E30 Zone

Newbie on the block here

just looking at cars for my new toy, and looking through ive noticed that a 316i Touring would be possible.. my word im so excited by the possibility of owning one

is there anything i should know before i start looking and what i should be looking for if i plan on going to check out a couple of cars?

and any standard things that would need changing once i was to buy it to make it better for myself?

Any help much appreciated

Dave

Welcome!

The touring's a good choice, but don't expect it to be either quick or particularly economical.

Check it all over for rust - especially the ends of the scuttle panel (behind the battery and fuse box), the sunroof panel and the roof skin around the sunroof apature, and the rear lower panel below the tow-eye.

and any standard things that would need changing once i was to buy it to make it better for myself?

My advice on this would be to have a good look around here and get a feel for what other people have done to see what floats your boat.

HTH
Stuart.

Welcome to the zone fella.
Rust is the major thing - make sure that you check the entire body, with special attention to be paid to all the arches, scuttle, sills, boot lid etc. I'd make sure that you check under the hood especially the battery tray, fuse box and surrounding areas.
If you have no experience of this, make sure you take someone along with you if you can.
All of the rest - Interior, engine etc would be generic for all cars - get a good check list off the t'interweb and follow it to the letter.

Now that you know this, and have asked about what you should change, await the miriad people telling you to "drop a 2.5 lump in it"..........

Just buy a copy of Total BMW due out tomorrow, theres an E30 buying guide in there.

cheers for the advice :

And Total BMW will be bought 2moro, i thought that it might have something like that for buying cars

and i know it wont have the performance, but my word i think just lowered a little with a nice set of rims then this car could look amazing , any decnt picture on here of tourers that have been done nicely?

TPS wrote:Just buy a copy of Total BMW due out tomorrow, theres an E30 buying guide in there.

yeh, it's my car

looks smart man what does this lux mean? and whther i should be looking at a manual or if the automatic as good? what kind of mileage do you get? although its a 318 lol

my word! get one bought!

Where abouts you from fella? i spotted an L plate 316 in machalite green in preston today, sat on bbs's. One flat rear & covered in dust, but looked extremely good condition, very straight panels! i was gunna leave a card on the windscreen with my number, kicking myself a little now..........
would make a nice project car! can't be many out there on an L

weverall wrote:looks smart man what does this lux mean? and whther i should be looking at a manual or if the automatic as good? what kind of mileage do you get? although its a 318 lol

I'd go for a manual on a 316/318, think the auto goes better with the 325.

As for Lux, mine has elec front windows/sunroof/mirrors. Front fog lights and 15" BBS apart from that not sure as you could pretty much spec what you wanted from the dealer.

As for mileage, expect around 28-30mpg

im from around cambridge way fella but that car sounds lovely, id need so,ething i can drive straight away as i need it for college.

The LUX model sounds like the better deal i suspect then? im going to look around after ive sold my dads car.. a 2.2 Omega... a barge of a thing

Cheers for the advice, once i get things sorted be sure to hear from me again asking questions that im sure you've answered many a time lol

Cheers for the advice Guys


Dave

weverall wrote:im from around cambridge way fella but that car sounds lovely, id need so,ething i can drive straight away as i need it for college.

The LUX model sounds like the better deal i suspect then? im going to look around after ive sold my dads car.. a 2.2 Omega... a barge of a thing

Cheers for the advice, once i get things sorted be sure to hear from me again asking questions that im sure you've answered many a time lol

Cheers for the advice Guys


Dave

Your welcome Dave, and don't worry about asking as many questions as you need answers to. There are plenty of guys on here to help.

Good luck with the search, looking forward to seeing some pics.

You won't go wrong with a touring, just make sure you take you time & check it out properly.

i didnt think they rusted anything like the "others"

Weren't they galvanised as well????

Check your bushes. I wish I had .

As with any other older car your number one concern should be to get as rust free shell as possible seeing how the oily bits are cheap to sort when compared with sorting terminal rust!

Tail gates are a major rust spot, mine is completely shot but it doesn't worry me too much, it's not terminal and could be replaced easily. It's the sunroof, sills, scuttle, battery tray and the like you have to worry about! I think you'll struggle finding a completely rust free example, I did and ended up with one with a bit of bubbling on the arches, but you've got to make compromises!

weverall wrote: any decent picture on here of tourers that have been done nicely?

GC318's motor is top notch which is why used in the buying feature in TBMW magazine.
Some think my touring is ok

weverall wrote: The LUX model sounds like the better deal i suspect then?

Don't worry so much about spec. Buy the best condition you can find, you can always pick up the extras you need. Might take a bit of searching but getting the base right is paramount.