Keep the car?

[hogweed]

ItÔš's nice black 4-door 325I SE with original Ԛ“silverԚâ€a leather seats, electric everything, Viper II chip, BBTB, K&N element etc, and I love it. BUT the cost of keeping it that way has been high Ԛ—a new front wings and rear arches a year ago, and now the sills are disintegrating. And the clutch thrust bearing is on the way out, which means a new clutch. And the handbrake bits are seized at the wheels.

I MAY have asked this before Ԛ—a canÔš't remember, being very old, but with the rip-off fuel prices etc, I canÔš't help wonderingԚ… I mean, to me, there's two kinds of cars you can have:

1. A nice sensible little diesel YouÔš'll hate yourself every moment you step into it, but youÔš'll be rich because of only having to fill it up twice a year.
2. An E30 which will break your heart and your bank, but which you will love driving.

Now, the arguments for the former are clearԚ… BUT if I stay with the latter, IÔš'll want to do serious things to it to make it even more fun to justify the expense of running the fecking thing, like all new suspenders etc. And yes, I LIKE 4 doors.

Does anyone know of any BIG reasons not to keep it? It seems totally clean underneath, despite the sills Ԛ—a are there any other (hidden) potential disasters which could make me regret keeping it when I get yet another estimate for Ԛ£500?

Answers on a Ԛ£50 note pleaseԚ…

PS just noticed that the bodywork lip at the rear top edge of the boot is rotten under the trim. Standard this way I expect...?

[Hyperion]

Hmmm, funny question to ask fans of the E30. Well i would keep the car, petrol is also going up here in SA, but not at the same level as in the UK. I sometimes think i should get one of these new cars with the better fuel economy like a Fiat Uno, or Toyota Tazz or VW citi. but then i wake up in the morning and see my E30 sitting there and i think "damn thats a cool car". Never fails to put a smile on my face. I have had offers from people wanting to buy her but i always say no way. I would rather run into the ground myself then park her off in the backyard then let someone else have her.
Anyway just my opinion.
If you can afford it, way not keep the e30 for weekends and fun and buy the diesal for work....

[Gwynleym10]

A newer diesel may work out to be a false economy as diesel can be expensive to repair when the go wrong. and it looks like in many places that diesel is more expensive than petrol, making the advantages even slimmer.

Just make sure your car is running efficiently as possible, ie service it regulary and take it for a rolling road to make sure its not over fulling etc etc.

Also make sure your not lugging around unessary weight.

LPG?

[hogweed]

Thanks guys - predictable, hey! Seriously, I'm more interested to know about anything really horrible that could go wrong with this one, and present me with a Ԛ£1000 bill which I simply wouldn't pay... like hidden chassis rot etc...

[Simon13]

as ure car has no m-tech kit to hide possible horrors, and u are a zoner i would imagine she's in good form.

it wouldn't cost the earth to repair and i'd doubt that the sills will need total replacement. With out seeing your car and seeing it in the air we can't really tell u much though!

the 325 is such a solid car i love mine to bits

like said in total bmw "it's now offical, cruising in a minted E30 is now cool" or something like that.

I'd be gutted if i sold my sport for the reasons u are stating! If your old ure probably richer than us young'uns right!

[Andy325i]

First get it oiled underneath! and all in the chassis legs etc.

I have a 36 yr old Volvo that I am restoring and cutting the floor out of it, it is shocking to see the state of the inside of the box sections, hence oiling the whole floor etc of the E30's. I would have to say rust trap area's on the E30 were: Front inner wings at the bottom, (by your feet and behind front wheels) floor to seal areas. Rear arches. Seals (esp where the rear subframe braket bolts in, and rear valances. Sure others will fill in the blanks. I have seen a lot of repairs that are shot the next year because they haven't been properly rust proofed after doing it


As for expensive fuel costs a gas conversion or maybe E36 325 TDS conversion may be worth looking at depending on how many miles you do.

I did look at an E46 cab yesterday and thought mmmmmmmmmm nice car, but didn't make me smile in the way my E30 does, even with all its faults!!!!!


Andy

[OllieB]

[quote="Simon13"]as ure car has no m-tech kit to hide possible horrors, and u are a zoner i would imagine she's in good form.

Hogweed, I feel exactly the same. I'm overly paranoid that my car is going to bite me in the wallet by dying, stems from a R5 GTT money pit I owned in my youth when earning very little money. I spent every penny on that car and had many sleepless nights worrying about it before I realised it was condemed to an early grave. I sold it to an aging biker for Ԛ£500 who was gonna turn it into a trike. Lost about Ԛ£1500 in six months



My car is a sport with Mtec II kit. Too scared to take it off and look in case its bad.....

[hogweed]

as ure car has no m-tech kit to hide possible horrors, and u are a zoner i would imagine she's in good form.

Mostly, now IÔš've spent the money! But youÔš're always finding something else, arenÔš't youԚ… and no M-Tech, true.

it wouldn't cost the earth to repair and i'd doubt that the sills will need total replacement. With out seeing your car and seeing it in the air we can't really tell u much though!

Well it all looks very clean underneath, and no sign of any probs at all with the wills over the 5 years IÔš've owned it, then suddenly pop, pop, popԚ… bubbles and holes. But the bodywork bloke said they could be repaired rather than replaced.

Opinion seems to be divided Ԛ—a some MOT blokes say if you replace the sills now, they have to be seam rather than spot-welded, which adds enormously to the cost Ԛ—a others say spotting is OK. Anybody know for sure?

I'd be gutted if i sold my sport for the reasons u are stating! If your old ure probably richer than us young'uns right!

I knowԚ… then I beat myself up for spending money on something that isnÔš't a Sport! When I bought it, I didnÔš't know the differenceԚ… but for me 4 doors are very very useful. Not rich any more, post-divorce sadlyԚ…

Ԛ• Hogweed's 50-year-old advice column for you Ԛ“young Ԛâ€ËaunsԚâ€a:

DonÔš't get fcuking married, OK!

[Adam318i]

Ok

Is it really that bad?

I've been with my missis now about 1 1/2 years, and all is good so far, but i wouldn't want to begin to imagine if further down the line we got married etc, then had to divorce for various reasons!

It would make you question your whole relationship, then life! What if you never met her, or met someone else etc the list goes on.

I guess thats life really!

(Completely random post sorry)

Adam

[Gwynleym10]

(Completely random post sorry)

very....but thoughtful!

[Handy]

Hi,
I fully understand your dilemma.
You would certainly hate a modern FWD diesel
OK, you get excellent fuel economy and reasonable performance if you opt for a turbo.
The higher price of diesel and additional service costs should put you off.
Not forgetting,the complexity of modern diesel fuel injection systems.
I own a Moggy Minor
I'm going to run this during the winter and lay mt E30 up in the garage.
I'd rather keep my Ԛ£500 E30 tidy and use my Ԛ£1000 Moggy because I love my E30 to bits

Cheers,
Ian

[johnl320]

If you get rid you will regret it. Just imagine looking out of the kitchen window and seeing a diesel peugeot instead of your beloved E30.

Its the stuff off nightmares

john

[Handy]

If you get rid you will regret it. Just imagine looking out of the kitchen window and seeing a diesel peugeot instead of your beloved E30.

Its the stuff off nightmares

john

Too true. A Peugeot jelly mould tinny french snail eating garlic smelling............etc......

Can you tell I don't like French cars??

[johnl320]

If you get rid you will regret it. Just imagine looking out of the kitchen window and seeing a diesel peugeot instead of your beloved E30.

Its the stuff off nightmares

john

Too true. A Peugeot jelly mould tinny french snail eating garlic smelling............etc......

Can you tell I don't like French cars??

French cars or just french?

[Splondike]

Hogweed, keep it if you can dude, although I know where you are coming from...

As an ex E30 owner I must say I miss my old one like mad.... my new chariot has 197BHP but it's front wheel drive and does not have that 6 pot howl Mind you I couldn't fit 7 people or all my camping gear in the sport

But I still had to do it and I did not need two cars really, sounds like you may not have to...but as Simon said, without seeing the car it is difficult to call...

[OllieB]

Obviously think you should keep the E30 rightness, but just to add to the mix.....

Modern diesels are now a lot of fun. No mechanic but diesels operate under much higher compression so have huge bore thickness and massively strong blocks (hence they are expensive new, and hold a premium second hand). Because of this though they can be chipped or generally fiddled with to run silly boost and hence big power for not a lot of money if you are canny. Best cheapy options are 205/306 td's (Know someone with a very quick 306 td tweaked by turbosytsems) and for more wonga, Mk4 Golf diesels are rapido. I have a standard Audi A3 tdi with 100bhp which is ludicrously fast, would keep up with my 325i sport no problem. Massive torque......

[hogweed]

I think my problem is two-faceted reallyԚ… post-divorce, I can't afford to buy much of a car if I get rid of this one, and unless you have a pristine Sport or something, you get feck all for these beasts.

So my choice is between throwing endless cash at this one Ԛ—a but a bit at a time Ԛ—a and getting maybe Ԛ£1500 for it and buying something fairly mediocre (but cheap to run). Then my mind starts going down tracks of Ԛ“This is just a 2-a-penny 325i Ԛ—a albeit with original leather and electric everything, Sport/lowered suspension pack/LSD and so on Ԛ—a whatÔš's the point of throwing money at something which is never going to be quite The Business as a Sport would beԚâ€a

But for me, 3 doors would be a pain in the arse!

Now I suppose if I could get all the fancy bodywork (thatÔš's what you call M-Tech kit?) to make this look like a 4-door Sport, then maybe it would be a different ballgameԚ…

More suggestions always welcome!