E30 Zone

In my continuing quest for a replacement car, these have appeared on the radar as a well equipped decent saloon with a pretty decent bit of poke (250bhp).

Does anyone have any "real world" experience of these?

Common faults & things to look out for...

Chronic tyre wear with that sort of power through the front wheels

Comedy parts prices for dealer only bits

Were these the ones that were essentially nailed together using vauxhall bits ?

The last Saab I went in was a late model 900 with the 2.3 engine - dog slow and plasticky as hell - put me off for life.

Nasty car. They are cheap for a reason. Nobody bought them new and they went scat for a reason.

The 9-5 non turbo is a great car for £500. Massively roomy and comfy barge. Turbos are not so good - the exhaust is so close to the sump that it cakes oil to the inside causing starvation issues. Best avoided.

Gearboxes also. They lose syncro on second and also lose reverse. I think it's selector wear as you lock them in reverse every time you park the shed!

Just scrapped a perfectly good, one of the last 900s's, due to the latter. Car was worth naff all and a recon box was 50% more than it was worth. It's now in bits.


This is the fragger I moved it on to. And as can be seen, they are worth naff all in parts either. He's having to fully nut and bolt the things to make his money.

It's the red car I sold him.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_nkw=s ... t-recovery

You'd get bored of one of these as well!