First glances - wooden steering wheel maybe, this won't be standard. It has 17" e36 M3 Evo alloys, they look genuine and in good condition. Should be able to get good money for them and replace them with the standard 15" BBS' that the e30s came with as standard and look so good on. Missing fog light covers - possible track car, wouldn't put me off but do pay a lot of attention on the test drive.
E30 Guru's Please
- Thread starter Rybo89
- Start date
First glances - wooden steering wheel maybe, this won't be standard. It has 17" e36 M3 Evo alloys, they look genuine and in good condition. Should be able to get good money for them and replace them with the standard 15" BBS' that the e30s came with as standard and look so good on. Missing fog light covers - possible track car, wouldn't put me off but do pay a lot of attention on the test drive.
Those wheels (17s?) will ruin the handling. 16s are really as big as you'd want to go, although I'd personally argue 15s are a far better bet.
Ironically the Chain (which many people see as a plus) can often cause issues. It is not at all uncommon for the tensioner to play up, eventually taking out the chain (and the engine) with it, so if you intend on keeping it a while I'd have that replaced.
The engine is alright... certainly better than the 1.6/1.8l lump found in 316i and 318i cars but 140BHP isn't exactly loads, so don't be expecting it to set your hair on fire with straight line speed.
Check the bodykit VERY carefully. Check the sills most importantly as the M-Tech kit is a haven for rust. If fact I'd check EVERYWHERE for rust, but your key checking points other than around the kit are:
Scuttle
Sunroof area (if It has one. If it does and the roof is rotting/bubbling walk away.)
Battery Tray (take the battery out if need be)
Remember Mechanicals are worth bugger all on these cars, so a good straight body is ALWAYS the most important thing you should be looking for.
Check if the suspension has been done at some point in it's life. If not consider doing a full rebush complete with new dampers and springs. It'll make quite a difference.
And watch out for the bus spec steering rack. 4 turns lock to lock, yo!
Ironically the Chain (which many people see as a plus) can often cause issues. It is not at all uncommon for the tensioner to play up, eventually taking out the chain (and the engine) with it, so if you intend on keeping it a while I'd have that replaced.
The engine is alright... certainly better than the 1.6/1.8l lump found in 316i and 318i cars but 140BHP isn't exactly loads, so don't be expecting it to set your hair on fire with straight line speed.
Check the bodykit VERY carefully. Check the sills most importantly as the M-Tech kit is a haven for rust. If fact I'd check EVERYWHERE for rust, but your key checking points other than around the kit are:
Scuttle
Sunroof area (if It has one. If it does and the roof is rotting/bubbling walk away.)
Battery Tray (take the battery out if need be)
Remember Mechanicals are worth bugger all on these cars, so a good straight body is ALWAYS the most important thing you should be looking for.
Check if the suspension has been done at some point in it's life. If not consider doing a full rebush complete with new dampers and springs. It'll make quite a difference.
And watch out for the bus spec steering rack. 4 turns lock to lock, yo!
Ah im puzzled with the Alloys then. In the ad it statse that it would come with the original 15" alloys which i thought was the ones shown in the picture above
Here the link to the very detailed ad (but you'll see why im confused with the alloys now):
http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1284429.htm
Here the link to the very detailed ad (but you'll see why im confused with the alloys now):
http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1284429.htm
Oh Lawd. Chav-tastic
.Those BBS wheels in the picture are almost certainly not included seeing as how they are probably worth more than the car. I wouldn't be too fussed over the "M3" wheels in the other picture. If they are genuine M3 Evo wheels I'll eat my socks. A 5 stud conversion on a E30 is a pain in the backside and rather pointless, seeing as 4x100 (same on all non M3 e30s) is THE fitments to have for bling bling wheels in europe. Those wheels are most likely cheap and nasty replicas, running an figment adaptor spacer
Here is an example of standard 15 BBS' which the ad says comes with the car (as modelled by my 316i Touring)
The seller sounds hugely irritating.
You will get the standard 15" BBSs and the 17" e36 M3 Evo wheels in the sale. The Evos should be worth at least £250 if they are genuine.
The price is high, so barter him down.
Ah yes again thanks for all that mate. Rust! I cant stand rust so if i see anymore then say, 2 little spots i'll walk away anyway. As bad as that sounds lol
He as said he hasn't spotted any rust on the car. Hopefully he's been having a good look!
Just hope i can find someone knowledgeable to come check it out with me, hoping he eventually tells me where he's located... Got a feeling its Nottingham, which isn't to far.
Oh Lawd. Chav-tastic
haha im not sure im keen on the rear lights either, its the front ends evil look what wins me over.
Thanks for the pic
Just googled the standard ones and i like the look of them, also like the look of the M3 alloys even if they are fake (yes i have a bit of chav in me
)Cheers for clearing that, what price would you be looking at to pay?
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As I pointed out and Clarkey confirmed (good eyes!) they aren't even CLOSE to be genuine.
They are fakes and are worth about 7p. And that's only if you can find a chav inbred enough to happily deal with the compromised ride and handling due to picking huge wheels onto a suspension system designed for wheels no bigger than 15" (16" At a push).
Edit: And no, the price isn't high. iS cars are beginning to command a premium over pretty much any other non M3 E30 (including 325i cars if they aren't a perfect 2dr shell). And that's not taking into account that it has a M-Tech 2 kit on it (by the way OP, make sure that it is genuine and not a nasty copy!) and appears to be rust free. If I were still looking to take on a e30 based project I'd pay that sort of money for a standard rot free Touring happily, regardless of engine. The fact that the car is a "desirable" I.S makes it some what of a bargain!
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