..e30 holiday.. :)

[mcbonio]

Hey fellas,
Me and the missus are thinking of buying a touring this summer and going on on a trip around Europe. We have family and friends in France, Italy, Austria and Spain and thought it might be nice to do a European tour instead of just going on a normal holiday.

Anyone done this yet that can offer any advice? I'm also considering an e30/e36 touring, even an e46 if I can find an early cheap one. Also what engine model is going to be good on juice?

Cheers

[Nobby_N]

Audi TDI avants would do the job a treat and save your fuel bill no end!

[daimlerman]

Any E30 will need proper,careful preperation for a trip such as proposed.

Back up plan should include breakdown insurance,I can reccomend www.das.co.uk. I buy via my broker for £37.50.

[mcbonio]

Sorrry, got to be a bimmer.

[Chris_B86]

E36 325TDS or E34 525TDS

Saw an E34 go the other week on the bay for literally a few hundred quid

[Grrrmachine]

I use my touring for massive blats (Warsaw-Dover in one day) and at the end of each trip there's always something that needs attention; exhaust seals blowing, injectors weeping, brake pads squealing or something similar. Buying an unknown one online and hoping it'll do 5000 miles in two weeks is seriously risking it. What's more, the fuel consumption can be eye-watering - even after a full service including injector rebuild I still only get 10l/100km on the motorway, and that's keeping a steady speed of 120km/h. For 5000 miles that'll be 900 quid just for the fuel...

If it must be a BMW, a 325tds will serve you well.

[mcbonio]

Good input Grrrmachine.! Knowing what condition your car is in is important, a unknown used one could be a mine field.

[jmc330i]

What's LPG availability like in Europe?

Been thinking of a similar trip either this or next year - have friends in Romania so thought it would be nice to combine a road trip through Europe and seeing some old friends.
I'd happily drive one of my E30s (as my friends live an easy drive from Pitești, or the beginning of the Transfăgărășan highway ), but I'm leaning towards my old mans TDi just for fuel economy

[redcar]

E46 320d touring.

[Phill172]

I can highly recommend Austria and Italy.
Austria really is amazing, the roads are fantastic and alot less congested then the popular roads in France and Italy. Not to mention the food!

If you head in Austria towards Zell am See, it is a good starting point. From there you can go over the passes and then drop into Italy.

I really found the Stelvio overrated, bumpy and full of tourists for an experiance its good but I wouldnt make the effort to go again, however the other passes around that area are far more drivable and quieter.

I have done Austria twice now and have plenty more trips lined up!

Spain is good also, have a place out there. What area are you thinking about? North and around Barcalona has some nice roads along with the South. Not sure about the middle however!

This is a toll road in Austria just south of Zell am See http://www.grossglockner.at/en/

in my chariot

[Rtaylor2208]

Not a BMW but rear drive I think 9pretty sure the 900 series are RWD) and massive for a road trip:

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-moto ... 1009292212

[mcbonio]

I've visited Italy many times, and Spain I did a round trip in 2006, lot of fun.

This time was thinking of doing a massive trip over the summer holiday, (wife is a primary school teacher, I'm a company director) so taking time off isn't an issue.

Would like an e46 320d if I can find a cheap one. Lot of the high mileage ones seem to have blown turbos (swirl flaps failure). Aircon is a must for Europe at summertime too.!

[Duke137]

If your Mrs is on a school teachers wage and you are a director take your E30 and stop messing about

[mcbonio]

I would but I ain't got a touring.! And my e30 has a m30b35 engine in it... not a good idea.!

[jimbom30cab]

Definately get an e46 320cd 6 speed manual

Great car, you will love it.

[mcbonio]

Yeah I'm a big fan of the e46, my missus drives my other one. I love them, and dare I say... much better than the e90..!

[aimlessrock]

I will no doubt be shot down in flames for saying this but have you considered a 2.5 diesel Merc 190?...

They are cheap enough to pick up and whilst not the quickest they are riddiulous over engineered and the 2.5 d (avoid the 2.0 as its underpowered) is a nice roomy car and the MPH is very good.

Parts wise, like BMW you can order almost every on them but some bits can be a little pricey.

The above is purely my opinion...i love both my 190 and my E30...

[mcbonio]

Funny you should say that, my uncle has a 2.2 merc 190 estate. I helped him change it's tired old springs.... wow the most complicated suspension setup I've ever seen, ridiculous even.

He's offered that for me to use but it needs an MOT and the clutch is on its last legs and horrific to use. Oh and the gas rear suspension isn't working, you load it up and it won't raise. So it kinda looks like its been slammed when it has stuff in it. lol

[clipper]

I do at least one trip of around 1500 kms in 2 - 3 days each year in my E30 without many problems.

Driving (too) sensibly I get over 30 mpg and the worst mechanical failure I've had since I sorted my car out has been the near side wing mirror glass falling out on the motorway !

In response to whoever asked; LPG in Spain is very difficult to get. It has only recently become legal for the public to use it, and even then you can't get it fitted to any old car. Previously it was available to licenced taxis only and the only LPG station that I know of still only sells to taxis.

[jimbom30cab]

hey small world, my Mrs has an e46 also, we've had it since 28,000 miles and its been perfect, the only issue we had in all that time was a binding front caliper, its a great car.

[mcbonio]

We've had ours for years, only really had minor electrical issues, dodgy seat belt tensioner, couple of abs wheel speed sensors, trip computer stalk button stopped working, and the usual wishbones replaced ect.

Very very solid car, the interior still looks brand new and it drives just like the day we got it.

[Grrrmachine]

Is there love on here for the E46 320d? They're fairly popular over here too, but three blokes at work have them, and two have had the turbo failure mentioned above and have been told "yeah, M47 engine, 'orrible" while being handed a hefty repair bill.

I do like the Merc 190 mentioned earlier though.

[spook]

Ive done Euro tours in both my E30s with no problems .

[aimlessrock]

im a sucker for a good 190...im 80% thought restoring my early 2.0 auto. Its seriously tiresome to overhaul, the top end rebuild over xmas has taken days but she will likely out live me!

I have a mate of mine who is also a 190 nut and his 2.5 diesel (daily) has just clocked 400K and he does about 50 mile a day in it...the thing just keep on going!

My e30 is my summer car (cabby), i suspect an E28 will be the next on my hit list...

I would consider taking your Father up on his merc.

[Simon13]

i driven my e30's to the ring done 20 laps and come home more than once. I drove my C2 wagon to switzerland and back in 2011 no sweat. Stayed there a week. Managed 29mpg there and back, loved the alpine roads and never missed a beat. I've never had breakdown cover.

I'm not saying its right to go without but if i had to i'd of jumped in the pina and driven it to moscow. It would of got there no problem too.

A well looked after e30 is as reliable as anything on the road. The mpg isn't too bad considering its a brick on wheels and the injectors fire 3 at a time when only one gets a spark on the 6 pots. So effectively chucking 2/3rds of your fuel out the exhaust

[snakebrain]

While we're on the topic, does anybody know what's the drill if your car is destroyed in an accident or something overseas? Is there a paperwork mindfuck involved in disposing of the car by any chance? Does it have to be hauled back to the UK to be inspected by insurers? I can imagine trying to deal with it in some incomprehensible concrete town in the middle of France would be a royal ballache..

[Morat]

What's LPG availability like in Europe?

Been thinking of a similar trip either this or next year - have friends in Romania so thought it would be nice to combine a road trip through Europe and seeing some old friends.
I'd happily drive one of my E30s (as my friends live an easy drive from Pitești, or the beginning of the Transfăgărășan highway ), but I'm leaning towards my old mans TDi just for fuel economy

Loads of lpg in Europe, just make sure you have the right adaptor. Its definitely the way to go if you are planning on keeping the car, my e46 paid back in 10,000 Miles.

[Demlotcrew]

and the injectors fire 3 at a time when only one gets a spark on the 6 pots. So effectively chucking 2/3rds of your fuel out the exhaust

Its not quite how it works. Most certainly 2/3rds of the fuel does not go out the exhaust.

[Brianmoooore]

and the injectors fire 3 at a time when only one gets a spark on the 6 pots. So effectively chucking 2/3rds of your fuel out the exhaust

Its not quite how it works. Most certainly 2/3rds of the fuel does not go out the exhaust.

Doesn't even get into the cylinder until the corresponding inlet valve opens and the descending piston sucks it in!

I've done 10's of thousands of miles on trips around Europe over ten years, with the red LPG powered E30 touring in my sig.
Never once let me down. The only thing that ever failed (excluding flying porker incidents) was the fuel pump, which was no great problem, since it doesn't normally run on petrol.