E30 Zone

Hi,

ive been interested to know how much peoples cars have cost them to buy and how much cash they have put into there cars to keep them running

Mine owes me this so far....

Car £700
New Engine £200
Suspension £500
New bushes all round £350
Various other bits £500

I bought my car for $3400 Aust, I rebuilt the engine cost me around $3000 Aust, add a few bits and peices here and there $500.

So mine has cost me around $7000 aust in 2 years, I do all the work on it myself which has kept cost low.

Add registration and insurance

I bought my black touring for £700

I have replace every bush and ball joint .Up graded the suspension and fitted an M52 plus a few other bits and bobs.

It now owes me just over 3k

This thread is gonna hurt

Car bought for a silly £300

Exhaust, Clutch hydraulics, Brakes (combined £440 inc. labour), rad (£20), wing (£50), leather interior (£70), wheel (£15), mats (£15), wheel balancing (£20), BBS (£175), diff (£35), aerial (£25)

...running at about £1250....and climbing.

Car bought in Feb for £525

I have spent a further £956.54 in parts alone this year so far And I've only just started

capri_rob wrote:I have spent a further £956.54 in parts alone this year

To-Do list is massive

Still to buy/do :

Balljoints
E30 M3 Eccentric Lollipop Bushes
Eibach pro Kit
Front Brake backplates
Possible Cylinder Head refurb
Powder coating of various bits
Handbrake shoe fitting kit
Oil/Fuel Filters
Brake/clutch fluid
Coolant
Any welding that gets discovered along the way

My aim is to have a solid and very well sorted E30 by the end of this Year - and then get the paintwork sorted next Year

I worked this out a few weeks ago

Including the work on the sport since 2009, buying the M3 and working on that to date - 33k.

That doesn't include buying the sport back in 1994.

Frightening really when you work it all out

Suppose i should fill my spec in,

sport 2k
new engine 200
new panels - wings,bonnet,door 150
various other bits 500
leather seats 300
exhaust 150
stainless manifold 250

this year i have already had to replace propshaft centre bearing new ecu and carpet dye and i due to be replacing front wheel bearings and needs a good service

kieran325 wrote:I worked this out a few weeks ago

Including the work on the sport since 2009, buying the M3 and working on that to date - 33k.

That doesn't include buying the sport back in 1994.

Frightening really when you work it all out

Holy S**T!

i think thats why i wanted to do this thread just to make me realise how much ive put into my car and to get others to see there costs

Bought my sport for 4k.. still unsure wether it was over the odds, a few months of scouing threads on here makes me think yes! did see some proper dogs for same money though whilst shopping for it, and mines got huge spec.

working at ECP so I get my parts stupidly cheap!

so far have done handbrake lever assy, rear top mounts, discs and pads all round, o/s door lock repair, full service and cambelt, prop doughnut and bearing, arms, tyres....

for mot in june I need new rear box and a little weld on a jacking point

not had the bodykit off yet... but got it on a ramp at local bmw specialist, he said not to worry bout the welding, car is solid and drives like it should, time will tell!

in 6 months time I might be living on the streets...

i would guess about 8k including buying the car. about another 2-3k should finish it i reckon.

i bought my 318is 18 odd months ago for just over 2k, and it was really nice then, history and reciepts and a nicely typed out chart showed it had 13k spent on it over that many years

around a year later i went through reciepts..spent around 2k on it, although that did include extras i could sell seperate and still had, like extra set of wheels, £100 steering wheel etc, but i had a lot of reciepts from bmw for £10s and £20s for small bits- that all added up to a LOT once i actualy went through them and was , and that didnt include all bits id got for cash !!

this spring- including all products/materials for the work ive done and a few bits of paint and all the parts, like map mirror,rear hed rests, trim parts, number plates, wheel refurb, etc etc, its going to be another £1000 leaving the car owing me like £5000 over 2 years ownership all in , but if really need be there would be maybe a grands worth of parts i could sell seperate to the car if it really need be, and the cars condition is very very nice, and the value risen and e30 prices on the up

plus the fact i plan on keeping it, and then the next couple of years should be just maintenence and looking after costs, not needing parts i just "want" , although i still want cruise control, obc, and some other morsels !

basicly, if you seek to make the car the best you can and fully load it- it can be frightening when you add it all up

dont go there!

With buyin my car, just under £8.5k. Theres no labour in there (apart from a couple of head skims) and no main paintwork. As Oz says. it's best left forgotten.

£100 for the car, but I've probably spunked about £4.5K into it and the bodywork hasn't even been started yet

More than I like to think about!

Current two were built to a budget of £3k each,well I stopped counting at that fiqure with the touring....

With the cabbie,I 're-cycled' most of the suspension and the driveline from the previous 4 door,so I ignored the cost of that....

But they are a hobby,some people drink,some smoke,some indulge in strange drugs,I play with my cars!

3.5k and i haven't even started (

Ive got about 8 bags in the chromie now, not bad for what it is I suppose

daimlerman wrote:More than I like to think about!

Current two were built to a budget of £3k each,well I stopped counting at that fiqure with the touring....

With the cabbie,I 're-cycled' most of the suspension and the driveline from the previous 4 door,so I ignored the cost of that....

But they are a hobby,some people drink,some smoke,some indulge in strange drugs,I play with my cars!

Well said! The amount of times i hear "stop wasting your time and money on old cars... I love it to much!!

I paid £400 for a rolling shell, I have done all the mechanical work myself and the car now stands me in around 8k.

£9k for the cab (15yrs ago)
Spray job £600
Engine swap £1k
New roof £450
Hardtop £500
Leather Retrim £260

And other bits and pieces (Servicing parts) £??

daimlerman wrote:
But they are a hobby,some people drink,some smoke,some indulge in strange drugs,I play with my cars!

THIS !!

coupled with the pleasure you get from both improving and then driving the cars, and with the e30 the comments and head turns you get, make it money well spent

phew!!
i dont even want to think about it !

I'm scared to work it out accuratley, but around £40K if you include the £10K purchase price back in December 96'

Ian.

ian332isport wrote:I'm scared to work it out accuratley, but around £40K if you include the £10K purchase price back in December 96'

Ian.

I was waiting for your shocker Ian

Where is bootyman?

I have never added up all the receipts but im guessing somewhere between £10-15k. I've spent £4k in the last 18 months.

One thing i got lucky with was the purchase price.

£2500 for a 2 owner 32000 mile tech 2 sport with zero rot! That was back in july '06 though.

EDIT.

None of that includes labour which is all done by me bar the paint.

DanThe wrote:Where is bootyman?

Something nuts like 80 bags i recall?!

Don't even want to think about it! Don't think I could work it out now I have 2 E30's and been buying all kinds of bits for cash I've lost track lol

(deliberatley incase the Mrs finds out)

Car £350
600 tons of galv sheet to weld in where I cut ALL the rust out
Replica mtec2 kit £290
Recaro interior still undergoing modification to fit car £300
Respray £1200
Front shocks £80
2.7 ETA conversion £450
17,000,000 hours of my time
Going sideways with a screaming 6.... Priceless.

Probably the best part of 10 grand including 3200 purchase price 11 years ago.

One of the reasons I gave up the fags was so I could use the excuse "the car is the only thing I spend money on". Yes I like a drink but even going out for the evening now costs a fortune by the time you've sunk 5-6 pints, devoured a curry and got a cab home! I've started driving on nights out now and drinking Coke cos I just can't warrant the cost anymore!

B7 wrote:One of the reasons I gave up the fags was so I could use the excuse "the car is the only thing I spend money on". Yes I like a drink but even going out for the evening now costs a fortune by the time you've sunk 5-6 pints, devoured a curry and got a cab home! I've started driving on nights out now and drinking Coke cos I just can't warrant the cost anymore!

You can thank Labour for that