E30 Zone

After being in the 325i Touring (& 1st E30) for three years; it's now come the time to part from it. Although I love the torque, speed, handling, you guys, the looks - not always in that order

Now I'm doing 80+miles a day & since it's the main vehicle the wallet is lighter & lighter each month. It's got 12 weeks left - I've been offered £2500 off a new car (through the scrappage scheme).

It's got a few nice toys & trim pieces on it (15" BBS, 12 button OBC, black visors, full leather comfort, tech 1 wheel, m-strip gear & gaiter, working headlight washers, etc.) It'll be a shame for those hard to find parts to be wiped off the earth.

Not sure if this is the right place, but I thought If peeps wanted to swap out their four spoke wheel or steelies or cloth trim - then I'm open to PM's

I don't know many of you by person, but I've been lurking on here even before the purchase or Phillipa (girlfriend named it) & have got to know & love the banter. Who knows, in 5, 7, 10, 15 years time I'll find a mint South African SE & import it

The scrappage farce claims another victim

Do yourself a big favour, shop around for your chosen new chariot, it's a good bet that you will be able to find it for a very similar price, if not better without sending what sounds like a perfectly serviceable car to a premature end.


IMO the scrappage scheme is the biggest load of manure I’ve heard for some time... Sorry, excuse the mild rant, it makes my piss boil

how about selling your e30 or breaking it and buying a dealer registered nearly new car instead? how much would you save that way? the scrappage scheme wont even cover the amount youll lose in depreciation as soon you leave the showroom.

Stonesie; no offence taken on the route I've taken. I have to admit defeat in the running costs. New car is a Grande Punto 1.3d

insurance is less than a third of what I'm paying; mpg is three times better, tax is non-existant, no MOT (for 3 years), warrantee & servicing included for 3 years.

I would 100% prefer to offer my car to someone for £2k, but no-one wants an appreciating classic especially since it should be a 2nd car to keep it in the condition it's in. What's annoying me is that it's never let me down, fantastic on the m'ways 7 I know that I'll never has the same pleasure in driving untill I've got my money sorted to get another one in the future

Fuzzy; I've seriously thought about that as an option; selling it privately or breaking it down for everyone to enjoy the bits that come off it, but I haven't got the space at home, nor the time to handle the strip down.

I'm hoping to be back in the E30 fraternity soon enough (when I've a garage & work is easier to handle)

StriderDriver wrote:What's annoying me is that it's never let me down, fantastic on the m'ways 7 I know that I'll never has the same pleasure in driving untill I've got my money sorted to get another one in the future

80 miles a day is ripe for an LPG conversion, I did my 325i for £750 all in, my 325i now does 50mpg equivalent!!! It'll only take 10,000 miles to pay it back then I'm in profit!

Either that or buy a £50 fiesta and use that for the scrappage scheme, NOT AN E30!!!

can you not just buy this Fix.It.Again.Tomorow i mean FIAT another way?

buy one 2yrs old with a bank loan, surely it would be cheaper and then you could just leave the beemer up for sale til some one buys it and that would clear half the loan.

The annoying thing is that the fiat will die in 10 yrs and the bmw will run another 20.

e301988325i wrote:

StriderDriver wrote:What's annoying me is that it's never let me down, fantastic on the m'ways 7 I know that I'll never has the same pleasure in driving untill I've got my money sorted to get another one in the future

80 miles a day is ripe for an LPG conversion, I did my 325i for £750 all in, my 325i now does 50mpg equivalent!!! It'll only take 10,000 miles to pay it back then I'm in profit!

Either that or buy a £50 fiesta and use that for the scrappage scheme, NOT AN E30!!!

i think you have to have owned the car for at least a year.

I have also toyed with the idea of an LPG. I don't know which end of the spanner works in the phillips screw-head thingy, so it'll have to be done by a pro (which costs more than the ones found after 10pm).

Best quote i found was £1500 for 6 cylinders & a tank in the boot!!!

I'm doing, on average, 28mpg for each tank of combined driving for 80miles per day + 100 weekend = £2100-ish in petrol a year at £1p/l.

If gas = £0.60. Then = £1268 in gas alone, so 14 months to break even. actually that doesn't sound so bad

LPG it, keep the E30.

What's better than having a damn cool appreciating classic that's still cheap as chips to run and a darn sight more interesting than a 1.3 Fiat?

So in 14 months time, your E30 will be worth more than it is now, be as cheap to run as the FIAT, and with a much lower initial outlay than buying a new car, go on you know you want to!!

if it financially makes sense for you then do so. Not like it's an M3 or such like. You appear to be set on buying this fiat thing..

or on the other hand, say punto thing costs 5k, so that 2.5k+ maybe 1k for your e30, technically 3.5k, I picked up an 02 plate golf for that which is
a) German and well built b) just flown through an MOT c) has loads of creature comforts and d) does 50mpg all day long.

How much will you be paying per month for your Grande No-Grunto and for how long?
I ask because what you save in fuel will be lost in depreciation.

You have to remember that the scrappage scheme was deisigned to promote demand and save the motor industry. It was definitely NOT intended to help the general public. Hell, where does the £1k "government money" come from? Yep, taxes.

StuBeeDoo wrote:Surely someone locally could help you DIY-fit LPG.
I was scared of doing mine, but with patience I did everything except for run the feed pipe under the car. I used all new parts and it cost me about £700.
I do roughly similar annual mileage to you and my system paid for itself in about 9 months IIRC.

I installed all of mine, though doing the pipe under the car on ramps and axle stands wasn't fun. . . Most of the work can be done bit by bit, leaving the car fully functional. . .

LPG forum
www.my90.co.uk/lpg/

In my opinion, the best internet lpg shop
www.tinleytech.co.uk/

edit - I'm only 50 miles away or so, get a leonardo system and I can help, in person if you get stuck. . .

my mate just phoned me tonight about his punto, under 30000 miles on the clock and it needs a new steering column at around £450 for the part only

You will miss the E30.

And LPG at 43.9p, not 60p makes it even quicker to break even. You don't even pay 60p at motorway service stations.

Best bit is you just know your peeing off politions and tree hugers by keeping your e30. Also is it right that our road tax is frozen and will not invrease like modern big cars?

That's right we will only ever have to pay £185. All very good points from everyone & I really want to keep Phillipa, just wish I had a garage, unlimited time & budget to bring it to better than factory spec

LPG it! don't even think about anything else!

People I've talked to about it are stunned at the mileage I get for £10 of gas - this includes owners of fiestas, pugs...all the econoboxes...it really isn't that diffcult to install and there are so many of us here with the conversion!

the touring is a proper workhorse, mine hasn't failed me yet (I'm not including the times I've been a numpty and drained the battery)... if ever you need to carry people/stuff that punto isn't going to help you...

Also , a touring has the room to have a descrite lpg tank too. Also the areo propities of the touring with long distance driving is actually very very good.

You can do services yourself , on your new car if you did it would be worth about 2p over the 5p in 3 years time. Also the comfort of a BMW interier be it comfort or sports is a zillion times better than some itallian rust bucket.

Also what the betting in 4 year time when it will need it's 1st MOT the bloody thing needs more parts and work than what it would cost for you to run your touring for the same time and possibly would do twice the milage!

Best bit , on a Sunday when you slightly hung over where is the pride in washing your euro box turd. There is nothing better than some quality time with your e30.

sad sad sad alot of really good classics are going to be crushed only to be replaced by tin cans..

Fiat Grande Punto 1.3d in place of a 325 touring? This has to be a wind up!!

The economics of this are totally out to lunch. It simply does not make financial sense to scrap a usable car in order to get money off list price for a new car - A quick internet search will have you in a new car on a cash basis for a comparable price without having to throw away your present vehicle. Try autobytel etc.

I was a bit wound up lastnight and forgot to mention LPG, with some Ebay trauling and a new leonardo I managed to get a complete kit for about £350

Complete LPG kit from a 2.0 audi A6 £100, it was the old powr valve type

New leonardo £150

Odds and sods £100, pipework, filler, cheepy cheap Ebay special laptop (dell - £30)


Coppys of the safety requirements are available online or on here and it's all basic common sense like don't have a vent or gas line running too near the exhaust ect.

The hardest part is fitting the lambda sensor, I bought a boss for it and took the front pipe to a local garage, they charged £5 to cut a hole where I wanted it and weld the boss in, easy.

DO IT!!!

StuBeeDoo wrote:I do roughly similar annual mileage to you and my system paid for itself in about 9 months IIRC.

..... And as a matter of interest, my Touring on LPG is cheaper to run than my 1.3 Fiesta. (Ok, so the Fiat in question here would probably be cheaper to run than the Fiesta.....)

Keep the E30 and do as everyone says. Dealers are so keen to sell new motors they'll give you the 2k discount without a P/ex if you shop around!

I really do appreciate ya'll persuading me to keep the beast - truly mean that (..hug..)

I've had a fantastic time in it, just last weekend spending time in silverstone & taking the long way home to play on the twisties. Trip to Newquay, filling the car full of camping luxuries (gazebo, wood-burning stove, table, chairs, etc), Santa-pod & watching diffs go pop (soz)

I would prefer to offer Phillipa to anyone who wants to keep it for £1700-ish, but in this money situation I'm in; I'm not able to spend the money on her - like a mop/polish. referbing the BBS, wax-seal, roof-lining, touching up the little rust wrinkles they get at this age.

If someone had the time and space then they could get there money back by stripping her down, selling the parts (shell is probably 100%) as been garaged all her life until I bought her. I'll still be happy if someone took that route rather then sending her, in little pieces, to china. Or keep it so I can beg & plead 7 beg some more in a few years to buy it back off them.

I haven't the space to SORN her under a cover & get a £200 banger until the market picks up

(btw: I'm getting the fiat 'cos g'friend is putting half money towards it so I can get to work & back)

If I can get a reputable person to help source, fit & tune an LPG system with all the gubbins I need spare-wheel tank, filler-nozzle, switches, etc (I've honestly no idea what is needed nor have any no-how on fitting) I MIGHT be able to convince financial support for the one that make decisions to go half's on it (max £1000 in total).

If so, then I'll be the happiest bunny this side of easter

http://www.tinleytech.co.uk/lpgprices.html

You want the single point closed loop induction system £632 + £69 for wheel well toroidal tank. . . Give them a ring 01954 719002 and ask for local fitters,

Or try www.drivelpg.co.uk

I'm still trying to work out why you think the Fiat will be cheaper.

Felix79 wrote:Best bit is you just know your peeing off politions and tree hugers by keeping your e30.

Actually you will please the greenies as it is more green to run an older car..

A car produces 75% of its lifetime pollution in manufacture

Even the motor industry magazine calls the scrappage scheme a 'Monsterous betrayal of quality cars'

Morat wrote:I'm still trying to work out why you think the Fiat will be cheaper.

Exactly it will depreciate massively, killing ANY savings you think you might be getting

Jhonno wrote:

Morat wrote:I'm still trying to work out why you think the Fiat will be cheaper.

Exactly it will depreciate massively, killing ANY savings you think you might be getting

The 'one that makes decisions' is paying for half the monthly payments for the new car as she refuses to drive the E30 (scared of the power and dinging it).

If I can convise her to to take the driving seat, with the saving on LPG then I might be in with a chance