E30 Zone

I have a mate who's into VWs and has a MK IV Golf. I was flicking through some of his VW mags the other day and there are some awesome VW creations, many of them tastefully 'trick' in a minimalistic way, while others cool to look at, not so to drive (for me anyway).

Now, I'm very guilty of following the E30 set trends, but many of us seem to follow them with regards to mods: Alpina (reps), BBS, Hartge, M-Tech 1 and 2 and so on.

I don't mean I want to see feck off rear wings and dam spoilers, but cars like Dip's brown touring are inspirational just by going against the grain and choosing such a colour. And those dials in the rear view mirror too; very imaginative.

I'll still stick to Laguna Green and subtle mods, but who knows, maybe I'll do something crazy one day.

What are your views?

Yup we have a very defined scene I think. We could do with taking on board the VW lads ideas.

it does seem like we all keep to the same mods like lowering, mtech 1 and 2, the 2.7 build and also the alpina look,
myself i like the chromey look

I think the VW boys have more options regards parts and after market stuff as well, but agreed the E30 scene is years behind and on this site especially you will get flamed whatever you do so some people just don't.

Bootymany and Dips are examples, whenever they post pics of what are amazing cars someone always slags them off over something they don't like, or calls it a complete waste of money ect ect...

VW boys have deeper pockets too, and I suspect thats because the E30 scene attracts a slighly older (albeit not by much) fan who has a mortgage and family to support, most VW boys I know anyway are exactly that, boys who live with mummy and daddy.

Why do we need to follow the VW scene??

The BMW scene seems to be broken down into models, so comaring the e30 scene to a whole manufacturer is always going to make the e30 scene seem stoic.

There are a few heroes willing to grey a few more hairs on the cloth cap brigades heads so I wouldn't be concerned. If you look across the board at the whole range of BMW cars, there are some maniacal creations.

E30's have had some serious engineering undertaken upon them, monster engines, trick brakes and suspension set ups, all sorts of wheels, paint etc.

VW was a more mid level brand, whereas BMW is more executive and middle classed, the scene never had the demand and subsequent supply to justify a whole 'Hit a bimmer with a modifying stick' scene. VW was and is more accessable.

There are some great VW's about, there's a lot of sheds about too, as well as a lot of concours, but, there's feck loads more VW's than there are e30's...

Some interesting points, guys I guess a lot of us stick with certain mods as we also like others to like our cars. I shouldn't imagine anyone wants to proudly show their hard work off to be shot down in flames by their E30 peers.

TBH I haven't spent much time looking at the VW scene, but I would have thought that E30's lend themselves more toward mechnical modification than cosmetic. Most of the Golfs I have seen have very similar mods to E30's....You know, wheels, lowering kits, and the like. I don't think you could play around too much with an E30 before it starts looking silly, the shape just doesn't lend itself well to anything other than subtle mods. Maybe, if it's true that BM owners are older generally than VW owners, that we are less inclined to boy-race our cars. I was very surprised to see the average age of BM owners on the recent topic. I do like the idea of the 'smooth E30' posted the other day, But again, that's more of a retro thing too. The guys up the road are doing an E30 cab with an E36 front end, IMO it looks feckin rubbish, but that's just my humble opinion.

In my opinion

the VW seen is the best , however they stick to a trend.

i.e low, wide and smoothed. The majority use bbs splits, tt dashes etc

If you turned up to the edition 38 show with anything out of the 'ordinary' you would be shot.

As mentioned above i believe the vw scene attracts different people, its almost a way of life where they put every penny into their cars.

You must also remeber that quite a few of their cars are trailer queens, a friend has a stunning mk2 and that does approx 100miles a year.

I'm no longer involved with vw as i sold my g40 for the e30

i do what i choose to do regardless of whats seen as 'council' . i couldnt care less about tried and tested modifications but it can give you some positive ideas to b4stardise for your own needs

greentouring wrote: What are your views?

I think that the VW peeps need to improve the looks of their cars as they are not much cop standard. Its a run of the mill hatchback.

The E30 looks good standard and does not require that many mods to look good

Cotty wrote: The E30 looks good standard and does not require that many mods to look good

Got to agree with that. I like the way most E30's look. Nice Touring with a slight drop, nice and clean with iS front lip, Mtec rear spoiler and smoked hellas rocks my world.

I feel no need to bolt a picnic table to the back of my car and fill it with disco equipment but hey, we are all individuals

Yes, how many Euro look cars do you see? Or something very different?

It's just usually tech-2 and Aplina reps.

maxfield wrote:Yes, how many Euro look cars do you see? Or something very different?

It's just usually tech-2 and Aplina reps.

Euro look, that's what I meant! Is that similar/akin to the VW OEM+ thang?

old_skool_2002 wrote: I feel no need to bolt a picnic table to the back of my car and fill it with disco equipment but hey, we are all individuals

Ahh bless, the words of a rapidly ageing man

Have to admit I'm very 'reserved' about what I feel should be done to my car and take ages to make even the slightest decisions. By making radical changes, I feel that the 'essence' of the E30 is lost and I don't want that to happen to my car. I suppose if you don't really care what you drive and only run an E30 because they are cheap and can take a fair number of mods, then you might feel the current scene is too staid. I run my E30 because I like its looks, I like its smooth, but underpowered engine and also because it's been in the family since brand new so there's a very strong sentimental attachment. No need for bulging wheel arches and changing it to a manual 325 - if I wanted that I'd buy one.

fuzzy wrote:i do what i choose to do regardless of whats seen as 'council'.

I sort of agree with that. I'm about to go 'council' by adding eyebrows, which I think look good and don't give a flying f**k what others may think about them. I'll also de-chrome, probably drop in a new chip and may lower the suspension a bit, but that's about as far as I'll go. I want the old girl to retain a good level of its original integrity.

fuzzy wrote:i do what i choose to do regardless of whats seen as 'council' . i couldnt care less about tried and tested modifications but it can give you some positive ideas to b4stardise for your own needs

Well said that man. When you WORK hard for your money, it gives you the right to mod your car how you like. If others like it, then great, if not then tough!! No one will ever build a car that eveyone will like. Standard cars dont do nothing for me regardless of how clean and concurs it is. At the end of the day a manufacturer is limited by budget when they build a car and they make it as simple as possible to appeal to as wide a customers as possible, but almost every aspect of every car can be improved in some way. Hell i'd give my left testicle for a Lambo but even that would get some upgrades from myself.

As for the BM against VW thing goes, most E30's are not worth much so people tend to buy them to use as everyday cars, hence they dont like spending money on it. I have no problem with that. What i do have a problem with is the people who judge you for spending 2k on breaks etc. If you wont do it personally then fine, but shut the FCUK UP and let the people who will do it get on with their business.

To be honest the whole UK BMW scene is rubbish. People are quick to shoot off their mouth, but not so quick to back it up. PBMW is the perfect example of that. Lots of people are always slating it for having too many cars from abroad, but the bottom line is if the UK was producing ground breaking cars, the mag wouldnt have to look abroad. Just ask yourself the last time you saw a UK BMW that was ground breaking in either styling, power or ICE?

so true, people seem to be worried about what others think, however, when a brave man does come along and post pics up of a different mod thats been done, wether its a different kit or wheels etc, nearly everyone slates the poor fukcer.!!! I also think that the difference between VW owners and BMW owners modding is that everytime i see a VW, its always looking immaculate and not partially tatty whereas some BMW owners do things by halves or quarters! i.e. rusty body but nice wheels, dents and a few scratches but spent money on lowering and exhaust etc..

d6dph wrote:Yup we have a very defined scene I think. We could do with taking on board the VW lads ideas.

where do you think all this euro wheels i.e ste car,borbet b and anything deep dish ideas come from "the vw boys"


we dont need to copy or follow them ,its just e30 boys need to step up the game ,as said above by someone when you do up a e30 on this forum a few jump on board and start crying about it shouldnt be done to a e30 ,leave it normal
stuff that its only a £50 shed to start with anyway ,if we didnt modify this cars most would end up at the scrap yard

I don't think so much emphasis should be put on trying to emulate the VW scene because tbh its jast as boring and static ATM. Same old mods done to the same old cars. There's nothing new and the VW scene is so up itself it unbelievable!

Its nice to come onto a Model/marque specific site where people are willing to look to other "scenes" to gain inspiration and ideas.

As for the E30 "scene" as a whole it does seem to be a case of Dolphin grey M-tech kit and BBS's as a general rule haha. I think the E30 has amazing potnetial! How bout a few more low wide none kitted versions? Base spec trim little wide wheels hard slam?

Hopefully I will practice what I preach when I come into ownership of my E30

be yourself
use your imagination if you have one

and enjoy your car whatever it is, standard hack or highly modded beast

i agree there arent really any groundbreaking e30s about and its a shame tbh
but theres a few lads such as dips and booty who like to push that little bit harder and good luck to em i say

if i had the spare folding i could happily go overboard but sadly im just a peasant so for now i'll sit and wait
for the next creation to come along

as said body wise theres not tht much you can realisticly do with an e30 so leave that to the vw boys

dont try an imitqate be yourself and be different to the rest if you can

if people dont it like it f*** em its not there car and theyre not paying so stop bitching get the f*** outside and get modding

prob just wrote a pile of crap as full of man flu and feel like shite
anyway must go out in the rain and change a break pipe for mot cyaaaaaaaaa

qwerty wrote: As for the E30 "scene" as a whole it does seem to be a case of Dolphin grey M-tech kit and BBS's as a general rule haha. I think the E30 has amazing potnetial! How bout a few more low wide none kitted versions? Base spec trim little wide wheels hard slam?

Hopefully I will practice what I preach when I come into ownership of my E30

I did and i still had people bitcjing cause it shouldnt be done to a Msport

Goodness i enjoyed chupping the crap out of that car

The E30 scene is generally up it's own arse as far as mods go.

Personally the VW scene has always had it right

I wasn't saying we should copy the VW guys, but just using them as an example of another scene, albeit a 'rad' one

As a side note: there was this golf in the mag that had Bentley wheels and a Porsche steering wheel. Even to a rather conservative 35 year old it was I noticed they all seem to put Audi wheels on too. I liked the mods, but didn't like the mix of other car manufacturers logos; it seemed a little odd to me

Sorry dont think we do! WV stuff is dirt cheap compared to BM.

Hmmm I like the cross contamination. Its one thing I think could be used more in the BM scene. I;ve seen a nice E30 four door on Polished Audi TT comp's which looked ace and a couple of BM's on Porsche wheels. They looked different and really cool. Adaptors are so readily available for 4x100 fitment that the choices are almost limitless.

I have been musing about a JDM inspired E30 recently... well JDM wheels on an E30, Something like Rota GT3's would look really cool.

Greentouring you said it yourself when you said you will stick to a few subtle mods, which is how most of us on here are.

We aren't behind any scene we just do it our way, maybe the guys into a more VW style of modding are behind maybe or that they don't want to end up 10k in debt modding a 316i....like people do to VW's

so whats an example of a really "out-there" modified e30 that Europe has produced????

^^ yeah we could fit like vauxhall and civic wheels to our cars innit.

thats was toung in cheek btw.

HairyScreech wrote:^^ yeah we could fit like vauxhall and civic wheels to our cars innit.

thats was toung in cheek btw.

was that aimed at me?

Yeah, I readily admit I'm not 'way out' with my touring. It's a 316i and I'm pretty happy with it. It was only when discovering this and other BM forums that I became dissatisfied with my little engine, but thinking about it now, it suited my needs at the time of purchase and now too. Like many of us, I'm strictly strapped for cash, so that really disables the car budget, however, if I ever do have some cash to splash I'll do some cool mods.

What might they be? Well right now I'm craving some really deep dish rims with stretched rubber, a nice cream interior with matching dash, some extra dials for volts, oil temp and so on, a sat nav, an MTech rear touring spoiler and a bra with those two vent thingys...yes a bra.

greentouring wrote:Yeah, I readily admit I'm not 'way out' with my touring. It's a 316i and I'm pretty happy with it. It was only when discovering this and other BM forums that I became dissatisfied with my little engine, but thinking about it now, it suited my needs at the time of purchase and now too. Like many of us, I'm strictly strapped for cash, so that really disables the car budget, however, if I ever do have some cash to splash I'll do some cool mods.

What might they be? Well right now I'm craving some really deep dish rims with stretched rubber, a nice cream interior with matching dash, some extra dials for volts, oil temp and so on, a sat nav, an MTech rear touring spoiler and a bra with those two vent thingys...yes a bra.

Their is A modifier in all of us at heart lol...

VW's have been modding their cars for a very long time, and is alot bigger than the bmw scene, i think that vw modding parts are more easier and cheaper to get hold of, engine, interior, etc etc, especially engine mods, with the e30's it is hard/expensive to get other engines to upgrade your existing one, not many e30 owners have alot of money to waste on their cars, whereas vw, they somehow spend 5k+ on their cars, no problem, dont know where they get that sort of money from (loans maybe) but bmw owners are slightly sensible and think things through before going ahead with their crazy ideas.

we definalty follow trends

HairyScreech wrote:^^ yeah we could fit like vauxhall and civic wheels to our cars innit.

thats was toung in cheek btw.

Or aimed at me?