Tourings - Too Big, Too Long and too clumsy for a First car?

[Joshy]

If the touring is 'Too Big, Too Long and too clumsy to make a decent First car', then that applies to all e30's

Well yeah, they are terrible as 1st cars =\

A first car needs to be cheap on petrol, cheap on insurance and small, an E30 is none of those.

I don't see why a first car necessarily has to be cheap on fuel. If it was going to be used on a daily commute by someone how saw it little more than just transport, maybe, but I see this car was being a weekend/evening hobby sort of thing more than anything. As long as it's not going to cost me anything astronomical, I'll be happy.

Insurance wise, some companies have said they flat out won't cover me on a BMW, but most have given me some decent quotes, I'm not going to say they're what I'd call cheap, but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm a Young male and I live in a dump of an area, so insurance is never going to be "cheap". This touring works out It's no more expensive than a 1.4 205 XS, which was the only thing "sensible" I was considering. Anyway, after hearing how much it would have cost to insure my old supra track/project car, anything sounds cheap

When it comes to size, well, that's what this topic was made for. Is it maybe a case that a E30 Touring is one of those cars which feel bigger than they really are? The Megane that we've got seems far smaller, but I can tell you for sure that it's wider than the E30.

[GrindCulture]

Well yeah, they are terrible as 1st cars =\

A first car needs to be cheap on petrol, cheap on insurance and small, an E30 is none of those.

Not sure if you were joking, but my 318 touring was cheaper to insure than my mates 1.4 Fiesta. The iS I have now is (oddly) cheaper still!

I don't know how you manage that, a 1.4 fiesta will be around group 4? An E30 will be a lot higher than that.

Me neither, none of my insurance details are lies, however I did do one of those pass plus courses and the friend in question didn't...

[gareth]

i reckon a touring is an excellent coice for a first car, providing the insurance isn't a killer. an oddity with insurance is that sometimes a modification can reduce your premium m touring has a 3.5 M30 lump, coilover suspension and a whole host of other mods and costs me less to insure than if it was standard. Adrian Flux

incidentally, has anyone parked a touring next to a yaris? i did a while ago and my touring looked teeny!

[casper8r]

Like Rosc0PColtrane said a large part of the car possibly feeling "too clumsy" is probably to do with the slow steering, which doesn't feel as direct or easy as modern cars (at slow speeds anyway). It's just a matter of getting used to it.

Would you be happier having bought £1200 worth of semi-modern hatch and then having to spend another £500 or so to fix the unreliable bits?

[Bob_S]

my 2.7 with shocks springs arb's lsd, engine swop cam exhaust etc etc was cheaper to insure with flux than anywhere else and I'm 20 with no NCB and it was a fair way under the 1k mark

[neilofla]

Joshy, top choice for a first car. I'm 26, and have driven many wagons since i was 17, (15 !) from 5 series tourings to micras and yarises (yarii ?) to panel vans, and I wish I had bought my e30 sooner

It'll teach you lots about maintenance, and how to drive smoothly - it's unnatural the amount of people I've travelled with who drive cars so roughly and unsympathetically, and get away with it because they're driving new cars that sponge up the mistakes.

Plus I think smooth, anticipating driving can help avoid accidents in the first place, which imo is far safer than being in an accident, no matter how safe the car you're in. that said, it is nearly a 20 year old car, and safety of newer cars has moved on a lot. just don't crash fella !

best of luck with it !

[GrindCulture]

it's unnatural the amount of people I've travelled with who drive cars so roughly and unsympathetically, and get away with it because they're driving new cars that sponge up the mistakes.

I hear that! Makes me cringe the way some people I know pull through the gears jerking hard on every change. Definately not what you need on the way back from the pub

[mummy-boo]

i originally didn't want a touring but then babies and dogs don't fit very well in a saloon!!

my first car will be a touring, well it is a touring cos i have it now just no license to drive it with!

cost me just under 800 insure it last year on a provisional with swinton and just over 700 to insure it this year with 1 years ncb with kwik fit.

can't wait til baby's out so i can fit in the drivers seat and be able to drive my car again. i've not done a lot of driving in my touring just yet - just a few manouvers - but it didn't feel that different from the corsa i was learning in. you can see loads more out the back.

hayley, 22, provisional license still.

[mummy-boo]

no real differnce in size. the touring came about when a guy made his saloon into a touring in his shed by continuing the roof to the end of the boot!!!

"Back in 1984 an engineer at BMW had considered building a car combining driving pleasure with practical value. His motive was his family - his wife was expecting a new baby! So he needed more space and practical features, without forfeiting the sporting character and driving pleasure of his BMW 3 Series.

After informing his superiors of his plan, he drove his 3 Series Saloon into his garage in October 1984, and got to work. He cut open the entire car, moved the C-pillar to the back, and added a centrepiece where the C-pillar had been before. He then extended the rear lid down to the taillights and used the rear window already approved by the German TÃœV Technical Inspection Authority.

From beginning to end, this highly dedicated engineer took only six months to complete the car. So in April 1984 he was able to proudly present his new car to his superiors, still focusing at the time on his private requirements. And since his superiors - and many others - were simply thrilled, the BMW 3 Series touring eventually saw the light of day in August 1987."

[Nelly]

He used the rear tailgate from a MK1 Golf

[Morat]

not on the production version! The golf tailgate ones (all three of em) look hideous to me

[Gibson]

Tell that when they are ready to pony up the pounds to buy you a brand new car, then you will drive whatever they want you to drive, but if your paying for it then you will drive what you want to drive! and to stop fecking meddling

[Nelly]

not on the production version! The golf tailgate ones (all three of em) look hideous to me

All 5 you mean - Hayley was on about the BM engineer that produced the first ever E30 Touring, this was done using the Golf tail gate.

When 5 where completed and BMW 'took on' the idea of the Touring, they then produced it with the tailgate we see on the production model of the E30 Touring.

Neil.

[Morat]

And thank God they did

[Joshy]

I had a bit of a go myself earlier and I can say without a doubt My mother was talking rubbish, aside from the serious lack of poke in anything other than first gear, the car is brilliant! I did find it slightly awkward to judge distances, but this probably has more to do with me being inexperienced more than anything.

Now all I have to do is fight off the thoughts of taking it off the road, dropping an M30 in it and using it was a dedicated track car .

[jaistanley]

I have to chip in here, on the safety note... If you think you are safer in a 1980's beemer than a more modern supermini you're deluding yourselves. Yes they are well made, and good quality; but in no way safe!

Still, don't tell your mum! The Touring will be an excellent first car (as long as it's got a little 4 banger engine). You get used to what you drive, especially when you're learning. I love my E30, wish I'd been into them when I was 17 instead of having to thrash around in a snot green 1980 fiesta 1.1L!

Plus the E30 is a nice car to modify without becoming a McDonalds/Halfords hero. Stick to popular and subtle mods here on the zone and you're laughing. You'll have a tasteful and good handling car with loads of quality extras, instead of some naff corsa with stick on plastic bits and chavtastic alloys....

[toby]

Mums are crazy sometimes! I'm sorry but E30s are not big cars at all by modern standards. Where I live there are people convinced I can't get my touring into the small garages at our flats - because it looks bigger than their car. It only looks bigger because it is boxy. Other smaller looking cars cannot fit in the garages. It's the style not the size. Check the measurements- it just ain't a big car!

They take some getting used to in terms of driving but are deceptively easy to handle especially now tyres are so much better.

Also if it feels 'clumsy' it probably needs, at the very least some new rear dampers. Fit some anyway as shown here - same process but replace shock absorbers as well as top mounts.
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... hmount.htm

[miniblob]

Looks like a proper bargain Joshy!!! And another fellow Croydonian too!!! I'll have to see if I can spot you about!!!

[trigger]

maybe she's realised that not only is it a perfect first car but it its also a perfect size for a shag wagon!!!
if she doesnt like it tell her to buy you one of whatever she drives !!!!!!

[maxfield]

I got a Touring as a first car.

Feels small to me.

And very easy to see out of!

[Chris]

Oh dear look at the size of that exhaust /\ /\

Maxfield you should be ashamed of youself, go and buy a corsa if you want an exhaust bigger than the cylinders

Joshy, Trigger raises a very good point, fold the back seats down and leave a blanket in there, see what your mum says then

Good luck with the learning.
Chris

[schnaarf]

I'm on my second 325 Touring and I'm 21 (had the first Touring when I was 20). Really great cars, I'd never be seen in a corsa or anything. Once you hit 21 its cheap, until then its not far off double the price. No NCB and myself as the first driver however I cant do any mods. Might have to give Flux a call, see what he says!

Petrol is fine on the cost front with the two five, probably get less miles than a shitbox Corsa with baked bean can exhaust but who cares?!

Let me know how much you find insurance for, my brother is almost 18 and I'm trying to persuade him to get a Touring to replace his 1.4 Mk3 Polo GT which is costing him just over 2k to insure...

[kingstontown]

my mother loves my e30 touring (well she does drive a fiat stilo) its just a matter of getting her into the idea of owning a bmw (they are to dear to run) they cant be that dear i can afford to run one

[AlexBaur325]

Mums are crazy sometimes!

im 23, been driving 5 years and my old dear is paranoid i'll put the 325 through a hedge.....she'll be having kittens when she finds out what i've got planned next... ;)

[fuzzy]

my mother loves my e30 touring (well she does drive a fiat stilo) its just a matter of getting her into the idea of owning a bmw (they are to dear to run) they cant be that dear i can afford to run one

but that will be because you sell m20 engines for £1200....

[kingstontown]

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

[Joshy]

if she doesnt like it tell her to buy you one of whatever she drives !!!!!!

That's the problem! She's currently driving a Renault Megane which she wants to me use, which just isn't going to ever happen.

Her comments about the Touring are starting to annoy me now. We saw a supra like my old one at a set of traffic lights today and she said to me "You should have kept yours, it was a lot better than that BMW you have now... You should tell it... I'm surpised BMW would make a car like that, blah, blah, blah". I wouldn't mind if she drove something half decent, but she pots around in a 1998 1.6 Renault Megane with those "typically french" electric problems (like the indicators not working while on the brakes unless the fog lights are on!) .

Anyway I like the car, and that's all that matters

schnaarf, insurance is about £1400 in my name

[djk]

[quote="Joshy insurance is about £1400 in my name[/quote]

That's probably fair. My guess is you'd pay £1000+ on anything these days, so it's not a huge amount more for BMW rightness.