E30 Zone

ya know the 4x4 bmw's....

what are they like? anyone got one?

Never driven one but a guy a few doors down from me has an E34 (was there any other) 525iX... never seems to go anywhere though.

they made an e30 ix.

and I want the e30 ix touring. So coool.

munky30 wrote:they made an e30 ix.

Yeah, sorry, I knew about the 325iX, but wasnt sure if there was a later (or earlier car with the same model description as the E34 525iX)

i've not seen an e30 ix, but have seen the e34 ix...........

i think they're extinct now, but always curious as to what they drove like...
Must of had good handling tho..... or may be not.....

They are not extinct they are just pretty rare, made for the US and South African markets so all are LHD.

A few of the members here have them Tim-IX springs to mind immediatly. By all acount the transfer box can't handle big power, but the US guys on e30tech seem to like them handling wise. Though its probably a novalty to them if they have to turn a corner!

Didnt mean they extinct but alot of people dont buy them here as parts are quite difficult to get hold of, if im right...seen a few for sale but no one seems to buy them....

your right on that score, I would expect the main 4x4 parts and body panels are an ass to get hold of, but mechanicall engine wise they are all the same m20's we use here.

Sure they were just for the US and SA ?
Plenty for sale in Germany and even a few here in Denmark.

G

they are in europe more than UK. I have seen a few on the roads in germany, also saw a few in italy.

If you want one go abroad and source it they dnt cost much out there.

I didn't say 'just' , but that was the main target audience, american need they're 4x4's and in South Africa the roads can get pretty shite! But I believe the were offered for sale in many territories.

They are not extinct they are just pretty rare, made for the US and South African markets so all are LHD.

they were avaiable in the uk aswell and in rhd form i was looking at 1 last week but was knackerd.
just very rare to find them these days

http://zoek.autotrader.nl/www/cars_adve ... 9295645629#

heres one i found it looks nice seats look trim and bodywork looks straight

http://zoek.autotrader.nl/www/cars_adve ... 2282453316#

this one looks a bit chavved up

andye30nut wrote:

They are not extinct they are just pretty rare, made for the US and South African markets so all are LHD.

they were avaiable in the uk aswell and in rhd form i was looking at 1 last week but was knackerd.
just very rare to find them these days

I didn't know that, I've seen a fair few (well not that many bout 5) round and about and knew one supplied in the UK but have never seen a RHD one, you learn something new everyday.

andye30nut wrote:

They are not extinct they are just pretty rare, made for the US and South African markets so all are LHD.

they were avaiable in the uk aswell and in rhd form i was looking at 1 last week but was knackerd.
just very rare to find them these days

Not 100% but i think you'll find these were never sold through UK dealerships, they are all imported and any RHD will have been converted.

so who was right then? Thats what I thought too Tomson but have since been told I'm wrong, I have never seen a RHD IX though, wouldn't think a conversion is impossible tho, but must be harder work than say an M3 because of the mechanics associated with the 4x4 system.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=73185
there the link for the one me and 329touring were looking at.
my dd owned a 325ix rhd uk spec back in 1990 brand new from bmw dealer in manchester. cant remember reg neither can he was on a g plate tho.

They drive pretty much like any other 325... Apart from a steering that feels more "damped", rear wheels that don't spin and a bit less rev-happy (I assume due to the more important drag and weight, although the 2 I've driven might just have had tired engines).

Oh, and the old 325iX are far better in the snow than E46's and E90's Xi...

And I quite like the larger body...

To be honest the 325 doesnt handle well at the best of times.

An extra 150+ kilos wouldnt do it any favours in the understeer department. Aint that right tom.

march109 wrote:so who was right then? Thats what I thought too Tomson but have since been told I'm wrong, I have never seen a RHD IX though, wouldn't think a conversion is impossible tho, but must be harder work than say an M3 because of the mechanics associated with the 4x4 system.

the drive train does not come into the rhd conversion, its no different from converting any other lhd E30.

jonb wrote:To be honest the 325 doesnt handle well at the best of times.

An extra 150+ kilos wouldnt do it any favours in the understeer department. Aint that right tom.

And what would you know

tomson wrote:

march109 wrote:so who was right then? Thats what I thought too Tomson but have since been told I'm wrong, I have never seen a RHD IX though, wouldn't think a conversion is impossible tho, but must be harder work than say an M3 because of the mechanics associated with the 4x4 system.

the drive train does not come into the rhd conversion, its no different from converting any other lhd E30.

I think it does! From what i can see the front crosmember cant accept a RHD rack, but ill be able to tell you 100% soon

Morat wrote:and I want the e30 ix touring. So coool.

I have one here in Portugal. So many things different to the "normal" E30s you can't imagine.
It has ventilated brake discs front and rear!!!

A diferent kind of ABS, the strut towers are different (they are totally vertical), and so many things. Even the seats!

It handles very good, again, much different to the "normal" E30s.
In the 325ix we "point and shoot", it goes wherever the front wheels are pointing.
No fun like a RWD E30, but more efficient in the wet/snow.

http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 003oo8.jpg

see next

march109 wrote:I didn't say 'just' , but that was the main target audience, american need they're 4x4's and in South Africa the roads can get pretty shite! But I believe the were offered for sale in many territories.

AFAIK BMW SA never marketed any 4x4 derivatives (apart from the X5 of course when it was launched). I lived there 1981 - 1999 so I know.

The roads in SA were not pretty shite at all, far from it, the highways were very good for high speed cruising, limit 120km/hr and out of the main cities JHB' Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria, many people open up a bit.
You are certainly confusing "Southern Africa" (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, etc) with South Africa - not really third world like most other central & southern African countries.

I now live in Canada and we have E30 iX saloons, touring, E34 iX saloons, & touring.
The current E90 3 series and E60 5 series are available as iX saloon or tourings.

I saw one in Reading at the Tesco's car park last November. It was black and was for sale £1660 or something.