Found a 320i that could have good parts for my 74 02.

[Guest]

I found a 320i today that will be for sell soon according to the owner. She wants about $1500 for it. It has Recaros that are almost perfect. Its a five speed and looks to have 106K on it. Its also a 1983 which i thought was a good year according to what ive read others say on this board. The price sounds good to me.

Would this car have a LSD in it?

[Guest Anonymous]

I think the model with the limited slip is the 320is, but if you can get underneath the car and check the rear end for a 'S' in white paint then you will know you have a LSD. The easier way would be to jack up back end of car and put trans in neutral and rotate one tire. If the other tire turns in the same direction then you have a LSD. If tire turns in opposite direction you have a non-lsd unit. You can use the vented rotors and calipers, and rear drums to do a 'large brake' conversion on the '02.

[Guest bruno74tii]

(nt)

[GolfYellowTii]

Hey Jon,

If you want I can go down with you to look at it and check if it has the LSD. I got one recently after looking in the junkyard for quite some time. Just gimme an e-mail iif you want some help.

[Mike Self]

Only 77s have vented rotors on USA 320's...And the 83 5 speed is the least desireable 320 gearbox...the 80-82s used much stronger gearboxes. And as was pointed out, $1500 should buy a quite nice driveable E21 320--too much for a parts car.

cheers

mike

[Guest]

Only 77s have vented rotors on USA 320's...And the 83 5 speed is the least desireable 320 gearbox...the 80-82s used much stronger gearboxes. And as was pointed out, $1500 should buy a quite nice driveable E21 320--too much for a parts car.

cheers

mike[/quote

$1500 is a lot for a parst car! I do think the price is good for this car. It looks excellent. I would feel bad dimanteling it. But i figured whats it worth in parts? $400 min for a nice set of recaros, 5 speed trans?, LSd at least $200. Seem like i would spend about the same if i bought these parts seperately. The engine even looked clean. Maybe i could do an engine swap? The owner may go lower on the price i didnt agree to $1500 so maybe i could get it closer to a grand. We'll see.

[Paul7002]

still a lot of mony for a Parts car. I paid $500 for one a couple years ago and it had a close ratio 5 speed, but the Recaro seats were pretty crappy

[BarryA]

Although '83's came with the two piece case 5 speed OD trans, I've seen quite a few at P&P recently that have the earlier (3 piece case) Getrag 245 boxes installed - no idea whether they were original to the car or refitted at some point. The car you're looking at could have either one - get underneath & check.

If the 320 has never had panels replaced (or paint or body work), check the trunk lid - if it has no holes for a "320i" badge in the lower right corner (and the big drop-down tool kit), it's probably an iS and should have a 3.90 LSD.

Kind of agree that $1500 is a fair amount to pay for a parts car - on the other hand, if you do buy it to part out and it's clean, straight and has a sunroof (and especially if it's Alpine white with a good headliner), I'd be interested in talking with you about buying the rolling shell. My daily driver is an Ascot gray '82 320 with minor body damage and rapidly deteriorating paint - I'd love to find a clean Alpine white shell to move my running gear and interior to (cheaper than body and paint work.....)

[Gordon]

Jon, A $1500 dollar E21 is not a parts car, Keep scouring Craigslist, the Recycler, etc... and you will find lots of cheap E21 5 speed parts cars.

Here are some parts cars that are close to you. I would bet the sellers would even negotiate on the price.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/car/125361925.html

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/car/125864004.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/car/125977070.html

Their are a few more in the Recycler for $750 or less

Don't forget to look in the pik-a-part yards as well

G-Man