[SAA86]

I bought my 328xi 10 years back. It's got over 230k miles on it now. I drive it in the winters in Ohio so it sees a lot of salt. I drive a '17 M4 in the summer. I love the 328, it's a 6 speed coupe, and is a lot of fun.

The subframes have worn out along with bushings, and there's a lot of rust I need to address. It also has the original clutch which has life left on it, but it seems like the throw out bearing is going as well.

I'm at a point of do I rebuild the whole thing or just buy something else. I've put over 10k to 15k into the car over the years at the dealer where nearly all the maintenance was done. The new techs there don't like working on older, rusty, cars, go figure...

So I had Claude put together the attached full rebuild directions together for me, along with inserting steps in a proper sequence, and calling out what each step is for, and color coding the prefix of said [step]. I also had it put costs together for parts and tools. Based on its research I'm looking at around $15k to $20k to rebuild, or more. I'd likely get original critical parts.

Claude wouldn't insert photos so I had it add links. I haven't reviewed the build plan in detail so there may be issues with it.

What would you guys do? Have a like new 328xi that's from '07, or buy something newer ?

[ppointer]

Rust is what forced me to get rid of my 2000 323it at about 260k miles. This was about 9 years ago I think.

For way under your $20k number, you can find another e9x 328xi MT with under 100k miles, and do it all over again.

Here are an e91 and e60 with MT & x-drive out on Bring A Trailer right now:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...orts-wagon-36/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...530xi-sedan-3/

If you don't like those, just wait around a bit. More will show up.

[AdrianE36]

If the car has no sentimental value, you'll probably be much better off looking for another E9x 328i to buy. The engines can push past 300k miles if maintenance is kept up with. You could try to find clean, rust free subframes off eBay but it would only be worth it if the body has minimal or no rust.

Originally Posted by ppointer

Rust is what forced me to get rid of my 2000 323it at about 260k miles. This was about 9 years ago I think.

Same with my old E36 328iS, 7 years ago. Had 257k on it and was fun to drive but unfortunately rust never sleeps.

[ppointer]

The wagon on BaT was won for quite a bit less than your budget. Plenty left over to address any maintenance issues:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...orts-wagon-36/