E30 Zone

I have got my eye on a minter but i keep telling myself not to do it, i've just spent a load of money on my 325i Sport but i cannot stop thinking about buying it!

How much better are these in comparison to the Sport and how much faster are they?

I understand the only real differences between the two is the 2.0 M engine and gearbox - The rest is just about the same as a sport including the suspension etc.

Is it really worth the extra £Â£Ã‚£Ã‚£ to buy and maintain?

Are the engines and gearboxes fairly bullet-proof or a pitta to keep in A1 condition in comparison to the M20?

I guess if anything goes wrong with the engine and gearbox it will be hard to find parts and it will be blooming expensive to fix

What are you thoughts?

the 320is is rarer iirc read somewhere that its nicknamed the baby m3 only available abroad though

The engine is on a totally different level to the M20. Much more a 'tuned' piece of kit.

The 320IS is certainly faster, supposedly faster than an M3 in a straight line im told?

A friend of mine has the 320IS and so much has gone wrong on it, he has spent thousands, but this may just be a one off. Personally I would keep your sport if you have spent a lot on it, almost any E30 you buy these days will need a fair bit spending on it, even the 'mint' ones.

You have the also weigh up the fact the 320IS is LHD only.

In your position I'd sell the sport in a hearbeat and get the IS. Faster, better handling*, much much rarer.







*according to "Max and the 4 potters"

think you'd need lots of money to keep it in the condition it deserves for all the reasons you stated, however if you have the cash, how cool would it be to own.

on the plus side, you could propb insure it as a 320 as the insurance comps in this country may not know it...not that i'd condone that kind of behaivour of course

buy an M3.

genuine honest opinion.

it's not much more expensive, it's more powerful, it handles better and looks twenty times better.

You are thinking mm I have a lesser car atm.. you are craving a 320is for more power.. when you have the 320is you will think.. if only i had spent an extra k or so and bought an M3 with more power better brakes, better suspension setup and better looks..

my 2p worth and which is why I have an M3 and not a 320is

I'd have to agree with bobo up there on this one M3 as you have a sport already. I would be tempted to have a 320is and tune the engine to a 300hp screamer though! Proper sleeper

aint the 320is about 180hp? i thought the whole idea of them was they were a 325sport for places that put a large tax on cars over 2litre like italy.

Yeah go with an M3 for sure due to the reasons that have already been said.
They are nice cars but your putting M3 servincing costs on what is really a normal E30.
They are no where as quick as an M3 due to only being 2ltr and 192bhp and from what ive found a well driven 325 will keep up with an m3 in the real world, so theres no advantage there, you just get people in sports p!ssing you off and peple in M3´s really p!ssing you off
But its not all about speed, if you want one due to to the fact its a rare car especially in UK then go for it there are quite unique, but not everyones cup of tea.

Morat wrote:In your position I'd sell the sport in a hearbeat and get the IS. Faster, better handling*, much much rarer.







*according to "Max and the 4 potters"

i was going to say... are you @ucking off your head! then i saw the 4 potters comment lol.

in the same way an e30 M3 is rare and unique dannyboy? lol
Some cars are rare for a reason.. this one being that the M3 is favoured over it nice cars and I would own one but I would have to have an e30 m3 aswell

Points taken in guys but after thinking about it i cannot justify getting rid of the sport after all the time and money i've just spent on it.

Its a proper nice 320is though, 40K and absolutely mint but this in it's self could cause problems as i would not be able take it anywhere without being worried - I have enough on with my Sport and that has done 130K. In addition it would be a big to use it as a daily hack and using it in winter would be completely wrong. This would mean having the expense of two cars

If i had the extra money to burn i would

well slap up a link and some details then, someone on here may be interested.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/261941.htm



(Shame it doesn't have black leather though)

id be getting an ///M3 , especially when these is so little difference in price,

you'll only be kicking yourself after buying it ,

nothing against 320iS,but even just for the looks the m3 has to win,you already have a sport

hmm, ok at that price I'd got for an M3 instead.

I'd go for the M3. Much more car for the money IMO.

Even if you do get the 'What bodykit is that mate?' comments.

The running costs of a S14 engine are higher than the M20! it's a race engine, after all!!
If I had to choose between the 325 and the 320is, I'd go for the IS. But if I already had a nice 325, i'd invest in a proper M3!

Oversteer wrote:The running costs of a S14 engine are higher than the M20! it's a race engine, after all!!

It doesn't have that much resemblance!

Just the block and head, pretty much everything is different!

The only thing with the M3 is that 6k will probably buy a high mileage one a bit on the scruffy side. M3's in mint condition with low mileage seem to cost over 10k thesedays, 15k for a minter

I remember the one that was for sale on the zone
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ight=320is
Lovely looking car and georgeous leather

my s14 has cost me the princely sum of.... £50 this year soooo expensive

Steve-E30 wrote:I remember the one that was for sale on the zone
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ight=320is
Lovely looking car and georgeous leather

Yes my mate bought it, he is Ric_Vezza on here.

Lucky guy , Very nice looking car

Steve-E30 wrote:Lucky guy , Very nice looking car

It is mint and rot free, nice colour, interior, wheels and has an S14. It cost him the price of a mint sport which i think was a good deal considering the ammount of £ that has been spent on it.

It also has a carbon airbox/inlet which sounds sooooo good!

A friend had one which he has just sold - with carbon airbox and some tweaks he was getting 220bhp and managed an 8.26 BTG at the Ring on a Public day!!!

Mmm, M3 for £6500 could be a dog, unless you're lucky. 320is with 40k on the clock its a minter. Although I love the M3 and think it a better car, you really can't discount this very low mileage minter of a 320is.

ShepsEvo3 wrote:Mmm, M3 for £6500 could be a dog, unless you're lucky. 320is with 40k on the clock its a minter. Although I love the M3 and think it a better car, you really can't discount this very low mileage minter of a 320is.

Worth evey penny! My tech2 sport has similar mileage and is valued at 6k, this has rarerity and an S14.

texas2201 wrote:A friend had one which he has just sold - with carbon airbox and some tweaks he was getting 220bhp and managed an 8.26 BTG at the Ring on a Public day!!!

Jake?

yes he is off back to america next year - I think you were refering to croft earlier in the post and Kevin was on std suspension but that is all being replaced over the winter

I was in one of the diamond schwatrz E30 M3's on that day MUI 2382

I've still got the urge but the thing that is putting me off is the possible rareity of parts if anything goes wrong. With the sport I can just walk into the scrappy and 9/10 times pick up what i've been looking for.

If you end up getting a cracked head on the s14 what do you do!? Is the gearbox and engine parts interchangable with the M3?

it is an M3 engine that was "downsized" to fit the 2.0 italian tax laws - but it is still an M3 engine and all the parts are readily available - here US and Germany - but it is an expensive engine

I have had my M3 for nearly 8 years and I have done over 100,000 klms in it most of them on track! it is now at 195,000 klms - still on the original engine

just rebuilt the head - new valves,springs, KK290 cams, slotted cam gears, new rad, hoses, etc etc I wont tell you how much I have spent but it wasnt cheap - but now putting out 230bhp and 178lbs torque and revving to 8000rpm

lovely cant wait to get it back on track

Texas - can remember your car! I do remember talking to him about putting KW Varient 3's on?

Bmwsport - it takes a lot of abuse for the S14 to break!

It just loves abuse!

The gearbox is a Getrag 265 and is dogleg so not sure if any other cars use it?

maxfield wrote:The gearbox is a Getrag 265 and is dogleg so not sure if any other cars use it?

Optional on E28 535i's/M535i's iirc and E28 635csi's

Would that be E24?

I thought they were 285 (?) boxes?