One owner 350k km (217k miles) 1988 E30 325i WAGON. Worth it?

Kinja'd!!! "duurtlang" (duurtlang)
10/27/2013 at 08:17 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!0 Kinja'd!!! 16

After some back and forth with an American Jalopnik member about helping him shipping an E30 Touring from Europe to the US I found this car. Clean and unmolested, at least judging from the pictures. It's a one owner car traded in at an Opel dealer. The mileage scares me a bit though. If the American I was talking to isn't interested I was thinking of buying it regardless and putting it on US Ebay. It's 25+ years old, so I imagine registering it in the US shouldn't be a problem to someone interested in an E30 Touring. Thoughts?

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And yes, it's a manual.


DISCUSSION (16)


Kinja'd!!! lepie > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 08:33

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Dat ding is toch rotversleten ...


Kinja'd!!! 6cyl > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 09:27

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How much would it cost?


Kinja'd!!! duurtlang > 6cyl
10/27/2013 at 09:42

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They ask for €2k.


Kinja'd!!! 6cyl > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 09:44

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any idea how much import & shipping costs are?


Kinja'd!!! lepie > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 10:16

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2K euros for a thoroughly worn out car?


Kinja'd!!! davedave1111 > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 10:17

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Surely if you're going to bother paying all the costs of shipping, importation and registration, you'd do it on one of the best you can find instead of one of the worst?


Kinja'd!!! 153624 - Straight Six > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 10:27

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Beautiful. Definitely one of my favorite BMWs.


Kinja'd!!! duurtlang > 6cyl
10/27/2013 at 10:39

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Not really. I've contacted some shipping companies yesterday, and they'll let me know. Import costs into the US I wouldn't know. Not really my problem, but I believe I've heard it's marginal on a >25 year old car.


Kinja'd!!! duurtlang > lepie
10/27/2013 at 10:43

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If it's thoroughly worn out it's too much. I'm not familiar with how high kilometerage E30s hold up when maintained properly, hence my question. I've known cars that were thoroughly worn out at 100k and cars that were great at 400k.


Kinja'd!!! Druid0 > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 10:46

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Way worth it. I would pick that up ASAP if I was you.


Kinja'd!!! lepie > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 10:52

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Even if it were a diesel, it would still be very high mileage. I've owned a nissan patrol with 500K+ kms on the clock, and that still went strong. With this, however ... it will be worn. It will probably need rings, maybe valves. Bearings should be checked. The gearbox is probably going to be quite tired, etc etc.

It all depends. If this thing was driven on the highway 80% of the time, it could be okay. If it was driven in the city a lot, then it's got cancer.

I would stay away from it, especially at that price. Friend of mine bought a 250K km E91 320d for 3K ... so this isn't worth 2K.

Let me put it this way. If you buy this to drive it hard, it won't last a week. If you buy this and never exceed 3K RPM, it might last another ten years ... or maybe two weeks. Who knows.


Kinja'd!!! Doug DeMuro > 6cyl
10/27/2013 at 10:53

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Less than you'd think. You can probably send it across the Atlantic for $1,100.


Kinja'd!!! lepie > Druid0
10/27/2013 at 11:03

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I'm going to guess you're from the USA? These cars aren't that uncommon here. They don't have particularly high value, since they get bad mileage and high taxes.


Kinja'd!!! M54B30 > duurtlang
10/27/2013 at 12:39

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About $2500 and another $1000+ for shipping, good luck finding someone willing to pay $3500+ for this. Unless they pay $5,000, not really worth the frustration and headache.


Kinja'd!!! Druid0 > lepie
10/28/2013 at 18:25

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Yes I am from the USA, how could you tell

/sarcasm

But seriously, a car like this here would be a steal. We also would not call that bad gas mileage at all, considering most cars here get 18-25 mpg. Add to that the fact that it's a manual, and I would pick that up in a heartbeat.


Kinja'd!!! lepie > Druid0
10/28/2013 at 20:17

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They are not very desirable here. Especially not with that high mileage on the clock. Manual is par for the course here.