1991 BMW 325i

Coupe

2.5L 2494CC 152Cu. In. l6 GAS SOHC Naturally Aspir

Manual

WBAAA1317MEC69620

Clear

GAS

You are bidding on a 1991 325i Coupe - one of the last and best of BMW's classic E30 line. I hate to sell it, but with too many cars and not enough time I've decided to let this one go. History:I bought the car in early 2011 with roughly 155,000 miles from the original owner, a university professor with no kids who bought the car brand new in January 1991. The car spent most of its life in the south before she moved to Utah in the early 2000s, after which it was driven very little. Although it's a non-sport model it came equipped with the LSD rear axle and the rear trunk spoiler. I bought the car primarily because it was in such remarkably unmolested condition - unlike most E30s it has never been subjected to questionable modifications, hack stereo installations, or bargain basement shade tree repair attempts. In other words, it hadn't been messed with. The owner was not particularly mechanically savvy, however, so while she kept it clean and garaged and changed the oil religiously there was quite a lot of deferred maintenance. So at that time I replaced the following (and I'm probably forgetting some stuff): Timing belt, water pump, and tensioners (it was WAY overdue)Front trailing arms and trailing arm bushingsRear shock mountsThe sway bar mount points on the original front subframe had failed (common on these cars) so I replaced with a good used subframe with welded in reinforcements Sway bar bushingsEngine mountsIntake air bootTie rod endsFixed a bunch of weird electrical issues caused by bad groundsPass side door seal (original had shrunk, leaving a gap)Windshield washer "T"Driver's side power window switchAll radiator / coolant hoses and linesSince then I've put over 10k miles on the car and it's been rock solid reliable and a lot of fun. Mechanical:The engine is the original M20 and has never been out of the car, to my knowledge. It is a sweet little motor - no sputters or stumbles, and pulls smoothly to redline as a classic BMW I6 should. I had some crazy ideas about swapping in a motor from an E36 M3 but this motor runs so well I just left it alone. The PO claims she had the clutch and starter replaced shortly before I bought it; while she didn't have receipts the clutch feels very solid with no slipping. I replaced the slave cylinder about 6-9 months ago when it failed, so that's new for sure. The suspension is in good shape with no clunks or pulling and still has the nice compliant ride of a stock 3-series. Transmission is smooth with no grinding or bad synchros. I have no qualms about driving this car anywhere. If I were keeping the car, I would keep an eye on the steering rack as it leaks a bit and is starting to get a bit noisy. I'd also replace all the rubber brake lines the next time it needed brake work. Neither of these are by any means urgent issues, just something to keep an eye on. Exterior:According to the original owner, she had the car repainted the original black in the late 1990s because the original was showing its age, not due to any accident damage. The black / tan combination is beautiful on the E30 and stands out even more with the chrome window trim in this non-S model. The car is nice and solid, and I haven't seen any evidence of rust at all. The paint job is still holding up well. I recently had it polished and some rock chips taken care of and as you can see in the pics it shines up nicely. There are a couple of small parking lot type dings and a bit of road rash but overall it's still very nice looking. The biggest flaw is a crack in the top of the rear bumper below the driver's taillight, as can be seen in the pics. I'm not much of a photographer and a very shiny black car is more or less a mirror, so assume that anything that looks like mountains, trees, or a dorky guy in plaid shorts is in fact a reflection and not some strange flaw in the paint. :) The wheels on the car right now are original style bottlecaps with 185/65/14 snow tires, which I bought locally mostly because the wheels were in such great shape. I do have the original wheels which are in decent shape with some usable all-seasons in 195/65/14; both sets are included with the car. I also have the original dealer option sunroof windblocker, which I removed because I thought it looked dumb but will go with the car also. Interior:The interior condition is outstanding. The original "Komfort" seats are in excellent condition, the dash is completely pristine, another proof that the car was always garaged, and the carpets are intact and unstained. The only flaws of note are a hole in the original driver's floor mat and a crease / crack in the original shift boot that you almost have to look for to find. I bought a set of sport seats that need reupholstering that I had planned on restoring and installing at some point; the new owner can have them if they'd like. Electrical:A/C is ice cold (see below). Sunroof works perfectly. Cruise control works great. All dash warning lights work as they should, and none stay lit once the car is running (lots of these cars light up like a christmas tree). Everything electrical works, other than the following minor issues: The rear defroster doesn't seem to heat up. The trip computer sometimes starts wigging out, but a good push in the center gets it working again. The gas gauge is a bit vague, but the warning light works perfectly so I haven't worried about it too much. There's a bit of a trick to get the driver's door to lock with the key from the outside. The temp gauge sometimes bounces around and shows spurious readings - this is a common problem on these cars and is usually just a bad ground. The engine itself doesn't overheat, even in triple digit temperatures with the A/C blasting. Recent Work:I took care of a few niggling things on the car to get it ready to sell, including:Recharged A/C with R12 (it always worked but struggled on hot days. Now it's ice cold all the time)Tightened up wobbly glove box hingesReplaced broken pass side dome lightReplaced both roundelsLubed some squeaky bushings in the front suspensionReplaced passenger side power window switchPolish, touch up rock chips, and detailSummary:This really is a sweet little car, and I'm going to miss it a lot. While it's not perfect it's far nicer than most E30s you'll see on the market and has a ton of life left in it. I've tried to describe the car as accurately as possible including any flaws or issues that I know of; this may cost me money but I know I appreciate full disclosure on eBay ads and I think most agree. I've sold '87 and '73 Alfa Spiders, a '74 Datsun 260Z, and a '91 Sentra SE-R on eBay in the past and in each case the buyer was completely satisfied with the transaction. That said, this is a 21 year old car and is sold with no warranty expressed or implied. This is a no-reserve auction and I will be selling the car to the high bidder once it completes, so please don't ask me to end the auction early. Serious bidders only, please. Buyer is responsible for shipping, but I'm happy to accomodate by delivering to a shipping terminal in the SLC area or even meeting you at the SLC airport if you'd like to drive it home yourself. I can also store the car in my garage for a reasonable amount of time if needed. While the BaT commentariat might deride this as "just a used car" the winning bidder is going to end up with a great little modern classic that you can use every day. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.On Jul-31-12 at 17:13:00 PDT, seller added the following information:I've posted a video showing the undercarriage and engine compartment here: http://youtu.be/gtRvGncdDzk I will be traveling through Friday, so if there are requests for more pictures I won't be able to get to them until then. Thanks, Jason