Why A E30

[clipper]

Because it was given to me for free !

Now I don't really need it but can't sell it, due to the reasons stated by most of the above

[harry_p]

a bloke i know was selling at the right time at the right price so i bought it on a whim having done no research

[SHAKEELE30]

Well it all started with this, i never had any idea about what e30s are or what they are like. One day i decided to get a car which was worth more than £200, which at the time i had a vauxhall cavalier(i think they are extinct now).

So my brother found me this below, and thougth we go and look at it, it was in manchester, so got there, looked around it, brother took it for a drive, (didnt even get to drive it, even tho it was for me ) ended up buying it.

So got in, and started tp drive it back, as it was my was proper car, drove it all slowly and calmly doing motoroway speed, but then started to about 90ish too keep upto my mate, and ended up getting pulled over, arrested and getting points for speeding.


Thanks to my very 1st e30, after driving it for a while locally the car seemed amazing, but since it was my 1st e30 didnt know what they were supposed to be like.

It toook me 2 weeks to polish this, twice each panel over the 2 weeks, and keep it in the garage after polishing each panel, this was the end result, as it was a creamy whitey colour to start off with as the guy never hardly drove it, and he was the 1 owner from new, and i was the 2nd.

Now after driving other e30s after this got written off thanks to a fuking bus driver, driving into the back of it. i was surprised how good this one was, it was totally awesome to drive, every gear pulled as it was meant to,no other issues like e30 do have that ive learnt now.

After that i was hooked, ever since thats all ive had, its been like nearly 10years now, nothing else but e30's, oh and like a few people have said, id rather drive theese than most other new cars.

Recently i started to look around for a new car upto around 7-8k, couldnt find any other bm that was worth paying that much, as i was looking for a car thats different and not every other person has, ie: e46s, 330ci's etc, and something that stood out.

Couldnt find anything, so ended up looking into the audi scene and ended up buying my 1st audi, which was an avant in the rare colour- nogaro blue with matching interior, 2.7 bi-turbo as well, a very nice car imo, but now want the rs4, but cant afford it atm

ill stop waffling on now, too early in the morning for me.

[capri_rob]

My Cousin had a 318i brand new ( G Reg ) which I quite liked ( I was about 15 at the time ) - certainly compared to my Dads C Reg Escort 1.3 Laser it felt like a Rolls Royce.

Didn't really think about E30's again until about 5 Years later having during that time passed my test, Started with a Mk1 Golf, then The Capri Obsession ( still there ) the a Mk1 Astra and then a Mk2 Cavalier SRi.

Then took a new job where I got on really well with both company directors who had top end BMW's - an E34 535i Sport and a 735i - which prompted me to look at the E30.

Insurance at the time was an issue - anything over 2.0l would have been too much to insure.

They told me that if I was going to buy a 4 cylinder car that I may as well save my money and buy a 2.0l Sierra or something similar - but if I wanted a BMW the 6 Cylinders were in a completely different class ( sorry 4-pot guys not looking to re-start the age old debate but I still think they were right )

I followed their advice, test drove an expensive 318i which was mint ( £3500 for a C Reg Chromie 318i anyone ) and then tested a couple of ropey 320i's which despite being in poorer condition were completely different to drive.

Then I found the one I wanted 320i 2 Door Manual in Alpine White, lowered with Golf GTi 15" BBS, tech 1 steering wheel with He-man steering & windows and no central locking.

Although I've dabbled with other cars since I keep coming back to 6 pot BMW's - I can't see that changing anytime soon

[rh306]

..the last good looking BMW, a lot less trouble than a 2002 or E21 and a lot less to insure than a 911.

[olistox]

I bought mine recently and fulfilled a long dream to own one.
Very happy with it, looks great, handles well, good economy and prestige.
Still outshines so many cars made in the last twenty years by far.
Cheers

[A18RPF]

just went to see one on a whim really, like the way it looked and felt...
btw, didnt kane drive a mustang 5.0 in menace II society?

[djk]

..the last good looking BMW, a lot less trouble than a 2002 or E21 and a lot less to insure than a 911.

This must sum it up for a lot of people - very much my feelings with a rational head on!

My late grandfather always had BMs, e24 628CSi, E23 728i, various others before I can remember, but the last, bought when he retired, was an E-reg e30 318i (still owned by my aunt). But I always liked e30s - 'in-period' my Dad had a succession of company cars of varying levels of rubbishness due to his company's noble policy of only supplying UK built models. An e30 was something to hanker after. I also think they have aged exceptionally well, perhaps because they already looked a bit old-fashioned in the 80s as 'jellymould' sierras etc came on stream. I've always though an e30 is conceptually like a mkV cortina, just better executed in every facet of design. Finding myself in my mid 20s and after a depreciation proof car, my thoughts turned immediately to e30s. A quick search on ebay and the brownie in my sig was purchased unseen and I very quickly fell in love with it. TBH, it isn't much of a driver's car in its standard configuration, but it just feels so, so, solid, and its provenance is excellent - 1-lady owner, 70k miles and a history file the like of which I had never seen, indeed, it had a specialist service shortly before I bought it totalling almost double what I paid for the car! I've had 3 others alongside it since, just to play with, as the brownie has needed very little tinkering - not what I expected from an old car! They are pretty good to work on for a novice like me, and the parts availability, new and used, takes so much hassle out of the process. I won't be selling it - it owes me so little that I don't think I'd ever need to, and I can always have other vehicles for getting something different in a driving experience, hence my current hairdresser spec Mk1 MX-5.

Just a shame it wasn't a 2-door 325i SE really!

[StuBeeDoo]

I had been a BMW fan since the late '60's (age about 10).
Later on, a guy who lived over the road had an A-plate E30 323i and I remember thinking "I'd love one of those" but doubted I'd ever afford it.
Fast-forward to the begining of 2004, and we needed an estate car. It had to be RWD and it had to have 6 cylinders. I had been looking at Mercs, having failed to find a decent Sierra V6 or Omega V6. Then an E30 passed me on the road one day and I remembered the touring version.

[oakey]

I wanted a fast rwd car and the only cars I could afford that fitted the bill were e30 325i's and e28 535i's. Went for the e30 as it was the smaller of the two and now I'll always have one. No interesting story for me

[BadMoonRising]

Wanted an older classic car. To tinker with and tart up. Really wanted a 60s Mustang. Couldn't justify having 8k-20k tied up in a weekend car. Also wanted a convertible that wasn't to cramped like an MX5.

£1200 and a black 320 cab

[Cook318IS]

The first car i had even been in was a black e30 my dad had a 318 carb when i was born, after a few crap cars he bought 2-3 year old e34 which we've owned since then! Been brought up mainly on a 24v noise!

About 3 years ago my boss was selling his 318iS, he said why didn't i go for a test drive? I was n't even that interested in a bmw thinking that the insurance would be stupid and wanting a mk4 golf. Couldnt believe how well the car drove and i got a very good insurance quote ... my first e30 i bought!

Hooked on them now... got my very own 24v e30 and even doing ICT projects for keyskills (:roll:)on building the car and basing my college project on the 24valver too . Sad or what

[Ranchero]

The BMW 3 series is, allegedly, the 18th best-selling car of all time. What does that mean? Lots of available second-hand parts to be scavenged, albeit much of it corroded to f**k. I can`t think of another car that has the style, fun, and importantly in my case, the sheer affordability in its class. Cheap insurance and classic German engineering only add to the plus points.
What`s not to like.

[gareth]

and it's right wheel drive.

really, mine is rear wheel drive
i imagine right wheel drive would result in serous torque steer!

So, when my 1968 Triumph Vitesse MKII started becoming too flaky, I p-ex'd it for a 1984 320i Moredoor.

so your vitesse lasted until at least 1984 (if you were rich) before getting flakey? well done

for me, i was priced out of MK1 / MK2 escorts and needed something that would work every day as well as being suitable old and quirky. oh, and RWD was a must.

[Speedtouch]

So, when my 1968 Triumph Vitesse MKII started becoming too flaky, I p-ex'd it for a 1984 320i Moredoor.

so your vitesse lasted until at least 1984 (if you were rich) before getting flakey? well done

The Vitesse was purchased at auction and ran as a running restoration for a few years. Not a bad bit of quirky fun, but despite it being a saloon version, it suffered chronic water ingress into the footwells, and the Rotoflex joints were falling apart, so in 1994, I traded it in for the nearest equivalent 2-litre straight six i could find, the 320i (I wasn't rich: it was a 10 year old mileagey turd from an Essex used car lot). When I went to collect the BM, the car dealer informed me that the brakes had just failed on the Triumph

[beemerbird]

My ex working partner and I needed some kind of 'works van', so having discussed this with the other lads on the site where we were working, my money was spent on the 325iSE I still own nearly ten years on.

It's amazing how much stuff an E30 boot will hold when you put your mind to it

[baptie0]

When i was a small child my friends dad had a 325i, it was the best looking car i had ever seen!

we went to see the stock cars in it one time, i remember it feeling very quick & the noise it made was brilliant, i always loved the e30 after being in that car.

[chris_335]

there must be more out there
what do you like about your e30 and what do you want from it

[scottp1908]

Cos it was FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....

and the fact I had always admired it for the last 8 years on the customers drive way (till it failed its MOT fairly badly, and small talk led to him giving me it!!)

[Brianmoooore]

My first E30 appeared in the middle of the night, around sixteen years ago.
Workshop was empty when I went to bed - in the morning, my father looked in and said that I'd better go and have a look in it - in the middle of the floor was a black 316!

[lee-cab]

It was either an E30 cabrio or E36 cabrio.

The E30 cabrio has retro charm, looks great and is a classic. The E36 cabrio is just an 'old' car.

I second that....except I'm still looking for the right one for sensible money, tomorrow could be the day, fingers crossed....

[barrett103]

my dad had a couple e30s and an e28. and i love the boxiness with the round lights! plus they are rwd

[georgen]

My E30 obsesion stemed from my E21 obsession !!

When I was 16, a friend of mine bought an E21 323i. He took me for a spin in it and I was amazed at the performance and sound. Purchased my first E21 at 19, and moved onto E30's from there.

What do I like about my E30 ? Well it's cool, retro, easy to work on, quick for an old motor, RWD, reliable, sounds great and there's nothing else like it where I live. I just love driving it and feel like I'll always have one in one form or another.

[jbh]

my first bmw was an e21 323 which was rear ended in Edinburgh and got wrote off. i went looking for another e21 323 and came home with a e30 325i.. after that i just couldnt resist them.. like others on here i went through my ford stage and if funds would allow i would have a mk1 or mk2 escort 2 door in a heart beat. but i wouldnt give up my sport to own one..

[snakebrain]

We're a BMW family. Dad's got an E39 520 atm, bro's have had a succession of BMWs, including an E34 M5 and countless others. (Mum's got an Alfa atm, never again....)

I'm 28 now - the E30 was the coolest car ever when I was a kiddie. Now, they're cheap as chips, easy to work on and insure, they still look amazingly cool - Bauhaus chic and all that - and they're German, when you get down to it...

French wine, Italian food, English shoes and German cars....the good things in life!!