Finally made the move and bought an E21 3er!

I've been looking at E21s for sale for about 12 months now and good but tatty examples in my price range are getting thin on the ground so I am overjoyed to say that I have finally agreed a sale on a lovely Henna Red 1983Y 316 with tan interior.

The driver's seat is well ripped and the paint has faded, but apart from that its, er, mint. The body is very straight, no accident damage and absolutely no rust. E21s are famous for rotten sills, arches and boot-floors. This is perfect in those areas, it looks to have been undersealed from new, mainly garaged and the boot interior waxed to the same extent as outside.

Unfortunately it has a few modifications, but not enough to spoil the original car in any way. The original wheels are painted battleship-grey, which looks great and it has an immensely cool AC-Schnitzer steering-wheel, though the original is thrown in too along with a zillion other parts and a 2-ltr engine, yep, complete with block, flowed-head, the lot. I just haven't the guts to try and fit it I'm afraid. The macpherson-struts, top-mounts and control-arms are new, which is good as they are known for dying, but the shocks are now SPAX adjustable coilovers and the only thing you can't alter is ride height - she's stuck at a permanent 60mm drop. The previous owner swore it had passed MOTs with no problems to arch clearance, but I'm still praying every day. At least the suspension is tight and no clunks round bends or bumps so I guess that outweighs the stiff ride. Thats it for the mods - for near 30 years old thats good going.

It has MOT only until the end of August, but a fresh 6-months tax, so I don't think I've done too badly to pick this thing up for £900, a hundred over my budget, but in better condition than I imagined for the price. Now I've just got to get down to Surrey and drive it the 240 miles back...