What do you do when your father-in-law offers you a free E30

My soon-to-be father-in-law just offered to give us his ~200k mile E30 325i convertible for free. Free car!? Woohoo! Right?

Any reason I shouldn't take it? My only concern is that it could be a hassle if it starts needing a lot of work/stops running.

I haven't spoken to him about it yet (he offered it to my fiance) but she said the following are known issues: slow drain on battery (needs to be started at least once a week), the top is not in great condition, might leak.

I drove it back in July and it drove pretty well. It kept throwing a CEL, who knows for what.

The car is not exactly pristine, but it seemed to run well enough.

Any thoughts from the hive? I'm thinking "what do I have to lose?"

Very good car to learn how to wrench on things.

Take it. It will need some fixing. However, nothing on these cars is extremely difficult. Most procedures are thoroughly documented on the net.

Cue "Hive Enablement" mode...

I find that the question is basically indistinguishable from "I found a $100 bill on the sidewalk. Should I pick it up?"

Shut up and marry his daughter.

This is a trick question, right?

You could always turn it down and lease a new beige corolla.

You've been here before, right? Free car = $2017 dollars left in the build budget.

What could possibly go wrong with a (free!) older German car? I would take it.

Besides, you don't want to hurt a new family member's feelings, right?

Woody, the wedding is next month.

It did feel like a trick question, I'm looking for the catch, I guess that's why I ended up asking you all.

You call me? Seriously you take it and get your feet wet.

He's just wanting you to "store" it so his wife will cease to complain about it.

expect him asking for it back once you have it all fixed up.

I'm thinking the worst case scenario is that it doesn't run for long and needs a bunch of work that I don't want to do, in which case I have to sell it. That might be somewhat tough but not impossible.

This is when I usually expect the Spanish Inquisition.

Take the damn car! Have fun.

Silly Cyber.

Wrong forum. You should already have possession of it, have it in 300 pieces and ready to clean, assemble, and give it some TLC while documenting every step in the builds and Project cars forum!

But seriously, take it and enjoy. It's a free car, and one of the most well known and highly regarded racing chassis' ever made at that. No brainer.

If the timing belt hasn't been replaced recently, do that first.

Those are pretty reasonable to repair both in costs and in difficulty from what I hear. I've never driven one but they are very well thought of in the enthusiast market. Lots of enthusiasts means there will be a lot of used parts around and lots of knowledge on repairs, plus a good market to turn even e non-running car.

really, I don't see how you could go wrong even if the motor hand grenades tomorrow. Swap in a junkyard 302 from an Explorer, and hoon on, my son, hoon on!

I'm storing my dads E30 convertible (318, in my avatar) in my garage right now. I'm trying to figure out how to not return it to him.

Take it.

My daughter's 325es (formerly mine) has 270K on it, needs some maintenance from time to time, but that car drives as well as my Focus that has 200K fewer miles on it.

Get it.

I paid $400 for this one so yours should look four thousand times better!

I just called him, it's a go!!!

I will soon have a free E30 325i convertible in my possession.

He said the engine has been rebuilt, new brakes, new exhaust, passes smog, has a tonneau cover and drives great. Only negatives are that it has a leaky top, and a slow drain on the battery.

In reply to CyberEric:

That's awesome. Great choice in father-in-law. I soo want one of these.

The best part is a free car from your future FIL comes with an unlimited parts budget. If SWMBO balks at parts purchases, you can say "We don't want your dad to think we didn't appreciate his gift". As an old married guy, believe me when I tell you this car couldn't be worth more if it was a solid gold casting.

i like the challenge car idea. lets get the hive enablement going for THAT