1989 325i / M series questions

[Detroit wagon]

I'm considering purchasing a 1989 325i convertible. I'm having trouble finding info on the car though. The front grill has an M badge, but from what I can find, BMW only made about 750 of these cars. How can I tell for certain if this is an M series car? Where can I find specs on the car? Will parts be hard to find? I've always been a car enthusiast but BMW's are new to me. Help!?

-John

[Rossco]

Check the chassis number.
That will tell you if it is a true 'M' Series or not.

WBA - is BMW-AG, munich
WBS - is BMW Motorsport Gmbh, Munich
Next four digits are the model, so should be something like - BB13 - not totally sure on that one.
If it is a genuine 'M' series may have different coding.
Then there is a couple more numbers for type of restraints fitted etc, then a letter. This letter tells you the year of the vehicle, therefore a 1989 should have the letter 'K'
Then the next letter tells you the plant it came out of -
a - Munich
B,D - Dinofing
E,F - Regensburg
This is only three there are others.
The last six letters/digits are the serial number of the car.

Hope this helps
Rossco
1996 E36 320i

[Celsdogg]

i see a lot of people stick the M badge on their bimmers but somehow you can always tell by looking at it. i dont believe BMW ever made a M325i like they did with the M635Csi or the M6. the E30 M3 had a multivalve inline 4 that produced 192 hp, which i believe was the S14 engine. i believe they always had sport rims (basketweave rims), a spoiler, and widened fenders. and the biggest thing to note, when you pop that hood it should scream "BMW M POWER" right on the engine block. i think it also has duel port exhaust. also if it says 325 then it is an inline 6. again, the S14 was a inline 4.

[Celsdogg]

oh yeah, heres a website on the E30 M3:

http://www.artglenn.com/bmwm3/home.html

enjoy!

[Detroit wagon]

OK... after my crash course on the web, I got a chance to pop the hood. Hah! inline 6. They just added an m series airdam and grill to the car. Looks nice but I don't want to be tooling around with an M badge on the front. From my research on the web it looks like BMW sold about 800 1989 m series convertibles.

I plan to restore and work on the car myself. Will parts be hard to find or restrictive price wise? Thanks for the help.

-John

[Celsdogg]

most normal wear parts, such as breaks and such, are not too hard to find, most shops in my area have them, or can get them. but the price is more then that of say, an american car part. there are plenty of tuning places on the internet for all bmw's. i will list their sites below.

Congrats on your M3, that is one fast E30!

bmpd.com
bavauto.com

there is sure to be more out there, but i find these guys particularly helpful.

[alibrownbmw]

alright!if you forward the chassis number to me (last seven digits) i can type it into the computer at work (BMW dealership) and i can tell you what it really is!!cheers ali

[spikedjax]

This is my E30 which is my pride and joy. One thing I would recommend you do with the car is put it in for an Inspection 2 by a BMW specialist. It'll cost a few quid but you will know exactly were you stand as they are very thorough. When I bought mine I put it in and was pleasently surpised. Also, do check to see when the last cambelt change was, the 6cyl E30 needs one every 30,000mls

[Celsdogg]

the timeing belt for the m20b25 engine is recommended for 60,000 miles. i also have seen in service manuals that it is 60,000 km. that has been a questions and difference for some time now. i got first changed at 72k. the thing about a rubber belt is that it can snap at any time, this is why it is recommended that it is changed at 60. i have talked to some other E30 owners that have said that there have snapped at 42k or so but for the most part they last to 60k. the downfall of many e30's was the owners lack of getting the belt changed every so often. i got mine changed for 3 something with valve adjustment