how would you have designed the original E30???

[mrLEE30]

Imagine you are a moustached leather shorted German and its around 1981, your high on Pacman, David Hasselhoff has not even grown hair, a new show called MTV has just played video killed the radio star for the first time, McEnroe just defeated your countryman to win Wimbledon, and you have just started a job at the design studio for BMW on their new followup to the E21, its to be called the E30!

the basic shape has been defined....but what would you have done to make it better knowing what you know now???

i will start

I would have made adjustable top mounting for front suspension....

mrlee

[Hyperion]

1.adjustable steering wheel.
2.more choice for standard wheels (everyone of them came out with bottle tops)
3.light on warning
these would have be nice to haves

[Ant]

without doubt I'd have added a faster steering rack, however I can see that less turns may make the car twitchier in the wet, would perhaps lead to some claimants for damages. Hmm you can kinda see why its slow in the 1st place

next !

[Turbo-Brown]

I'd have galvanised the bloody things!

I also wouldn't have used a pencil drive on the M20 oil pump.

[320Touring]

Built them all as tourings

seriously

1. Faster steering
2. ARB's on EVERY model
3. Move the innder door handles (pull ones) for opening the door, towards the front of the door as i dont have hands on my elbows.
4. Adjustable steering wheel
5. Swap the Battery and Servo positions on RHD cars to improve braking feel
6. No 4.xx diff wrongness
7. Lower rideheight on whole range (possibly 40/40)
8. Make bonnet removable (ie unlocks then lifts off no bolts involved)
9. Waterproof the Wiper Motor
10. Reposition Central Locking controller under the steering wheel
11. THICK REAR LIGHT SEALS!!!
12. A decent jack and wheelbrace wouldnt go amiss..
13. Rear windows on tourings made opening.

not a lot i'd guess

[Gunni]

Stopped BMW using 4lugs from the E21 and just used 5lugs on all BMWԚ´s

That would have been best,
330mm stock part upgrade anyone?

[astondg]

5. Swap the Battery and Servo positions on RHD cars to improve braking feel

Is it as easy as swaping them over? Don't the sports have the battery in the boot (or maybe all 325s?)? So do they have the servo in a better position?

6. No 4.xx diff wrongness

But I like my 4.1 LSD! I am glad I have it and I wouldn't swap it for any other ratio, not for my 323i anyway.

Aston

[Moofles]

different rear suspension...

[Stevin]

Cup Holders... and a different rear suspension design, that allows for easy fitting of Coil Overs

Oh and a 24v motor

[JOSEMI]

good question and nice thread !

more resistant cooling system/heater matrix
more resistant lower arms

more resistant to rust !

and all the above !!!

Jose

[BenE30]

3.light on warning

The best one by far!!

1. ABS standard on all motorsport addition cars iS onwards
2. LSD standard on all motorsport addition cars iS onwards

[mrLEE30]

what about a dechrome option on non sport models

rear disks on all

clear front indicators and side repeaters or they should have been on the mirrors

and the best option should have been the introduction of the 335i sport!!!!

mrlee

[JOSEMI]

This is getting to be a super car of the 80's !! (and pricey too)

Jose

[kam-325i]

1. ABS standard on all motorsport addition cars iS onwards

ABS Was an option ?

[mrLEE30]

oh yeah and 16inch wheels as standard, with bigger disks front and rear

pre-rolled arches to accept 17 or 18 inch if you wanted

a decent standard stereo without those crap sony speakers

fold down front arm rests

OBC on all

a sunroof that drains

the check panel backing light should stay on when lights on , and dim if wanted

brighter dash/heater surround lights

reading lights on the mirror as standard

electric rear windows on the coupe (like the E46)

a button inside to open your boot

could go on forever!!!

mrlee

[kam-325i]

Face heater vents that work at the same temp as the other vents !!!!!

[Adam318i]

pre-rolled arches to accept 17 or 18 inch if you wanted

They didnt really have the pimp my ride scene back then! lol

[Lordschleife]

A MUCH quicker steering rack
16:1 at least

[BenE30]

1. ABS standard on all motorsport addition cars iS onwards

ABS Was an option ?

Not sure but it should have been standard on the cars that i stated!!

[kam-325i]

Mine got ABS......

[liam012]

mmm the steering rack keeps popping up....
whats are the options for putting a different one in? are there any?

oh and the lights off warning - i couldn't agree more

[stevetigger]

My wife said if she could have designed the E30, she wouldn't of designed it at all, so all us sad E30 addicts would not sit on the zone all day and night!!

Can you see im in the dog house!

[E30BeemerLad]

My wife said if she could have designed the E30, she wouldn't of designed it at all, so all us sad E30 addicts would not sit on the zone all day and night!!

Can you see im in the dog house!

Steve - we live in a parallel universe!!!!! Except perhaps my wife is better as she sits there and completes GT4 & Burnout for me whilst I am on the zone

[Fushion_Julz]

Face heater vents that work at the same temp as the other vents !!!!!

Noooooooo....

That is the BEST feature of BMW ventilation in that you can get warm feet and cool face!

Buy/drive a Ford (Escort/Sierra, at least) and you'll find out how annoying it is not to be able to have that...

My Merc Van also has cold vents/warm heater....Keeps you awake on the motorway without having rain in your ear!

[Fushion_Julz]

oh yeah and 16inch wheels as standard, with bigger disks front and rear

why? do you really hate the good handling/ride that much?

pre-rolled arches to accept 17 or 18 inch if you wanted

see above x3

a decent standard stereo without those crap sony speakers

In 1983, the stereos supplied were, at a price, some of the best "state-of-the-art" equipment...Nothing, though, was standard...all were extras!

fold down front arm rests

Grandad! Buy a Granada (or an E34 5 series with comfort interior and SE trim)

OBC on all

OK

a sunroof that drains

It does/did...Mine still do (both cars)...There are many worse out there...You could always have a shell with no sunroof....

the check panel backing light should stay on when lights on , and dim if wanted

why? if all is good, then there is no need...just extra lighting to distract the driver...I say, good call BMW, off unlees there is a fault!

brighter dash/heater surround lights

see above...they are bright enough, methinks...However quite why they decided to NOT backlight the heated rear window switch beats me

reading lights on the mirror as standard

yep...or perhaps cheaper and better, a proper light over the front seats with a door entry delay relay a la the 5 series

electric rear windows on the coupe (like the E46)

got those on my 325....and I quite like the fact that my (lightweight) M3 doesn't have unnecessary electric junk!

a button inside to open your boot

why? when I had my Nissan 200SX, the only way to open the boot (and petrol flap) was with the lever or, in the case of the boot, with the key...This resulted in many curses every wet day when I would get out to get something from the boot, forget to open it, and get even wetter going back to lean in to pull the sodding lever...Until the cable snapped....OK, it was a hatch with a clever parcel shelf that allowed lifting it out with the hatch closed...But on an E30 with a metal bulkhead?

could go on forever!!!

You did....

My list is short:

Adjustable steering wheel and/or pedal box
Heated rear window switch illumination
Interior light delay
Ignition barrel light

[kam-325i]

Face heater vents that work at the same temp as the other vents !!!!!

Noooooooo....

That is the BEST feature of BMW ventilation in that you can get warm feet and cool face!

Buy/drive a Ford (Escort/Sierra, at least) and you'll find out how annoying it is not to be able to have that...

My Merc Van also has cold vents/warm heater....Keeps you awake on the motorway without having rain in your ear!

Funny enought, my first two cars were ford. A 2.0s Cortina, red. and a 2.0 crusader with the V6 essex engine.

Best driving time of my life, until i had my first E30 !!!!!

[Brianmoooore]

Face heater vents that work at the same temp as the other vents !!!!!

Noooooooo....

That is the BEST feature of BMW ventilation in that you can get warm feet and cool face!

Buy/drive a Ford (Escort/Sierra, at least) and you'll find out how annoying it is not to be able to have that...

My Merc Van also has cold vents/warm heater....Keeps you awake on the motorway without having rain in your ear!

Totaly agree with this. In any case,if you turn the heat control high enough the vace vents become hot as well. Perfect as it is.
They should have upped the steering ratio a bit with the power rack, standard front interior lighting is pathetic (but easily improved), and a lights on warning would have saved me grief on one occasion.

[kam-325i]

Gota go with the quicker steering rack...........

What is the best upgrade anyway ?

[Fushion_Julz]

Actually, can think of one more....

It would be nice to have the top-of-dash air vent (like the E34s have) as it means you can get cool air circulating all around the car...great for the back seat passengers

[Gwynleym10]

Not a lot different really.

I don't think more things like rear disc, obc, better stereo's etc etc should have been made standard as the cheaper models would have not been cheaper, and then the e30 would never have been such a sales success which may have led to bmw going down the pan.....
Its purely economics!

Some of the RHdrive conversion stuff does look a little "after thought" but it does in many cars...

One thin i would change was to make the lights/number plate part of the boot, so there would be a better load bay, especially in tourings.

The rear suspension is what makes e30, if you can't handle it buy a e36!

[Cloggy Saint]

One thing i would change was to make the lights/number plate part of the boot, so there would be a better load bay, especially in tourings.

yeah, that

[technoviolet]

Id deffo have fully galvanised the body and have the bonnet hinging at the windscreen for better access.

As a matter of interest,how many people would like to see a remake of the e30 but in a modern guise.keeping the original look and driving caracteristics of the old car and bringing it bang up to date like they did with the mini.Now that could be well cool if designed right

[stevetigger]

electric rear windows on the coupe (like the E46)

got those on my 325....and I quite like the fact that my (lightweight) M3 doesn't have unnecessary electric junk!

could go on forever!!!

You did....

My list is short:

Adjustable steering wheel and/or pedal box
Heated rear window switch illumination
Interior light delay
Ignition barrel light

I think he meant rear electric windows like on the old six!!

[Fushion_Julz]

yep, know what he meant,

still adds considerable weight to the car and my 325 DOES have fully retractable rear electric windows!

[stevetigger]

yep, know what he meant,

still adds considerable weight to the car and my 325 DOES have fully retractable rear electric windows!

Is your 325 two door??