This low-mileage 1987 BMW 325is is a car that’s near and dear to my heart, as I own the same vehicle but in Alpine White. The 1987 sport models – designated by the “IS” on the end of the traditional 325 model moniker – was a one-year-only model, as they combined the bigger metal bumpers with a huge front air dam, a look that disappeared in 1988 when the smaller bumpers became the standard design. This one is pleasingly stock with just under 70,000 miles. Find it here on eBay with bidding over $10K and the reserve unmet.
Even I’m a little surprised at the bidding activity, but this is akin to finding a needle in the haystack if you’re hard-set on a 1987 model for your E30 of choice. The interior is in excellent condition, with what appears to be an un-cracked dashboard, mint sport bucket seats, the original three-spoke “MTech” sport steering wheel, and even the original “Mushroom” shift knob. The steering wheel and thickly-bolstered seats are standard Sport package equipment, and having all of those components – including the limited-slip rear end – attached is a must for driving a strong sale price.
Of course, it helps that the mileage is so low and the seller has done a boat-load of recent maintenance. This includes: Rear crank seal, camshaft seal, rocker shaft seal; valve adjustment; cylinder head bolts; clutch kit & slave cylinder; timing belt; oxygen sensor; and a fresh battery. The timing belt is super important as these torquey 2.5L inline-sixes are interference motors, despite otherwise being fairly easy to live with. I’d want to check for any weeping at the rear main, headgasket and differential to be certain there are no major expenses looming.
The IS cars also received the slim rear deck lid spoiler seen here, along with the 14″ basketweave alloy wheels, made by BBS. The erect antenna is likely in need of replacement, as they often get stuck in the “Up” position after several years. Speaking of, the seller is including the original radio cassette deck for that extra dose of originality. The plastic trim on the bumpers is pretty tired, really the only surprise given how lustrous the paint still is. If you’re looking for one of these – a 1987 Sport model specifically – I think it’s safe to say the price for a decent example is only going to go up from here.
My daily driver from 1997 to Fall 2004 was a 1990 325iS. Alpine white with Natur interior. Made some tasteful mods. M3 springs and rear sway bar, convertible front bar, Bilstein shocks, M3 control arm bushings. H4/H1 headlamps. Found a set of the 15×7 cross spokes that the Euro cars wore. It was a hoot to drive, but a money pit. A/C was pitiful. They must have done their R&D in San Francisco. Bought it at ~60k miles, sold it at 170k and it looked as good as this feature car. Next owner swapped in an S52 disguised as an S50 so he could get it past the California referee station. AFAIK, he still has it.
The AC on them is always marginal at best. I live in Phoenix and my wife won’t ride with me in mine :), nor do I offer to drive at lunchtime at work. As long as the car doesn’t sit in the direct sunlight for a long time, it can usually cool down after awhile.
This is a splendid example of the ’87 model. I can’t get past the diving board bumpers myself so I’ve always had the plastic bumper ones (currently on my third ’91 318is).
Diving boards are uglier than sin, and not as fun. Especially hated the lack of a rear valance. The front air dams on the 87s always are beat up.
88 up had improved window regulators, among other things.
A 325is exactly like this (except silver) was my DD for quite a few years. You can tell this is an ’87 because the air dam reaches lower and has some intake slots along the lower lip that the other years didn’t have.
It was pretty peppy for having only a 2.5L 2-valve engine, and that engine would run all day long at speed and never huccup despite having a lot of miles on it.
One great fact about these is that they had galvanized bodies that could withstand a lot of nasty weather. You rarely saw any rust at all on them, and I never saw a rust hole in the body of any one of these, or any later BMW for that matter.
It handled well and was tossable, but you had to beware of the trailing arm rear suspension. That could tuck under a bit in hard cornering, which wasn’t always pleasant. These were different from a regular 325i in having a lowered suspension, stiffer springs, and I think stiffer shocks also.
These had one unique feature for a BMW—the only model that BMW made that used a timing belt. Every other model has a chain. The good thing about having to change the belt every 60K (IIRC) miles was that it was the easiest belt I have ever done.
But then I discovered the E36 M3, which was light years better handling than the ‘is’, so it had to go…..
So I traded in my bought new ( why I have no idea) ’87 E30 IS for a ’95 E 36 4 cylinder convertible bought new ( why I have no idea) in 1995. In retrospect I’m sorry I did
Still driving the E36 at 329,000 miles.( because I paid new car price for it). . The E 30 is a much more nimble and responsive car even as the E36 even with a 4 cylinder is more of a cruiser.
All of a sudden the E30 IS is bringing crazy money as the M3 bring insane money.
Well as with most of the cars we often see on Barn Finds , at least I owned it once upon a time :)
Was a NO-SALE on BaT this year -> https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-bmw-325is-32/
Bid to $12,325 previously, now bid to $13,500 currently on ebay with 3 hours to go with no reserve.
As much as I liked mine, that’s crazy money for one of these……
They’re good, but not that good.
Here we have a car with under 70,000 miles on it according to the speedo! Why do these BMW require so much maintenance? Is this normal for a BMW? Seems like every one I have ever knew who owned a bemmer is always dumping money into it! Then there are others who love these cars! There is something more to these cars than a love it or hate it thing! What is it? Do they handle so well it’s worth the expense?
Ended: Jul 08, 2018 , 4:26PM
Winning bid:US $13,500.00
[ 38 bids ]