E30 Zone

I have been looking at these cars for about a year now and every single review I look at talks about how good these things are but never tell you why they make you feel good.. Why are they so much fun? Why do people love them so much?
Someone told me he loves his because you have to maintain it to keep it running good. Like when you raise a baby you need to take care of it, it poops it cries and for the most part its annoying as hell. But if someone would try to take it from you, you'd kill them.

Why do YOU love your e30?

RWD Power!

E30 was designed and built when engineers built cars and told the sales staff to sell them,today,the sales staff tell the engineers the type of car they can sell...

Just the right size,well built from good quality matierial.

Driving position is just right,you get out after a long drive ready to get back behind the wheel and do it all again.

Well made,so the thing does not squeak and rattle,but easy to pull apart and fix when(if) it goes wrong.

Can't beat the styling. Looks like a car as opposed to a trainer with wheels.

i dont use my e30 everyday so it might be parked up for a few days at a time and after them few days i get the urge to flog it on and get summit differant
but the second i turn the key i get a smile and by the end of the street i'd never part with it and i've probably spent more time under it than in it

i agree with u paul..im on my 2nd e30 now..both of them were/are 4door 318i saloons..my missus hated it at first but now she wouldnt let me by nowt if it aint an e30..i aint jokin pal..they were designed originally as a racing car which was so succesful it was sold around various parts of the world..it is a car which was built with every angle looked at..scrutinised rigourously and made perfect .everytime i get in mine..be it a run to the shop or a 300 round trip to visit family..it never misses a beat and makes me smile everytime.look at the styling..it was loved by our mums and dads as a great looking mechanically sound family car...now our generation as a retro classic...and no doubt our kids will look upon it in the future in magazines(prob history books)as the car that made bmw --bmw

All you have to do is just look at it and the answer is there... The shape is perfect... Not one thing ugly about a good condition E30... Even ones with 4 doors...

All you have to do is just look at it and the answer is there... The shape is perfect... Not one thing ugly about a good condition E30... Even ones with 4 doors...

I love mine, well it's more like a marriage now, had the car for 14 yrs, and have no thoughts of selling it either.
But seeing the expressions on hot hatchbacks, scooby, porsche owners is Priceless when I go past when they try it on.

It's all about the package... how connected you are with the engine, suspension, steering.. it's in that in-between where cars didn't feel like they were deathtraps, but hadn't lost their soul.

Basically I love mine because it puts a smile on my face during my commute to work. And that takes some serious doing!

Go and drive one. Then you'll know

Because BMW know how to build car's (for the most).

Ilkorin wrote:
Basically I love mine because it puts a smile on my face during my commute to work. And that takes some serious doing!

well said

im just about to drive mine to work in 10 mins, no matter what sort of day ive had, as soon as i walk out my house and seeing my e30 sat there looking as it does in the dark, i smile, i get in, turn the key, turn up the sounds...and off i go !!!

and same again after work, when its 3am and no cars on the roads..i love that drive home !!

i feel for those on here that have to drive to and back form work in rush hour traffic !

my e30 makes me smile everytime i lay my eyes on it, i often just turn around,n stare at it for a min or so when i get home and about to go indoors

any old car is deemed a classic car, but the bmw e30 is one that really is "classic" and a legendary car

daimlerman wrote: Well made,so the thing does not squeak and rattle,but easy to pull apart and fix when(if) it goes wrong.

My tailgate has started squeaking like a

ynknow my missus moans at me when i give it that "10second stare"she reckons i should marry the car and divorce her...i say go for it

balanced lines and proportions
balanced chassis

i love evrything about them bud, i got my first when i was 18 in 1998 (owned many since) from the noise of the prop whirring away as you try an sneek quietly back up your street so's not to wake your neighbours to turning it to start it on the fore court of a petrol station when theres lost of people on a sat night an all there heads spinning because even the starter sounds big an loud, to the wooooooooooooooooop that echos everywhere when you give it foot down to the fact the bonnet opens the RIGHT way an the thunk of the doors, an thats before we even touch on the feeling of power from being pushed an not pulled

not that i like them much

Cotty wrote:

daimlerman wrote: Well made,so the thing does not squeak and rattle,but easy to pull apart and fix when(if) it goes wrong.

My tailgate has started squeaking like a

Try adjusting the stops on the corners of the tailgate!
If that does not work,try the tailgate latch(as the actress said to the bishop)

Cotty wrote:

daimlerman wrote: Well made,so the thing does not squeak and rattle,but easy to pull apart and fix when(if) it goes wrong.

My tailgate has started squeaking like a

Another thing I need to sort out on mine... Just gotta keep thinking it gives the car 'Character'...

E30... Best BMW Ever Made The Drive The LOOK and best of all when you pass another e30 owner and flash the lights at each other and wave allways puts a smile on my face No other cars owners do it never seen it

Always wanted one which is why I loved them from the start. Then I drove one. They are brilliant for so many reasons.

I love the drive-ability, the practicality, the speed, the build quality, the look from every angle, the technology considering it's period, the dash being better than an E36 one. But I think the things I like the most, and they're mentioned above too, is the fact that no matter how the day has been the car will tailor to my mood. No matter how bad the mechanical or electrical problem it will always be fixed with suprising satisfaction and I particularly love the fact that you can be so hands-on.

All in all, ups and downs, it is a treat to own one and I intend to own this one for a very, very long time.

Why is a e30 so good ???

cult classic?

rwd.many plug and play options for upgrades if your an oem homo.

not many people have one

i like the shape tbh.

many plug and play options for upgrades if your an oem homo.


like?

every1 has pretty much covered what i see in my e30, so i have to echo whats been said... ive owned so many cars its unreal, from sri's, gti's, gte's, turbo's ect ect and 3 e30's, by far the most satisfying car ive owned for so many reasons, they feel raw to drive and make you feel conected to the car and what its doing underneath you, with real naturaly aspirated grunt and a soundtrack to die for!! a hands on car that doesnt take rocket science to work on.. i always get out of my car at the end of the night, walk to my front door light a cig and just stand there and look at her, makes me feel proud to own 1 of these legends. some1 said earlier in the thread that this is the car that made bmw! i totaly agree..... if you say ''think of bmw'' to any1 i bet they think of these!! that squared off look and quad headlights with the kidney grill . i was driving down the road and a small group of like 8 yr olds on bmx's heard then saw my car and when i came back around the roundabout (drivers window open) i hear 1 of them say '' whattt, look at that baaad beemer''! 8yr old kids know what a 21 yr old beemer is!!! lol, class.... i love em and wont be changing any time soon, no mater how much tinkerin i have to do to keep my beast running sweet!!

e30-dk wrote:.. i always get out of my car at the end of the night, walk to my front door light a cig and just stand there and look at her, makes me feel proud to own 1 of these legends.

i'll raise a glass to that my friend

Loved the looks since I was a kid and the sound of an m20 when you give it the beans is one of the best exhuast notes.

Also inside ( espcally in my Alpina ) it is one of the few cars I can fit my 6.5 frame in and be comfortable , I can see the cluster easily without having to dip my head down like I have to do in most cars. The sports seats are perfect for supporting my back and I can drive for hours and not feel tired.

Finally , I like the fact you need to drive these cars with a fair amount of respect , if you don't you can find yourself flying towards a ditch or facing the wrongway on the road. No electronic aids to keep you nice and safe , these cars so what talent you have or have not got.

i'll raise a glass to that my friend

+1

Felix79 wrote:
Finally , I like the fact you need to drive these cars with a fair amount of respect , if you don't you can find yourself flying towards a ditch or facing the wrongway on the road. No electronic aids to keep you nice and safe , these cars so what talent you have or have not got.

excellent well said

its definatly a learning curve,and its nice when you start to grasp it a little, and i love smile,and that slight "phheewwwwwww" feeling you get when you give it some on some bends but not overdoing it, and you can feel the car slightly want to go but hold, if you get what i mean ? and you carry on knowing hat you sort of took it to the edge without messing up, also nearly a year in of ownership, in the rain every now n then i feel confident enough to just give it a little on the odd bend when no ones about, to just give a little bit of rwd action, and more n more getting used to it, although ive not yet tried to relly give it some so it really spins out a lot to then correct it

Ranchero wrote:Can't beat the styling. Looks like a car as opposed to a trainer with wheels.

Nail on the head !!

I bought her over six years ago because she had loads of mot and tax thinking "I`ll run it for a while".

Not long after , driving home from work I thought "what a bloody good car this is" and since then she has been my daily drive for 95% of the time.

Im a toolmaker by trade and have been involved in the plastics/automotive industries for many moons and the parts that are fitted to these cars are made to last and NOT for a particular life span.

This one is going nowhere.

Mart.

I learned to drive in my dads 320 I remember I stalled on a junction with a truck coming, so I cranked it over, sidestepped the clutch and fishtailed off down the road. After my 306dt was smashed into by an idiot, I bought a 325i on the recommendation of a friend & the fond memories of the silky 6 pot

bought said 325i and scared the crap out of myself for a few months running stock 14" steels & worse tires, but holy cow does it teach you the ways of semi trailing arm RWD!

Purchased set of 15" bbs, well impressed.. fitted bilsteins & eibachs & that was the magic moment - previously it was just a lairy box with too many horses for 165 tires, but with the right suspension, wheels & tires, they're hard not to have an affair with. So 8 e30's later, I have a problem


I think, the real answer lies in the communication between you and road surfaces coupled with the characteristics of a semi trailing arm rear setup - it was born to spend it's lifetime going round corners, at whatever speed you like pretty much

I bought my E30 325i Sport in June 2010. That was after going from a E46 323Ci coupe.

Originally i bought it so i can learn about car control and drifting.

I love the CLASSIC LOOKS, the classic BMW COCKPIT, the classic BMW DASHBOARD is a work of art, the HANDLING i feel so more connected to the car than in my E46 especially the steering, the now classic BMW pedal layout and the SOUND is AMAZING.

I relish every opportunity i get to go under a bridge or in a tunnel because the REVERB is AMAZING.

I stop and stare too many times i give it a look before i go through my front door.

I feel so much pride everytime I overtake a newer BMW.

pony wrote:I feel so much pride everytime I overtake a newer BMW.

overtake sounds a bit tame if you ask me

Barx325i wrote:

pony wrote:I feel so much pride everytime I overtake a newer BMW.

overtake sounds a bit tame if you ask me

what do you do blitz past?

blitz is a bit harsh... I drive an iS, so getting a good run up is crucial, resulting in a reasonable difference in speed..

I think we have different environments, I drive b & c roads with hedges and fields so overtaking is limited to a few spots & getting the lowly m42 up to speed is a quaint experience

Ask a child to draw a car - what do they doodle on that sheet of paper?

The classic box:



Perfect in proportions, timeless in style.

As mentioned earlier, this and the E34 are likely to be the best cars BMW have ever built. Made to a specification determined by the engineers and the price was set afterwards. No cost cutting.

Ergonomics - outstanding. Even if you've never driven an E30 before, you can get in and drive without having to familiarise yourself with the controls. Things fall into place naturally. After a while you can operate the heater/vents without even having to take your eyes off the road.

Working on it - designed to be worked on imo. The way it is put together (and thus comes apart) makes sense.

The drive - well that's what it's all about right? Perfectly weighted steering with much purer feel than the later E36. It's light too (by modern standards)! Chuck a couple of corners in the mix and it really makes sense - ok, so the grip isn't all that but that's not a biggie - if anything it makes the limits far more accessible. This car is all about respect/rewards. As mentioned above - respect it and you'll love every second of RWD goodness. Forget your respect and you'll be looking where you've just been.

This is where the Ultimate Driving Maching ad line makes sense. Charisma and character cannot be 'engineered' into cars, but the E30 has it by the bucketload. Its cult status and even the website itself are testament to this. Long may it continue!