E30 Zone

Let's be honest, it's such a well designed machine all round, but there were a few petty mistakes I reckon, such as:

On two doors: the seat belt always snags the seat lever when you are buckling up;

The steering is too low geared (yes I know we know);

The driver's seat doesn't slide back enough for anyone over 6 feet.

Any others?

Boot entry to high, rear lights should of been part of the boot lid.....

No cup holder.

Dumb cardboard panel under the steering wheel.

They attract the wrong kind..

Jhonno wrote:They attract the wrong kind..

THIS!

BEERBOY123 wrote:Let's be honest, it's such a well designed machine all round, but there were a few petty mistakes I reckon, such as...

such as what ?
Buy another turd Designed in the late 80's from another manufacturer and I'm sure you will find a lot more wrongness than you will on an E30 !

I've just had a vauxhall Insignia for 5 days. Very little visibility due to huge pillars and small windows and electric steering which has no feedback at all when doing more than 10mph.

Point being, they're still making cars full of major design flaws.

Vunerable sumps.

Topblag wrote:I've just had a vauxhall Insignia

I had one, the handbrake is stupid

rust lol

e30topless wrote:

Topblag wrote:I've just had a vauxhall Insignia

I had one, the handbrake is stupid

Makes handbrake turns impossible, fecking thing won't go on at 35mph

A lash up of a rhd conversion

Lack of galvanising

Appalling headlight level adjustment system

Non-folding rear seats

Lack of rear legroom but a massive boot

Aux fuel tank on the m3 is virtually impossible to fill completely

Bbs centre caps too complicated / expensive / easy to steal.

Two valves per cylinder short on all but a pair of crappy 4pots

none adjustable steering wheel! and if you didnt have an electric arial and a tech 2 spoiler it catches the ariel and breakes it if the boot close's!

BEERBOY123 wrote:Let's be honest, it's such a well designed machine all round, but there were a few petty mistakes I reckon, such as:

On two doors: the seat belt always snags the seat lever when you are buckling up;

The steering is too low geared (yes I know we know);

The driver's seat doesn't slide back enough for anyone over 6 feet.

Any others?

Im 6ft 3 and never had a problem tbf.

only problems for me were no rear parking sensors, inbuilt sat nav, massage seats, infa red display and maybe a head up display and g meter.

SI board batteries fail and tricky to replace.

Glovebox torch tends to somehow end up behind the centre console, or its rather crudely charged battery goes manky.

Dashboard cracks.

Door locks seize up in very cold weather.

Headlamp wash/wipe system tends to fail, valves to windscreen washers also clog up.

Kangarooing/driveline shunt.

Tail-happy in the wet.

Rust rust rust and oh er RUST!

rix313 wrote:No cup holder.

miss my mk4 golf ones

Crappy bonded sun roof cassette with poor rust proofing

Not so much poor design but rear arch liners would have been a good idea

A jack that doesn't dint your door when you lower the car down again

jaymos wrote:

BEERBOY123 wrote:Let's be honest, it's such a well designed machine all round, but there were a few petty mistakes I reckon, such as:

On two doors: the seat belt always snags the seat lever when you are buckling up;

The steering is too low geared (yes I know we know);

The driver's seat doesn't slide back enough for anyone over 6 feet.

Any others?

Im 6ft 3 and never had a problem tbf.

Same here - on my 5th E30 and the driving position/headroom has never been an issue.

Weak soft top motors!
And the fold in the plastic window when roof is down.
I also think the bonnet should open the other way.

brettE30cab wrote:Weak soft top motors!
And the fold in the plastic window when roof is down.
I also think the bonnet should open the other way.

The bonnet openning the other way round wouldnt look right though!

It can be a git to work on though if your arching yourself over and into it... Best thing is to just remove the bonnet all together, but then its a git lining it back up, which is why mine is fitted back on side ways

These were not a patch on such as your maestro's,montego's in there day

Only design fault was that they stopped making them

Pedals are too far to the right, relative to the steering wheel.

Central locking wiring that unnecessarily loops through a door connector which is prone to corrosion.

C101 socket is a problem area that needn't have been.

Heated seat switches in the wrong place.

Blue temp sensor, why do they fail so often when the brown one never does!!!???

Mostly,saloon's/cabbie's are pretty good,very little that should not have made it into production,but tourings....

1 The rail the rear seat cushions hinge on blocks the fuel pump hatch.
2 Poor access to rear top mounts
3 Uneven load floor
4 Still a cill to lift over

I love do love the fact that BEERBOYS usual attempt to cause friction on the zone hasnt worked

Only experience with touring's so:

1: The height between the floor and the roof is too small. trying to fit something relativity tall is nigh on impossible

2: Rusty tailgate slapped on a well rust protected car.

3: Back doors are tiny making people look awkward getting out. getting children out is worse.

4: I just bloody hate the way you have to get to the rear lights to change a bulb, that cardboard thing is a bugger to get back in

5: poor glue what stuck the headlining up (for £17,000 in 1990 you'd expect some decent glue)

6: Crash protection pretty naff but what can you expect for the 80's.

Apart from that it is a mean lean grill... er driving machine.

Jhonno wrote:They attract the wrong kind..

My thoughts exactly!

Ranchero wrote:Dumb cardboard panel under the steering wheel.

This!!!!

Oh and im 6foot 3inch abd have no issues driving any e30. Although only some about 5 foot can sit behind me (lol tried this last night)

The rear hood windows on the cab should have been a lot easier to replace, mine is sewn in but i think some later ones were zipped.

Jim320i wrote:I love do love the fact that BEERBOYS usual attempt to cause friction on the zone hasnt worked

Not this time, just interested in little foibles to be aware of. Wonder what was wrong with the RHD conversion as mentioned on here? Seems a good job to me?

They should of been 5 stud like the rest of the range.

BEERBOY123 wrote:

Jim320i wrote:I love do love the fact that BEERBOYS usual attempt to cause friction on the zone hasnt worked

Not this time, just interested in little foibles to be aware of. Wonder what was wrong with the RHD conversion as mentioned on here? Seems a good job to me?

Offset pedals and the stupid crank arm mechanism for the brakes, and a separate resevoir for the clutch fluid, handbrake on te wrong side of the centre console.

A rhd one isn't horrible or anything, but try a lhd car and everything feels much more natural, including having a footrest on the wheel well which means the pedals don't all have to be shoved over.