1988 BMW 3 Series E30 325i

For sale is my much loved and cherished 1988 BMW 325i. This is a reluctant sale due to other commitments which take priority. My journey with this car started back in 2018 when it was purchased in Sussex from a family run car dealership. This was one of the owner's personal cars from a vast collection of desirable classics. Having done research prior to viewing the car, I knew i'd want a 2 door example in dolphin grey, fitted with the original 2. 5 (M20B25) straight six engine. This one suited those requirements, although it needed some light restoration work to get it back to its former glory.

The first task was to restore the underside of the E30. The entire suspension components and covers were stripped, checked and the underbody completely undersealed to prevent any rust in future. All underside suspension components (arms/ bushes) were replaced with Febi OE parts, whether they needed renewing or not, for peace of mind. The rest of the components were removed to be powdercoated Gloss black. This included -
Front Subframe, Front ARB, Rear Subframe, Rear trailing arms, Rear ARB, Brake dust shields. The differential was removed from the car as it was now looking a bit tired when compared to the rest of the underside. Upon removal and having a look at some recommendations from the e30zone members, I decided to have this stripped & rebuilt using a complete differential rebuild kit supplied by Bimmertune. The kit contained replacement side bearings, pinion front bearing, oil seals, lock rings, pinion crush spacer, securing plate, o rings, new fill/ drain screws & speed sensor bracket. Before incasing the new differential, the exterior of the diff was painted in silver high temp paint. Before re-installation, the new diff mounting bush was installed as the old one had seen better days.

Having owned and driven the car as it was on the odd weekend for just over a year, I decided to begin restoration on the bodywork. The main issues to address were common areas where rust was starting to form such as rear battery tray, rear valance (around the tow eye), bottom of both front wings & a few areas within the engine bay. Having checked the car over once all body panels were removed, it was otherwise a solid example. Rust was cut out and patch panels welded in, or complete replacement panels were used where necessary (all images of the work carried out available). Prior to respray, I opted for an upgrade on the bodykit by using a genuine parts which included an Mtech1 boot spoiler, SE Side Skirts & IS front chin lip. This definitely added more character to the e30 but still maintained an OEM+ look. The e30 was then fully resprayed in the original colour, delphin grey Metallic (184) and all trims refinished in satin black to mimic the original finish but keep them looking fresh with the satin lacquer instead of the original, dull matt finish. This was a complete respray job, including all shuts, boot floor, engine bay etc.

Interior -
Retrimmed Doorcards with “uberkaro” cloth fabric inserts
Original Uncracked dashboard sourced and fitted
Original Black Sport headlining fitted along with Sunroof insert
Original BMW floor mats sourced – Grey
Upgraded sound system including OEM Premium speaker enclosures
Original Mtechnic 1 Steering wheel – More desirable 370mm version
Period correct Pioneer tape cassette with Bluetooth connectivity

Modifications
** Airlift 3P 1/ 4 Suspension **
Pancake tank & compressor mounted in the boot (spare wheel area)
** BBS RS 4x100/ 4x114. 3 Wheels **
Genuine 15" bbs rs faces with dual drilled faces
Genuine Copper plated hexes
Genuine black/ gold bbs logo caps
Radinox Step-up lips and barrels all round
Front - 16x8. 5J et15
Rear - 16x9. 0J et20
** Custom motorised pop out rear windows **
These motorised pop out windows were made using e36 compact motors & wired into a original window switch which is located alongside the original window switches on the centre console. Works seamlessly.
** Audio upgrade **
The original pioneer tape deck has been modified to use Bluetooth connectivity for music playback. Speakers in the original locations have also been upgraded to pioneer.
Front - 5. 25" midbass mounted in the kick panels. 1" tweeter mounted in original sail panel tweeter pods on the front doors.
Rear - 5. 25" coaxial speaker mounted in the OEM premium speaker pods on the rear decklid/ parcel shelf.

I have invoices from Servicing for the E30 from the previous owner, including all service receipts whilst i have owned it. Recent oil service carried out 23/ 12/ 2024. Since purchasing the e30, i have only just driven it over 1000 miles. All invoices for parts purchased are also available.

Current registration will be removed upon sale and the original number plate placed back onto the car. Original plate is E695 KLK.