Hi there, I haven't properly introduced myself yet as I am waiting to get my latest e30 a bit more presentable before I display it too much. However, I have found a bit of a discrepancy while cleaning it, and I have yet to find an answer on BF.c. The car is a verified by VIN as 1991 318ic. Both of the Decals on the door post state that it is a 318 Cabrio and the VIN numbers are all the same. Those being the ones located on the dash, firewall, doorpost and fenderwell. The decal on the shock tower is for a 325 though. ??? The shock tower has not been replaced, or if it has they did an absolutely perfect job. (Well, except for the sticker.) Any other suggestions?
I differ on your opinion of the weld. That welded seam on the left seems too rough to be OEM quality. I'd be a bit skeptical and suspicious in this case however. Have you tried to run the VIN through Carfax to see if this car has been in an accident? Just what it looks like to me: either the car was in an accident or was suffering rust on the shock tower. The previous owner probably hastily welded on a replacement shock tower from another car without sufficiently protecting the label on it. The heat of the welding torch probably partially damaged the label. Perhaps you could consult the dealer to see if the correct label can be acquired. As long as the label doesn't have a VIN number on it, you could probably replace the label with what's correct for your car pretty easily.
I think your car was built on the Monday after Octoberfest. Hans was still recovering from a full week of drinking and inadvertently put a 325i sticker on a 318i. Worst things have happened.
I don't think that's a weld, it looks like painted-over hard sealant or adhesive. I've seen that before but don't know whether the factory would have used such construction techniques on an E30. Either way, I agree that it looks pretty sloppy, as does the application of the label. It's possible this area was repaired and repainted and the shop ordered the wrong replacement label. Or that Hans was really hung over, as granthr speculated. Carfax and further investigative work seems like a good idea. You could bring the car to a BMW dealer (almost any car dealer, really) or a body shop to ask their professional opinion on whether there was major work done in this area (paint, panel replacement, welds, etc.). They probably won't even charge you for it unless there are no obvious (to a pro) signs and you want a thorough inspection.
Looking at the other applicable areas, I tend to agree that it is some kind of sealant, sloppily applied. Perhaps Heinz was upset this car was headed to the States? Both sides look uniform in appearance so perhaps the entire front clip was replaced? Man, I hope not. Anyway, it definitely warrants further inspection. I will take it to a local shop and see what they think. My main concern was getting it past the Smog inspections here in CA. Hopefully the tech won't get hung up on the incorrect decal.
If the whole front clip was replaced, I'm pretty sure that car would have been totaled. Even if it wasn't, who in their right mind would pay that much money to replace the entire front end? How bad would the accident have been? I seriously doubt the front was replaced.
+1 Nothing looks out of place from your pictures. The aging on those stickers looks normal. Remember the engine bay is a pretty hot place to live. You would be all wrinkly at age 20 too! BMW engine bays use to have cosmoline sprayed on them at the factory, from what I have heard the dealer was suppose to remove it, but almost none of them did. So it would yellow and crack over the years. The cosmoline was just a protection to keep everything looking new from time of manufacture till time of purchase.
Someone at the factory slapped on the wrong sticker. This makes your car a one-of-a-kind rarity. It is therefore worth ... THREE BILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!
I won't give out names to protect the guilty party but I know someone who got a great deal on a used low mileage '95 MB S320 back in 1998 who, a few months after buying it, found out that it had been repaired due to a side swipe accident. The truth is, it wasn't a bad repair job but there were a few tell-tale signs of what had happened. Instead of just selling the car and cutting his losses, he claimed he loved the car so he actually had the MB dealer practically disassemble the entire car and put it back together again. The total bill came out to a little over $20K!! I told him he was insane for doing that, it was just an S320, nothing exotic or special at all. He got the car back after one month, drove it for a couple of months and then - here's the kicker - traded it in on a brand new '99 S420. To this day I give him crap about this dumbest of dumb decisions. Money is not an issue for this guy but common sense is. So the point is, strange expensive pointless repairs are out there.
Or....perhaps I have the much coveted but little known 2.5liter M42.5! Either way, I like how you think!
I think that shock tower may have been replaced. It looks to have been painted if you look really closely around the decal. I could probably tell in person, as could any good body repair shop.
