At $8,500, Is This 1987 BMW 325e A Frugal Bargain?

As far as six-cylinder BMW E30s go, today's Nice Price or No Dice 325e is pretty much the bottom rung. Let's see if it's still desirable enough for its social-climbing price tag.

Driving when tipsy is never acceptable. In the case of the 1985 Reliant Rialto that we considered yesterday, any tipsiness experienced could easily be the result of its three-wheel layout and not any issue with its operator's sobriety. Combined with a generally rough appearance, that factor doomed the tipsy Brit's $4,800 asking price, which fell in an 80 percent No Dice loss in our voting.

Has it ever struck you as weird how invasive the English language is in other cultures? When traveling in places like Italy, it's jarring to encounter a traditional American STOP sign. That's the result of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, which standardized American-style stop signs in other parts of the world.

Another example of the English invasion is the use of 'I' in automotive language to designate fuel injection on German cars despite the fact that the German word for injection — Einspritzung — begins with the letter "E." If anyone didn't like E, they could use K since the full phrase "fuel injection" is Kraftstoffeinspritzung in German.

Regardless, that English interloping has given us venerable names like the VW GTI and BMW's seemingly infinite line of I-appended cars. You might notice, however, that today's 1987 325 doesn't have an I at the end of its model designation. It, in fact, has the more appropriate e, and while the engine is fuel injected, that e stands for eta, which brands this E30 as one of the efficiency lines of cars BMW released in the '80s as the company's response to U.S. demands for less fuel-hungry vehicles.

First released in 1984 and exclusive to the U.S. market, the 325e uses a stroked 2.7-liter version of the M20 six-cylinder, designed to offer lots more low-end torque than the smaller 2.5-liter six in the 325i, but at the cost of lower max revs and lower horsepower. The difference is significant, with the e maxing out at 170 lb-ft of twist at 3,200 rpm, while the i hits 164 lb-ft at 4,750. Horsepower on the larger, slower-spinning motor is 127, well off the 168 of the smaller, spinnier mill.

Despite that, and the model's higher price tag when new, the 325e outsold the 325i by a considerable margin. That means that there are more of them around today, although we see few that are as original or in as nice of condition as this one.

While described as "grey" in the ad, the car looks to be Bahamabeige Metallic in the pictures. The paint holds a shine and appears not to have any obvious defects. Remarkably, for an E30, both windshield and rear window surrounds have their brightwork trim, and that has not turned brown with age or weathering. The diving board bumpers are also un-scuffed and shiny as new. The same can't be said for the bottle cap wheels, though, which do show their age a bit but at least appear to be fitted with tires that have lots of life left in them.

According to the ad, this 325e has always been a California car and, hence, is totally rust-free. California does have the sun, though, and a common failure point on these models is the toll that life outside can take on the dash and the upholstery on the top of the rear seat. Happily, both of those are fine on this car. There is some grunginess in the rear seat vinyl and the carpet beneath, but at least it's all intact and un-torn.

Some waviness on the door cards and center console plastic is evident, and the fact that the glove box door is hanging open like a slack-jawed yokel implies that it may need repair. It all otherwise looks perfectly serviceable. There's the added benefit of a Getrag five-speed stick and three pedals in here to make the most of what the car's got under the hood.

The seller says that they have recently sunk $6K into the car. That seems like a lot, and unfortunately, the ad doesn't go into detail about where that money went. Receipts are available, though, so interested parties can learn the deets. Overall, the car has a modest 110,000 miles on the odometer and comes with a clean title.

The seller says this is a "pensioner's car," and because of that, it's been driven very gently. The big mystery investment in the car's upkeep has driven them to ask $8,500 for the sale, claiming to think it would have brought $4-5K before the wallet-cleansing occurred. There's no word as to whether the asking price includes the ultra-hip guitar case shown in a couple of the photos.

What's your take on this 325e and that $8,500 asking? Does that feel like a deal to get in the E30 game for under five figures? Or does that price demand a hairier-shirted i instead of an e?

You decide!

Nice Price or No Dice:

San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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