Interior

Components

Dashboard

The dashboard is a solid foam-and-vinyl panel, moulded to hold all the internal features and controls inside the E30. The dashboard is interchangeable on all models, although for obvious reasons LHD and RHD models are different.

If the vinyl on your dashboard is cracked, or you want to strip your interior, learn more about removing your dashboard.

Instruments

Main article: Instruments

The instruments inside the cabin include the dash cluster, the on-board computer and the check panel.

Controls

As well as the instruments giving you info on your car, there's also lots of switches, levers and dials you can fiddle with to make things happen. The controls include:

• Wash/Wipe stalk
• Indicator stalk
• Cruise Control stalk - if fitted
• OBC stalk - if fitted
• Hazard Lights
• Rear Wash/Wipe - Touring only
• Heater Controls
• Rear Demister
• Air Conditioning - if fitted
• Electric Windows - if fitted
• Heated Seats - if fitted

Vents

Air flow around the cabin was distributed by plastic pipes, concealed behind the dashboard and under the carpet. These pipes could channel air to the front footwells, rear footwells, front door windows and the centre of the dashboard.

Heating

Main article: Heating

Aircon

Main article: Aircon

Upholstery

Main article: Upholstery

The upholstered items of your E30 were chosen by the original purchaser, based on recommendations by the dealer. The selection affected the colour of the seats and door cards.

Seats

The comfort point of the vehicle. All E30s (with the exception of the M3) were capable of seating 5 people, although the fifth passenger may be rather cramped, even in the Touring. The upholstery of the seats is one of the defining points of the interior, with seats available in cloth or leather in a number of colours.

Learn more about upholstery options.

Front Seats

While front seats are a standard feature in most cars, a few variants were available for the E30.

The key difference regards tilting; seats fitted to a 4-door or Touring do not have a tilting handle like those inside 2-doors and Cabriolets. However, the seat base of all cars is the same, and all seats can be dismantled and rebuilt to tilt if required.

The physical style of the seat determined bolster height and thigh support; sportier seats are known as Sports Seats for a good reason.

Also available are Heated Seats, which provide a gentle warming sensation for your posterior when needed. These are controlled by switches mounted to the tunnel.

E30 seats are unique; there are no other seats in the BMW range, or any other car, that bolts straight in to an E30. If you wish to fit non-E30 seats, you will have to modify your mounting rails to fit the bolts and holes in the E30 floorpan.

Rear Bench

The rear bench differs on almost all vehicles, and little is interchangeable between models. Rear benches on Tourings, for example, were able to tilt down to lengthen the rear compartment, unlike the fixed versions in 2-door and 4-door saloons.

Rear headrests were not fitted as standard, but were an available option and a popular interior upgrade. Most models require mounts to be fitted inside the rear seats, but these mounts are already in place in all Tourings. Learn more about installing Touring rear headrests

Door Cards

Door cards were available in cloth, vinyl or leather.

Carpet

E30 Carpet

6 cylinder cars, all cabs, and tourings, have a velour type material. These can be dyed. The others have nylon hard-wearing loop type carpets, that can't be dyed.

Headlining

The underside of the roof is covered in a one-piece fabric known as the headlining. The headlining comprises of a stiff, formed board coated with a layer of foam, onto which the fabric is glued. The entire unit is held in place at various mounting points around the cabin, and requires the vast majority of the interior trim to be removed to gain access to it.

Headlining came in a variety of shapes to fit the Saloon and Touring models, incorporating cut-outs for the Roof#Sunroof and the sunroof mechanism (either electric or manual). While Saloon headlinings are interchangeable, the Touring headlining is specific to that model, for obvious reasons.

Sport models were equipped with a unique black headlining, which is considered one of the few parts by which a genuine Sport model can be identified. Considering how hard it is to swap over the roof lining, very few counterfeit models will have a black headlining fitted.

The aesthetic benefits of a black roof make the headlining an increasingly popular upgrade; as the original beige headlinings develop stains, tears and sags, more and more owners look towards fitting a new lining which won't show its age so readily, which is why black headlinings are increasing in value. However, we do NOT recommend the use of stains or dyes to treat your existing lining. If you want to refresh the look, have it reskinned with new material.

Learn more about replacing the headlining.

Common Problems

Loose Seat Back

A loose seat back and/or seat recliner mechanism not locking in position is one of the most common seat-related problems on E30s; fortunately, there's an almost-guaranteed fix:

Remove the panel from the rear of the seat by undoing the two screws at the base. Locate the large cross-head screw near the bottom of each side of the frame upright section. If the seat back is wobbly it is almost certain that these screws have worked loose.

Use a large philips screwdriver which is a good fit in the head of the screw to tighten these right up ( a small screwdriver won't do it and they'll work loose again.) Then refit rear panel.

Backrest Not Locking

If the backrest refuses to lock into place:

Remove the seat from the car by undoing the two bolts from the back end of seat rails and 2 x nuts from the front.

Remove the plastic cover from the pivot point where the handle is ( requires a large flat bladed screwdriver in order to avoid damaging the plastic screw ), which will expose the lever mechanism.

Spray WD40 liberally into the lever pivot/mechanism and work the seat backrest forward and backward to ensure the lubricant can get into where it needs to.

Repeat for the pivot point on the other side of the seat.

Replace covers and refit seat into car.