No, not the Furby!

After a fair while playing with it, the Scimitar is going to a new home. Was very depressing to look through the wad of receipts I have for it and realise how much less I'm getting than I spent, but hey, that's old cars for you...

Anyhoo, I need a small estate that is reliable, cheap and not too shamefull. Must also be an auto as I won't be the only person driving it and one of the others is a bit hopeless when it comes to driving stick shifts these days... I've found what seems to be a good solid E30 1989 BMW 320 touring fairly near me. Does anybody have any experience with these cars and can suggest what I need to look out for? Also, I know the guy is asking too much for it but I'm not sure what is the right price -

Things to look out for from memory. I used to have a 325i Sport (not the touring):

The E30s biggest problem is rot. Check around the tailgate, rear arches, scuttle panel (in front of windscreen), jacking points, sunroof and get underneath it and check the floorpan. If it's freshly undersealed ask why. If possible lift the carpet on the drivers side. There's a rubber grommet that's quite close to the exhaust and eventually dries up and is prone to rusting. If the carpets are damp there's usually holes in the floor.

I'd probably give the 320i a miss and go for the 325i with the Sport auto box. I don't think there's much in it in terms of fuel consumption etc between the two. Have a look over on E30zone there's usually loads of useful information on there.

Engines are pretty bullet proof but just do the usual checks. They can get a bit top end noisy with mileage but they're simple units and parts are easily obtainable. Rear diffs can get noisy and rear wheel bearings are an absolute **** to change so listen out for funny noises from the rear end... Hope that helps.

Cheers for that. I like the 320 better than the 325 as it's not completely gutless and still has a 6 cylinder lump in it, but is slightly more economical and easier to insure - even with no no-claims as they are all tied up in my vRS, admiral are only quoting me about