Which year for a 325is?

[powerslide91]

Hey all,

I toying with ideas for the next project and thinking about a '93 to '95 325is. Does anyone have any recommendation for which year model to look for and why? Any websites or other resources I can check out to learn more about these cars specifically?

Thanks!
Jeff
'72 240Z ITS #91

[mazing3]

pretty much all the same for 93-95 as it realtes to becoming a race car. The bigger difference is the interior on the 95s is usually much nicer and you may be able to get a little more for it if you try to sell off the seats and stuff. I got one of those for my fiance' and it is considerably nicer than my 93 was on the inside. However a 93 is normally a lot cheaper to buy. I personally got mine for 5k and it was a great running car. I flew down to FL and drove it the 5 hours home. James and I talk about this alot and it's very safe to say that if you look hard enough you can find them 5K or less.

Now, if you don't want to screw around with the guesswork of all this I do have a website you could check out.

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-kollarspeed

Robbie

[powerslide91]

Thanks for the info Robbie. I have seen your car and the silver Bimmerworkd car listed. Nice stuff! But for me to be able to purchase either one, you guys would need to be willing to finance

I'm hoping I can find a suitable chassis to start building my own car up.

Jeff

[powerslide91]

One other quesition, do all these cars have moonroofs? I think all the ones I have seen listed in the local papers say they have one.

Jeff

[mazing3]

I've personally never seen a moonroof but they all seem to have a sunroof. Might jsut be a semantics thing. I always thought a moonroof involved glass.

Either way, it's pretty easy to remove the entire sunroof mechanism and just weld in the actual roof part.

The other cool thing is that there is actually a pretty active market for the sunroof parts after that.

That's another great thing about these cars. The E36 across the board is pretty much interchangeable partswise from 92-2000 even to the Z3s to some degree. This means a lot of the stuff you pull out or off to make it a race car can be unloaded. I think I got close to 1,500 bucks for all the pieces I sold.

Robbie

[James Clay]

Jeff-

Robbie pretty much hit it all. later 95 had a messed up fuel system that needs to be replaced. Feel free to call with questions on what to look for. I have bought a lot of these cheap and have a good idea of what can burn you. Picked up a 95 auto this weekend for $3,700...

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James Clay
http://www.bimmerworld.com
Engineered BMW Performance
World Challenge/SCCA/BMWCCA Racecar Rental
Genuine OEM and Used BMW Parts
(540) 639-9648
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[powerslide91]

Yeah, sunroof / moonroof, I was not making a distinction, but I think you are right, I see sunroofs (metal) listed in most cases.

James, is it possible then to convert a auto car to a 5 speed with a reasonable amount of effort? I assume flywheel and trans (duh) need to be swapped, also the pedal box. Can the driveshaft and diff also be used from an auto car?

Also, do all 325is cars have some form of a limited slip diff or is it specific model or aftermarket thing?

Thanks!
Jeff

[James Clay]

Plan on about $1600 in parts to convert, but you get a lot of new stuff that way that you should replace anyway (clutch, mounts, guibo, etc). Driveshaft is replaced also. LS only came in sport package cars (the "s" after 325i is for 2D, not sport - sport had different seats, wheels, and LS). 3.15 was the standard ratio, 3.91 from an auto, 3.46 is about the best for all-around.

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James Clay
http://www.bimmerworld.com
Engineered BMW Performance
World Challenge/SCCA/BMWCCA Racecar Rental
Genuine OEM and Used BMW Parts
(540) 639-9648
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