What got you into E30's?

[Motorhole]

Wanted to do a 'ring trip, needed a car! Had to be cheap and rear wheel drive. Ended up with a £500 320i. Served me well as a track car and a daily for my dad for a year, never let us down despite even a full week of being nailed around the 'ring. Was never a BMW man beforehand, but the noise, the build quality, the driving experience...everything changed me.

Was gutted when I sold it to put money towards a house...always promised myself I would get another. And here I am

[polsta]

one of my favourite ever cars was a grey e30 m3 d reg, that was always parked down the end of my best mates road, as we grew up n often walked past..wed just stand n have a little stare -pure beautiful it was, "my dream car il have one one day" id always say

then this time last year got my mk 3 escort back from all being sprayed n stuff (i love 80s cars and old shape) and comming out fo work at 3am in the winter...the escort heaters are not ideal to say the least, wanted somethign a bit more solid and comfortable

so thought i need a winter chariot and garage the xr3, looked about and about at different makes etc, but wanted something "classic" with looks and style , and came across e30s somwhere or other on ebay/piston heads, n thought yes thats what i want, joined up on here, read and asked a lot and got a lot of help in finding the right car, felix79 drove me down to look at her in his alpina...and the rest is history

only thing now... is im thinking maybe i should garage the e30 the winter and use the ford as the driver

[Nay]

Liked the shape of them, and bought a decent little 320i SE auto through a mate for £500. We cleaned it up, and it shone up well. As I got used to driving it my memories of my 1.6 Mk3 fiesta grew fainter. I think E30's gently seep out heroine in the surrounding air, and if exposed for long enough you'll be hooked.

Now I'm hunting my 3rd fix, if I can earn the money before a certain one dissapears.

[AlanRae]

We saw ours at a car show in Germany 1988 when I was in the RAF, we loved the look of it straight away, went back on the Sunday and bought it, with out a test drive. We were not disappointed when we did drive it. 318i, Atlantis Blue, slightly lowered, still got it, paintwork is a bit dull but drives almost as sweet as new. Couple of things have broken on it over the years but so far nothing I haven’t fixed myself (apart from the Speedo on going problem that is) Mainly had BMs since then, apart from a couple of years when we had a Discovery 3 which kept on breaking down. Currently a e36 318i Touring and a e39 530d Touring (now that does go!) as will as the e30. But its the e30 (called Bertie) that still brings a smile to my face when I take it to work in the mornings. I might try a convertible next.
AlanRae

[jonny323i]

my uncle has a white 320i which i always liked then i bought a 323i which i fell in love with and later fitted a hartge upgraded engine into it

[BEERBOY123]

I found one under the strandline while metal-detecting on Weymouth beach, dug it up, dusted it off, new battery and turned over first time.

Sadly, I took it into Kia during the scrappage scheme and it's now the size of a printer cartridge.

But that's what got me into them anyway.

[gazzaraggi]

Just really loved the look of them since about six or seven years ago, really wanted one for aobut the last 4 years and finally got one last month! Small bits and pieces to touch up and work at but sure that's what makes life interesting!

[333i]

i have always been in to old cars (classic mini's mk1-2 escorst ect) saw a heap of an e30 on sum1's drive and offered him very little money for it and he accepted so i towed/drove it home jet washed it polished it done some reaserch and foud it to be a very rare 333i sold it and bought a 320i se tech 2 minty mint but now wanting the 33i back after almost a year on here

[daimlerman]

Dad started buying BMW's about 30 years ago and was impressed with both the build quality and the service from the dealer.

My first one was an E21 320,followed by an E28 520i(I could not expand the budget quite far enough for the 4 door E30 I wanted!)

Then a break whilst I ran a 1963 Daimler as a 'fun' car with a selection of rubbish as a daily...

I wanted a car I could turn the wife loose in,not too valueble,not too smart,not too big,but tough and reliable.I bought her a 316i touring,bought the touring over a saloon so that when she was reversing,she could see the length of the car over her shoulder.
I rather liked driving it myself!
So I bought a cheap 320iSE 4 door as a 'fixer-upper',with the aim of getting a usable car for work for £500.As these things do,this one morphed into a 2.7 with a leather interior,eventually it had it's suspension re-built,to turn it into a very swift back road car.

Now we run two different E30's,both built with the experience gained with the first two,one is an M50'd touring built from a LHD '88 shell,and the other is my neon cabbie,which inherited the running gear from the 4 door!

Along the way I discovered E30 Zone,and have made a lot of friends who I otherwise would never have met.

[burtcocain]

When i was a teenager in the mid 90's my uncle had a white 318i........i always loved the look of it and said to myself that one day i'll have one of those!!.......now i do(white 320 though!)

[bmw9818]

bidded £300 for one on ebay 1 week after i realised i won and had to buy it,

[TouringTash]

was a toss up last christmass between a civic estate on a 99 plate or an ok looking 318 lux touring on a 94. Came over to the German way of doing it and now have owned 4. Must be said 2 have been sent to the shed for the greater good. And number three may be joining sooner than I hoped

[rancido64]

Just liked the look of them and love RWD. Those two reasons combined with a test drive of one had me sold

[StuBeeDoo]

I've been into BMWs in general since the mid-'60's (I was very young then). First the NeueKlasse, then E3. The E21 323i would have appealed but it didn't have enough doors. Then along came the E30 in '83 and all my boxes got ticked.

[maxfield]

My dad had his M3 since I was about 8-9 and loved them ever since then. Had 5 now at 19. (Well did strip 2)

[Rich_W]

just wanted to see how you guys got into your E30's?

Door handle.

Well that and the fact I wanted something fast and RWD for my "next" car and it was either this or a Saff Cossie and I didn't want 4 doors. And a mate had a grey B reg 320i at the time and it looked great on its Azev's

[Brianmoooore]

Woke up one morning in the mid 90's, and found one, a black 2 door 318, sitting right in the middle of my workshop.

[Rav335uk]

Used to drive round in my cousins 2002tii, and then he sold it for an Auto320i , and bought mine when I was 25, 325i

[eko]

Woke up one morning in the mid 90's, and found one, a black 2 door 318, sitting right in the middle of my workshop.

That the one you still got?

[Brianmoooore]

Woke up one morning in the mid 90's, and found one, a black 2 door 318, sitting right in the middle of my workshop.

That the one you still got?

No, I ran that for a couple of years, then was given a drive behind the wheel of the red 325 touring in my sig.
318 was sold the following week, for double what I paid for it!

[eko]

Woke up one morning in the mid 90's, and found one, a black 2 door 318, sitting right in the middle of my workshop.

That the one you still got?

No, I ran that for a couple of years, then was given a drive behind the wheel of the red 325 touring in my sig.
318 was sold the following week, for double what I paid for it!

You still running the Diamond Schwartz 2dr I saw you in last year then,your wifes wasnt it?

[Brianmoooore]

That's a different one - a 318i - picked up cheap with a faulty blue temp. sensor. The 318 was a carb. one.

[Morat]

I brought one as a disposable smoker when i snaped the cambelt on my *cough* Rover 220gti
The intension was to keep the E30 for a couple of weeks and flog it on but i ended up keeping it for 5 years Then brought another then another then another....

Similar story here.....

I had a very minor off in my Fiat Coupe which needed some repairs and a work colleague just happened to know of a 318 Touring that was up for less than the cost of the repairs. The last thing I wanted was a BMW (fiat drivers look on BMWs as the scum of the highways) let alone a white estate car instead of my shiny black 2dr Fiat.... but needs must. I test drove it the next day and found out that much to my shock - I really liked it!

I flogged that one a year or so later and got a 2.5 as soon as I could and here I am, very happy with my third E30

[TouringTash]

Sorry to butt in but just how much was a cam belt change on the coupe? I nearly bought one but was told the cost was stupid and I walked away

[poolnoodle]

Had an E21 318i and wanted a couple more cylinders

[alexdejonghe]

the look of them all the new cars look the same and its fun when you kick there ass at the lights! plus old skool rules!

Thats just it for me....always considered a car being 'getting from A to B'...until a friend of mine got himself a black 316 chromie coupe which turned EVERYBODYS heads through Plymouth, i just had to have one....

Over a grand spent later after just 2 months ownership and im still smiling, still spending....

All this spending now means i need to go offshore again....

...addiction eh

[E30BeemerLad]

Sorry to butt in but just how much was a cam belt change on the coupe? I nearly bought one but was told the cost was stupid and I walked away

The 20V turbo varieties were known to cost about £1200 for belt change as in the early days it involved the whole donk needing removing. I think there were subsequently ways discovered to get around needing to remove the lump which then brought down the price substantially.

I believe it still runs into the £400+ region though.

I have thought about these turds a few times

[Cloggy Saint]

Couldn't find a decent E34

[Morat]

Sorry to butt in but just how much was a cam belt change on the coupe? I nearly bought one but was told the cost was stupid and I walked away

They used to cost a fortune at the dealer on the 20VT because it was an engine out job. Nowadays the independents can do it without taking the engine out and it costs £200-300 depending where you go to. The best specialists are listed on the Fiat Coupe Forums

Just opening that bonnet was enough to give most mechanics nightmares, there is NO space.

[_Jay_]

Both my grandparents had E30's, nan driving round in a grey 320 and grandad drives a white tourer. Then my old man (username Motafix) bought a blue 320 cab and I fell in love with it. He always said he would keep it, but I know what hes like with cars, no matter how nice it is it wouldnt be around long before he sold it lol. So I managed to convince him to sell it to me

[e30kev]

the howl of a 325i touring got my attention in the mid 90's when i was 15, liked them ever since and never thought id actually own one

[godinman]

Isn't that a 318i touring tho :p

When I was 17 my dad got a 325i, which he converted to rally (and then sold eventually). That got me interested, and I happened upon a 320i 3door at a nearby garage which is the one I'm still driving 5 years later!

[godinman]

Isn't that a 318i touring tho

When I was 17 my dad got a 325i, which he converted to rally (and then sold eventually). That got me interested, and I happened upon a 320i 3door at a nearby garage which is the one I'm still driving 5 years later!

[steviebmw]

WHEN I WORKING AT KWIK FIT IN SEVENOCKS MY BOSS CLIFF HAD AN E30 IT WAS A TEC2 AND SOME ONE WANTED TO BY IT BUT BECAUSE IT WAS LOWERED HE DID NOT BY IT. SO THE FOLLOWING DAY I BROUGHT IT FOR £800 AND IT HAD LOADS OF MONEY SPENT ON IT BEFORE I GOT IT

[e30shed]

I've always been into late 70's - late 80's cars, and having had loads of different makes/models. It was just a matter of time until I got my first BMW, and I happened across an E28 535i SE that was huge fun, but a bit of a barge around the country lanes, despite lowering it and fitting E34 non metric wheels. That gave way to a 325i Touring, then a 320i Auto, and now my 325i that I'm agonising over its immediate future...