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After selling my 1995 BMW 750il, I decided to go in the opposite direction and find a smaller companion for my 2000 BMW M5, so I figured I'd try a 944. I quickly found a red 1987 944 that looked pretty nice in the pictures, so I drove from Phoenix to Tucson last night to go see it. Everything checked out pretty nicely, the AC worked, the stereo worked, all the power windows/seats worked, and the car has 118k original miles (confirmed by Carfax as well). The seats have absolutely no tears whatsoever, and the only real flaws inside the car were a cracked dash and some worn out buttons, pretty common from what I've seen.
Then I lifted the hood...
And saw a sweet DOHC engine. What's that? Oh yes, looks like it's a 944S! The seller had no idea it was a 944S, but the title says it's a 944S, the engine is a DOHC, and the fenders have trim strips that say "16 ventiler," aka 16 valve. That took this from a "maybe" to a "must-buy" in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, the battery was totally dead, so the seller had to jump it with his Mustang. Once the battery got enough juice to start, the seller tried to start the car, which cranked fine but didn't start. I then took a look at the gas gauge, which showed the tank being completely empty. After a quick run to the gas station for a gas canister and some gas, the car got some gas in it. Still no start after that. This led me to suspect the fuel pump, which I found out was inside the car under the trunk carpet as opposed to under the car like in the 8v 944. I had the seller crank the car while I listened around the fuel pump, and it made no sounds. I'm suspecting either a dead fuel pump or a blown fuel pump fuse/relay, due to the pump being run dry. I'm sure other people that have come by have tried to crank the engine as well.
After checking that everything else worked, like the headlights and taillights, we worked out a price that we could both agree on. The fact that the car didn't want to start helped me get a really good price for it. I won't disclose the exact figure, but let's just say that it was less than a totally trashed 1983 944.
Tonight I'll be going back with a whole barrage of tools. I'm going to try and pick up a fuel pump, fuses, and few relays as well, so I can troubleshoot. I've read a lot of people saying to jump the fuel pump relay to check if the fuel pump functions, so that's the first thing I'll try. I know it's a fuel supply issue for sure, because the seller tried spraying some starting fluid into the air intake and it made the engine start for like a second.
I'm pretty excited to be a part of the community here. I love my BMW community, hopefully this one is just as awesome. I've seen a tremendous amount of DIY's and videos for these cars, so I feel pretty confident about tackling any repairs, including the timing belts and clutch. I rebuilt three BMW V8's last year because of timing chain issues, so compared to that the belt job on a 944 seems almost criminally easy, especially with the right tools from Arnnworx.
Congrats! I love my '87 S. I had an '84 with the 8V motor previously and IMO there's no comparison between the two.
Make sure you replace the cam chain tensioner pads and do the belts/water pump/rollers if you don't have documentation of it being done recently. If you don't know when the timing belt was last replaced, be careful running the engine for too long. Odds are that it'll be fine, but the cost of a snapped timing belt is bent valves at a minimum. On the DOHC motors, it's a bit more costly to replace those.
Looks like it's in pretty decent shape! If you pull back the carpet in the back of the hatch area, there should be a build sticker with your option codes. You can check to see if you got any desirable goodies with the purchase.
I'm definitely going to replace the timing belts and the cam chain tensioner pads. The engine compartment looks relatively clean and free of oil leaks, and the spark plug wires look almost new, which makes me think this engine was cared for.
I guess once I get it running I'll take it easy and avoid driving the car like an idiot until I get those belts done.
FCP Euro sells a complete timing belt set for ~$275/shipped. Grab a waterpump (2.5L block not//not 3L) and you should be good for 3-4 years of driving. There is a camshaft tensioner "kit" part number from Porsche that's about $50 cheaper than buying both pads individually. The PN is 944 105 949 00.
FCP Euro sells a complete timing belt set for ~$275/shipped. Grab a waterpump (2.5L block not//not 3L) and you should be good for 3-4 years of driving. There is a camshaft tensioner "kit" part number from Porsche that's about $50 cheaper than buying both pads individually. The PN is 944 105 949 00.
Awesome! I was going to buy it from FCP Euro anyways, that's where I've bought literally all of my BMW/Mercedes parts in the past.
Right now I gotta get the car home, so getting it up and running is the goal. It's about an hour away from me so I'd love to get that figured out tonight so I don't have to go back and forth a bunch.
Just re-read your initial post. There is something very wrong with the fuel system if the fuel pump isn't located on the exterior of the car to the passenger side rear of the fuel tank. My 944S is visually indistinguishable from my 951 in regard to the mounting and routing of the fuel pump, filter and hoses.
You also may want to try swapping the DME relay which could restore function to the fuel pump. Hopefully you're bringing a multimeter so you can test to see if the pump is getting power. Finally, look for tach bounce during cranking to ensure the speed sensor is working.
If you are replacing the fuel pump, it's a very good idea to replace the in-tank fuel filter as well. It's a real pain to get to unless you have everything disassembled but I ran into a problem where it was allowing debris through which fouled a brand new fuel pump after about a week.
Just re-read your initial post. There is something very wrong with the fuel system if the fuel pump isn't located on the exterior of the car to the passenger side rear of the fuel tank. My 944S is visually indistinguishable from my 951 in regard to the mounting and routing of the fuel pump, filter and hoses.
You also may want to try swapping the DME relay which could restore function to the fuel pump. Hopefully you're bringing a multimeter so you can test to see if the pump is getting power. Finally, look for tach bounce during cranking to ensure the speed sensor is working.
If you are replacing the fuel pump, it's a very good idea to replace the in-tank fuel filter as well. It's a real pain to get to unless you have everything disassembled but I ran into a problem where it was allowing debris through which fouled a brand new fuel pump after about a week.
Hope all of this helps.
Shortly after posting my last few posts, I realized that I am indeed an idiot. The fuel pump is outside for sure, but I didn't see it last night because of the cover on it. Derp. What I saw in the trunk was most likely the fuel level sender.
I plan on coming prepared tonight. I have a new fuel pump, new fuel pump/DME relay, a whole barrage of fuses, and all of my tools ready to rescue this car. AutohausAZ is amazing, I ordered the parts at like 10am this morning and I'll be picking them up a little later today.
I do think it's more likely that the fuel pump fuse or relay have died, but I'll have the fuel pump with me in case that ends up being the issue. Seems like people have been cranking this car dry for the past week to try and start it, so who knows what may have happened.
I saw that car on CL, it looks like it has potential. Sounds like you're on the right track, good luck!
Originally Posted by AZ520
I call that number and left a message, dang! Was listed for 1200.00, seemed to good to be true, and still may be, good luck with it!
It definitely has potential. Sure there's things about it that aren't perfect, but overall it's in pretty decent shape for a car of this age and for this price. I paid a good bit less than the asking price since the car didn't run when I checked it out, despite the seller insisting that it ran fine. I guess it's a good thing I decided to drive out to Tucson from Phoenix at 8:30pm on a Monday night haha.
The seller hasn't had the car for very long, he says he picked it up at an auction. I ran an Autocheck report on the car, and it says the car has only had two prior owners (the seller never registered the car). According to the seller, it was an older man's car that was donated to the Salvation Army, so there's definitely an interesting story behind it all. That would explain why this car appears to be in relatively good shape. The Autocheck also shows the car as having 117,000 miles when registered in 2009, so it hasn't been driven much at all since then, with the odometer reading 118,000 miles. Of course there's always the chance that the odometer is broken, but I'll find out pretty quickly once I get the car running and driving.
Even with factoring in the almost mandatory belt job that I'll be tackling ASAP, this is still quite a good deal. Speaking of the belt job, is there anybody here that rents out the Arnnworx timing belt tool set? I don't mind paying for it, but I wanted to see if somebody on here had it first.
You just got a deal of the century on that S!!! What incredible luck!! I'd have paid full asking price all day long since it turned over. In fact, if you don't get it started.... I've got $1,200 right here for ya. I'll send the truck tomorrow.
You just got a deal of the century on that S!!! What incredible luck!! I'd have paid full asking price all day long since it turned over. In fact, if you don't get it started.... I've got $1,200 right here for ya. I'll send the truck tomorrow.
Thanks! I'm not giving up that easily, haha. I've tackled BMW V8's and BMW V12's before, so this little 4 banger shouldn't give me too much trouble.
I ended up not getting to the car tonight, since the seller had to get the car inspected to get a title; plus it turns out AutohausAZ was overly optimistic about their parts availability so my parts won't be ready until tomorrow. I didn't feel like going down to Tucson today to poke around without any spare parts, so I'll just be going out there tomorrow.
Also, I remembered that the car is missing the air intake filter box, so I'll have to fabricate one with a cheap Autozone cone filter + duct tape, at least to get this car home. If somebody here has a stock 944S air filter box, I'll happily buy it!
Looks like it is better condition than mine was at 2100! You also could be looking at a bad DME relay or even the DME itself. Do you get tach bounce? S's only have one sensor at the flywheel as the other is behind the cam gear.
Looks like it is better condition than mine was at 2100! You also could be looking at a bad DME relay or even the DME itself. Do you get tach bounce? S's only have one sensor at the flywheel as the other is behind the cam gear.
Awesome find!
Don't get me wrong, this car needs a fair bit of work cosmetically, like the driver side mirror is broken and the trunk is a total mess, but everything looks to be proper mechanically.
I didn't check for tach bounce when I was starting the car, as I wasn't aware of that when I first checked out the car. I have a new fuel pump and a new DME relay as well as a whole bunch of fuses ready to troubleshoot with, so unless there's something really wrong I'll get it running.
And it looks like I'm buying a stock air intake from a member here, now that was fast! I'm glad somebody had a spare one, the 944S intakes are pretty hard to find.
04-26-2016, 01:44 PM
Bought a 1987 944s!
