difference between 325i and 325i sport

[gooner1]

That,s not a bad point Magpie. With a standard 325i you could add parts to your own satisfaction,
and possibly increase it,s value. Do that with a sport and would you maybe decrease it,s value?.
I know this entirely dependent on what parts you add, but you get my drift.

[march109]

I tinkered with a sport, then bought a tinkered one.

Nowt wrong with messing with a sport if you have taste (for the opposite of taste look up birmingham sport), I for one think that you can only have an M20 boat anchor in a sport engine bay, if you can't handle that go buy a lowered sticky back plastic kitted lesser model and molest that all you want.

I would have allowed a mighty S52 in the bay of mine, but then it did cross my mind that it would actually ruin the car I spent so long looking for.

Knock the sport all you want, but it it wasn't worth the dollar they wouldn't change hands for the dollar, some people, eh?

[magpie]

or just spend 3k on a sport
and get bored by not tinkering on it.

wouldnt we all get bored... the thing is you could spend 3k upwards on a mint sport for 6 months later to find out its not as mint as you thought when you bought it.....

or buy a really clean 2dr 325i off an oldie or someone who has no clue.
cheap,see all the panels clearly,i.e no kit.and build your own.
or buy this and look at it
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=122464

[Geeman]

Yeah, agreed... but you're all going slightly off topic.

The question was "Is a 325i Sport better than a standard 325i?"

It doesn't matter that you can add parts to a standard 325i to make it as good as a genuine Sport... a standard 325i will not be better than a 325i Sport.

[magpie]

That,s not a bad point Magpie. With a standard 325i you could add parts to your own satisfaction,
and possibly increase it,s value. Do that with a sport and would you maybe decrease it,s value?.
I know this entirely dependent on what parts you add, but you get my drift.

thats what i'm about m8

[Nay]

Nay... What a crock of 5hit. No offence meant, but come on... there's nothing on the Sport that makes it better than a standard 325i...?

I see you'd rather have one than a standard 325i if you had the money for one... so really you're just contradicting yourself here.

We're not talking insurance payout values.

We're not talking 'real' benefits of ownership... whatever they are.

We're talking about whether a 325i Sport is better than a standard model 325i. And they are.

Why would you want one over a standard 325i yourself if they're not better?

We can draw another parallel with an E36 328i and a 328i Sport - same problems with badge snobbery (and I've been both an E36 and E30 badge snob), but the Sport (again) is a much better all round car.

OK so the STANDARD sport vs. STANDARD 325i. Sure sport wins. But as for real life situations it just doesn't.

If i where to buy a sport, or M3 or another rare classic, i'd restore it to everything nice and working order, and garage it. Use it on odd occasions... a normal 325i on the other hand, i wouldn't car about driving everywhere.

How can you say they're better cars when the real world implications are against you. They have some goodies and a body kit? How can you say a "faster" car with lower stiffer suspension is better when a better car for the person might be a completely different car.

TBH the whole argument gets let down to the point where it is purely opinion based. Sure, there are differences which you can describe and prove, but there are serious downsides (mainly financial) related to being a sport owner. There is no way someone could hold off a solid argument about which car is better.

Now the only benefit i can see of being a sport owner is to restore until perfect and garage to preserve it so it can be seen for years to come.

Downside is financial, as in the "sport tax".

[march109]

Downside is financial, as in the "sport tax".

What Sport tax?

[e30bmlover]

A looked after Sport is always going to beat a normal 325i or se variant.....It would have been a totally pointless car otherwise.....Why put a close ratio box, lsd and improve suspension if its not going to be any better than a normal 325i ?

bring the looked after sport dirty six girl....

[magpie]

hand both cars over to the stig [top gear]
see what he thinks for the extra cost invoved in buying a sport over the 325i
as i buy cars to drive.

[some say he once owned a 320i]

[oakey]

Ok. So you've got your standard 325i, you get an lsd £250-300, then a close ratio Gbox £150-200, then black headlining £50?, then mtech kit- £350-£550, then M-tech suspension £100+, then Mtech steering wheel, 15" BBS, Sports interior £175-£500, maplight mirror £50. So on and so forth.

How much money would you actually save converting a standard 325i to sport spec?

[march109]

A looked after Sport is always going to beat a normal 325i or se variant.....It would have been a totally pointless car otherwise.....Why put a close ratio box, lsd and improve suspension if its not going to be any better than a normal 325i ?

bring the looked after sport dirty six girl....

is your car standard? I don't agree with everything dirty six girl says but he does make his point clear enough above and you seem to have missed it by a country mile.

[e30bmlover]

Ok. So you've got your standard 325i, you get an lsd £250-300, then a close ratio Gbox £150-200, then black headlining £50?, then mtech kit- £350-£550, then M-tech suspension £100+, then Mtech steering wheel, 15" BBS, Sports interior £175-£500, maplight mirror £50. So on and so forth.

How much money would you actually save converting a standard 325i to sport spec?

allot... as the standard 325 will probably be rust free if you know what you are looking for... and you know there are no nasties lurking under the kit!

[e30bmlover]

A looked after Sport is always going to beat a normal 325i or se variant.....It would have been a totally pointless car otherwise.....Why put a close ratio box, lsd and improve suspension if its not going to be any better than a normal 325i ?

bring the looked after sport dirty six girl....

is your car standard? I don't agree with everything dirty six girl says but he does make his point clear enough above and you seem to have missed it by a country mile.

i havent missed it mate.... just playing the game... and yes my car is standard.

[jbh]

Now the only benefit i can see of being a sport owner is to restore until perfect and garage to preserve it so it can be seen for years to come.

in my eyes that defeats the point in having the car... im restoring my tech1 and ill be using it as a daily driver once its on the road.. ill use it the way it was desinged to be used the only time it wont be used is during the winter when ill get a cheap banger to run while the local council are throwing there s*it on the road

[oakey]

Ok. So you've got your standard 325i, you get an lsd £250-300, then a close ratio Gbox £150-200, then black headlining £50?, then mtech kit- £350-£550, then M-tech suspension £100+, then Mtech steering wheel, 15" BBS, Sports interior £175-£500, maplight mirror £50. So on and so forth.

How much money would you actually save converting a standard 325i to sport spec?

allot... as the standard 325 will probably be rust free if you know what you are looking for... and you know there are no nasties lurking under the kit!

Find me a very good/near mint 325i for less than £2k then

Just to buy an mtech2 kit and get it painted and fitted could cost up to or over £800 easy. And even then I doubt it will fit as nicely as a factory fitted kit.

[magpie]

Ok. So you've got your standard 325i, you get an lsd £250-300, then a close ratio Gbox £150-200, then black headlining £50?, then mtech kit- £350-£550, then M-tech suspension £100+, then Mtech steering wheel, 15" BBS, Sports interior £175-£500, maplight mirror £50. So on and so forth.

How much money would you actually save converting a standard 325i to sport spec?

you get your stuff from the wrong places m8
that is all top dollar.

[Nay]

Downside is financial, as in the "sport tax".

What Sport tax?

The money you pay for a sport over a similar nick 325i. You could buy a 325i sport copy for a lot less and have all the bits as that great word "genuine" means people will pay for it.

Also, when i said financial, sport tax is just one example. Others would be the slightly higher premium, the loss on returns from an insurance company on crashing the car, the money lost if the car is damaged and can't be claimed (ie hit by someone uninsured or hit and run incident where they dont catch the offender etc) or if it gets nailed by tin worm and so on.

Some 325i's where bought with sport seats, LSD, other goodies. The only extra then is the kit and the close ratio gearbox.

[oakey]

Ok. So you've got your standard 325i, you get an lsd £250-300, then a close ratio Gbox £150-200, then black headlining £50?, then mtech kit- £350-£550, then M-tech suspension £100+, then Mtech steering wheel, 15" BBS, Sports interior £175-£500, maplight mirror £50. So on and so forth.

How much money would you actually save converting a standard 325i to sport spec?

you get your stuff from the wrong places m8
that is all top dollar.

They're rough prices that your average jo may pay. But remember you would want to buy low mileage, good condition parts which will cost more than tatty old bits.
Could you get an lsd for less then £250? or a set of sport seats for less than £175?

[oakey]

Anyway, my advice is buy a tech1 then there is very little sport tax and you still have a "sport"

[jbh]

Some 325i's where bought with sport seats, LSD, other goodies. The only extra then is the kit and the close ratio gearbox.

not exactly just the kit and gearbox there's more to it than that.. m tech suspension. black roof lining, sport mirror it could go on and on cheapest way of doing it would be to have a sport that's a rot box and you could strip all the parts from it but not every one has that luxury..

[magpie]

Anyway, my advice is buy a tech1 then there is very little sport tax and you still have a "sport"

m8 i have full car lined up with lsd fitted for £300 yeah a full car..
if you want the diff it's £300

[jbh]

Anyway, my advice is buy a tech1 then there is very little sport tax and you still have a "sport"

and in my eyes the better car but then its the old story you might end out paying more on welding... I've broke 3 tech 1s that have been rot boxes I've got my dolphin grey one that needs very little welding and for what i paid for it i cant argue but then it had more oil lying underneath it than in the original lump but i had my own engine sitting and can do the work my self so i was on to a winner

[oakey]

Anyway, my advice is buy a tech1 then there is very little sport tax and you still have a "sport"

m8 i have full car lined up with lsd fitted for £300 yeah a full car..
if you want the diff it's £300

I'll give you £350.....

[jbh]

m8 i have full car lined up with lsd fitted for £300 yeah a full car..
if you want the diff it's £300

and thats exactly what happens ive been there aswell and i paid a lot less than that for my current sport

[Nay]

Ok. So you've got your standard 325i, you get an lsd £250-300, then a close ratio Gbox £150-200, then black headlining £50?, then mtech kit- £350-£550, then M-tech suspension £100+, then Mtech steering wheel, 15" BBS, Sports interior £175-£500, maplight mirror £50. So on and so forth.

How much money would you actually save converting a standard 325i to sport spec?

you get your stuff from the wrong places m8
that is all top dollar.

Exactly. CRGBox £100, headlining £50, Mtech2 <£400 (Mtech1 even less), Suspension... even most sports have uprated suspension fitted, which is the same as what a normal 325i owner might buy, 15" BBS £100 (or soooo many 325i have them anyway), i have a sports interior in my 325i, My map light cost me £15.

600-700 quid will get you essential sports goodies. 600-700 quid would get you an old non runner spares/repairs sport anyway. Take it from one of them. Getting a kit resprayed... do it yourself. It can go on and on.

If we're talking about better cars, and for driving (fast/track) then you could compare something like the Ultima GTR 540vs. the Ulitma GTR 720. Just becase they have nearly 200bhp difference doesn't make on better, just faster.

As for driving, i'd rather spend my money making a 325i a nice car with a Z3 steering rack, 2.8 conversion, uprated suspension or brakes rather than forking out for a body kit. and spending a good grand in the right areas could make any 325i better than a sport. Then sport owners would have to spend the same to match it anyway, defeating the wholesome ideal of a better car and the word "genuine" would no longer apply. Why buy a sport to have a "better" car when it can easly be beaten? Unless your only forking out a few grand so you have a bodykit.

[Geeman]

blah blah blah...

The 325i Sport is a better car than a standard 325i. You've already said it.

[Jon_Bmw]

LABOUR. 3k sport or a 2.5k SE once its ALL to the same spec as a sport. Hmm hard choice. Also one will be worth something once it comes to sale time the other involves lots of grovelling.

Me - I'd buy a e39 540i manual touring.

[Morat]

NOT biting!

[oakey]

£6-700 quid's worth of sport goodies would give you a turd of a sport look-alike. Almost guaranteed!

Think into it more, honestly guys.

[jbh]

blah blah blah...

The 325i Sport is a better car than a standard 325i. You've already said it.

lets face it put a standard 325i sitting next to a standard 325i sport both in the same condition the sport is the better car and i think that's why the non sport owners have turned this into the turn a standard 325i into a 325i sport argument... and now we have the yea but i could spend thousands on engine and suspension upgrades on a standard 325i and it will be better than the sport.... totally off topic but that's why we love the zone..

[Jhonno]

It's always the same types..

Standard Sport > Standard 325i end of.

[capri_rob]

This thread must be near by now.......

[jbh]

This thread must be near by now.......

theres been no personal digs as of yet so give it time ... should be good for another page or so yet

plus ive just started my second bag of popcorn

[capri_rob]

This thread must be near by now.......

theres been no personal digs as of yet so give it time ... should be good for another page or so yet

plus ive just started my second bag of popcorn

I'm on the Texas BBQ Pringles

[Ziggy]

Pretty much all been said really hasn't it? A standard sport is clearly better than a standard 'normal' 325i. Whether they're worth it or not is another question entirely & the cost of building a sport replica is pretty much irrelevant IMO. Someone who would upgrade to exact sport specification (rather than further uprating suspension etc) is very likely to be the kind of buyer who would only want a 'real' sport anyway...

A 2.7 alpina is hardly the most economical way of getting an E30 to drive to that standard - does that mean they aren't worth a premium?



(oh, and waaay off topic; Giles, if you happen across any doorcards down South along with the rest of an interior, I'm after some 'rado front seats! )