E30 Zone

I've never actully owned an E30 through the winter my Red one get written off just before winter by some muppet in a Q7 and i've not owned my current one long enough.

My old E36 325 used to be a right bastard in the snow and ice even with traction control on and would often sit on hills and refuse to go any where leaving the rear wheels spinning, and the ABS took an age to stop the car on ice and seeing as my E30 has neither traction or ABS im not sure if its gonna be worse or better!

If the E30's gonna be just as bad i'm, tempted to buy one of those shitty suzuki SJ's or a vitara just to get me past the winter and i suppose it would be good to keep the salt off the E30 anyways

Discuss...............

The back ends can be very lairy in damp/icy weather, as mine proved to me back in February

Torrential rain + ice + mud draining off field onto inner lane of dual carriageway =

bloody hell were you going in a stright line when that happened? what about hill starts and pulling out of junctions when the snow or ice is on the road, i sometimes have to leave work at like 5am which will probably be before the gritters come out to play so i'm not looking forward to that!

pac1982 wrote:bloody hell were you going in a stright line when that happened? what about hill starts and pulling out of junctions when the snow or ice is on the road, i sometimes have to leave work at like 5am which will probably be before the gritters come out to play so i'm not looking forward to that!

Just following a downhill bend, hit a large lake of standing water/mud/ice at around 70mph, next second I'm thrown into the central reservation crash barrier That's on a 325i Sport with LSD. I've successfully piloted the tamer 320i models through a few winters without incident though!

I can easily go sideways out of junctions by planting the throttle pedel quickly at this time of year

just take it easy on the corners

thing is i'm not just worried about my winter driving skills i'm worried about muppets not being able to brake in time when coming up behind me

My IS has an LSD as well not sure how much help it will be though think i'm gonna keep my eyes peeled for a winter shitter i am being drawn towards old jettas and MK2 & 3 golfs as well

I've spun all of my e30's in the winter from not respecting the throttle enough or changing down and turning like a right amature tool behind the wheel. End of the day just drive sensable and don't try and boot it in slow speed corners or roundabouts and it should be tame most of the time.

Alex wrote:I can easily go sideways out of junctions by planting the throttle pedel quickly at this time of year

just take it easy on the corners

Its not really the corners that i'm bothered about you take for granted that a RWD is gonna be a bit larey in the winter on the bends just dont want to get stuck on hills or take ages to pull out of junctions like my in my E36

the problem doesn't lie with the E30 but the driver. I learn't by hitting a tree on Christmas day in 2001 in my e30 318i with a severe running out of talent moment. Never had a problem since! Just stick to the RWD rules, no booting it out of corners, lifting off etc unless your talented

you turn traction off in the snow as it cuts the power and you don't go anywhere., f**king useless. Was the only way to get my ladys Z3 out of our road last year was me driving it sideways up the road until i got it to salted tarmac!

E30 heaters are the awsome come winter nothing can touch them!

I seem to remember a good picture of PYF stuck in some snow Si

Simon13 wrote:
you turn traction off in the snow as it cuts the power and you don't go anywhere., f**king useless. Was the only way to get my ladys Z3 out of our road last year was me driving it sideways up the road until i got it to salted tarmac!

E30 heaters are the awsome come winter nothing can touch them!

Thats what i'm saying my E36 just didnt want to move in the snow and ice would rather go in a circle than a stright line tried changing in to higher gears, traction off traction on but i wasnt having any of it

if you have wide wheels your fooked on even the mildest slope in snow. 205 wide toyo tyres and i was being overtaken by old women in 1 litre saxos . my touring couldnt get up a slight incline nessesitating an embarrasing u turn and the long route around..

fuzzy wrote:if you have wide wheels your fooked on even the mildest slope in snow. 205 wide toyo tyres and i was being overtaken by old women in 1 litre saxos . my touring couldnt get up a slight incline nessesitating an embarrasing u turn and the long route around..

Hmmm prehaps i'll run on 4 space savers this winter

just dont let your friends drive your car when it snows. Mine came back in about 20,000 bits

d6dph wrote:I seem to remember a good picture of PYF stuck in some snow Si

f**king open diff innit, useless things. Twas the moment i realised i needed an LSD!

E30's aren't the best RWD car in the snow - I've had 2 that I used as dailys during the winter - you need to be very gentle with the throttle or it will swap ends on you very quickly.
I think getting stuck on hills and struggling to get out of junctions just goes with the territory in the snow with RWD cars - doesn't matter what it is.

i've never wanted an E30 IX so much lol

540i should be fun this year. About a 'billyon' torques from 1200rpm, traction control, ABS, open diff and 235 wide tyres.

Anyway, it doesn't snow until February down South.

The soarer is a pain in the snow, big torquey V8 and auto too just to add to the lack of control when trying to pull off and fat 265 tyres on the back.

E30's are just hopeless in the snow, end of.

FWD and skinny tyres are the best, but don't think that's an excuse to buy anything French

last winter in my e36 316i i got everywhere in the snow but it had 175 or so tyres on it and low power. Best RWD car i've driven in the snow, no driving aids ABS etc on it

Most e30s will have seen 20 winters so far in their lifetime, no reason why the majority won't make it through the next one.

If you have the spare cash, a set of 14in wheels and proper winter tyres will make a massive difference to how it behaves in cold conditions.

i cant drive in heavy rain never mind the winter, my heater has also been sticking and whistling recently

harry_p wrote:Most e30s will have seen 20 winters so far in their lifetime, no reason why the majority won't make it through the next one.

If you have the spare cash, a set of 14in wheels and proper winter tyres will make a massive difference to how it behaves in cold conditions.

I suppose that would be cheaper than buying a second car but i do really want a jetta for some reason at the mo

so really you want a new car and are thinking of lame reasons to buy one?!

Simon13 wrote:so really you want a new car and are thinking of lame reasons to buy one?!

No i am honestly worried about getting my E30 salty or dented in the winter but i have been hankering after a another car as well so what better reason could you want.

Plus it helps to explain to the Mrs why i need a second car

Winter minters are the way forward. As much as I worry about my ability to drive properly in the e30 during winter, I worry about the spacktard that drives as though it's a bone dry sunny day.

Last winter i had a fiat PANDA 750cc for a while, that was awesome fun in the snow/ice, embarrassed a fair few very expensive/powerful cars trying to get up the lane to where i worked. Ultra skinny tyres and hairdryer power!!

what is a soarer? excuse me please

d6dph wrote:Winter minters are the way forward. As much as I worry about my ability to drive properly in the e30 during winter, I worry about the spacktard that drives as though it's a bone dry sunny day.

Winter minters?? never heard that before do you mean cars that get driven in the winter and minted up in the summer months or the other way around??

Thats my other main concern as well some muppet failing to stop and smashing in to the back of you at 30mph

magpie wrote:what is a soarer? excuse me please

Toyota/lexus barge with a huge engine and twin turbos

google is your friend type in lexus soarer and you'll see, i;d rather have a 300zx though

Winter minter is how me and my mates describe a winter snotbox that you have bought to protect your "good" car.

Mine is a hideous Mk2 golf

This was the wife's handywork on the soarer 3 months after we got it, greasy roundabout and a heavy right foot

There seems to be a strange attraction to Lamposts in your household Lee.
You were,nt Spaniel,s in a previous incarnation, were you

gooner1 wrote:There seems to be a strange attraction to Lamposts in your household Lee.
You were,nt Spaniel,s in a previous incarnation, were you

winter where I live gets pretty harsh ! there are no grit spreaders, they can't down the lane

here's my tourer last year it was stuck there for 2 weeks, i lost control in a field after having a bit of fun! ..



one of my others ,an auto never moves in the snow ! I darent's risk it