I want to buy a 325 but....

[JJ99]

Hi
I don't know whether to go for a late pristine E30 or very early (I guess up to J plate) E36.
I only want to spend around up to 1.5k...I'm not made of money.
I think the E30 is so much better looking, cuter, smaller. The early E36's are big and quite plasticky.
But I don't know whether the E36 is really the better car i.e. should I listen to my head and not my heart?

Please don't flame me...I'd just like to hear some good honest opinion!
Thanks so much.
J

[Jhonno]

early e36's had poor build quality

better off with the e30 - better built, more solid and more fun

unless your looking for a mile muncher in which case the e36 would probably do the job better..

[psychochild187]

well e36 are ugly
and an early one will have all the bugs that havent been sorted

a late e30 will look loverly and have the models bugs sorted

[Zayyan]

This isn't really the place to be looking for an unbiased opinion in the E30 v E36 argument

It does depend what you're looking for, the E30 is far more fun and a good car if you don't do too many longer journeys (which start to become uncomfortable) but the E36 is better for comfort and fuel economy due to the 4 valve/cyl engines.

As has been said already though, a late E30 will be of a far higher quality than the early E36s....

[M5pilot]

I will give an unbiased opinion:
Early E36 (as mentioned above) have very poor build. They dont look as nice as the newer e36's due to the non colour coded bumpers and early dashboard.

A late E30 will be superbly built if you find a nice example. It will feel alot more special and is alot more exclusive than an E36. E36's are everywhere.

E36 325i has a quieter engine but doesnt have the bottom end grunt of the M20. The M20 sounds better when pushed anyway as it howls.

If your going to go for an E36 make sure its a late one and a 328i which is fast.

[Wilson]

in my opinion, the only E36's worth buying are E36 M3's, I've heard that 328's can be worthwile aswell, but I've only had an M3 and a 318. if you've got 1.5k to spend I would say def E30, and I am not biased, reason being 1.5k will get you a bottom/average E36, but will get you an OK/good E30 325

[andrewe30m3]

I will give an unbiased opinion:
Early E36 (as mentioned above) have very poor build. They dont look as nice as the newer e36's due to the non colour coded bumpers and early dashboard.

A late E30 will be superbly built if you find a nice example. It will feel alot more special and is alot more exclusive than an E36. E36's are everywhere.

E36 325i has a quieter engine but doesnt have the bottom end grunt of the M20. The M20 sounds better when pushed anyway as it howls.

If your going to go for an E36 make sure its a late one and a 328i which is fast.

I'd agree fully with the comments above - however a nice 328 with good miles will cost Ԛ£5-8K
I've seen some higher milage e36s - saloons for Ԛ£1500 which look ok, there is one in the for sale section on www.e36coupe.co.uk/forum check it out

[Chaos]

I'd agree fully with the comments above - however a nice 328 with good miles will cost Ԛ£5-8K
I've seen some higher milage e36s - saloons for Ԛ£1500 which look ok, there is one in the for sale section on www.e36coupe.co.uk/forum check it out

ive seen good 328i's selling for less than Ԛ£2500 - u just need to know where to look.
in fact i bought one myself for that sorta money and sold it on for a profit.

[JJ99]

Thanks guys...was as I thought - steer clear of early examples of new models....so I'm off to find myself a nice 325...cheers