E30 Zone

First off, hi everyone, I've been looking 'round these forums and you all look like a nice bunch of guys (and gals) who I'll enjoy spending a bit fo time talking to.

I absolutely love E30s (else why would I be here) but owning one is years away, and is nothing more than a pipedream fantasy for me at present. But I still enjoy reading these forums and learning about them. I've a few questions, regarding insurance. I did do a couple of searches, but nothing useful came up, so I thought that posting was the best thing to do.

It's probably easiest if I list my questions:

1) I noticed the sticky saying that some insurers will insure E30s as classic cars, is classic car insurance the same as normal insurance, or is there a heavy limitation on mileage, or anything else?

2) How much is insurance on an E30? As I said, owning an E30 (or any car other than my present motor) is a long way off for me, probably around 4-5 years, as I'm off to university next year (fingers crossed). So if I was to buy an E30, I'd be 21/22, hopefully with some no claims bonus. Is the insurance on a 320/325 coupe/cabriolet comparable to that of a newer BMW 3 series (aka quote a lot)? What sort of figures are we talking about?

And a road tax question; cars which are above a few years old are taxed differently to newer cars, which are takex by CO2, so how are E30s taxed? Are they classed as classic cars, and, therefore, exempt from tax?

Thanks in advance guys.

Tax will be on the older system so £185 for the year unless you want a 316

316's are in the higher bracket its 1.5 or under

Ive got mine on a classic policy - costs next to nothing but limited to 3k per year.

In my experience car insurance only gets properly cheap once you hit 30....I paid through the nose in my earlier years for various xr, gti, sri, type motors - it was only once I got a bit older the prices got reasonable - but I wanted the performace cars so paid the £Â£

abelai wrote:Tax will be on the older system so £185 for the year unless you want a 316

Thanks =]

By the time I'm 21/22 i'm sure I'll want something with some guts, (my current drive is a polo 1.2 :p ) so a 316 is out of the question

capri_rob wrote:Ive got mine on a classic policy - costs next to nothing but limited to 3k per year.

In my experience car insurance only gets properly cheap once you hit 30....I paid through the nose in my earlier years for various xr, gti, sri, type motors - it was only once I got a bit older the prices got reasonable - but I wanted the performace cars so paid the £Â£

Eek, it'd be my daily drive, so 3k wouldn't be enough, how much would standard insurance charge do you think? Is it the same as any other group 15(?) car?

gBenM wrote:

abelai wrote:Tax will be on the older system so £185 for the year unless you want a 316

Thanks =]

By the time I'm 21/22 i'm sure I'll want something with some guts, (my current drive is a polo 1.2 :p ) so a 316 is out of the question

capri_rob wrote:Ive got mine on a classic policy - costs next to nothing but limited to 3k per year.

In my experience car insurance only gets properly cheap once you hit 30....I paid through the nose in my earlier years for various xr, gti, sri, type motors - it was only once I got a bit older the prices got reasonable - but I wanted the performace cars so paid the £Â£

Eek, it'd be my daily drive, so 3k wouldn't be enough, how much would standard insurance charge do you think? Is it the same as any other group 15(?) car?

You hit the nail on the head mate - same as any other gp15 car - it doesnt matter how old the car is or how much its worth - its more about how old you are and your accident/penalty points history until you're an old fart like me ! I have no idea how much insurance is for youngre drivers these days - most I ever paid for insurance was £688 TPFT when I was 21 for a Cavalier SRi - but that was in 1996 !

Good luck mate - shop around - ring all the numbers for the brokers in the magazines and you'll get something reasonable.

Insurance has gone up a bit since then... I paid £910 for my 1.2 polo (group 2) for 3pfat, on my 17th birthday, then when I passed my test they asked for another £450. So it would have been around £1600 for the whole year.

What group(s) are 320 and 325 coupe and cabriolets?

Can anyone recommend a good classic car insurer for E30s, as my renewal is due next month.
Cheers,

Speedtouch wrote:Can anyone recommend a good classic car insurer for E30s, as my renewal is due next month.
Cheers,

Lancaster have done mine - £165 for the year fully comp 3k limited mileage - cheap as chips.

Speedtouch wrote:Can anyone recommend a good classic car insurer for E30s, as my renewal is due next month.
Cheers,

Footman James are one of the best brokers I have dealt with for classics.

Ha, I paid £2200 for my 316i when I was 18 and it was monthly so more like £2500, But after a year with no cliams its at £1200 renewal price and thats this year! Whats the minimum age to have a classic policy though?

I went with Adrian Flux on a modified car policy this year, I'm 31 with 3 years NCB living in Manchester, all mods declared (alloys/suspension/brakes/exhaust/engine etc) and for my 325i Touring I'm paying £700 fully comp limited to 7500 miles per year.

My bog standard diesel Astra van is £366 TPF&T in comparison.

Tax is £180 ish.

Everybody told me when I was in my late teens that insurance would go down when I hit 21, it didn't, then they all said it'd go down when I got to 30 and it hasn't.

Cheers,

Iain T

In answer the original post.

Insurance costs depend on many variables. Age, location, type of vehicle, ncb, convictions, accidents (fault and non fault make a difference!)

I can tell you what I was paying for my 1987 325i tech 1 sport, but you'ld probably hate me! (£155 fully comp unlimited mileage)

My current mk2 GTi costs £124 fully comp with no mileage limit and an agreed £3500 value.

I work in the trade though so I get a nice discount! I would estimate that in todays market on a 325i at 21/22 years of age, with 3 years ncb and no accidents or convictions you'ld be looking at around £800 to £900 fully comp depending on where you live.

Iirc it's a minimum of 21 years old and 2 years ncb for a classic policy.

The 2 things that put me off classic insurance are: most won't allow modifications and you don't accrue any more ncb.

Cheers,

Iain T

Yeah, that's my dilemma, having built up full NCB and not having any other modern car to carry it on to.

Thanks for the tips though

gBenM wrote:what group(s) are 320 and 325 coupe and cabriolets?

hey,, ive bin told buy churchill my 325i cabby is group 17,,,

Im 21 and i was payin £1800 fully comp, but after changing to churchill it went down to £800 fully comp (and i have no No claims),,

have you tried looking on www.moneysupermarket.com and confused.com, thats where i search,

good luck,

gBenM wrote:First off, hi everyone, I've been looking 'round these forums and you all look like a nice bunch of guys (and gals) who I'll enjoy spending a bit fo time talking to.

I absolutely love E30s (else why would I be here) but owning one is years away, and is nothing more than a pipedream fantasy for me at present. But I still enjoy reading these forums and learning about them. I've a few questions, regarding insurance. I did do a couple of searches, but nothing useful came up, so I thought that posting was the best thing to do.

2) How much is insurance on an E30? As I said, owning an E30 (or any car other than my present motor) is a long way off for me, probably around 4-5 years, as I'm off to university next year (fingers crossed). So if I was to buy an E30, I'd be 21/22, hopefully with some no claims bonus. Is the insurance on a 320/325 coupe/cabriolet comparable to that of a newer BMW 3 series (aka quote a lot)? What sort of figures are we talking about?

Hey man, welcome to the zone! I'll be 21 in April and I've got quotes for a 320i E30 for £650 TPFT that's with 3yrs NCB so I would have thought that £800-£900 is about right.

It's an expensive business but if I'm going to be paying pretty much the same for a boring shopping hatchback (1.2 Seat ibiza btw) then I might aswell get a car I've always loved.

Good luck with the hunt for an E30 I'm out there looking too, just gotta sell my current car first.

Richie