1987 BMW 3-Series

Coupe

6 cyl

Automatic

wbaaa2306h3110261

Clear

Gasoline

My wife and I have taken care of this BMW for 18 years and “I” will miss having it around. But it would be dumb to let this extraordinarily well maintained 325is just sit in my garage as it has for most of the last 5 years. My wife and I now drive electrics. I bought this car from the original purchaser who had it 12 years and serviced and maintained it in every possible way, including some over-the-top maybe-not-all-that-necessary dealer recommendations. Good for me, expensive for her. But I ended up doing pretty much the same as I will detail later. She put 164,000 miles on it driving back and forth between Ventura, where she lived, and her son’s home in Bakersfield, which is where I saw it. This would be a good place to state that no teenager has ever driven this car, and for that matter – as far as I know – no one under 40 either. It now has 240,000 well cared for California miles on it and I would not be surprised if went another 240,000. But maybe enough of the hype. I’m including a list of the maintenance expenses I’ve incurred during the last 18 years. The list itself does not reveal the lengths I went to keep the car in extraordinary condition. If one front wheel bearing was going bad I replaced both sides. When one axel was making rude noises I replaced both axels. When the ride wasn’t what it was supposed to be I replaced almost every link and bushing on the car. An exception was the sub-frame bushings. A very expensive job that I chose not to take on. I had the car repainted in 2009 and as you can see it was a very, very good paint job. The lower portion is the original BMW color and the upper is a carefully chosen, contrasting silver with a hand-painted pinstripe separating the two. This was an all windows out paint job and when completed every molding was replaced, including the sunroof, engine compartment and trunk. Nice! The dash looks new. No cracks of any kind because it’s been covered for 18 years. Please note the year 2013. Also please note that was only 6382 miles ago. Last things on the plus side. This BMW 325is has ALWAYS been garaged or covered when at home and has an issue free Carfax and most service records. Now for the flaws… The front bucket seats will need to be reupholstered sometime in the future but look very good now that I spent 6 hours reconditioning them. [Magic Mender Leather Repair Kit did a great job.] There is a ¾ inch tear in the headliner near the driver’s side interior light. And lastly, sometime in the last year a small, shallow dent appeared on the rear portion of the passenger side roof. Maybe that is why it is time to get it out of my garage. It is in the main unnoticeable, but then again I did notice it; however, on the plus side it is a Paintless repair kind of dent. Sorry. Date Mileage Amount 8/20/99 164800 Purchase 4800 Tax / license 363 5163 9/20/99 Dash cover 38 12/6/99 Glove box latch 74 112 8/28/00 176103 4 Michelin 15x225 tires 273 7/26/01 Spark plugs 15 7/26/01 Dist cap / rotor 107 7/31/01 187674 Replace fan clutch / major tune-up 384 7/31/01 Gas cap 8 8/1/01 Replace catalytic converter 235 8/1/01 188271 Smog check / cylinder head clean 110 8/16/01 A/C switch (not inst until 8/03) 43 902 7/23/02 202161 Various dealer checks / no service 40 8/2/02 Trans service kit 38 8/12/02 Trans service 100 8/22/02 202452 Various checks / no service 70 12/19/02 204983 Replace timing belt + P/S hoses 530 12/13/02 Repair driver side seat 75 853 1/3/03 Replace battery - Bosch 91 1/20/03 Brakes – rotors / pads / sensors 241 2/3/03 205635 Brakes – labor 145 4/24/03 207581 Replace starter 310 5/18/03 207973 A/C conversion to 134 175 7/18/03 208527 Shifter repair / oil change 100 1062 3/30/04 Wheel bearings / axles 380 4/8/04 211599 Wheel bearings / rear axle labor 280 4/1/04 Used hub cap [BBS style] 32 6/10/04 Suspension / driveline parts 170 6/11/04 Floor mats 102 6/11/04 Roundel (trunk) 15 1/20/03 Roundel (hood) 10 6/14/04 Paint hood and top [temp fix] 325 6/21/04 213044 Windshield 197 6/23/04 Rear shocks – Bilstein 178 6/23/04 Misc + side marker / shock mounts 52 7/2/04 213235 Suspension / driveline / shocks (labor) 438 9/29/04 Driveline 320 9/30/04 213306 Install driveline 140 2557 6/2/05 214324 Service A/C – change oil 122 8/5/05 214473 Hose repair – oil cooler / gas 150 277 2/7/06 217808 Remove air dam / change oil / 96 2/7/06 Fog lights 105 2/10/06 Replace Cat Converter [warrantee] 45 2/10/06 Front struts [Bilstein] 234 2/10/06 K&N filter 34 2/17/06 Strut install parts / sway bar links 68 2/17/06 CV boot repair kit 25 3/7/06 218150 17x7 4-100 / 20mm TSW wheels 645 3/7/06 215/40r-17 Yokahama Avid H4S 400 3/20/06 218213 Re-install air dam [paint] 14 3/27/06 Repair CV boot leak / valve cover leak 258 3/27/06 Master cylinder / Ft axle nuts 155 4/4/06 218231 R&R brake master cylinder 65 Install struts /ft susp parts / 4 wheel align 310 2394 2/12/07 221868 Shift knob / mirror Sw 59 Fuel filter and trim fasteners 26 5/30/07 222772 Brake service 52 6/1/07 Fan clutch / fan - hood strut 103 6/6/07 222811 R&R fan clutch / hood strut - labor 75 287 /08 2/5/09 225000* Paint all - original color + 2 tone 3150 2/28/09 parts – trim and molding 189 3/12/09 parts – trim and molding 135 3474 /10 /11 3/15/12 228941 R&R heat / AC fan 85 5/29/12 Exhaust hangers 12 R&R exhaust hangers - labor 35 5/30/12 230090* Valve adjustment 218. 5/31/12 Exch radio – labor 40. 7/19/12 Odometer parts 55. 12/13/12 232850 Replace battery 130.00 575 1/16/13 Water pump 49. / mtr mts 27. 76. 3/22/13 233228 R&R water pump / timing belt / mtr mts 628. 3/22/13 R&R trans cooler lines / trans service 872 4/13/13 Coolant hoses [4] 22. 4/13/13 A/C drier 14. 4/17/13 Coolant – Prestone x 2 gal 37. 4/20/13 Brake pads – ft 32. 5/02/13 Install brake pads 60. 5/16/13 Grommet / Intake boot 23. 5/16/13 Cold air intake boot 18 5/14/13 Expansion valve 19. 5/15/13 A/C compressor 373. 6/12/13 234262 Install /charge A/C 400. 2574 /14 8/12/15 237710 Warranty replace battery 0 Kenwood KDC-x597 170 Install 45 215 5/12/16 238947 exterior detail 200 8/15/16 Interior detail 6/07/17 Trans service [replace trans seal] 212 9/11/17 239573 Replace battery 106 318 239610 18,533** ** not including purchase price / oil changes / smog checks and yearly registration.