E30 Zone

like it says is it a lot or not. cambelt done 25,000 miles ago, plus full service history. Anything i should watch out for?

If it's been well looked after then 182k is not alot IMO, if it's backed up with credible history then nothing to worry about.

depends on engine not a huge amount on an m20 a fair bit on40/42 although they are capable. Key is has it had regular oil and water chnages a fsh should tell you this and is a distinct plus as many lower mileage cars have actually done way more than is claimed.

One of my 325s is on 221K. Engine is still sweet

no worries, drives mint though and i have never seen a car with so much history so should be ok then. will prob get a service done as a priority then just to be on the safe side.

another 5-10k and the cambelt will need doing again, other than that aslong as its serviced it should plod on

my 318is with no history is on 185k and drives great

aslong as you got the history then it will go and go

my last one had no history, and when i sold it, it was still going strong with 220,000 on it

182,000 miles alot or not?

very much so if it's an old ford

shell will be tired but engine wise I suppose good

Of course it's a lot. Just because it's less than some out there doesn't mean it's not a lot of miles..

The condition of the car depends completely on what it's been used for, and how it's been cared for. My dad has an E39 520i with 180k of mostly motorway miles on it that you'd swear had less than 50k on it. But then again, he's the kind of person who views eating in a car as a crime on a par with rape and murder, tootles off religiously to have it serviced exactly when it should be, and has it looked at as soon as it develops the ghost of a fault. It's probably worth about £1500 but he seems to spend that on it every few months..

On the other hand, a car that's been kept 'just ok' will rattle, creak and generally not be right at 180k. Have you got the necessary tens of thousands to get it back in perfect order again?

friend had no history on his 325i touring, hit 225k with regular oil changes on his be half an belts ran great till he sold it to some numpty and wrote it of within the week , guess he couldnt handle a e30 hahahaha

Engine wise, a properly maintained e30 engine should do loads more. I had a 325i touring that was 182k up with fsh and the engine and trans were fine, but it was a creaky bugger - I just felt there were a whole load of components that were 'alright' but not tip top, and it was simply not economical to go through the whole car renewing things. Interiors can look very tired even if they don't have the usual rips and tears, they just get that overused, ingrained dirt shiny/creakiness that you can probably get rid of, but can you be arsed?

Mine had it's 190000'th birthday yesterday and the engine seems fine, still pulls nicely as far as I can tell. Although apparently the rockers need replacing at some point.

I wonder if that means she's had a hard life...

And DJK, unfortunately I can be asked...it's how I spend my weekends

there will be some wear on the engine at that milege, whens a good time for a strip down and inspection? As long as you don't drive it like you stole it everywhere i'm sure theres more left in it.

They don't do the miles without changing the oil but they still wear out! i've snapped a rocker ragging a 325 which had done about 210,000 miles chasing the red line in 3rd gear!

I'd be changing the cambelt soon. i wouldn't put more than 30k on it. i do mine on 25k at the latest for the cost of a belt and a little over an hour of my time. i think the bmw spec is 3 years or 25k which ever comes first. It used to be 50k when they where new!

180k on a 20 year old car is less than 10k per year, that's below average mileage on any car,

an M20 that's well serviced will do it again !

222,222 on my 2.7 touring, well maybe not all that on the engine, but its lasted well.

Up for sale soon as work commitments mean travelling further.

As any classic car aficiando would tell you. Once a car passes around 20 years of age, you buy on condition over all else. Its nice to have some history with a car, and it does prove the car is genuine, and can net a few extra beer tokens at sale time.
On the other hand, so what if it had a tail light bulb 10 years ago, or new engine mounts in 1995?
It doesn't mean the car you are looking at in the flesh is a good 'un.
You are buying what you see, hear and feel.
Obviously if the car has had significant work completed on it in the last couple of years, then this will offer some piece of mind, but you're still looking at a 20+ year old car so you should be wary.
Given that the car is still on the road is testament that someone has looked after it.
Rust is the biggest enemy. If the body and paint are good, then this will stand you in good sted.
If mechanical jobs have been done when needed then the mileage is almost irrelevant.
For the record, 25,000 is about when i would consider changing the cam belt.
E30's are tough, and mechanically simple. Just check that bodywork carefully.....

Didn't that red LPG 318 on ebay have over 320k on the clock? Thats near enough double your 182k

andrew_baran wrote:Didn't that red LPG 318 on ebay have over 320k on the clock? Thats near enough double your 182k

That had a new engine though didn't it at some point IIRC ?

Why are cambelt intervals so short on the E30?

with 182k the engine will be tired. Revvy four pots don't wear as six cylinder versions. Don't forget the rest of the car has done mileage, so bushes, suspensions, gear linkages and clutch will be worn if not replaced.

Mine has done 66,300 mile's since birth in 1990 run's sweet as a nut......

Cambelt intervals are 60,000 miles on the M20.
However most people do tend to do it a little earlier given that a cambelt isn't too expensive and it only requires a few hours work, without a huge amount of skill involved.

beemerbird wrote:One of my 325s is on 221K. Engine is still sweet

My you have been round the block a few times then Fi


I've got 230,000 on mine , got a full service history which is why it's still doing well.

Just a quick footnote to my original posting. Did a six hundred mile round trip this week in it and it didnt miss a beat. It drove really well, didnt use much juice and even got the thumbs up from someone on the motorway! Now on 183000 miles, was well chuffed. Dont know why i waited so long to get another one, a bit pissed off i threw aload of old spares away the other month! Typical.

I had an M3 with very low miles which fell apart due to the nature of how it was used. It was always stored over winter and then expected to run in the spring. The owner genuinely thought it was the right thing to do, but it really didn't like it.

My Sport has done 170k and is still going strong. I think I'll use it very often as cars in this ilk tend to like to be kept going, a break in continuity seems to trip them up.

Happy for you mate, and I got a thumbs up too from a more senior gentleman (trying to be nice) in his 996 C4S. Appreciation is a wonderful thing isn't it, adds to the 'worthwhile' bucket!

180k is nothing on a 20 year old well maintained BMW.

It wouldn't bother me at all and I would be buying the e30 on body condition - having a lot of sh is a plus.

On the basis you can buy another m20 or m50 for £300 I wouldn't worry.

i bought my 318is with 179k on the clock i think it was, after a lot of reading and askign on here, was told to ignore milage and look for condition ,top lads from here dan and phil looked the car over for me, said ..BUY IT !!! so i did

its not skipped a beat since in 10 months happy driving, and drives faultlessly still , its been well maintained with loads of history,and ive kept that going , its now comming up for 190k

to look at the car, drive it,then think 190k ...is a true testament to bmw and e30 quality engeneering, and the car being a fine example !

i love my e30

polsta wrote:i bought my 318is with 179k on the clock i think it was, after a lot of reading and askign on here, was told to ignore milage and look for condition ,top lads from here dan and phil looked the car over for me, said ..BUY IT !!! so i did

its not skipped a beat since in 10 months happy driving, and drives faultlessly still , its been well maintained with loads of history,and ive kept that going , its now comming up for 190k

to look at the car, drive it,then think 190k ...is a true testament to bmw and e30 quality engeneering, and the car being a fine example !

i love my e30

From what I've read on here though, your car is very much the exception - very few cars are ever maintained with anything like that sort of fastidious approach.

I guess what we're all saying is that there is a lot more to buying a 20 year old car than the odo reading. I would never, ever, take an e30 mileage to be genuine without a complete MoT record anyway - so many were clocked back in the day, and apart from anything else, cluster failure was pretty common and so often gave mileages a haircut for perfectly acceptable reasons. There are well looked after cars with 200k up, and sheds with under 80k. Most are in the middle, so becoming a good judge of condition is very wise.