Lead on (another) E30 325i

Long Story Short.

• Mid May... Local "Homie" been driving this Black E30 325i around and I finally saw him parked by the hood and stopped by to talk to him. I was driving the project E30 and decided it was a good idea. You know... no threat, 5.0.. etc...
• Small talk and I see it's a 91, Air bag, Black, Tan interior... BUT AN AUTOMATIC, which is a downer for he.
• He tells me that it's overheating because the Fan/Fan Clutch off. He showed it to me in the trunk. I asked him to turn the car on and I heard a leak from the exhaust manifold. Other than that, it sounded good.
• As I was inspecting it, I noticed a cracked dash, torn up tan seats, and cracked windshield.. It was pretty rough.
• I gave him pointers on how to get the fan clutch replaced, and told him that he might as well do the timing belt and the water pump at the same time.. He said that his uncle is going to help him soon.. I told him if he gets tired and wants to sell it, I may know someone that would like to buy it.
• On Tuesday, he texts me and tells me that he's ready to get rid of the car for 900.00, but for me, 750.00 as is.
• I ask for pics and send to a friend. Friend passes on it, but sends me the autocheck. Looks good.. Louisiana vehicle. Driven from MS to LA for its life. 2 minor accidents. Paint looks O.K.. but interior pretty bad. etc..
• I come home today and ask the wife what she thinks. She'd really prefer my son drive an automatic as his first car, and the Airbag is a plus, even though the E30 325i 4 door 5 Sp that we've been working on is for him to drive in 5 months.

Thoughts?

Take it and work on it for a few, have my Son drive it for a year or so, then use it as a shell to transplant a nice LS1 with a manual tranny on it?

I figure if I can get it for < 500.00, I'm in business.. Fan clutch is about 50-60 bucks..

Or PASS!

Even at $900.00 it's a good deal if its rust-free. Pop-in a Limited Slip and find some sport seats, do the fan clutch and Timing Belt and it's good to go. I've had seven E30s. Heck, I've got a set of genuine 16 inch ACSchnitzers with tires I'll sell you if you want. I instructed today at Thunderhill and took my 89 325is and people were eye-balling and talking about it as much as the V10 Audi R8, the motley crew of Z06s, and the Boss 302s. E30s are like hot-rods in curb appeal. GREAT outward visibility for a new driver, good suspension and brakes. These are great cars.

Irish1 wrote: Even at $900.00 it's a good deal if its rust-free. Pop-in a Limited Slip and find some sport seats, do the fan clutch and Timing Belt and it's good to go. I've had seven E30s. Heck, I've got a set of genuine 16 inch ACSchnitzers with tires I'll sell you if you want. I instructed today at Thunderhill and took my 89 325is and people were eye-balling and talking about it as much as the V10 Audi R8, the motley crew of Z06s, and the Boss 302s. E30s are like hot-rods in curb appeal. GREAT outward visibility for a new driver, good suspension and brakes. These are great cars.

Exactly.. It will be my 4th E30 in my lifetime. The problem is that it's an AUTOMATIC transmission E30. If it was a 5sp, there would have been zero question.

We'll see..

Thx...