320 questions
 

Hello just found this site today and i gotta say lots of useful stuff here.

Ok now to what brought me here, i have always wanted an older 3 series bmw, my first car was an 82 528i but i have always liked the look of the 3's. Well anyway the other day i was out helping round up some cattle and i spot this 3 series sitting in the field. So i decided to check it out.

Now from my limited knowledge i think its a 320 e30, Iam not sure what year because i have no idea of how to check. It looks like the car has been sitting for some time, and as so it wouldn't start. It has some rust but thats expected and needs some interior work. The car looks like it came from Germany because all the labels were in German (as far as i could tell).

I guess what iam worried about is if the car needs major drivetrain work is it worth it, and also as the car looks to have come from europe does that make it harder to find parts. When i have looked at buying a 3 series before the prices around my area are anywhere form $3000 to $12000 for an e30, I hope to pick it up for a couple hundred bucks. Iam looking at the car as a long term project but if its going to cost big bucks just to get it running iam not sure iam willing to spend the money.

If anyone has any tips on what to look for and any idea on what i might be getting myself into i would appreciate it.

Thanks

I think its probably a e21 but i'm not sure. Did they bring a 320 e30 to canada. You might be able to find a rolling body for a few hundred but i think finding something running might be hard, but I'm not familiar with your area so I can't really say. Some people get lucky and know someone looking to get rid of a car.

There are many threads about E30 right here. I was gonna link a few but there are so many that it may be better for you to just browse through. Maybe you can point out which pics match the car you have found :shades

here are some pics of e21
http://www.bmwinfo.com/23150.html
my father had a 1981 BMW e21 it is a great car but very fuel consuming, the best engine for it 323i , 2.3 i the one on 320 is a carburator engine 320i is injection of course, the following link is about specs
http://www.bmwinfo.com/23180.html

right, we know what an E21 looks like, but you were saying you thought the car you found was an E30. nick was saying he didn't think there were any E30 320s in canada.

As far as I know (limited knowledge) US wise, BMW exported 318's and 325's to the US. I don't think the 320's made it to the US shores unless it was brought here by some other way. I tried a search of models imported but no luck and I didn't have alot of time. I'll see if I can find some more info out. Is there any way you can get pics of the car and maybe the Vin if that's not much asking?

If the dash is all in German, it is a pretty good bet that it is grey market car. If that is so the only prob you may have with parts is some of the electrical components (ie the turn signal relay on my 323i is not interchangeable with an American sold 320). My car is also a grey market and parts have been no problem...albeit a tad pricey. Good luck in your choice.... The horsepower on the grey market usually is greater than the ones designed to sell in the U.S. (ie the U.S. spec e21 was rated at 109hp from the factory and the German spec e21 was about 50hp more.