E30 Zone

Does anybody know much about these? And in cab form. I am thinking of getting the wife one, with a hardtop.

they are out there, regularly featuring on flea bay

wasn't too impressed with the 325i convertable that I had for a few hours, in terms of handling, so imagine it would be even worse with all the extra power.

Their must be positives on them, after all it's a BM

webbyv7slipperwagon wrote:Their must be positives on them, after all it's a BM

Fcuking fast motors, the E36 cabs aren't too bad, they have more styling cred than the tin tops.

Wouldn't personally want one though.

fast but a bit too bling for my liking and now in the hands of most uber-chavs

Karan

3 of my mates have e36 M3 evo cabriolets.

I think they're awesome.

Two of them have hard tops, which do nothing to improve the handling, but are useful in winter and look pretty smart.

Servicing isn't too expensive at a specialist...

They pull and pull and the noise is lovely. They handle well and stop well. They feel tight for a cab too, like the body is quite stiff.

The clutches tend to slip if they get hot, too many quick starts in quick succession etc.

Have a drive of one to see what you think, I love them.

I think these beasts are the nuts.
I'm not sure about the Cab's but i'm seriously thinking about the 4 door as a replacement for the Sport.
Seems to be the usual pitfalls regarding costs etc with parts being that bit more expensive.
There are a lot of destroyed ones about though at the lower end of the price range. That's what has put me off so far!.

Cheers
Nick

I had an estoril blue one last year. Bought a hard top too which I think did offer the car a little more rigidity. Nothing like driving a coupe, but pretty good. Was thinking about getting another this year in place of the S3, but having just bought the e30 m3 my excitement is elsewhere!

One thing I would say, and this may just be relevant to me, but the car I had before the Evo cab (M3 non Evo 3.0 coupe, 5 speed) was a much better, much stronger drive. I think in fact if I were to buy another cab it may even be a 95/96 3.0. For the money that say a 98 evo would cost you could get like a one owner 50k 3.0 example which would hold its value a lot more. Bang an M3 plate on it and you're away! I'm half on the lookout for a white one. A lot of people tend to swerve white ones but I think they look great.

for for it, e36 m3 evo is quality motor, read up about the differences in this months Total BMW. Aparently uses m5 brakes!

I'll get the mag and have a nose through it.

yeah m5 brakes (fron discs i think) are statdard on the m3 evo. even though the rear spoiler was an option that cost in the region of a grand.

thants funney,

mate had a 4d evo, nice. but beware vanoes. 1500 job to get done. if it hasnt allready been done be sure that it will i nthe future.

also be very pciky. there is a lot of shite out there. if you look on autotrader there are lots and lots of evos for sale.

4d is the rarest model as not that many were made. bloody great sleeper tho. mate had a 4d and of course dumbwits "its not an m3 its got 4doors" must be like a 325i or something. broooooom. OH. shit


frosted

Good point, I'd love a 4 door one to be honest, they seem to go for a bit less and are more understated.

Also a good point about the VANOS, one of my mates has had about three or four in the history file having been replaced. Followed by a brand new engine under warranty at BMW after 'conrod no. 4 snapped' beware! This came to 8k from memory!

yeah they are very bloody costly to run, servicing are not 2 bad IF nothing else needs one. my mate was lcuky he had a bmw warrenty other wise OWCH!

the head gaskets go as well which i was suprised at!

still amazing car. but seriously high to maintain properly. that whys there is so many dogs around.

people can afford the finaince. but not the 2k a year to run one!

was a toss up for me to get an m3 or the 328 sport, i decided on the sport for the reason that its SO much cheaper to run and insure and service etc, and although theres a fair difference in performance, its not too far off once modified with BBTB and Free flow manifold and the sport has all the same kit, so i though why not and save a grand as well.

It all sounded so good, now you lot have scared the s**t out of me....

sorry mate that was not the intention. its simply comes down to this - u got a ford escort that goes wrong it wont cost teh earth to fix.

u got an m3 evo that does. owch. new engine 8k, vanos 1.5-2k, just a lot of things to consider. same with looking for an e30 m3 (what im doing). the cost of buying it is no issue. but cost of running can cripple!

did not mean to put u off. they are reliable and they are amazing cars,

frosted

i had a 328 sport for 3 months, was out with my brother looking for a car when i spotted someone part ex'ing a m3 gt, all singing and dancing
so we hung around until they had done the deal and i part ex'd the sport right away. dealer just thought it was a normal m3 and i got it for normal m3 money(well happy).
i was suprised at the performance, it was more than the sport, but not that much, wished i'd kept the sport, it would give the gt a run for it money
up to a ton, with half the running costs.
a service two is major money, the stealers keep the car overnight to set and shim the valve clearances.
if it ends up needing a few bits and bobs, a service 2 wont leave much change out of a grand!!

It's Ԛ£450 for a full big service on my STI, and that is all fluids, etc... so maybe the scooby isn't so bad after all. Mind you upto Ԛ£500 for the front discs and pads depending on the set up.. A good specialist could service the M3 for a lot less and they know there way around them better.

It's Ԛ£450 for a full big service on my STI,

It was Ԛ£450 for a 'normal' service on my 02 WRX with no brakes at the main dealer, 25K miles.

I run a Merc E class Auto too, that is cheaper to service and more economical with fuel than the WRX.

The Official warranties are both bad value and less comprehensive when compared to BMW UK's warranty.

Re: Vanos, see this thread:
http://www.bmwcarclubforum.co.uk/forum_ ... 13741&PN=3
Apparently if you change these parts its unlikely to go
Filter Screw (BM11.36.1.401.973) @ Ԛ£4.34 + V.A.T.
Vanos Filter Washer (BM07.11.9.963.073) @ Ԛ£0.12 + V.A.T.

e36 m3 evo's go like stink, have sharper steering and are more stable than an e30.
However they are probably somewhat less chuckable/responsive to direction change and a bit heavy

All depends what you want really - they are a great feckin quick mile munching grand tourer style car rather than sports type car

cheers robin very vey interesting