Buying a car?

[simesays]

Have only just discovered the series and am a bit excited by the whole concept... I will need to speak to some more people but am very keen to build a car asap. Can anyone tell me what to watch for in a purchase - obviously auctions are cheap or out of the paper... are there any differences in the years of the x3 Excels e.g. should you buy one built after a set time (because of an upgrade or similar)? How many km is too many for a car or is this not relevant? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am based in Horsham Vic so look forward to SA and Vic getting going...
Regards Simesays:) :)

[Crazy Dave]

The early 95's had a different gearbox mount set up so is a bit more difficult to transplant a twin cam into. If you stick with the 98 on, it should already have a twin cam in it which is probably the biggest change in the cars themselves. Some people run the single cam but I would suggest going for the twin cam as it has a bit more power and better gearbox ratios.
Damaged auctions are proving popular, especially if you can get one with just some minor damage like hail damage as this won't bother a scrutineer. Engine mileage is worth less than knowing how it was looked after. Problem with cheap cars is that they often get over looked on maintenance and the oil cakes up and blocks the oil passages and galleries so if you can find one that is serviced regularly then that is a plus, but otherwise it is never going to cost you much to replace it.

[simesays]

Thanks for the advice Crazy Dave... I have access to a twincam and gearbox out of a wreck... has anyone actually transplanted into an earlier car (e.g. single cam) as these are obviously cheaper than the 98 twin cams... what changes are needed? any advice will be much appreciated!

[ae86trueno]

We converted our 94 X3 to a twin cam, it can be done if you want to save money. If you get a 94-95, you will have to modify 1 of the engine brackets a little as they have the engine cross member in a different spot and attach to the engine not the gearbox like on the 95 onward cars. You will also need a twin cam loom and computer to make it all run.

for $300 we bought a complete twin cam wreck at Pickles and just did a straight swap for everything, you cant even tell that our's is a 94 model..

Ben.