How long did you take finding your e30?

[BadMoonRising]

Been searching classified for ages trying to find a good one.

Starting to wonder if I'm being too fussy with colour, condition, milage, location etc.

Should I just go an get one or is the waiting game worth while in the end?

BTW I want a 325 cab, manual in black with leather.

[bss325i]

My sport found me!

[BadMoonRising]

My sport found me!

Really? Haha how? Did it drive up your drive Herbie style and say buy me?

[Rickz]

Its worth it in the end, depending on if your willing to make any sacrifices tho..

what spec n price you looking for?

[bss325i]

My sport found me!

Really? Haha how? Did it drive up your drive Herbie style and say buy me?

lol! No i was offered it and i accepted!

[BadMoonRising]

Its worth it in the end, depending on if your willing to make any sacrifices tho..

what spec n price you looking for?

A 325 cab in black, with leather, manual is my only really spec in mind. Unmolested with chavvy tat also. Not starship mileage. Been looked after. With tax and MOT so many I see are without this. Upto about 3000k.

[BadMoonRising]

My sport found me!

Really? Haha how? Did it drive up your drive Herbie style and say buy me?

lol! No i was offered it and i accepted!

Lucky swine. She looks good.

[poolnoodle]

Mine belonged to a friend of the Service Manager at local BMW dealership. I had casually mentioned to him I wanted to upgrade from my E21 to a E30 6 cylinder and he rang me about two weeks later with a pristine low kms example - I bought it straight away!!

[SUMPCRACKER]

Took me 25minutes on ebay, I wanted a project touring,Wasnt too bothered about color,but black was a fave.
Didn't want to spend a lot as i cant see the value.
(nothing against thease cars,but if i was spending 3k i would find somthing better)

[madaboutthe30]

The coupe took ages to find, and even then we did loads of compromises.

As for the motorsport cab I accidentally found it on a thread on here where everyone was wondering why it was so cheap!

[BadMoonRising]

Took me 25minutes on ebay, I wanted a project touring,Wasnt too bothered about color,but black was a fave.
Didn't want to spend a lot as i cant see the value.
(nothing against thease cars,but if i was spending 3k i would find somthing better)

3k is tops! Hopefully for a minter.

Where would your 3k go just out of interest.

[Elecblondie]

I was looking at cars for mt1104 on here, with a vague idea that I'd like one at some point when I could afford one. Then mine turned up after a few weeks and I decided it was too good for him and I had it for myself .

[SUMPCRACKER]

Took me 25minutes on ebay, I wanted a project touring,Wasnt too bothered about color,but black was a fave.
Didn't want to spend a lot as i cant see the value.
(nothing against thease cars,but if i was spending 3k i would find somthing better)

3k is tops! Hopefully for a minter.

Where would your 3k go just out of interest.

There are few favourites- E36 M3 3.0, Porsche 944 Turbo or S2, I dont know what floats your boat but if you want a mint BMW at less than 3k, I have seen 328sports and convertables, I dont know where to start - there must be 50 odd good ones at that cost!
Have a look on pistonheads and get random!

[mrLEE30]

my mate stopped my latest sport on the street and asked himif it was for sale, the nexy day it was mine!! but i had been looking on and off for several months


mmmmm black cabs...

[Morat]

I was looking for a few months on and off, but its easier if you want white. Tourings seem to have been popping up a lot more recently - maybe because I've already got one

[Felix79]

was looking for an Alpina for about 6 weeks and then 3 turned up within my price range. Went for my one due to it's well documented history and it belonging to a zoner. Since I've had it I have not seen another one like it which makes me that little bit more proud to own it.

I would say for the type of car you want they will soon start popping up now the worse of the winter is behind us. Always be patient but also be flexable with the minor stuff, if the interior is the wrong colour you can always get it replaced, cabs also tend to have lower milages so will not be too hard to get a low miliage one.

[gooner1]

Spotted my cab on ebay and it was lust at first sight. Was lucky enough to win it, was also lucky in respect that it turned out fine. Did,nt have a clue what bad points to look for.
Learnt a very quick lesson, re booting rwd,s on roundabouts , Found this place a week
after buying the car, the rest is history. 3years on and me and car are still very happy together.

[BadDave]

The last time I was in the market for one, i also had specific criteria which needed to be met.
1. it had to be a 2dr or tourer.
2. it must have a good solid chassis and paintwork in reasonable nick.
engine size wasn't an issue.

Nithing else really mattered as i have all the components required to make a decent tourer and can easily get hold of 2dr parts.

It took me about 4 months of looking at ads, and a couple of trips south and several thousand miles to find what i was looking for.

In the end, my mate found 1 near his place which is about 4 hrs drive away.We'd looked at 5 of them that day and went back for the 1 i currently own.

Just keep looking, decent ones are out there.

[LeonNewton]

took me no time to find the one im in now. wos geting bord of the landrover and lusting after some rear wheal drive fun wen a frend surgestid a swop. 30 min later i had a grin on my face i rememberd from the summer before and wos checking wher i wos going out the pasanger window. so glad to be back.

[Bob_S]

All mine have found me and I have bought either because I wanted or because well yeah and fortunately have paid the right price for them all.

As for a black cab. I know of a lovely Alpina C2 with red leather and would put a shame to a black leathered car.

[fuzzy]

about half an hour to drive from my house to the dealers car park after seeing an add in the paper.

[hennabm]

UBL came to me on the weekend before I was due to see a 323 E21 at Harry Fairbairns. Calterdon rang me and offered me UBL She has been with me ever since.

My 320 was by just being in the right place at the right time.
Someone had nicked the aerial off our Punto on Hogmanay, so I was in the dealer soon after asking for one. The guy in front was been handed his VT30 fail. When I went outside after finding they didn't have an aerial, the guy was still there looking at the 320. The Fiat dealer had quoted him over £800 to fix and he lived in a terraced house so couldn't take it home
£70 exchanged hands and I drove the 320 home.

[town325i]

ive never spent no time looking for an e30 really they have always only been round the corner but you cant be fussy on £300 cars really

[B7]

F674 UCR (my white convertible) was the first I looked at. I walked away applying the rule never buy the first you see. But I knew though it was a proper car and with work it could be mint. Went on the view 2 other convertibles. A royal blue 325 with rotwieler spec tan leather and vandal slashed hood with mega miles and a zinnobar red 320i with cloth which just did naff all for me. I went home, rang the white one back up and did the deal there and then. I couldn't let a car with the history it had and a brand new blue hood, get away.

[Sanchez]

BTW I want a 325 cab, manual in black with leather.

You could be a 325 cab in good nick and wait for someone to sell leathers on here.

You better off buying a nice shell and changing the bits you can bolt on and off. Thats easier then welding if you not a professional.

[steve_k]

it took me about 5 min's to find mine as i was in the pub one night talking to my dad's mate after selling my e36 325ise 4 door & i just mentioned to him that i was on the look out for another bmw when he told me to pop round his in the morning as he might be selling the one he had (i thought it was the black e36 328i sport coupe he had at the time).

so next day off i go round to his blurry eyed & with a banging hangover only for him to open the garage door & there in front of me was his e30 325i sport tec 2! now bear in mind that this car was his baby & he only took it out on dry day's (yes really!!) so i made a quick call to a mate who's a mechanic & he came came roud gave the car the once over & told me that if i didn't buy it i was a total idiot & he would have it.

i paid £2700 for it & it came with two folders of paperwork & past mot's & the best bit is it was totaly rust free & had only done 100k miles (it's a g plate).

& it was only 5mins up the road!.

[mineralblue]

Originally started out just wanting to spend about £1500 on a 325i cab.Looked at several in the price range and they were all dogs.Trawled the adds for about 3 months and was just going off the idea when mine popped up on Ebay. Only up the road in Coventry so viewed it and knew it was "the one" Justed loved the colour, (I originally wanting a silver one)
Spent a lot more than originally planned though but still worth every penny 2 years on.
There are still many fine examples around,so don't rush into it,it'll come.

[StuBeeDoo]

I spent 3 months looking for a white 6-cylinder touring with under 100k, no rot, and full history.
Then I got impatient and bought a black 320i touring with 107k, minimal rot, and almost full history.

Sometimes I wish I'd waited a bit longer - but most of the time I'm happy with it.

[GC318]

If i'm honest it's taken me over 20 years to get mine. wanted one since I was a teenager, then I was made redundant last year so treated myself to a nice '93 318i Touring LUX. I know, I know why didn't i go for a 325i, well the 318i Touring was the first e30 I saw when I was a teenager so that's where I've started.

[Mayze]

It took me about five mins I had just been thinking of buying a new weekend car first time I looked at Ebay there it was with about four mins left to run poorly written advert but 12 mths T&T and it looked like a good £865.00 latter and a tidy sub 100k 325i cab was mine.

[csl]

12 months of looking/veiwing/wasted journeys and disappointment.

Then one comes along and it is like a breath of fresh air mate!

[Alex]

took me 5 mins, when i wanted an e30 ive just baught one i like out of the ones avalible at the time

my IS was spur of the moment bargin

[djk]

I fancied buying an older car, looked on ebay in march last year for various things, typed in BMW and a mint luxorbeige 4dr 320i, 1-owner, full history and 70k miles, jumped out at me. Perversely, I fancied something a bit old-mannish, so it just fitted the bill and was cheap too.

The convertible was another ebay find, we weren't especially looking to buy one, but it was in such good nick I couldn't resist going to have a look - being on the bay, I thought 'I don't have to commit myself to anything'. It was a Sunny day, and within minutes, me and my Dad had nearly ripped th guy's arm off! It was such a straight car from just the right sort of guy - long term owner, in his fifties, volvo and caravan on the drive, labrador - and we just had to have it! Probably a bit daft in hindsight, but it makes mesmile every time I drive it.

The touring belonged to my cousin, and when it was running short of MoT, he got the fear and wanted out, so I relieved him of his burden and have had very few problems with it. It's a high spec car and belies its 182k miles so well it's almost a joke! Going to give it some love in the next fiew months and then unfortunately I'll probably have to get rid - last in so first out I suppose!

OP, I have to say I would never set my heart on a specific colour or interior when looking for a car, especially a 20-year old one. Buy on condition - you'll be far happier with a different coloured car in fine condition than a slightly ropey one you buy out of desperation because it just about fits your criteria. You're actually looking at a very narrow sector of the cars available by limiting the colour you'll consider - this will certainly mean you'll have to wait for a good one.

[Rich_W]

Roughly a year, but kept saving and then looking at higher priced cars so really only actively looking for 6-9 months of that.

I had to hire a car to go view it in the end as I was without any car by that time.

[n1tr0_9]

1 min ebay purchase