E30 Zone

im new to bmw but loving my recent purchase -

Been pondering this -

My company give me a mondeo as a company car (boring) but have recently offered me option to take the money instead .As anyone with a company car knows the tax implications are very bad costs a lot .

For me this allowance works out at 450£ a month after tax ,this allowance would have to cover everything insurance tyres tax etc i would do the servicing myself .
i suppose the question is how well would an e30 325i 2 or 4 door in reasonable condition with say less than 100k on the clock and a decent history stand up to 30k a year mainly motorway ?
Anyone tried this ?

Mines used three times a week to go from Heathrow to Northampton an loves eating the miles.. I think BMW's are built to cruise and as with any car as long as they're serviced regularly etc they are good as gold... well mine is anyway

It'll cost you in fuel, but they're reliable beasts. Don't forget that a six pot E30 only reaches old age at 250k plus as long as it has been serviced properly and isn't rotten.

Consider asking Ant about fitting megasquirt on a nice economical map, he should be able to save you some MPG which will soon pay for itself - and you can turn up the wick at weekends

or there is the lpg route to save you some bucks

Fuel isnt an issue as i have a company fuel card which is taxable ,i would probably want and 325i with a zone chip ,have to make all those miles interesting .

I have used my 320is (s14 engine) everyday since I bought it back in 2003-4. In that time I have covered about 35,000 miles, this has been motorway and London traffic use, and since its a motorsport engine you have to rev it quite alot

I dont see any problem in using one as an everyday car, just depends if you buy a decent one or not!

alane wrote:Fuel isnt an issue as i have a company fuel card which is taxable ,i would probably want and 325i with a zone chip ,have to make all those miles interesting .

Well, Ant does the zone chips too so you can chat to him about it

Mine does 1200 miles a month without a problem, one of the nicest all round cars I've ever driven. Mine's an 87 E 318i with a genuine 90k and fsh and is mint and original. It's not once gone wrong in the last 5 months.

Stewart

at the end of the day mate, the e30 is built to last. it shouldnt be too bad on fuel anyway as u are going to be useing it on a motorway, service it ontime, change the oil every 6000 miles and she will last a very very long time.

Wernt they built for this sort of treatment.

I cant see any problems and the allowance they give you should cover consumables no prob

go for it just get crusie control on it, will save u dollar.

I use a £300 325i auto i bought for parts but ended up using it. I'm doing 400 miles a week in it, have done since jan!

only had one prob with the autobox last week. I service and try and do most of it myself which will help with costs

A 325i can do 30mpg on the m-way no prob and more with cruise control. This is a must for long haul journeys, make it more stress free too imo

I think huge mileage is better than tiny milage sometimes, I've just bought a daily driver because my 4dr was getting extremely p*ssed at me for doing 4/5 mile runs to the shops etc

i do about 20,000 miles a year in mine which was £216 of ebay. Take her across europe a bit too, never failed to proceed yet.

I also think high mileage is better than low (as long as it's looked after!!).

I do very high mileage - did stupid amount of m'way miles in a 320 when i was younger and didn't event service it for about 30k!!!!!!
Had a crap 318 which was given to me free and that did silly miles with no probs whatsoever!!!

My current 325 touring also does a lot of miles (1.5k ish per month - often more!) and i drive it very hard!! Only had it for a few months but has shown no unexpected problems yet and i don't expect any!!

And i look after my cars now!!!

If i had the option of money or company car - I would defo take the money!!

thanks for all the advice ,i will give it serious condsideration nearer october when the co car goes back ,i have used the 325i convertable a few times last week on work trips to wales from birmingham and i must admit it brought a smile to my face on an otherwise boring trip .

alane wrote:thanks for all the advice ,i will give it serious condsideration nearer october when the co car goes back ,i have used the 325i convertable a few times last week on work trips to wales from birmingham and i must admit it brought a smile to my face on an otherwise boring trip .

I dumped my compamy repturd last year.

I get paid 4k allowance plus 21p per mile

Ditch the fuel card - you are paying tax on 3K benefit - if you go mileage payment, anything the company pays under statutory is reclaimable from the tax man - this year I'm due £1100 tax rebate.

Your company may set rules for a private car but, believe, me an E30 will more than satisfy them

Insurance - speak to your provider about limited business miles

HTH

Unfortunately we have to take the fuel card ,the only stipulations about the car are no convertables must have 4 seats and if over 6yrs old a yearly RAC or AA report .