e30 316

Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:53 am

so your'll have to forgive this question, im sure you've had it before a lot. i am looking to buy an e30 probably 316, or if insurance isnt too bad, 318is. is there anyone who can help me on the basic principles of buying one. rust on wheel arches, things i need to be looking for. seriously looking forwad to owning one, just need to find a goodun. looking forward to hearing from one.

Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:06 pm

Google 'e30 buyers guide' or click this

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318isfaultstable.html

What about buy one through the zone for sale section?

Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:37 pm

Welcome to the zone - you'll find out a lot of info on here that should hopefully prevent you buying a lemon!

Mods, whatever happened to the 325i Sport buying guide that used to be stickied? It was brilliant, and seriously useful as a 'way in' for potential future e30 owners.

Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:11 pm

thanks for the replys, looks like a good website, anyone know by chance a good bmw specialist garage around farnham, surrey area, or cirencester way? one that would be good with the e30? thanks.

Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:27 pm

First and most important check on any E30 is rust!!
Where do you look/where do they rust?
1) let's start with the roof...if a sunroof is fitted look around the roof skin surrounding the hole,rust here is very bad news,there is always a better car.Rust on the opening panel is fixable by swapping the panel,easy fix and good bargaining point...
Still in the sunroof area,open it and peer down inside it's tray,difficult to see but a rusty tray is another walk away point.
2)Scuttle panel in the corners by the front wings,fixable,but needs skill to do it right,costly in labour as the windscreen/dash needs to come out.
3)Bottom of the front wings/inside/underneath the join between wing and 'A' post/footwell floor.Wings are bolt on and available s/h,may even get lucky and find the right colour!But the structure in this area is more difficult to fix.
4)Front panel,not the bolt on one behind/under the bumper but the one the headlights and bonnent fix to,again,tricky to fix cheaply.
5)Rear arches,forward end is very close to a major suspension mount so must be solid.
Inner arches on their join to the outer,if caught early an easy bodyshop fix,just time consuming to get right.
In the boot,pull the trim away on the r/h side and look long and hard at the back,vertical section of the inner arch,there should be no sign of rust or rust stains,same for the join to the boot floor.
N/S behind the boot trim,check for a dry well where the jack lives.
This is not exhaustive,just a quick off the cuff guide to the well known rust areas.
In general,these cars have survived the years far better than their cheaper(when new) rivals.
A one owner from new 316i will be a very good buy,likely to be sold by an elderly widow or her family,but will have been well maintained all it's life...
Good expert,not too far away is Ant at A-Tec,do a search for him,he's a founder zoner!

Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:02 pm

Good guide for rust there Daimler

One or two extra places would be on the rear panel above the lights right at the corner... tricky to look at as you'd nearly want to be inside the boot or have a neck like a girraf from standing outside the car.

Another point would be the sills and last common one I can think of is the front corner of the qauter panels right underneath the side windows behind the B-pillar.

If your looking at an iS, main things to look out for are timing chain issues, cracked manifold and overheating if the viscous fan seems in good shape.

BPs site has everything you could possibly look for anyway

Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:08 pm

That's awesome chaps thanks very much for the replys, seriously looking forward to getting one, just can't let that take over getting a good runner, I'll do loads of reading up as i have been and any other points would be great. Must be crackers to get one while still at uni, but can't hold back

Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:33 pm

bracken78 wrote:so your'll have to forgive this question, im sure you've had it before a lot. i am looking to buy an e30 probably 316, or if insurance isnt too bad, 318is. is there anyone who can help me on the basic principles of buying one. rust on wheel arches, things i need to be looking for. seriously looking forwad to owning one, just need to find a goodun. looking forward to hearing from one.

Why a 316?

I know I might be called a troll for this, but the 316 was underpowered when new. Sure it looks like other e30's (which is good or bad depending on if you like the styling) and I'm sure insurance is better. But I can't help feeling it would be a rarther underwhelming car to own and drive.

Would a 320 be out of the question? The 318IS sounds good on paper, but I personally couldn't go for a 4 pot over a 6 if given the choice.

Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:16 pm

you say its under powered but under powered for what? drifting=yes, knocking spots off modern hot hatches=yes, jumping in, looking cool and enjoying driving a proper car with great styling=no, i've got a 316 and a mk2 escort, the escort is hard and fast and alot of fun, but the bmw is a really nice change to snorting bike carbs. if you want a nice looking old skool bmw thats a pleasure to drive and has enough power to make you smile then get a 316, if however you want one thats gonna go alot faster and give you a few pant wetting moments, then yes, get a 6 pot fast one, the choice is yours (sound like obi wan or some other old git, i'm only 24!!) hahaha

Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:26 pm

djk wrote: Mods, whatever happened to the 325i Sport buying guide that used to be stickied? It was brilliant, and seriously useful as a 'way in' for potential future e30 owners.

I think it's posted up in the wiki.

Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:42 pm

bracken78 wrote:That's awesome chaps thanks very much for the replys, seriously looking forward to getting one, just can't let that take over getting a good runner, I'll do loads of reading up as i have been and any other points would be great. Must be crackers to get one while still at uni, but can't hold back

don't worry... I'm still in uni and I'm on my forth E30..... only one of which I sold and that was my first 316i, lol.

The 316i is abit slow but they can be made pretty nippy.

Some harder shocks and springs or possibly just get some front struts and brakes off a 318iS and M-tec springs on the back with the 318iS/325i anti-roll bars and it will handle pretty nicely and then a 4.45 diff out of a 316i auto will make it surprisingly quick for a 316!

It will still run out of steam at 80-90 compared to the other engines but no need to be doing those kinda speeds in your first E30 anyway

Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:31 pm

mk2escort wrote:you say its under powered but under powered for what? drifting=yes, knocking spots off modern hot hatches=yes, jumping in, looking cool and enjoying driving a proper car with great styling=no, i've got a 316 and a mk2 escort, the escort is hard and fast and alot of fun, but the bmw is a really nice change to snorting bike carbs. if you want a nice looking old skool bmw thats a pleasure to drive and has enough power to make you smile then get a 316, if however you want one thats gonna go alot faster and give you a few pant wetting moments, then yes, get a 6 pot fast one, the choice is yours (sound like obi wan or some other old git, i'm only 24!!) hahaha

Most sensible thing i've ever read on the 'zone! Spot on.

To be honest i only like the e30 primarily for its looks and how it feels to drive, none of them are properly 'fast' imho, there are other cars for that

(and yes i do run a 316...

)

Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:22 pm

a fellow 316 er

i only say that cause i get it from the mk2 escort scene, i say i'm running a xflow and everyone tells me i should have a pinto, or whatever, not everyone buys a car to go fast in, i personally like to chill when i drive and occasionally give it some beans, but hey, everyone to their own.

Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:51 pm

BadDave wrote:
djk wrote: Mods, whatever happened to the 325i Sport buying guide that used to be stickied? It was brilliant, and seriously useful as a 'way in' for potential future e30 owners.
I think it's posted up in the wiki.

I checked the wiki before I posted that! It might be on there, but it's not obvious. If anyone's got it bookmarked, can you post it on here?

Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:14 am

Thanks all for the posts, they are brilliant! I am looking for a 316 for insurance reasons, mabye a 318is (havnt checked that yet?), I am, by the way, 21 with not many years no claims, being none! This is all a great help, I realise i'm going to pay well over the odd's for insurance(?) but I'm going to suck up the fear of maintenance and learn it all (with help)! Thanks chaps, great stuff! Want a 318is but with my no claims and all! Obviously more help/tips/pointers would be great! cheers

Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:10 am

mk2escort wrote:a fellow 316 er i only say that cause i get it from the mk2 escort scene, i say i'm running a xflow and everyone tells me i should have a pinto, or whatever, not everyone buys a car to go fast in, i personally like to chill when i drive and occasionally give it some beans, but hey, everyone to their own.

I agree each to their own

Wed Aug 26, 2009 11:36 am

i've always found CIS to be great on insurance, been with them for nearly 5 years, they insured my escort and the new bmw, but even with 6 years no claims and i'm 24 its still running around the £300 a year, which is double the escort and £100 more than my old 1.8 mondeo, but its still better than the £2166 i used to pay for my 1st car, a 1997 rover 200 5 door 1.4 16v, hahahaha

Wed Aug 26, 2009 11:43 am

mk2escort wrote:you say its under powered but under powered for what? drifting=yes, knocking spots off modern hot hatches=yes, jumping in, looking cool and enjoying driving a proper car with great styling=no, i've got a 316 and a mk2 escort, the escort is hard and fast and alot of fun, but the bmw is a really nice change to snorting bike carbs. if you want a nice looking old skool bmw thats a pleasure to drive and has enough power to make you smile then get a 316, if however you want one thats gonna go alot faster and give you a few pant wetting moments, then yes, get a 6 pot fast one, the choice is yours (sound like obi wan or some other old git, i'm only 24!!) hahaha

Do you also now own an engineless 535i from someone in North Wales?

Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:11 pm

i'm afraid not, i'm from the north east, i've never had the pleasure of visiting wales, i assume you know something about the above enginless 535i?

Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:02 pm

bracken78 wrote:Thanks all for the posts, they are brilliant! I am looking for a 316 for insurance reasons, mabye a 318is (havnt checked that yet?), I am, by the way, 21 with not many years no claims, being none! This is all a great help, I realise i'm going to pay well over the odd's for insurance(?) but I'm going to suck up the fear of maintenance and learn it all (with help)! Thanks chaps, great stuff! Want a 318is but with my no claims and all! Obviously more help/tips/pointers would be great! cheers

Just do a quick confused.com search - once you've put in your details, you can just go back in and change the car to give you an idea of the general level of premium for each model. In my experience, 325s cost little more than 320s to insure despite having a 3rd more power - you may be pleasntly surprised to find a 318iS isn't all that much more than a 316i.

You'll get a much better condition 316i/318i/320i for the same budget as a 318iS though, but they are generally considerably lower specced and all are slower to varying degrees. Trouble is 318iSes aren't all that common relatively, so you might have to wait for the right one to come around.