While perusing eBay for the latest vintage BMW listings I came across a rare gem from Dinan. This 1989 325ix is the all wheel drive model of the E30 sedan, designed for cruising the back country roads of Greenwich in all seasons. The seller says this car was owned by a Doctor who had a custom turbo kit installed at Dinan in California at around 17,000 miles. The cost for the turbo kit and Dinan upgrades back then was $32,000 – the same amount it cost to buy a new 325ix. 

Now, it may be possible to contact Dinan with the vin of this car to confirm the history. The VIN is WBAAB0301K8135368. Speaking of the vin, the car has matching vin tags on all of it’s panels which great for it’s collector value.

The car appears to have aftermarket 15” wheels which look like Ronal LS wheels, a discontinued wheel but one of excellent quality. You can see a Dinan badge on the trunk in the above photo.

The car also appears to have a rare euro Heckblende reflector panel behind the license plate that sits in between the rear tail lamps. Not my favorite E30 rarity, but a value added piece none the less.

Inside we have a comfort interior in black vinyl which appears to be in excellent condition. The front seats are heated and the rear has the arm rest with ski pass. The steering wheel is an M-tech I sport wheel which appears to have been added, as this car’s original wheel would have been a base model 4 spoke.

In the center console are some nice classic VDO temp, boost and volt gauges. I’m not sure if this is an original Dinan piece but it certainly is possible. The gauges are period correct so that is a good sign.

Under the hood we see the unique ix-specific vertical strut towers and the rare turbo components. This is definitely a unique turbo setup with a log style cast manifold and old school Turbonetics wastegate.

On the other side we see the rest of the turbo charge pipes along with an oddly placed 87 model coolant expansion tank and relocated ABS unit. It looks like space was made for the charge pipes without cutting the factory body.

Overall this looks like a pretty interesting car, and a very rare one if it is a true Dinan built car. While it does have some minor rust issues, it doesn’t look too bad for an East coast 325ix. See the auction listing here on eBay.