Description
BEATER!!!!!

VIN lookup resultsModel E21
Type 320i
Spec USA
Steering Left
Transmission Manual
Engine type M10
Produced Oct 1980

Modifications and tuning
AC Delete, tint (5% rears, 35% fronts), black interior door panels, retro-fit of white 320is pass side mirror (it was cheap and I had no mirror there), front bumper/fogs deleted, rear seats removed, front seats replaced with 320is Recarros (from the same car that supllied the mirror....shoulda got the diff and rear sway too, but didn't)

History
I got the car in trade from a friend that was trying to buy my '98 Jetta GLX. He stopped paying me, so I took the Jetta back and realized I would be out some money to fix what he neglected/abused on it. So I kept the e21. It had been owned by his stepdad's g/f (long story) before that. This stepdad said the head was toast so he was thinking about tossing in a small block Chevy motor, but lost interest. The head was replaced with what was SUPPOSED to be a performance head according to my friend, but when I called up the place that sold him the head, they said their records show it as a OEM head. But at least I didn't get suckered on it myself.

I have been using it as a commuter and it has only really stranded me once, due to a vacuum hose that split in half. Overall a pretty good car, except for the rust you can see in the pics.

The car is about to be sold to MY g/f's dad as a beater, to get many more mpg-friendly miles put on it. I want a track car, and the rust has just gotten to far for that (without serious restoration).

UPDATE:
I have sold the car to my g/f's dad. He is thinking about NEVER selling it, and maybe even restoring it to like-new condition. He loves it, worn out suspension and all. I put on the 13in wheels from the blue '83 I had just bought, put all the seats back to the originals, and put in the head unit from the blue car too, some in-dash CD player. Pretty good deal for him, only costing $400. It would have been $300 until we learned about the cat needing to be replaced (see below). He wanted to pay for most of it, so....

The car was a PITA to get past CA smog before selling it though. It was actually declaired a Gross Polluter, not a good thing. My buddy that was trying to buy the Jetta (see above) had needed something to get around, so I lent him the car (for 9 months). He saw fit to adjust the timing.....20deg too far advanced. So once we got the timing dialed back from 40+deg, swapped the plugs, rotor, and adjusted the valves it ALMOST passed. I had to buy a new cat, and that did the trick.

I was sorry to see the car go, but it has a good home, and I've already helped do some minor work on it. It NEEEDED new alternator bushings, so we replaced them.

I'm going to see about getting Joey (the new owner) online here. He isn't much into computers though, so I don't know if it will happen....

Update Again:
Joey (g/f's dad) has started working on the car. He has washed, polished, and waxed the car to no end, including the seats which had been neglected since before I got the car. They are actually tan again, and the paint is glossy! He has also done some nice 'body work' to the front, getting rid of the ugly holes and bolts left over from removing the front bumper. Pretty good job for an hour or two of work on a Sunday morning! Check out the pics of it now.