to buy an 85 325e?

[PonyBoy84]

Hi all,
This is my first post here. I have the opportunity to buy an 85 325e for about $1500. I personally haven't seen the car yet, but my dad works with the guy selling it. It's red w/ black interior. My dad says that it looks like the body is in pretty good shape-very little/no rust. However, there are a few things wrong with it. There is a slight tear in the driver's seat, the radio doesn't work and neither does the AC. Also, the driver's side window does not roll down (thinking it's the switch). Also, the windshield wipers stay up instead of going back down after turning them off.
By themselves, these are all pretty minor problems, but with all of them it seems like a lot to have to fix right away. Part of my decision comes from the repair costs for all of this. The guy had the battery go dead a while back and he told my dad that the radio has to be reset by BMW because of this (not sure about this).
Right now, I have an 84 Ford Mustang that isn't in the best shape but still runs pretty well. If I get rid of this car, I want to make sure that I'll be getting something better and worth while.
Sorry for the long post. I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions you might have.
Thanks

[Melt]

Go for it, a friend of mine had an 86 ES and loved it. Always ran great.

Later he got an '02 SE-R cause he is a spoiled rich kid and should be drug out into the street and shot

[spikedjax]

The air-con could be expensive to fix but other than that doesn't sound like to many problems. Just go and buy it mate !

[Celsdogg]

it does not sound too terrible, E30 has issues with windshield wipers, i am having probs with mine right now. they will get jerky if on intermittent but if i put it on slow of fast it works fine. if i do slow or fast for a bit, then intermittent works ok. pretty soon tho i know i will have to replace the motor for the wipers soon.

being that it is an 85 you may want to replace the radio in any case. the tape deck is a little dated.

what you might really want to look at is the engine. how many miles are on it?

e30's had the m20 engine, and in the case of a 325e had the m20b27 engine. all m20 engines needed the cam belt (timing belt) changed every 60,000 miles or so. if it is not changed the belt will weaken and eventually snap making the valve hit the cylinder head, and causing major engine damage. i got mine changed at 67k. i dont recommend doing it past 60k tho, it was always a constant worry in those 7k miles. this cost around 3 to 4 hundred dollers, at the same time i would recommend a valve adjustment. also when they change the belt make sure they change the belt tensioner and that all parts are up to the Z127 standard. this was the last revision to these parts. also a little tip if the belt does snap. if this happens push the clutch in for a manual or push the shift selector in an automatic ASAP. this will disconnect the tranny from the engine and damage to the M20 may not be so bad. alot of owners make it worse by leaving it in gear. as the car is rolling it is at the same time pushing the engine and making it rotate with all the broken parts bangin all over the place.

[PonyBoy84]

ok. i'm not sure about the mileage, but i think it's somewhere around 100k. i don't remember if he said it's got less than or just over 100k

also, do repair costs tend to be more since it's a BMW compared to a domestic (like my Mustang)? Well, domestic if you're here in the States that is