Welcome me to the real world!

[tomstickland]

Hello, this is my first post. It's a long story, but after driving a borrowed 1988 E30 320 for a week then I've lost all interest in front wheel drive cars, I'm currently selling my stripped out road car (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... RK:MESE:IT) and I'm wanting to buy a 325 Sport.

It's been a great week. My first impressions of the 320 were not good. But within 2 days it was starting to grow on me and now, after 5 days, I'm totally hooked. I just need a bit more power and a quicker steering rack.

I've been to look at a local 325 sport tonight, but the conclusion was to keep the 320 for a bit longer and search out a better 325. Anyway, it's 1.50am and I'm knackered.

Me and my friend had a great scenic drive in the 320. What other 17 year old standard car could be this much fun?

I'll be back.

[Zayyan]

Welcome to the Zone

And congrats on an excellent first post, just shows what E30's are all about!

Good luck in your search for a Sport

[320Touring]

hey!welcome to the zone!!!

got a 320 myself-and a bit more poke would be nice-but I just live for the 6pot sound!

glad you like the e30 mate! and good luck in your quest for a sport!

[Jhonno]

Hey man, glad you made it over

Some good guys on here, alot less spam than on MIG.. You'll enjoy it round here

Happy hunting with the Sport.. Bargains are about

[tomstickland]

Thanks for the welcome!
I'm enjoying myself a lot at the moment. I spent 5 years and quite a few Ԛ£1000s driving and modifying my previous car. It ended up with no interior, a welded in roll cage, bucket seats, seam welded front end, twin 40s, no PAS etc etc. For FWD the handling was very entertaining and I took it on Evo mag meets in Wales, keeping up with all sorts of "Evo" cars. I had over 130,000 miles of entertainment like that. Whenever it was off the road I'd have to drive other cars and I'd always be pining to get back in it. However, borrowing this 320 has been the first time that I thought, "nah don't want to go back".

Few more factors as well; car was nicked two weeks ago. I got up in the morning and did that classic "the car has gone." thing. TBH I didn't feel that sad, I was more interested in what I could replace it with. So the time has come to move on.

Oddly enough, I think a nicely balanced FWD car is a good training car for RWD. I've found that a bit of a lift off the throttle coming into a bend gets the 320 to come round in a similar manner. Feeding the power back in was also necessary on the FWD car to get the car round in an optimum manner. However, with the 320 I can give it virtually all its got in the dry.

The difference between being pushed and being pushed is very noticeable. No going back.

Anyway, today is my first day of doing 320 things. I'm off down to the breakers to get a standard air box for the 320. Previous owner put some dippy cone filter on it.

[hammoj28]

Welcome.You not get your other car back??That sucks.Id have been mortified if my pride and joy got nicked!!!

[E30BeemerLad]

Hi and welcome to the Zone, i'm a newbie myself and like you have been bitten by the E30 bug.

Have owned my '88 325i 2dr for just under a month now and it never fails to put a smile on my face. The missus is quite smitten too!

I have got to be one of the luckiest zoners though. I got my car from a mate who had replaced it with a clio 172. Another mate had owned it before him, so I have known the car for over 5 years. I will only be it's 4th owner.

It has done 150K, but had a top end rebuild at 100K, where the 1st mate decided to have the head ported and polished, added a piper fast road cam, reconditioned injectors, chipped it, fitted a full stainless scorpion dtm system, k&n panel filter. It's been lowered 35mm on bilstein sports springs and dampers all round and has drilled discs front & rear with uprated pads.

Most of the mecahanical wear and tear components on the car have been replaced, i.e all suspension bushes and wishbones, top mounts, steering rack, all bushes and universal joint. She also sits on 17" Alpina replicas.

Bodywork is lachs silver with genuine Mtec2 bodykit, fitted to the car by dealer in York when the car was 2 years old. It looks and sounds the business!

Only 2 bad points to the car, rear arches are bubbling and a couple of small patches around the bootlid and ariel post. Also the pinion bearings in the diff are noisy.

Just done a full service on her, replaced a brake pipe and pads plus track control arms for the MOT.

Will attempt to get a pic of her on here soon, but it looks identical to the version at the top of the zone .

And here comes the bit that will have you all wetting yourselves with envy! I paid my mate Ԛ£500 for her!

Life seems pretty sweet at the moment. Infact someone came into my place of work this week off the steet, driving a 318is and asked about my car and if i wanted to sell! Not a chance, even if I could get 4 times what I paid for her.

[ZS]

Hi Tom.

Odd how Miggers end up here all the time, eh? ;)

[Rich_W]

Welcome to Real Wheel Drive

[Jhonno]

Hi Tom.

Odd how Miggers end up here all the time, eh? ;)

There are a few of on here

[Adammcf]

Hello there Tom. Yet another MIG'er on here. I was on MIG all the time and still am when I had the GSI. This is another good forum and is equally as useful as MIG for info.
Welcome to RWD fun!

[tomstickland]

Welcome.You not get your other car back??

Yes, had to pay Ԛ£105 to recovery company to get it back. Selling it on Ebay.

MIG was a great place (MIG is Vauxhall tuning forum). Still is a good place for info, but some of the original fun has gone from it.

Me and a friend went out for a scenic drive (code name for driving excursion on decent B roads) this evening. He was in a Peugot 306 TD, a car which he claims has amazing handling. Anyway, it was quite entertaining seeing him have it all over the place whilst in the 320 I could just flow round the bends, maybe having the back end drifting a bit. Addictive fun really. I'm totally sold on it.

Today was also the first time I found my first niggles. The steering has a tiny bit of play in it, probably the universal joint. I noticed that on roads with wobbly camber. However, the 306 driver also said that the 306 felt terrible on that section of road.

[johnl320]

Loads of people seem to be getting the bug for E30s at the moment , one of the guys at work borrowed my totally standard 320 and just nipped to the garage in it (2 miles ) . he comes back and starts harping on about selling his three year old focus and buying my car ( which isn't for sale ). he is only nineteen and has never been in one before. so the hunt is on for another decent E30 .
john

[tomstickland]

What do you think of these Ebay finds?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 4545704802


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 4546387663

[Ziggy]

What do you think of these Ebay finds?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 4545704802


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 4546387663

Depends what you're after, & even more on what condition they're really in... but the black tech-1 sport looks nice

[Adammcf]

Loving that sport and its a good price too! Sport is the best option for fun though as it comes with the LSD.

[HotboxDeluxe]

Similar story here, a few years ago I stopped modding vauxhalls and their bloody squeaky clutch pedals and got a 320i, 14 beemahs later and theres no going back

[ZS]

Heh, squeeking clutch pedals, creaking suspension, engine that don't starrt when hot and depreciation rates that make Fords look good. Got to love Vauxhall.

Tom, your mate with the 306 is kidding himself. They're not a good handling car, never have been. My standard 1.1 106 I had would outhandle and outpace a 306 DTurbo on both B-roads and motorways.

As for the comments about the E30, I think it's a cracking looking car, certainly one of the best looking 3-series BMW have made. I'm sure the newer 3-series are better mechanically and safety wise, but the E30 has the looks of the bunch. Or maybe it's just because the E30 is the style of car that "30-somethings" grew up with.

[Splondike]

Welcome Tom - I must say just seeing my Sport outside cheers me up, and even bigger grin when I drive it... Good luck with the search - the mtech1 sport looks nice in the piccy.

[tomstickland]

Heh, squeeking clutch pedals, creaking suspension, engine that don't starrt when hot and depreciation rates that make Fords look good. Got to love Vauxhall.

Not when you start with a Ԛ£1200 car. The smaller Vauxs make great cars for cheap modifying. The Astra GTE is a good fun car once the crappy std springs and dampers are binned. Pulls itself apart though. I would never want to buy a newer one though. The engines are probably the best bit about the Vaux cars. The other bits aren't so good.

My friend with the 306 has had a lot of experience of various cars. He used to work for a BMW garage, then VW, then Renault and maybe a few others. He's taken countless customer cars out for "road tests". The 306 is quite a well regarded shell though; the GTi6 is much loved. I don't know myself, the 17 year old 320 was keeping up with no problem.#

Anyway, I'm not trying to be argumentative, but various cars meet various requirements for various people. Vaux are great for scrap yard challenges, loads of them around. Not that I want another one. Maybe a Manta project. Dunno.

[ZS]

I didn't intend to be argumentative, must have been a lack of smilies. ;)

I've had a few cheap cars, and the two Vauxhalls I've had have certainly been the best so far. A Mk4 Astra 1.6 8v - it was gutless, and I had a few accidents in it. Changed it for the Corsa I have now. For Ԛ£8k new with a year's insurance, it's been good value. Other than fuel, it's cost me Ԛ£71 for servicing and parts, and Ԛ£102 for two tyres. Work pays for fuel, so Ԛ£173 for 11k and 1 year's motoring is very difficult to beat.

I still see loads of 15+ year old Cavaliers and Novas running around, the engines are perfect, but the cars themselves are looking very tired. If GM spent the same amount of time and effort into building the cars than they do with the engines, then they'd be as good as Merc or BMW I suppose.

[Jhonno]

Heh, squeeking clutch pedals, creaking suspension, engine that don't starrt when hot and depreciation rates that make Fords look good. Got to love Vauxhall.

Not when you start with a Ԛ£1200 car. The smaller Vauxs make great cars for cheap modifying. The Astra GTE is a good fun car once the crappy std springs and dampers are binned. Pulls itself apart though. I would never want to buy a newer one though. The engines are probably the best bit about the Vaux cars. The other bits aren't so good.

My friend with the 306 has had a lot of experience of various cars. He used to work for a BMW garage, then VW, then Renault and maybe a few others. He's taken countless customer cars out for "road tests". The 306 is quite a well regarded shell though; the GTi6 is much loved. I don't know myself, the 17 year old 320 was keeping up with no problem.#

Anyway, I'm not trying to be argumentative, but various cars meet various requirements for various people. Vaux are great for scrap yard challenges, loads of them around. Not that I want another one. Maybe a Manta project. Dunno.

that Sport looks good Tom..

[Jhonno]

u can do the scrap yard challenge with the BM as well

[tomstickland]

I took the 320 out for a scenic drive today. I am in love with this car big time. Cheap car fun. Highlight of the day was, er, overtaking some crappy old MG round the outside of roundabout and getting a lovely drift with me thinking "any more and I'm going to lose it". Oh how I laughed. About half of the roundabouts get an extra lap for fun.

It did cross my mind that I should back off the learning process a bit, especially when it's wet. Anyway, after 5 years of perfecting the fwd hatch driving method, it's great fun to have something new to try.

Sale of my car and parts is progressing well. I'm in negotiations with a potential buyer for the Astra who wants it for a race car. That plus all the engine tuning parts on Ebay, plus a load of parts from some cars I've finished breaking should give me enough cash to go and buy a Ԛ£1600 325 Sport.

[Jhonno]

You reckon you like the 320.. wait till you take a Sport on one of your scenic drives!! LSD, more power, M-tech suspension, C/R box, better seats...

[HotboxDeluxe]

I wasn't slating vauxhalls by the way, there was a time when that's all I would drive! Mk2 Cav SRi's were my favourite, had a couple of Astra GTE's and Mantas, and a Carlton 1.8 with GSi3000 running gear

But even the standard 320 I have outside is in a different league altogether. If You want a REAL fun car, try an E28 M535, I want another one badly

[Daryll]

Welcome to the Zone Tom, make sure you stick around it's a place of knowledgable people and a couple of not so clever people like myself!

Enjoy your stay and best of luck with finding what will be the best car you will ever own!

[tomstickland]

Well, I have 4 potential buyers for the Astra now. I've checked out the Ebay final value charges and it's going to be around Ԛ£30 if the car makes Ԛ£1000. So I've told them to get bidding. May the highest bidder win.

Meanwhile, the training car is being put to daily rigorous use. Good toy.
So, how much more fun is 325 sport compared to a std 325?

[Davenotouring]

Hi Tom,

Well a Sport has a limited slip diff as standard, so a bit of drifting may occur depending on how you like to drive

It also has a close ratio gearbox, which means it can be easier to keep the engine in the higher rev range when changing up.

It also has gas-filled dampers and is slightly lower, so should handle a bit 'sportier'!

[Jhonno]

sport will have LSD, Sport seats and M-tech suspension (Bilstein Dampers and BMW springs) very good handling out of the box..

[Pal318is]

Welcome to the Zone dude, you have seen the light

Pal318is

[tomstickland]

Check this: load of engine tuning parts finished on Ebay tonight and the total came to Ԛ£931, with Ԛ£500 still being bid on remaining parts including the car. The car has got to reach Ԛ£1000 (Ԛ£400 at the moment), so I don't see why I can't come out of this Ԛ£2000 better off. That's enough to buy a tidy 325 sport. Things are looking good. Just got to post about a million parts off now. Ebay is very entertaining sometimes.

[Jhonno]

Check this: load of engine tuning parts finished on Ebay tonight and the total came to Ԛ£931, with Ԛ£500 still being bid on remaining parts including the car. The car has got to reach Ԛ£1000 (Ԛ£400 at the moment), so I don't see why I can't come out of this Ԛ£2000 better off. That's enough to buy a tidy 325 sport. Things are looking good. Just got to post about a million parts off now. Ebay is very entertaining sometimes.

[Batfink]

Hi Tom
you run into MIG people in the strangest places.....

(old user name lost on here when site was down)

Im still hunting that elusive 325i motorsport cabriolet.... so i lurk here. ;)

Mr freak esq.