Someone, PLEASE, Fill me in.

[foolonrampage]

Hey all, I am pretty new to the BWM industry but I have always loved them. My dad has an '85 325e 5-speed and he is handing it down to ME once i finally get my license . I have never been more excited. It is such a fun little car and from what I have read it seems like they are pretty scarce, especially in the condition that my dad has his in. I would just really like to know if I should upgrade it or just leave it the way it is and just clean it up a little? And what are some of the perks about this car? If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[E30m42cab]

well, I've owned (2) 1986 325e's, one manual, and one automatic. My first one was a hand-me-down too. I found the best way to improve the 325e was to chip it. I put a Turner Motorsport chip in it, a K&N air filter, and a Remus cat-back exhaust. I went from having a car that would go 180km/h, to one that would exceed 215km/h, and that was with the automatic! before I swapped it over to the manual car. But seeing as you'll be a new driver, I would leave it as-is. Clean it up and take care of it. You'll love it, and it's true, the older E30's are dying off. It's really hard to find any that aren't rusty or have 100,000,000km on them. Rust and high mileage claimed the life of my 5speed, while an accident killed my automatic. Perks about the car... lots of torque... very well balanced and handles like it's on rails.

 

[foolonrampage]

I have gone around town in it with my dad and I love how it still feels like a tight little rally car even after 20 some years. I dont know if I want to fix it up and leave it a collectors or if I should customize it to be my own whip. Do you know how wanted these cars are?

 

[Kirby]

As I recall the e designation was for economy? I think the car was tuned more for mileage, at the expense of performance. I guess that's why chipping it helps.

I doubt that they are collectibles - yet - but in another 5 to 10 years that may change. My suggestion is to do what you want BUT KEEP all the old parts and don't hack it up to the point you can't restore it in the future.

 

[Doughnut]

I agree with kirby.
Renew old worn out parts as best you can, and service it regulary to keep it in top condition, keep the stock suspension and maybe upgrade to bigger rims if you get board of the stock-as-a-rock ones, an aftermarket cd player with subs never hurts either

 

[foolonrampage]

I agree with kirby.
Renew old worn out parts as best you can, and service it regulary to keep it in top condition, keep the stock suspension and maybe upgrade to bigger rims if you get board of the stock-as-a-rock ones, an aftermarket cd player with subs never hurts either

YAA, the rims are a little small for my taste and i want to get a new system because it still has the cassette player in there. And I wanted to get some nice bucket seats beacause the seats are wierd pleathery or something. and i was thinking about a body kit and possibly shaving off the handles to get a remote keyless entry and a short shifter. Good ideas or nah?

 

[Kirby]

If you want to keep it as a long term collector, everything sounds OK except shaving the handles. I think that's not something that is cleanly reversed. Just keep the old seats and body parts so you can restore it to original, or you can sell it to someone who will want to restore it in the future.

 

[foolonrampage]

I dont have any storage to keep the other parts so I might just have to sell the parts. So what other performance upgrades would be good for this ride besides a chip?