E30 Zone

Hi everybody, my first post on here so go easy on me!!
Wanting to get into E30 ownership for a few weeks now,coming over from the dark side(vectra). Been fancying a touring and theres one locally on a f plate i think,really tidy for £795. Its a 318i tho' but dont know if its about the right price. It's white, non standard wheels and dtm exhaust. Are they sluggish? Or not as bad as i imagine. Can't test drive it till tuesday

Happy new year to all e30zoners

Good evening and welcome

Cheaper , newer , probably in better condition and better spec'd. faster
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=51647

welcome mate, i reckon that might be a bit dear unless its really clean with low miles and service history,but with alloys and dtm exhaust i doubt it.it wont thrill you with its performance but i suppose it will be adequate ,depends what your used to.i paid £500 for a clean g plate 320 touring with 170000 miles on the clock with basic trim and my current 325 m-tec touring was £1200 from a dealer with 80000 on the clock,leather interior and a full years mot.that gives a rough idea of the sort of prices going.i personally would hold out until i found one of the 6 cylinder engine models(320i or 325i) purely for the sound and smooth bullet proofness of the engine

DTM exhaust I probably wouldn't pay that much for a 318i expecially with council wrongness DTM style exhaust.

Welcome to the zone anyway mate, have a browse in our for sale section to see if there's anything in there you fancy.
I paid about £600 for my K reg 316i touring with 120k just for a comparison. Oh, and it was bog standard too.

Didnt mention the dtm exhust as if it was desirable!! My style is subtle OEM+, which basically means respect from people in the know and being left alone by the chavs and the filth!

kloonsy wrote:Didnt mention the dtm exhust as if it was desirable!! My style is subtle OEM+, which basically means respect from people in the know and being left alone by the chavs and the filth!

You haven't really mentioned what you expect to get out of the car. What criteria is important to you, power, economy, loading space, speed, cheapness?

There are plenty of E30 models and one which will fit the bill for what you're looking for. If economy and fuel consumption aren't an issue, I'd opt 325i all the time. As I mentioned before, I have a 316i touring that I bang around in for work and it suits me fine. The problem is, fuel consumption isn't great because I like to get a move on when I'm driving and it gets death every time I drive it otherwise the old sack of spuds doesn't move lol.

I'm on the lookout for a 2.5.

Touring is understated style,still enjoying our 316i,but the 2.7 in the 320i 4 door goes better!!

fuel economy not of the utmost importance Adam. The car is pretty clean and would only be used to get to and from my work van. Its locked in a garage and cant remember reg and exact spec, just that its a 318 with rear discs. Just thought it was a cheapway into e30 ownership. Been on forecourt a while so maybe he would take a silly offer? Might be cheaper in long run to wait for a 320 or 325

kloonsy wrote:fuel economy not of the utmost importance Adam. The car is pretty clean and would only be used to get to and from my work van. Its locked in a garage and cant remember reg and exact spec, just that its a 318 with rear discs. Just thought it was a cheapway into e30 ownership. Been on forecourt a while so maybe he would take a silly offer? Might be cheaper in long run to wait for a 320 or 325

All tourings have rear discs and ABS mate.

thanks for that spadge .

SPADGE wrote:
All tourings have rear discs and ABS mate.

Half right, Spadge. They all have rear discs (plus suspension similar to 325 saloons), but they don't all have ABS.
316/318 Tourings are often in better shape than 325s, as well as being available in later years. This tends to make them a better base for M50/M52 engine conversions in my experience, as well as possibly being cheaper to insure afterwards.

19 year old cars have to be valued purely on condition, but £795 sounds a little high for an F plate 318, unless it's got plenty of toys, and is totally rust free.

Brianmoooore wrote:

SPADGE wrote:
All tourings have rear discs and ABS mate.

Half right, Spadge. They all have rear discs (plus suspension similar to 325 saloons), but they don't all have ABS.
316/318 Tourings are often in better shape than 325s, as well as being available in later years. This tends to make them a better base for M50/M52 engine conversions in my experience, as well as possibly being cheaper to insure afterwards.

Better to be half right than half wrong Brian
I have never seen/owned a touring which didn't have ABS and so i thought they all must have it

SPADGE wrote:[
I have never seen/owned a touring which didn't have ABS and so i thought they all must have it

I know I've got one here without ABS, possibly two.

But did they all come with 51mm front struts?

Nelly wrote:But did they all come with 51mm front struts?

Yes

Nelly wrote:But did they all come with 51mm front struts?

Sure did! all quality stuff on tourings!

Always wondered about that - cheers.

Neil.

My touring doesn't have ABS either.

Only the 325i touring has it as standard, £690 option on all others.

My 318 touring didn't have ABS. It didn't have a sunroof either, which I'm starting to miss now cos I'm 6'4" and headroom is tight with a sunroof. If you're tall you might want to keep an eye out for a car without a sunroof which I think is pretty rare in a 325i

Nelly wrote:But did they all come with 51mm front struts?

and aluminium wishbones

edit:
and M3 radio ariels!!!

gareth wrote:

Nelly wrote:But did they all come with 51mm front struts?

and aluminium wishbones

Only the 325i touring though..

learn something new every day

sod all tourers have them fitted now though mine have long gone

gareth wrote:sod all tourers have them fitted now though mine have long gone

Like wise. One replaced two years ago, the other replaced last year