Why an E30?

General E30 related discussions -
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Steviec
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:05 pm

I was just wondering, what made you buy your first E30?

It was seeing a crashed one outside my house that influenced me, prob sounds strange but it wrote off 3 other cars (Sierra, Mk1 Fiesta and sent a van through someones garden) and I was suprised how well the E30 (chrome bumper, 2 dr 6 pot) stood up to it, and it still looked good!

So what influenced you?
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march109
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:06 pm

the sound. Though obviously not the 4 pot.
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:12 pm

the price tag of my first one. £50 taxed a tested lol :P
hammoj28
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:15 pm

I saw a tech1 sport in PBMW mag and it got me thinking. Id seen them before and really liked them. After seeing that one i knew id have to get one.

I was 14 at the time.lol. Got my first one at 15 which was a project but ended up getting scrapped in the end, would never have been able to afford to insure it.

It was mainly the looks of the car that got me into them, then when i got one i found out what a good car they are. They are awesome! Will always have an E30 or two.lol.

Oh and they are so different to the usual tat that crowds our roads.

Love them to bits, best cars ever in my eyes.
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:51 pm

Bought my first E30 back in 1991 i believe, a B plate 323i convertible, I had gone to London to view a MKII Cavalier convertible that turned out to be scrap, on the way back through Grange Hill I saw this car in the Seat dealership and bought it there and then! Didn't know anything about E30's then i just liked the look of it :D and it was cheap, paid £4k for a then 6 year old BMW sold it 5 years later for £2500 with 170k on the clock and in need of a new hood.
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pnd
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:52 pm

i bought my first one because of the leg room i am 6"5 and had problems fitting in a lot of cars. I still drive them for the leg room but also good ones are very reliable fun to drive and I like to think the apotheosis of retro cool.
georgen
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:54 pm

The E30 is the one car that I always wanted from about the age of 12, and it amazing to think now that they are so affordable. They are still magnificent cars even by today's standards !!

I just can't see by them at all and I'm very happy to own a good one. Oh, and they sound great too...
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Cloggy Saint
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:59 pm

I couldn't find a decent E34
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Cook318IS
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:05 pm

i've been bought up one bmw's. when i was born my mum and dad had a black 316 e30. when they sold that they bought a cavalier (which they sold about a month later after seeing their error of thier ways!) and bought a e34 520i 24v which they've had for about 13ish years!... plus my old car kept breaking with only 45k and the IS came up for sale and i could actually afford the insurance! :thumb:
Cook318IS
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:06 pm

i've been bought up one bmw's. when i was born my mum and dad had a black 316 e30. when they sold that they bought a cavalier (which they sold about a month later after seeing their error of thier ways!) and bought a e34 520i 24v which they've had for about 13ish years!... plus my old car kept breaking with only 45k and the IS came up for sale and i could actually afford the insurance! :thumb:
Cook318IS
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:10 pm

can you tel that my computer froze? :teehee:
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escargot
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:10 pm

Always liked the style of older BMWs and just fancied a bit of a change. It's fun to see it sat next to my other car, a branny 320Cd MSport. Interesting to compare the difference in styling & design.
Last edited by escargot on Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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dimebag_from_hell
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:12 pm

I always loved the badboy look they had, i remeber 5 or 6 years ago seeing a red 325i sport going sideways and i knew from that point that i would own one eventually.

They have a big cult following over here, its a car that puts a smile on my face everythime i jump in it and they sound lovley. I paid good money for my sport, a wee bit more and i could of bought an e36 m3. So i didnt buy one because they are "cheap." lol

Also watching this in my hometown encouraged me to buy one
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daimlerman
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:26 pm

Why do I run two E30's? We live in the back streets of Lincoln,in a terrace house built by a coal merchant in 1881. this guy built the row and rented the others.He had the foresight to build a passageway through to a rear courtyard where he built stables for the horse.So I needed two cars that were narrow enough to fit through this passageway to reach the garage built from the stables....have you noticed how wide modern cars are? 'er indoors proved several times that my choice of ideal car was too wide for her to reverse to the road... then I remembered E30's,interesting enough to keep me entertained and narrow enough for 'er indoors to manouvre. I still have no idea what I will replace them with,I expect we will have to move house..
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Aleksandar
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:34 pm

My family has had it for some time and when we got it I was in love with it. Then after some time my mum insisted on a new car which they got, and the e30 m20b20 got in my hands. :D Right before I got my licence. :D
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:42 pm

wanted a rwd estate for a cosworth conversion.
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:47 pm

Always liked the look of them. Mate had a b20 in 1996 when he was 18. He knew loads about it, told me all about the legendary 6 pots. Was offered the chance to buy a cabby. Did a deal and went for it.
agreen
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:10 pm

had an e36 for track but to heavy and slow

so brought an e30 light nimble quick,

all i have had sinse i could drive is bmw :D
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gooner1
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:29 pm

Thats a good question , only wish i knew the answer. Had a 2.5 tdi lwb pajero which i had grown bored of, great to cruise in but not what anybody could call a drivers car. Anyway happened to be scrolling through ebay. as you do, and spotted a really sad looking 325i cab. Call it fate, call it kismet ( or call it a really cheap price) but there was an instant conection between us, her headlights gazed lovingly into my eyes and she rolled her arches at me.
Got a mate to drive me to her place, an old barn near Gayton, and we,ve been happily together ever since.
Just wished i had taken a lot more photo,s of her in the condition that i got her in. :D
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telski789
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:41 pm

a friend of mine bought one from a hairdresser,i remember thinkin,what a boring looking car even if it is 2.5l,and with CHROME BUMPERS!! should be illegal,then week after week it got modded,lowered,wheels,blak grill,st/st zaust....tech 1 kit.....gradually,i WANTED ONE!!! gotta admit i soon got rid and bought plastic bumper rightness!!! soz!!

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joe323
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:44 pm

always liked them but could never afford one (my vw beetles take most of my money :o: ) then when my daily - a gte powered mk2 astra van decided to catch ford fever (rust) bigtime i started to look for a new car that had to be rwd to drift. i was looking at volvo 340's but my girlfreind decided she hated them and brought me my A plate 323i for my birthday. i now realise an e30 is the best daily/fun car around and volovo's are gay!
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:58 pm

I wanted the fastest and cheapest car that I could get insured on and it just so happened to be a 325 sport or a m535i. I was told by a mate to go for the 3 series so I went to look at a black tech1 sport and the rest is history :D .
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Hakkera
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:09 pm

They are fantastic looking cars, reliable, fast, comfortable. And that's only the start of why I want one.. :)
madaboutthe30
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:12 pm

When i was born dad always kept a mint 320i in the garage, always use to drive it on special occassions only.

That car was something else, it was a sky blue colour aswell, never seen another e30 with the same colour before which is very strange....

I always like the mean look of the e30. It always stuck out in comparison to all these new user friendly cars that manufacturers produce.

Although this may sound strange the e30 is level, if you look at it the bonnet is on the same height as the boot, if you however look at the e36 for example its starts off low and ends up high..If that makes sense.......
Dreaming of the day I purchase an E30 M3

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--- Z4M Coupe - daily driver
potman
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:15 pm

my brother in law had a delphine grey 325, witch he put through a hedge. it was pretty messy up front and down one side. so i bought it off him for £200 and it sat in my garage for 4 months.

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after a while it got taken to my mates workshop, were it was rebuilt using the front end from another mates rotten sport rep. it had a number of goodies on it like an m/tech 1 kit, an lsd and a hartage 6 branch manifold. i hadn't given much thought to e30's befor or when i got the car (i only wanted it because it was a 2.5), but when i drove the car for the first time it was the most amasing car i had ever driven. after that i was an addict. to be honest i bodged the car to get it back on the road, and the door and rear arch was still in bad shape.

i part ex'd it for a fiesta XR2I :td: :oops: (worst car ever owned) when the mot was due because i new it needed money spent on it i couldn't afford.
since the day it went i wanted another :cry: . and now i have one i'm a happy :D man again.
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Philwild
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:31 pm

My old man has always had beemers ever since I can remember.

When I was growing up in the 80's he had

An E12 M535i
2 E28 528i's
A luuuuuuurvely 635csi highline

And my stepmum had an 87 E30 325i which I bought in 2000. This was my first E30 and the quickest one I've ever been in.

She then bought a E30 325i Cab which I bought off her last year. Hand-me downs!! She has now got an E36 323i cab. I won't be buying that though!

You could say BM's run in the family!
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alex-e30
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:33 pm

well you could say beemers run well :D
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dave47676
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:48 pm

saw a 318 for £100 on ebay.
Never owned a BMW and wondered what all the fuss was about. Plus i've always liked squarer "retro" cars, the cortina, the Audi 100 etc etc

I'm now considering getting an Estate....sorry i mean a tourer 8)
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Alex
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:52 pm

My dad has always had new ones from about 1997 he first had a e36 320i then in 1999 he got a e46 323ci then after that a e39 530i msport which was my favorite coz it was black with cream leather then got a 730 in 2006 so ive always liked bmws more than any other car. Now my dad has an audi Q7 its a nice car but not to my taste.

Since my parents are now split up my mums boyfreind is into e30s and thats how i ended up getting an old e30 lol

:D :D
treeseries
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:54 pm

i have always loved them even before i'd seen 1 i knew the car i wanted was an e30 strange as that seems but i always wanted for a car with the looks of an e30, then one day i meet a man called mick reading a pbmw and he showed me the light. the very moment i flicked over and saw an mtec2 kitted IS i was in love.my 1st car was an e28 518i LUX. not long after buying it i wanted something quicker and more sporty so i saved up the cash and went to see a man about a car. after nearly writing it off on the test drive i was sold. now 3years later own i own 4 but sadly most off them are in bits and slowly bein raped to make 1 good car. in the mean time i mite buy another one (please dont tell the misses) as a run around. Cab, 325is, or save for the mighty M3? any suggestion's?
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:08 pm

When growing up in the late 80's and early 90's, hot hatches and E30's were THE cars to have. This led to my love for 80's ford's which was what i mainly had up untill 5 years ago. I was offered a tech2 sport which needed work and after a test drive i was hooked. Sadly the sale fell through when the owner changed their mind but the bug had bitten so i went looking and found an 87 325i 2dr and the rest is history.
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maxfield
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:15 pm

My Dad.

Bought it because I love E30's!

I fell in love with my Dad's old tech-2 cab a few years back. Then he got the M3 and I was blown away!

Also insurance ain't all bad either
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Muli
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:38 pm

whoops . . . computer had a spazy atack!! :mad:
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Muli
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:42 pm

A friend of mine had a 325 about 5yrs ago and fell in love with it, but was to young to afford the insurance, I went down the Vauxhall path then brought a couple of Pug's.

Wanted a BM for a while, there are too many E36's on the road and you dont see many E30 out and about and the Old School look just sets it off from the rest of the cars out there on the road!!!

Seen a E30 while out and about and it reminded me of what I was missing out on . . . especially the noise that the 6 pot's make !!! :twisted:
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mineralblue
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Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:13 pm

Because they became a classic the moment they started making them.
Some cars have just got it.
Got my first some 14 years ago age 20, a 325i.had it for 6 years
After a further 8 years of various cars/ marriage/2 kids/new house, I seem to have managed to find myself driving around in the beauty below.
Had to pay for the mrs car though :roll:
I just had to have another.
I'm gonna grow old with this car winkeye
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