Project e21 320i Car

Introduction

In celebration of our premier issue of the BMP design Classic catalog, we have purchased another project car. The car we selected is a sierra beige 1979 e21 320i 4-speed. The vehicle has approximately 175,000 miles. We found this vehicle here in Texas from the second owner who has owned it since 1980. The car is in good clean condition, however as expected it does need some repairs after being in service for over 25 years. The car has a few spots of surface rust that will be taken care of as the vehicle gets prepared for repainting. Although this model was very popular in its day, the E21 has not yet risen to the collector status of the 2002. It was always one of my favorite vehicles, and in the mid 80's we did many 6-cylinder engine transplants and other performance upgrades. This vehicle is very owner friendly because as the previous owner mentioned, it?s "Computer Free". No, it will not tell you how many times the engine was over-revved this week. But it does let you know when you?re in trouble via an oil pressure light, alt. light, brake pad warning light and a few others.

The person from who we purchased this vehicle is a BMP design customer that for many years has been coming in our store buying parts so that he could do his own repair. Being a do-it-yourselfer, he quite often would ask a question about a problem and for the most part the vehicle was kept is good running order. When I checked it our for purchase I didn't spend too much time looking for reasons not to buy the car, since repairing these items was the reason for purchasing this project car. We will start this series of project articles based on what we see needs to be repaired. The very first thing that we will do, what any smart buyer should do before they buy a used car (especially an older vehicle), is a Pre Purchase Inspection. This part of the purchase is difficult for the new buyer to perform without bias. If you like a car and want a car you will minimize every problem just so you can convince yourself that you need this car. (when your in love, you don't look at any of the faults) For your own good this maybe something left to your mechanic, since he will look at the project with dollars and cents in mind.

We will begin our project with a Pre Purchase Inspection and then list all found defects. That list will be the basis of our project car list of projects. Since the vehicle was purchased at a reasonable price and the how-to-articles are the main objective, cost will not be a consideration at this time. However when your looking to purchase an older vehicle I recommend you walk away from the purchase at least once, add up the cost of all the found defects and make your offer a day or so later. Make certain that for a few more dollars you simply can?t find a vehicle that requires fewer repairs.

Before purchasing a classic BMW, make sure to check out our Pre Purchase Inspection List

For a detailed listings of what we will do to our e21 320i project car, please check out the Project Outline