I came across this 325is on ebay last night. Very high buy-it-now price ($16k), and way out of my price range, but if you're after a museum piece or willing to drop the kind of money that would get you a well-sorted E30 M3, this might be the one for you.
If I did have $30k+ to spend I'd get the M3 and this 325is, but if I only had $15k it would have to be the one true M3.
That'as a lot of money for an old car. Nice shape going by the pictures but
16 grand "nice? Not IMO.Jeff
Did you happen to notice the trailer hitch on that car?
Makes me say, "Hmmmm...."
-Fred W
I didn't notice it in the pics, but I didn't spend too much time looking. I did read a comment about it though - something about never having been used, and could be removed?
You're right though, hitches, roll-bars, 4-point racing harnesses... anything unsual like that could be cause for concern.
DS
Yes, to command that kind of price the car must be in concours condition, not just a low miler like this one. I don't believe that this car will sell at that price. But then again, one should never underestimate the potential for stupidty...
-Fred W
The seller joined BimmerForums.com and posted about an "Amazing E30 on Ebay!" and generated some interesting discussion . . . . .
Thanks for the link Randy... I especially liked the debate on what is and isn't a cult car.
I was amused by the anti- trailer hitch remarks. I'd love to have an E30 with the factory trailer hitch. I don't care how "cool" it is or not.
Back to the subject -- indeed the seller is on crack, or not taking his lithium. You can buy a heck of an E36 or E46 for that kind of money. Just watch those 15 year old suspension bushings deteriorate in about 10k miles, and the AC system lose its charge.
Matt O.
I wasn't thinking that the hitch was uncool, more about the extra stresses put on the car and engine when towing. Maybe it was never used, maybe it was used once to tow a jet-ski trailer 5 miles, maybe it was used to tow a u-haul from California to New York....
It's not a matter of "coolness", it's supposed to be a "collectible" car and would have to be in concours d'elegance condition to fetch the asking price specified.
A car with a trailer hitch would indicate it had been... well, used for towing. That would indicate it had *not* been a garage queen all it's life. Soem might argue that towing with an E30 constitutes abuse.
I personally would not advise towing anything (besides maybe a bike rack) with an E30. The car was just not designed with towing in mind. I'm sure others will jump all over this and tell me how they've done this successfully for X number of years with no ill effects. That's fine, I'm only saying that *I* would not do it. I would (and do) use a truck that has a frame and running gear designed for hauling.
YMMV,
-Fred W
I guess that's why BMW offered an OEM hitch for the E30. Because they didn't design it to tow anything with them. Sheesh.
It was designed for a certain payload, and as long as you stay within those boundaries you should be fine --unless you want to second guess the engineers who designed the car.
I tow small sailboats which don't weigh much, and mostly hide in the slipstream of the car so the load isn't much more than a roof rack full of bikes. Gas mileage is similar to same.
Again, there's a design load and duty cycle for every vehicle. Just stay within it.
Matt O.
Valid comment for one's own vehicle, but the point is that when buying used, one does not know how badly (ab)used a vehicle has been with a tow hook.
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