From a Proton to an E30

Post Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:13 am

Hi there,

Counting down the days until I pick up my first 'proper' car, and at 33 years of age no less (me, not the car).

After living in the city for many years and thus suffering my little used Proton 1.5 MPI for too long the council did me a favour by accidentally removing and crushing it! They have paid up and the cash has gone towards an unmodified white 1990 318i LUX with FSH and 80000 miles. Hopefully a wise choice on Ebay, but as ever I shall not be parting with my cash until I see it in the flesh, so to speak. 1 week and counting until I get the free time.

Your advice and notes have been invaluable so far and I shall be going armed with the printouts of what I need from this forum to make sure all is as I would expect.

Thanks for posting such great info - and I look forward to:

a) Driving a real car for a change

b) Getting to know you all over the coming years

Cheers

Pauly

Post Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:10 am

Im suprised the council didnt try blaming you for you car getting crushed! They would round here.

The car sounds good, but as you say, you cant tell until you see it in the flesh. Good luck with the new car and I hope you have a pretty trouble free ownership! lol

Post Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:11 am

Congrats on ur hmmmm bad luck?!?!
Any way the 318is is a really cool car, check for the usual rust on the archs etc. But the 318IS boys will be arround soon enough to give u a proper run down. Was trying to find this one website that had a lot of info on the 318is for you, will look around for it.
Cheers

Post Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:25 pm

erm..... sorry dude but it's a lux he's going for or am i going

Post Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:30 pm

hey good find.

youll have to post up some pics of it when/if ya pick it up

oh yeah

WELCOME TO THE ZONE!

Post Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:16 pm

daveyw wrote:erm..... sorry dude but it's a lux he's going for or am i going

I think your right.

Post Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:26 pm

Fair play mate

Good luck with the new car

Andy

Post Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:56 am

daveyw wrote:erm..... sorry dude but it's a lux he's going for or am i going

hehe, no mate I'm going

!!

Post Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:58 am

Welcome! I have a 318i lux also.

. I hope you enjoy the zone/driveing your e30.

Paul

Post Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:13 am

Welcombe to the zone! Must admit, your Proton story made me laugh.
318i is a good "entry level E30. I drive one localy every day, and is far from slow if you wind it up.
Buy your car first of all on the condition of the bodywork, rust wise. especially around the rear arches, and especially the RH one.
Also check up behind the glovebox on the left hand side. Any sign of rust flakes inside the car here (pull the carpet over a little under the glove box hinge), is bad news.
Next most inportant is the condition of the trim, and lastly the engine.
M40 engines and transnissions are cheap and easily swapped.
M40 engine has a not too successfull design of hydraulic tappets which can hammer away. Sounds terrible, but is fairly harmless, and is all good for price negotiation.
May be wrong, but I think the Lux should have ABS, and therefore rear discs.
There will be minor faults on the car, but all is fixable.

Post Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:09 pm

Thanks people, for the welcome.

Indeed it is a LUX, not the 'is', but it will do me for now - even if it isn't the fastest E30 it will be a world away from the Proton 1.5 so I am looking forward to it. Also found somewhere to get the timing belt changed reasonably if there appears to be no reference to it in the copious bills and receipts.

Time is ticking on and I shall be getting my hands on it this Sunday - many thanks also for the pointers. 'Apparently' it has largely been garaged so I am hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

Look forward to speaking again soon.

Pauly