i want a E30

[wilwil_uk]

hi everyone ive just registered and i have never owned one bmw before, i'm thinking to buy one e30 but i have only Ԛ£800 to spend or i will have to sell my current car. would it be possible to find a nice one with histories, 2 doors, black or grey, within my Ԛ£800 budget?

and i would also like to ask if it would cost much to maintain an e30 as i think its kind of old now. i dont think i can afford to fix something every month to keep it on the road if u see wat i mean.

last question please, is 318i really that under power? how much differences between 318, 320 and 325? thanks very much

wil from southampton

[fowler]

hello mate
first welcome to the zone
yes you could get a resonable e30 fror that money
the answer to your question is yes they are quite cheap to mantain if you use the knowledge of the ZONE
and parts aren't to bad

[mrLEE30]

welcome to the zone mate,

i bought my first BM when i was 18, 2 door 318i in white, and when i paid the guy he said 'now you will never drive another car' and he was right, i still drive BM's now 2 E30's in my garage too. The 318i is underpowered when compared to a 325, but compared to a Nova its powerful. As you already have a car you can take your time, 800 quid will probably get you a nice 2 door 318 , and if you can go for the plastic bumpered face lift cars. Take you time and look for a nice spec with electric windows, power steering, sunroof etc. 318 engines are good for 150k+ miles if looked after. By the way look at my picture below, the 325 near to you is the pre-face lift, and the cab is the facelift model, note the rear lights are different.

Things to check - rust in the boot, open the boot and have a good look at the rear panels, remove the carpet and rear lightbulb clusters (you need no tools to do this)and have a good look around there, look in the spare wheel well, look for rust around the boot rim and near the boot hinges. look at my 325 right hand light in the bottom left side and you will see the dreaded tin worm has been at work(something i need to get round to fixing)Then get underneath it, check the sills etc. then of course the engine bay, i am always weary of a very clean engine bay as it means they probably have only cleaned it for the sell, so water will get into the electrical connections etc, better to see a clean engine bay but one that has been used, i.e. natural!

go for alloys if you can, cheapest are the bottle top 14 inch, which i find look nice if they are cleaned. If its style your after bargin down to 750 then spend the other 50 quid or so on some lowering springs and you will have a nice motor, something to build on and play with.

as for 325 and 320 they are thirsty on fuel and the 320 isn't much faster then the 318 but thirstier. but that also means that there are 320's about owned from new never thrashed and in good nick. I doubt you will pick up a decent 325 for 800 quid.

as for running costs parts are cheap and available compared to most other cars, with places like Euro car parts offering cheap non-original parts, which are usually the same thing in a different box.


let us know what you go for

mrlee

[johnono]

a dude on here just bought a 325 i se on eԚ´gay for 850! and "se" means special equipment so it had everything inside, el.every thing, air con and all the good stuff

so it can be done

[wilwil_uk]

thanks alot for all the replies i feel so warm here haha... the more i look at this car the more i love it u know. i think ill take my time and try to find a nice one with history, alloys, all the electric toy, no rust, and ideally with Sports body kit right, thanks for all the advices mates!

wil

[Adam318i]

I dont know how old your are but i was roughly in the same position as you.

I got my E30 when i was 18 and before i bought it was unsure if i should get a newer car as i dont want to be fixing it every week!

Luckily i got an excellent condition 318i, 1 old driver from new and the guy was quite old, it had done 87K.

In the year and 4months i have owned it, not ONE thing has gone wrong with it! (touch wood!)

Also i dont find it too under-powered, and is quite good on petrol thats why im keeping it for now instead of getting a 325.

Adam

[Kedge]

You might be able to be able to find a decent 318iS in your budget as well, which is a 16v version of the 318i making it a bit more powerful, and it comes with the sports suspension and sports interior. Also worth noting is that insurance will probably be very similar as well.

Good luck

[e30geezer]

a dude on here just bought a 325 i se on eԚ´gay for 850! and "se" means special equipment so it had everything inside, el.every thing, air con and all the good stuff

so it can be done

i think you may mean me jonno!!

[e30geezer]

hi everyone ive just registered and i have never owned one bmw before, i'm thinking to buy one e30 but i have only Ԛ£800 to spend or i will have to sell my current car. would it be possible to find a nice one with histories, 2 doors, black or grey, within my Ԛ£800 budget?

and i would also like to ask if it would cost much to maintain an e30 as i think its kind of old now. i dont think i can afford to fix something every month to keep it on the road if u see wat i mean.

last question please, is 318i really that under power? how much differences between 318, 320 and 325? thanks very much

wil from southampton

hi, will big welcome mate great place for everthing e30, great guys here as well, here is mine i paid Ԛ£850 ,but to be honest i was in the right place at the right time.

[e30geezer]

hi everyone ive just registered and i have never owned one bmw before, i'm thinking to buy one e30 but i have only Ԛ£800 to spend or i will have to sell my current car. would it be possible to find a nice one with histories, 2 doors, black or grey, within my Ԛ£800 budget?

and i would also like to ask if it would cost much to maintain an e30 as i think its kind of old now. i dont think i can afford to fix something every month to keep it on the road if u see wat i mean.

last question please, is 318i really that under power? how much differences between 318, 320 and 325? thanks very much

wil from southampton

here is another pic mate,

[johnono]

a dude on here just bought a 325 i se on eԚ´gay for 850! and "se" means special equipment so it had everything inside, el.every thing, air con and all the good stuff

so it can be done

i think you may mean me jonno!!

Yeppa!! i wanna 4 dr with se spec, and mtec 2 inside and out