWD cars either.
I'd think hard about spending a little more for a better car, though.
You do get what you pay for, and you have to be willing to pay for what you seek.
I'd say you did very well in buying your e30.
I looked at an e36 hatch recently.
A really decent little car, in a body that I do admire, but it had the kiss of death.
Only two pedals.
Any BMW with only two pedals is beyond consideration, as nice and as cheap as it might be.
Might as well buy a V-6 Accord coupe and have more speed for less money rather than buy an automatic BMW.