My Life With E30's (What about you????)

[RustyRuss]

Fantastic mate loving your pics. Thats an EPIC shot of your 7!!!! And yep your spot on, theres something magical about an E30, it just all comes together

[kieran325]

I've had a few E30's over the years, not many pics but I did take a few of the good ones -

1986 325i chromie, I bought it from my uncle in 1993 -











It was mint, I was 18 years old and I was pulling birds left right and centre with it, others had Nova's, Uno turbo's and Fiat 1300 GT. I thought I was cool with Stone Roses, Charlatans and Happy Mondays pumping through the Kenwood pull out

I sold it to my mates dad who wrote it off shortly afterwards

I then bought my sport in 1994, which I still have now -



We all know how it looks now.

I picked loads of E30's up along the way but never took pictures -

1989 320i SE Auto -







Another runner -



A truly stunning 320i SE, fully loaded and was bought by the dealer principle of the North Wales dealer for his wife - G321 JCC.







I miss this car

I had various models in between, including 3 Tourings

1993 318i convertible -







I never gelled with this car

I felt a right tw@t with the roof down to be honest, not for me so I sold it on.

1993 316i Touring -

My best touring to date





My 1988 M3 -





At present I'm running the Sport, M3, Touring and my E46 -



Happy days

I grew up with BMW's as a child, my parents divorced when I was 6 years old and most of my weekends were spent with my dad trawling scrap yards and reading the print off the Auto Mart, he had dozens of Capri's, Granada's, E21, E12, E28, E24, E32 and E30's in the day and it's something that's stayed with me ever since.

[George]

Only ever had one E30, the current one! 325i cabriolet in Alpine White.

Purchased from Cecotto479 on the forum. Flew up to Scotland and drove it back down to London the next day.


From the TotalBMW photoshoot a couple of years back.

[Jozi]

Not sure when I started wanting an E30, was quite a long time before I finally got one though. It was some time around 2004/2005 I had a few quid saved and longed for a 318iS. Job I was in was enjoyable but I was at a dead end and I wanted to go further so went to college, gone was the E30 dream until some time later in 2008.

Still wanting a 318iS (cheap tax and a bit more frugal than a 325) and looked at a few but couldn't afford them because of unemployment. Finally early 2009 I got this, not quite an iS but she still had a m42 (better than a m40, right?), was bought of Scruffymurphy

She aquaplaned of the road and it took me about 6 months before I finally got it fixed up at which point she looked like this:

Touring sport interior, iS lip, bbtb + chip, bbs', SE skirts I didn't want to fit until I sorted the rust...

She wasn't long getting a E46 rack, m3 wishbone bushes, Borbet B's (love them wheels...) Highback and I loved her for the good two years I got driving her


Had lots of plans for her and after another year of college and having a job I started collecting bit's for her to freshen her up a little, job kept going and so more parts were bought...

Then last Oct at a meet in Donegal she started pissing coolant, she was driven home (eye on temp gauge and frequent refills). Project had properly started now, she was parked up and left in much the same place she is now Just before xmass Scruffy was close to scrapping his red touring, which was more or less just a shell, I decided it would be a shame to scrap it. This shell was in better nick than my own and it was decided to do all the work on the red shell and re-shell the blue into the red touring with the addition of many new parts.


The red shell has since moved under the lean-to and I'm hopping to have her ready for paint in the next few weeks. Hopefully have her finished for E30owners big meet June 19th.

The blue shell may live on in some else's hands as a back road warrior either that or parts of it will be donated to other projects

[polsta]

I then got this C2 2.7 - It was auto with an open diff though, so it didnt stay long.
!

stunning !! id love an e30 just like that but manual, awsome looks

[RustyRuss]

Kieran what a brilliant post, my fav being your red 325i at 18, youd be the absolute boy driving that!!! Can you please tell me what backbox that had on it as ive seen a few of these and absolutely adore them and wouldnt mind one on my 320i if it would fit, any ideas????

Loved yiour red 320ise and the top spec moredoor was lush!!

[RustyRuss]

George your cabby is stunning and thats an awesome picture....i may need to try and recreate that

[RustyRuss]

Jozi thats brilliant you cant beat a nice touring, hats off to you on the reshell not an easy task ut im sure will be ace when its done, look forward to the after pics!

[robbo86]

Only the one e30. Though I really want a malachite green touring in M52 flavour. Currently in what was my old mans e36 328 but no plans to turn it into a donor. I dont have the space for a breaker.

My E30 story is a little bit short but a lot annoying. I first got Interested when my wife's old man offered me his brilliant red e36 318i. I was trying to get the funds together when sister in laws boyfriend stepped in and bought it instead. I then started looking for others as I had a bit of a fancy, when one popped up on auto trader. Only two miles away with no details or picture etc. What I found was a weinrot four door slushbox 318i, which I bought. Low mileage (about 76 when I bought it) and a nice motor. It was upgraded with HIDS, scorpion exhaust and bbs alloys.


Job done, but then Steve E30 (who is always bad for my wallet) persuaded me that what it needed was a manual box and an IS engine. This was duly sourced from Barry (BSS325i) and is pictured going in here.


Good learning curve for me and much thanks goes to Furbster for helping and bringing me back and forth. Car was sold after I got sick of a wet floor due to (I think) a rotten sunroof tray which got gradually worse over the 2 years I owned it coupled with the fact my scorpion got stolen.

The reason this whole story was annoying was because bar the oddly knackered sunroof tray there was no other rust on it anywhere and it was a total shame to see it go but I didn't have the cash to bring it up to spec. If I knew what I knew about E30s when I bought it I would have done things differently, but nonetheless I enjoyed it while it lasted.

For the future, it will be a malachite green touring in M52 flavour, but only when I have the space to do the conversion.

[choppa7]

Brilliant thread idea!

It seems everyone has had an e30 they miss and wish they'd kept/saved

So, one Wednesday night in January I think it was, I'd had a couple of cans and was 'browsing' ebay. I came across this 'old BMW' in Neath (didnt have a clue). It had 47k on the clock from new and had test and tax. It was at £130 when I saw it and it finished late night/early morning so I whapped £150 down and went to bed. I'd done this before and always got outbidded so never really thought anything of it until I went into work the next morning and checked my emails...."Congratulations you've won item..."

Bugger, how do I tell the missus about this, it looks decent but she'll hate it Anyway I broke the news to her that night and she was fine about it, I then had to book train tickets to this mysterious Neath and get myself there and borrow a Sat Nav from someone to get home.

It turns out Neath is a long way from newcastle and meant the train was at 5.45am Saturday morning and I wouldnt get home until about 8.30pm - brilliant! The train ticket cost me £99 - so almost doubling the cost of the car in one fell swoop.

After driving it home, I was hooked! It stunk of moist/foist, the clutch was slipping like a bugger and the radio was intermittant. That didnt matter though, I loved it.

Pics from ad






Following weekend I got busy and cleaned it properly, and it came out pretty well





After phoning round for some costs on replacing the clutch, I bit the bullet and decided that £250 was well expensive and I bought the part for £50. I parked it on my folks drive and over the course of 2 weeks and borrowing my dads tools, we managed to stay mates and get it swapped over - cue being bitten by the spannering bug!

Sadly, it developed a starting issue and took ages to get started in the morning, I parked it up, partly broke it and eventually rang a man with a van, my last picture of her



Gutted about that and constantly wish I hadnt scrapped it as I'd buy it back in a second - it was a cracker

Next I foudn this locally on ebay again, bought with a knackered head gasket and rust in the boot







Scrapped that for the same price as I bought it so nothing lost.

I then hada host of 'other' cars before ebay once again threw up a local example, 318is this time, bit untidy outside but seemed mechanically ok





I took this one a drift day and got on pretty well with it, although I always got the feeling it wasnt quite right somehow, I managed to park it on a lampost one Sunday morning too much to the displeasure of the local plod




Sold it to a bodyworker from Ireland who flew over and drove it back, dont know what happened tot it since...

I then went back to 'other' cars for a while before getting the itch again and looking at the zone/ebay. After looking at a couple of possibles, my present one came up in Bolton and again the early train was booked and I picked it upp off Broadie, who had previously bought it off Fingerman I believe.
Chris' pics




Since owning it, I've decided I'm happy now and will settle with this one for a while, so I've had the rear arches replaced, lowered it, got an iS lip and SE Skirts to go on along with a replacement wing, then theres a couple of interior touches I would like such as a tech2 wheel then I'll start thinking about more powaz

as she stands today



Just passed the MOT too with an advisory on rear brake pipes but other than that the tester was a happy chappy

[RustyRuss]

Robb i absolutely love the look of that Moredoor, gorgeous colour too

[RustyRuss]

Choppa, i absolutely love the 318iS and the first £150 ebay special, great reply

[kieran325]

Kieran what a brilliant post, my fav being your red 325i at 18, youd be the absolute boy driving that!!! Can you please tell me what backbox that had on it as ive seen a few of these and absolutely adore them and wouldnt mind one on my 320i if it would fit, any ideas????

Loved yiour red 320ise and the top spec moredoor was lush!!

Standard exhaust at the time, the car was only 7 yrs old at the time -





I must have more pictures somewhere but I've never scanned all of them.

[RustyRuss]

Cheers mate, going to try and get one of those backboxes for my car as i love the standard twin pipe look, if anyone can shed any light on whether you still can get them like that and they will fit my 83 320i That car was gorgeous mate, gorgeous im in love!!

[The_Haywood]

Only ever had one E30, the current one! 325i cabriolet in Alpine White.

Purchased from Cecotto479 on the forum. Flew up to Scotland and drove it back down to London the next day.


From the TotalBMW photoshoot a couple of years back.

if ever people needed further approval for driving e30s.... they are endorsed and driven by the main man in religion.... jesus christ himself!

[GemE30]

I've only ever had one and that's my touring ... soon as I saw it, i wanted it.. minus the free bodykit and chavvy wheels .

[RustyRuss]

Nice, you cant beat that instant "i want it....im having it" moment

[GemE30]

Well anything was better than the previous 4 VW's that broke on me.

[RustyRuss]

lol Always thought Dubs were a bit over-rated myself and wasnt overly impressed with the one i had!!

[GemE30]

I loved them.. but after having 7 and only 1 that didn't break, I soon changed my mind.

[RustyRuss]

lol i can see your reasoning

[Jim320i]

Ok... My short story.


Bought my first E30 back in 2009 from Ebay for the sum of £367.60 or something to that figure. Most zoners will remember me doing so and its still my pride and joy now. When I drove it home for the first time, it kept cutting out but with some help from some good zoners, Capri_Rob being the one of the top of my head, I got the problem sorted!


1987 - 2dr prefacelift 320i auto






Then a few months down the ine a friend called me up and said his old man was selling a E30... I had a look and bought it on the spot for £350. I still have it now but it hasnt been on the road since i've had it and wont be til next year now as insurance is still stupidly high.

1992 - 318i Design Cab - Manual





Then came the next one I bought from Ebay again. Offered the fella £400 and bought it before the auction ended... This was for work and it was its only purpose... Until I swapped it for the dreaded touring next.

1991 318i 2 dr facelift





Wish I didnt swap it now as it was solid and running perfect...

But swapped it for my 325 touring some a n*bhead called Chip Mead who runs a garage in Leicester... (Sorry to zoners that know him but he actively knew the touring was no good)

I did a straight swap for the 318 for this touring thinking it would replace it for work, but after tinkering around and realising absolutely everything in the engine was untighten and loose, I started having my problems... Cracked head... Only after doing a head gasket change though... Bought another engine from Kedge on here and got it in. 3-4 weeks of issues after that and even now it has other issues, but it now stands me at about £2000 with time being off work due to it and money spent, I wont get rid of it as I will be on a lose.

It will be working again fine soon so I can start using it for work again but its just finding the motivation to get it sorted...








Thats them all so far... But my favourite one again.

[RustyRuss]

Jim that was a great reply loved all your E30's, such a shame about the touring as it looks a beltere...but thats often the case that the good lookers arent up to it. Im sure knowing you it will be fighting fit again soon

[robbo86]

Robb i absolutely love the look of that Moredoor, gorgeous colour too

Cheers mate the old quattroporte is much maligned for no reason. I would rather pay money for good four door then the same money for an average 2 door. That one in particular polished and waxed up a treat!

[RustyRuss]

Absolutely 100% agreed mate it may shoclk some people but my e30 preferencd goes coupe, moredoor, touring, cab!! Likewise would rather pay the same good money for an exceptional moredoor than average coupe!

[josh-hocking]

RustyRuss - That chromie i just sold was bought by someone who lives in kirkcaldy, fife ... You will have to look out for it ! looks identical to yours

[RustyRuss]

Ah brilliant mate thats literally 10 miles up the road - excellente!!!!!