Where did it all start? Your first E30.

[Jesus325iTouring]

double post

[Jesus325iTouring]

my old man used to be/ stiill is a bm dealer and he used to race in the gt series(bm of course). H made me drive my first 325 when when i was 14. at the time i was racing a xr2 in mini stock. the feeling never left me, and at 19 much llike rog i got my own d reg 325 in cirrrius blue. sold it a few months later for a astra gte. but once you get the bug you keeep going back. had so many other motors but still kept going back. i'm sure i will always have one too.

And like Marc,I also had an Astra GTE

I hope it was a mark one like mine. ( although i actualy reshelled the gte a few times because of the 2.0 16v red top from a calibra pulling the chassis apart)

Sadly not,I had a MK1 SR which if memory serves me right,aside from the engine was much the same car,Half (faux?) leather Recaro interior,a body kit of sorts etc. The SR handled incredibly well and could be seriously flung into bends
My GTE was a MK2 8 valve (couldn't insure the red top,and besides,trying to find a straight one proved impossible). Took me 6 months to find the GTE I did buy,mint,straight and from a middle class housing estate.
Mind the GTE was great in straight line but frankly nerve shredding in anything that barely resembled a corner,I don't know what Vauxhall did to the suspension set,but they sure f ucked it up from the MK1's!

[Colonel Sanders]

i got my first one about 5 years ago, was a 316 for a total of £75 quid, used it for parts in the end.
but my fetish started long ago in the eightys when my granddad used to buy a brand new one every year or two!!

[e30bmlover]

it all started when the ol man had his m3... and living in dersingham i was a 3 min walk from rossiters... ah the chariots i used to see in the 90's.........
so i was about to do my driving test and i needed a car! looked about and went to view a sterling silver 2 door e30 320i se.. the rest is history...

[Rich_W]

See sig pic.

Bought in June 04. My previous cars were a F reg XR2 and a F reg XR3i. So this was my first RWD I'd owned. (Not the 1st Id driven though )

[magpie]

alex i'd have done something about the street name on the wall
in one of the pics with the white 2dr with the pina reps on,,,,it still makes me chuckle a bit

[bss325i]

My love affair started in 2002 when i was offerd a damaged 1 owner tech2 sport for £500. I was going to buy it after test driving it but the seller changed their mind about selling so as i was impressed enough i had to find another!

In the Loot paper (days before ebay) i found a gloss back D reg 2dr 325i for £500. I went and looked at it and bad things were crusty rear arches and 175000 miles but it pulled like a train, had low owners and most of the history so i bought it.

It had an odd spec which was electric windows and sunroof, opening rear windows, 14" bottle tops, Mtech suspension, sport (non Mtech) leather steering wheel and highback genuine recaros! (Little did i know how rare they are in E30's!)

It wasn't my first RWD car or first BMW either, that acolade went to an E23 728i auto (the sharknose 7) when i was 19 and s 2.0i S Sierra was the first RWD car when i was 18.

That first E30 was rapid and took some serious abuse from myself and the mate tha had it after me when i swaped it for an Escort cabrio. I remeber snaping the engine mounts doing donughts in it, they were probanly the originals!

I also got caught doing 130mph in it on the M23 and received a 12 month ban!

Since then there has been 11 E30's with one written off and 3 fragged and one about to be fragged.

My current 325i sport will stay with me and wil probably go to my son if we are still alowed petrol cars in 20 years time! The S50 on the other hand will probably be sold off at some point.

There's plenty of other E30's that i will own at some point,

A motorsport convertible
An M3
Another C2 2.7
A dedicated track slag of some sought..

...and probably more fraggers!

[E30BeemerLad]

I acqiuired "Betty", a 1988 facelift 325, not even an SE spec, but i had the full tech 2 shizzle fitted by the supplying dealer in 1990. 2 mates had owned it before me and poured about £8k into the car on all sorts of maintenance and upgrades, inclding full head rebuild with new valves, rockers, kent cam, springs. It had a few other mods and allegedly saw 192 on the dyno.

I picked it up for £250 and gave my mate a 5 year old Sony laptop. Ran it for a 6 months before getting fed up with the rust and other problems which were making it unpleasant as a daily, so I bought the soarer.




Edit, my old sig pic

[Joshy]

Here's my first. I bought it from a zoner a few months ago for £140 delivered to my front door. I had hoped to do a few simple bits and pieces to it and use it when I passed my test, but then I found out I could insure a MK3 Supra for the same sort of money, so off the Touring went! Not before flying through an MOT and netting me a rather nice bit of profit. Regretting the decision a bit as the Supra I replaced it with is... well... shit. Hoping to be rejoining the fold with another 316i very soon... otherwise I'll be going down the route of a 1L Polo!

[Alex]

alex i'd have done something about the street name on the wall
in one of the pics with the white 2dr with the pina reps on,,,,it still makes me chuckle a bit

lol who ever thought of it needs shooting

were moving so no more funny street name

[aj_mckay]

My 1st... Pink (Brilliant Rot) 318is


My current (much nicer)... Lazur Blau 318is Looks slightly different now with Borbet C wheels, black kidney grill, iS front lip (Bilstein shocks & Eibach springs on the way )

[chidley]

my first e30 was bought when i was 20. 1 week ago lol black 320i and i love it, even though ive already destroyed a gearbox, clutch, rear 2 alloys, 3 tyres, 2 front wings, and pushed the front panel back a little bit. oh yeah, bent a wishbone too.. cambers out slightly lol

[jamie323i]

First Bmw i ever owned was a E30 316(1800cc) in diamond black.Had the car for 5 years and loved every minute of it,ven took me and the mrs on our honeymoon on the isle of wight! That made way for an E34 525i 24v as we had children,had a E39 too.

Only had my 323i since the summer,reminds me of my youth,needs a little fettling,but looking forward to doing that in the spring.

I am glad to be back in a E30

[Simon13]

Here's my first. I bought it from a zoner a few months ago for £140 delivered to my front door. I had hoped to do a few simple bits and pieces to it and use it when I passed my test, but then I found out I could insure a MK3 Supra for the same sort of money, so off the Touring went! Not before flying through an MOT and netting me a rather nice bit of profit. Regretting the decision a bit as the Supra I replaced it with is... well... shit. Hoping to be rejoining the fold with another 316i very soon... otherwise I'll be going down the route of a 1L Polo!

Aren't you that goon who was slutting off E30 zone to anyone who'd listen on trampdrift etc? You've got some cheek

[Jhonno]

I think those words will hang around for a long while, like a bad smell, for him

[GrindCulture]

My first E30 was my first proper car (had an early Micra before I passed my test but that's not a car really is it?)

The 318i touring was my mums daily hack for a few years, which I managed to get for nothing After finding my way here, dreaming of 16v wrongness for a few months, I got myself an iS, which I got annoyed with as it was riddled with rust. So now the M42 resides in the touring, not perfect, but seems to be working fine now after a few hiccups. Once xmas is over I can start chucking money at it.

[robbo86]

It all started with this, my one and only e30 that I bought in March 07 for a daily drive and still have. Though am currently taking the healthy option of pedal power for a daily drive but it bails me out when I am feeling lazy/its raining hard! I play rugby so a little rain/mud never hurt me!



old SUM. 318i slush box, VIRTUALLY no rust, what is there is minor and easy to sort. But the thing I am most looking forward to is it is awaiting an m42 transplant. Dont forsee selling it any time soon!

[mr_dink]

After an e23 (728 manual) and an e32 (730 auto), I got my first e30 in december 2006, paid £220 off ebay for a royalblau metallic quattroporte 320i auto.....



Came with the MIMs that I swapped over onto my 2 door when I bought it (Avatar)

I loved the 320 and would have kept it but it needed a respray, engine swap and interior. sold it for £300 when my 2 door came up for sale locally.

The 2 door I dont think i'll ever sell as i've now replaced almost everything on the car, i'll just keep swapping engines as I get bored of the power, m40 died to be replaced with m42...... m50 next!

[djk]

Bought a luxorbeige moredoor 320i in March, unseen from ebay, 1-owner and 70k miles and a history file that is faintly ridiculous in its thoroughness. Had a bit of rust behind one front mudflap which I had sorted immediately and has developed a spot on one rear wheelarch that must be professionally sorted soon. I simply love the car, people have offered me more than I paid for it despite its 'wrongness' in the eyes of many a zoner, and I've wobbled and wavered but now I've had it a while I've decided I'll never get rid - it may gain some sports seats and a z3 rack at some stage if I'm feeling flush, but otherwise it will remain unmolested.

I have also acquired 3 other e30s since then, only one of which have I beared to part with!

There is something about them, I guess there just is no other car quite like an e30, so if you've tried one and liked it then nothing else will do!

[e30_Turbo]

I grew up in Germany, born and then lived there on and off for 16yrs, I've been around german cars all my life.
My mates were my dad's mates back then, sqauddies, back then they all had e30's/mercs, and the bosses had e28's and big audi's. First e30 was a black m3 I was taken out in, then M5, that's about as far back as I can remember, ow a e21 316 was in the uk family since I can remember.

First for me was a D reg e28 528i, then B reg moredoor 318i, then my current 325ise, 5yrs now.

Had a 316 and 2 x 318i's since but two are fragged and the misses is in the car we built from the others.

Mark.