E30s - A Bit Rubbish..?

[Blitz]

The fact that people label you as a 'BMW driving c0ck'

That title has gone to Audi drivers now.

[SUMPCRACKER]

I dont have a lot of love for my car, but it was built from 2 sh1tters for the cost of a bag of chips, it went straight through the MOT and has done 1200 miles since without an issue.

[Felix79]

Most problems tend to occoure through bad matience and negleat. For their time they are engineered to a stanard not seen before for a car of it's size.

[Jesus325iTouring]

E30's are rubbish, sometimes. like when i'm sat on a motorway with a cracked M20 head, or sat on a motorway with a siezed water pump (no warning there) or while sitting inside at night trying to read a map, thinking it shouldn't be an optional extra to have an interior light that light up the front, especially on a BMW FFS! And final complaint would be sitting on the grid of Santa Pod(IIRC) with a busted diff

Hope i've remembered this correctly or i'm going to look like a dick!

[Jhonno]

No, you are right Rog

[bss325i]

The ONLY failiures i've had in 3 years and 20000 miles in my sport were leaking clutch mater and slave cylinders (I could still drive the car, they were just leaking) and a knackerd battery (again, didn't stop it being driven)

E30's and BMW's in general one of the most durable cars with 200 and somtimes even 300+ thousand miles clocked up on orginal major components!

Even one with 150K+ is still a reliable car is its been maintained all its life!

Bottom line is, you bought a shitter for pennies, probably thought because its a BMW is will be invincible,

AND THEN procceded to drive it like a c0ck (judging by you username) which resulted in it breaking left right and centre!

[Jon_Bmw]

I do like a good at the s13 'experts.'

[SUMPCRACKER]

Is "S13" the body type or the big end shell part number?

[Jesus325iTouring]

No, you are right Rog

Goooooood

[sweep]

I think you need to go and buy a mk1 mondeo mate and a roll of duck tape!

[Benho]

put it this way... i got a polo 9n3 on 30k miles which has been maintained but its a common issue on them to eat away spark plugs and (in my case) suffering from a misfire. spark plugs are supposed to last 45k (i think) but tend to die after just 25k. this shows how bad newly built cars can be!

e30's are cool. but shit if poorly maintained throughout their lives.

[trevski]

Had my cab since 1999 and all ive had done is a new exhaust 2007, rear wheel bearings 2006, discs all round 2006, water pump 2004, plus numerous basic service items like filters, pads, tyres ect!!

trouble free motoring for 10yrs for me and its still as strong as a ox



Now wheres that piece of wood

[bss325i]

I think you need to go and buy a mk1 mondeo mate and a roll of duck tape!

Notice how 99% of mk1/2 mondeos have gaffer taped bumpers!

[ShakeyC]

The fact that people label you as a 'BMW driving c0ck'

That title has gone to Audi drivers now.

Not in the M world everyone is still automatically labelled a tosser

[mrLEE30]

here we are lucky enough not to suffer from rust, so really the only problems are mechanical, my My1 sport whcih i sold to a mate is still going strong, my cab has been with me for five years and only cost me oil (and a new roof - but that cosmetic) and my Mk2 sport now a daily driver apart from a slight water leak is also no problem - its booked in for a coolant leak test next week.

My wifes dodge only 6 years old on its millionth window winding unit and millionth and one central locking control unit, plus it has a habit of eating idle control units. My old company 2004 Prado would misfire once a week on a intermittant fault still there. Mate of mine is workshop manager for mercedes, some of those made less then 500km from new before the gearbox packed in, and he had six month old models with rust (but admittedly this was two years ago) but in a country with less than an inch rain per year.

Sorry the E30 ranks in my opinion up with older Japanese cars such as Cressidas and Corollas (which also still seem in good nick over here) i am even tempted to say the E36 is a good un, but lets see the number os E46's knocking around in 2015

[gareth]

E30's are rubbish, sometimes. like when i'm sat on a motorway with a cracked M20 head, or sat on a motorway with a siezed water pump (no warning there) or while sitting inside at night trying to read a map, thinking it shouldn't be an optional extra to have an interior light that light up the front, especially on a BMW FFS! And final complaint would be sitting on the grid of Santa Pod(IIRC) with a busted diff

Hope i've remembered this correctly or i'm going to look like a dick!

haha! I excluded problems that are blatantly not BMW's fault, more mine for fitting a smaller diff than original and larger engine than original! I've had problem related to the coilovers (me again), LPG system (me...), keeping it cool (that'll be my fault again) etc etc. the list goes on.
the bits BMW did without me modifying them are generally not bad

[robbo86]

Gareth You going to ashford this month?

What about you martin?

Back on topic though. My only complain twith my bmw is that I dont have the money to spend on it that I would like and when I do, I spend it on other things instead.

[Dave_M3]

My Nissan 200 sx was the same age and frankly much better.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, an S13? Obviously you bought the only one that didn't shit its bottom end then?

The S13 Engine (the one before the SR20) is widely known for bottom end issues.

The Sr20s aren't much better!!!

I've seen 7 or 8 nissan engines shit themselves in the last 6 months, 3 or 4 of them Ca18s and the rest Sr20s.

One Sr20 gave up (melted it's coils) while it was just standing still on the track waiting for a BMW that was changing it's tyres to come out on track



E30s do have a certain "list" of common problems such as, cracked dashes, AFMs going abit funny, doorlocks sticking, wipers sticking etc etc but all are easily fixable and most are due to maintenence issues but I'd much prefer to have a car that has a common problem that's easily diagnosed and easy to fix rather than a car what has lots of irregular problems that are hard to track down and expensive to fix.

[DRIFTBOY]

It was just a question! (Although I did expect a bit of abuse!)

Interesting, some well reasoned and constructive responses there, as well as some amusing personal insults, but thanks for all the replies, many of which I do agree with!

I have to admit that my S13 did wreck it's bottom end, and at very high revs in fifth gear, so it did have it's issues. Just not as many in a similar length of ownership to my E30.

But I'm not for a moment suggesting that other cars of a similar price and age are necassarily better or worse, and after twenty years it will vary from one individual car to another.

The main reason for my original post was mainly because I get a bit fed up with some people who seem to worship the E30 as some sort of invincible, devine gift to motoring and the last word in driving satisfaction.

Yes, I agree they are a good car, I do enjoy driving it, and yes sometimes I drive mine like a c0ck and it breaks.
But I'm also saying that there are other good cars out there, and yes, they have their problems too, but it seems to me that some (but certainly not all) people have little experience of anything other than E30s so are judging from a very narrow horizon.
I like all sorts of cars, some good, some bad, but I like them all the same for whatever reason.

It's intersting to note that the most populated forum on this site is the Technical Help!

Compared to a modern eurobox I still maintain that they are technically not as good, it's called evolution and is bound to happen, but will I swap mine for a modern eurobox...?


... Naah!


If anyone is offended by me saying that they are slightly rubbish then chill out, don't take things so seriously!
It's only a car!


Robbo, I do hope to make it to the Diner on 9th May, if my E30 is fixed or not!

[Dave_M3]

I agree there are far better cars than the E30 out there but the thing is, I can't think of any modern car that I would prefer to drive everyday that would cost less than 5-10 times the cost of an e30.

Some cars I've driven are pretty impressive but there's just something about the feeling an E30 gives you while driving it... maybe alot of it is I'm just an E30 pervert but there definitely is something about them...

[DRIFTBOY]

I don't disagree!

maybe alot of it is I'm just an E30 pervert

[Bewdley320T]

I wouldn't buy anything less than 19 years old....

I'd love to see you in your best clothes.

[GBE30]

mine has non of them faults, if i wanted to be picky the diff is slightly noticable

buy an IS they automatically heal them selves since they were blessed by god himself

Get in there Alex, keep the morale up for us 4 pot wonders!

I agree there are some faults, like my MAF sensor 1 month ago and the Prop bearing going on me last week. However the styling and feel of the cars is great, nice ones turn heads.

Its the same with any old car, things wear out and get fixed.

Stick with it! If you sell up, I bet you'll be back!

In my book the only thing my E30 lacks is ABS and Air Con!!!!! Then it would be modern enough.

[gareth]

Gareth You going to ashford this month?

What about you martin?

Back on topic though. My only complain twith my bmw is that I dont have the money to spend on it that I would like and when I do, I spend it on other things instead.

maaaaaybe, depends on how much fuel i use in the next 2k miles round scotland and the effect that has on my bank account! may also have the kids all weekend as i wouldn't have seen them for over a week.... we'll see.

[robbo86]

Robbo, I do hope to make it to the Diner on 9th May, if my E30 is fixed or not!

You still got that starting problem???

[DRIFTBOY]

Yep, but that is hopefully diagnosed now.

I had an auto electrician round on saturday morning and in about a minute he diagnosed a faulty crank position sensor.
I am not convinced (but he is) as that means I have THREE knackered ones!

I've now got a new one on order from BMW.


So with the afternoon free I went to swap my diff, for one with a taller ratio, and BOTH of them had cracked rear covers!

I hopefully have a good one sorted from someone on here, so if it all goes to plan I will be there in the E30!

I'll probably be there anyway though - them burgers....

[robbo86]

Well hope you get it sorted dude. I am sick to the back teeth of mine with water ingress. It seems to do it randomly. It rains heavily and nothing. Another time it rains and the carpet is wet. I cant win!!!!

Maybe a trip to someone who knows e30's who is near to me. Ant I guess.

[DRIFTBOY]

Thanks mate!

Where in the car is the water ending up?

Just a thought, do you park on a slope?

Pointng one way it may leak but not the other way..?

[robbo86]

I thought about that. Cant work out for certain whether the camber of the road is anything to do with it or not, but its ending up in the rear passenger side footwell. My mechanic blasted the sunroof tubes with an airline so its not them, but it would also appear to be pooling under the rear seat. Had a good blast with a pressure washer over the weekend and interior was bone dry. Then today (having refitted the carpet) Its wet again.

[gareth]

could be the plastic skin inside the door trim has come unstuck / been cut by someone. if you park on the left, the water running past the window seal may drip clear but if you park on the right it may drip onto the door card.

had this before on a 306, took a while to figure it out

[DRIFTBOY]

I just remembered, I'm picking my parents up from Stanstead Airport on 9th May, so I'll be at the Diner in a Seat Ibiza diesel!

[robbo86]

could be the plastic skin inside the door trim has come unstuck / been cut by someone. if you park on the left, the water running past the window seal may drip clear but if you park on the right it may drip onto the door card.

had this before on a 306, took a while to figure it out

Checked that and its minty mint. Plus its pooling under the rear seat also. I just cant figure that bastard thing out. Plus I cant get to the meet now because I have a mates stag do I forgot about.