Newbie and may own in circa 2 weeks

[alexbaker1989]

Hi all,

Happy to be back on the forum (had an old membership a while back). 15 years ago I was adamant that my first car was going to be an E30 318IS. My dad persuaded me not to bother, so here all these years later - still E30-less and without the ridiculous budget required for the now rare IS.

The reason for getting an E30 now is after a recent unfortunate series of events which left me without my weekend toy after only owning it for 2 months. I've also had an E36 318IS as a second car for about 5 years as it was the closest I could get. I'm looking to sell that and buy an E30.

I've found the one I want for sale (red, very low mileage 2 door 318i from 1991, in seemingly almost mint condition). Spoken to the owner and expect to go to see / make an offer in a week's time.

If all goes to plan, my aim is to keep the car largely as is, apart from retro-fitting all of the vintage 80's TOTL Blaupunkt gear I've amassed over the years, in the waiting for the time I eventually own an E30. Stage 2 will be to find and fit a set of BBS 15'' wheels, and all of the tech 1 or 2 kit to make it my perfect car. This is only on the basis that I get the car I've found which, at this stage, I can't see any reasons why I won't.

Apart from the invaluable advice on this forum, my aim is to attend some meets this year whilst the weather is (still not so) nice. I was only 48 hours away from taking my recently acquired BMW M car to it's first show before it being written off, so now is the time to grab the car I've wanted since a teen, drive it and enjoy chatting over some coffee & bacon rolls, about the only car I've ever genuinely lost sleep over not previously owning.

P.S. the car I have my eyes on has 2 owners, 58k, FSH (with a couple from a specialist) and is away until next week having a new sump gasket - hence the wait. Given the year it's probably on the last RHD build code and has a rare 6 button OBC and is completely unmolested from the description. It's on the original bottle caps and has a tech 1 body coloured boot lip. Absolutely zero modifications. The market tells me that a good sub 100k miler with no rust is worth around £7k. Can anyone advise on how that stacks up?

Cheers.

[ah]

A little bit confused,are you looking at a 318is and how much is it up for.

[owlsowls]

A little bit confused,are you looking at a 318is and how much is it up for.

It reads as though the poster has found a mint 1991 318i 2-door in red with low mileage, believes the car to be worth around £7k, and is asking for confirmation.

I’m currently looking for an E30 myself and have read almost every ad I’ve seen on eBay, Gumtree, Facebook etc. From what I’ve read £7k sounds like a fair price.

[alexbaker1989]

A little bit confused,are you looking at a 318is and how much is it up for.

Sorry for confusion - its a long post. I originally wanted an IS 15 years ago, but the prices are too high for me to afford one these days, therefore I've settled on looking for a 318i M40. I've found a low mileage example in great condition - just waiting for owner to replace it's sump gasket before I can go and view the car. It was de-listed from eBay but is still for sale, so am in the fortuitous position of getting first dibs before it goes back online.

I'm pretty certain I'll buy it based on pics / description - it's everything I want bar being an IS of course!

[ah]

Yer I got it,

[alexbaker1989]

Quick update....

went to see the car yesterday and fell in love with it! Everything was better than expected. The only slight downside was the very early stages of some slight corrosion on the N/S rear arch, but so early stage that it can easily be remedied and is very hard to notice unless you properly toothcomb the paintwork.

So I made an offer and it was accepted. I've left a deposit and pick the car up this Sat. Cannot wait to bring it home and am so excited to finally own a mint E30!

First thing's first and that's security. The car came with an old Laserline alarm which was probably fitted when new. It doesn't work and I'm not sure why. I'm very conscious of getting it secure so does anyone have any suggestions for a decent Thatcham Cat 1 alarm / immobiliser I should fit at a reasonable price?

I've seen the TOAD Ai 606 in a few places and heard great things. Does anyone have this or a similar priced unit fitted to their E30?

[Foe]

Ah good news

I've heard good things about the toad alarms, however I use a steering wheel lock. Cumbersome, but does stand out. I've also been looking at a tracker, which has an annual subscription, might be better, because scum who want your car will lift it onto a truck. With a tracking device, a reputable one, it will be found.

[alexbaker1989]

Yes true!

I've heard that sometimes a tracker can put your insurance premium up for some reason though.

Is there any truth in that? Doesn't make sense to me....

[brutus]

,, yes its best to have more than just an alarm on these,,

[alexbaker1989]

Just had a chat with somebody who has fitted many alarms to E30's, recommended by BMW Owners London. A Clifford Concept 650 has been suggested. I think if I got a tracker you can allow them to talk to each other if the alarm is activated, so it's future-proof for upgrading to tracker.