E30 Zone

i cant decide i do love the e30 but i seem temped by a nice 325i e36 is that bad??

Nope, but sourcing a "nice" 325i could prove to be a bit of a challenge.

Take the engine out the 36 and transplant

I'd buy an E36 325i...




























for the engine

P.S - zaust: Great minds think alike...

your telling me

its the newest shape i like

bushy101 wrote:i cant decide i do love the e30 but i seem temped by a nice 325i e36 is that bad??

Great cars if a bit common. I had a 328 Sport and loved it. I would pick one over an E30 any day, except for my E30 of course

as a daily driver the e36 wins hands down

finding a nice one should b e simple enough and finding one with air con/climate and all the nice extras should be straight forward

it would be nice to have all the extras and what not, how different are they both speed wise? im guessing the e36 is a heavier car

the e36 is heavier, the m50 b25 makes more power and torque, and more economincla

i think the key thing here is that the e36 is more refined

bushy101 wrote:it would be nice to have all the extras and what not, how different are they both speed wise? im guessing the e36 is a heavier car

Heavier yes, but more powerful and far more aerodynamic. They're a completely different drive to an E30. So much more refined and not very far behind an E46 to be honest. I ran an E36 as a daily driver for 7 years/90,000 miles and it was by far the best car I've ever owned.

bushy101 wrote:i cant decide i do love the e30 but i seem temped by a nice 325i e36 is that bad??

yes, it needs to be a 328 or m3.

fuzzy wrote:

bushy101 wrote:i cant decide i do love the e30 but i seem temped by a nice 325i e36 is that bad??

yes, it needs to be a 328 or m3.

A M50 325i is far more robust than a M52 328i. Down on torque admittedly but only 1bhp less in standard form.

I had a 318is and hated it. Got an e46 now which is good for every day use, they've came down significantly in price. My heart belongs to the e30 though

but the m52 2.5 will release a genuine 10bhp with a re map and further 10bhp with he inlet manifold swop

one with regual coolant changes should have no issues. anything with a nikasil linned block thats still alive will be fine.

Dads got a E36 325i coupe and it's lovely. (Best word for it I think! )

It's got aircon, leather, great stereo, and of course - that engine, with a manual tranny.

I sat in it when he first got it after tooling around in mine, and thought "Oh joy, this is fantastic"

However, as with ALL E36's you get shocking rear visability!!!

Kos wrote:one with regual coolant changes should have no issues. anything with a nikasil linned block thats still alive will be fine.

Spot on. A proper cooling system on these is essential or its goodbye engine. So many have fell into the wrong hands now though. I'd be trying to find as original an example as possible.

The main reason I went for a late E46 coupe is that they still had enough of a value to ensure undesirables hadn't got their chav mits on it!

even e46's are falling into the wrong hands now ! well they have been for couple of years.

if i was to buy a car like an e46 e39 or anything new from the bmw worlds it MUST have full dealer history or reputable specialist. i wouldnt buy one from mike brewer or thats been looked after by eddie china !

Kos wrote:i wouldnt buy one from mike brewer or thats been looked after by eddie china !

A decent E36 is not far off behind an early high mileage type E46 price wise. I personally really like the E36. Well mine anyway cause it was modded as you'd expect, but given the choice i'd have an E46 as a daily. There was one stage when i had my E30 cab, E36 Coupe & a E46 cab. All great cars in their own merit but sooooo different to each other.

My daily at the moment is a E36 cab (Now sold to Dips but he kindly lets me use it still) and it's a great car so go for it mate

the one thing i would say about an e36 is the build quality of them can be suspect

the later ones are fine, but some of the early ones are poor as are compacts

you want an e36 328i not the early 325i models

even a 323i wich is a 2.5 is good.

Kos wrote:even a 323i wich is a 2.5 is good.

needs an m50 inlet manifold though

Alex wrote:

Kos wrote:even a 323i wich is a 2.5 is good.

needs an m50 inlet manifold though

In standard form they're OK in an E36. Not lightning quick but a pleasant cruiser. With the manifold swap and a remap they'd be in 328i territory.

The early E46 323i's really need hard work to extract anything from them though. I've always found the later 320i's (with the 2.2l M54) more driveable.

the m54 is a great engine looking at power figures, the 2.2 m54 produces around 170bhp doesnt it

then there is the 3.0

darkchild wrote:Nope, but sourcing a "nice" 325i could prove to be a bit of a challenge.

^^^

This. Unless you really luck out, they're all going to be as or more fecked by now than a well-loved E30, especially given the greater complexity of the '36.

I personally like my E30 better as a daily driver than my old E46 330ci. I trust the E30's trim to stay in place and the electronics not to eff themselves up spontaneously. And the fact that I paid £30 a tyre for my T1Rs...versus the cost of 17" SP9000s. Plus, if something starts making evil noises or not working, I will be able to actually _see_ it and fix/replace it.

It doesn't have that magic carpet ride, but it's also much better on b-roads (my commute) as it's not a fat munter like the 330. Or an E36! Not to mention, being an 80s design, you can actually see out of it in most directions. Easiest ever car to reverse park, and it's a touring.

I did rather like the E36 M3 I drove (mustard leather FTW!), but on my typical roads, it would be good only for getting the tail out at t-junctions and scary everywhere else.

In our household there is an E46 330i touring and a 325i E30 touring, I take the E46 for long motorway trips and the E30 for everything else.

bushy101 wrote:i cant decide i do love the e30 but i seem temped by a nice 325i e36 is that bad??

got e36 i might sell 325i 100k miles black high lift cam chipped no council looking shit you see all the time ??

darkchild wrote:

Alex wrote:

Kos wrote:even a 323i wich is a 2.5 is good.

needs an m50 inlet manifold though

In standard form they're OK in an E36. Not lightning quick but a pleasant cruiser. With the manifold swap and a remap they'd be in 328i territory.

The early E46 323i's really need hard work to extract anything from them though. I've always found the later 320i's (with the 2.2l M54) more driveable.

then an m52 2.8 with the 2.5 inlet re map leaves you behind

don't buy a nail! theres alot of scrap about now.

My e36 328i touring is great wouldn't start this morning as it flooded (does it all the time ), and then the battery died because its been very cold last night. F**king heap. So guess what? jump in my older E30 with another 35,000 more miles on it and its been sat there 2 days in the cold and fires up on the button first time everytime

the 1 bhp difference between a 2.5 and 2.8 is ball bags. My nail feels more like 200

E36 are a strange one they do the miles and the mechanics are strong but they aren't made to last like an 80's bm. E46 is just a really fat over weight e36

This was my baby i sold earlier this year. It was a fantastic car and i loved it to bits. Only reason i sold it was cause i wanted to build the same car but based on a E36 M3 cab, but i lost my job and couldnt afford to, but i'm hoping to do it when the recession is ovr and i get a better paid job again





This is the rims i have at Dippys to use when and if i can afford it



My E46 Cab



If i ever chop a E46 it would look like this but with wider rims

I have a '98 323i Saloon. We bought it with 150000 and now its on 174000 and has been totaly reliable. It will no doubt go on to do 200k and infact i have seen various M52 powered BMW's soldier on past 250000!

The key is finding a good one and mine has FULL history and has been looked after.

Anyone who says the E36 is bad car is a fool who knows nothing and you should never listen to another thing they say!

I'm on my 2nd E36 - great cars but as previously mentioned don't buy a cheap one. The ones I've had are almost definatley the best cars I've owned, but I paid strong money for low mileage Full dealer history 1 owner cars.

E36 325i's are very old hat now and you will struggle to find an un-fooked one.

Still plenty of good 328i's around though which are extremely capable cars.

Great cars deffo sort the cooling issues, mines been sorted with a 19 row oil cooler, twin electric fans and so on, i do love and miss e30's but for me to even consider having one again instead of the 36 it would have to be at least a mint sport.