e30 M3: Most over-hyped classic

[bab-91]

[youtube][/youtube]

[capnmchl]

God Americans are so fucking annoying.

[bab-91]

Mike Spinelli runs jalopnik but he is terrible at hosting shows, it doesn't really have any direction. Its more of a recorded chat.


I didn't mind Alex Roy (Eccentric but sound)
Chris Harris is very good
Matt Farah is good.

Quite enjoy a few of the shows on /Drive, some little interesting nuggets of information.

"M3's have increased by 27% this year."

[Motorhole]

Yeah it was more like a filmed radio show. Would've gone better on Radio 4 or something!

I do really like the GT-86/BRZ and appreciate what they are trying to do with it. But it is too expensive for what it is and I really don't think there is enough of a market for it - not unless it can share most of the production line with something like a Corolla.

The modern car buyer wants something cheap, reliable and economical OR something 'stylish' like a Quashqai or a Juke or a Mini. The people that can afford a new GT86/BRZ will generally not give it a second glance and buy a 3-Series or an A4.

Sad times.

[bab-91]

I don't like the BRZ/ GT-86, it is very expensive but they seem to be selling, I don't know if that is blind loyalty to the brand or the cult following to the car in its former guise or I might be completely biased in my dislike for it


They look like a modern Hyundai coupe too me!


I can't see the styling aging well either.

Just on modern cars ie the new mini. What an abortion, it looks like the former mini with down syndrome....

It would be cool to see BMW make a fiat 500 style car. Maybe revive the e10
but as the mini as shown, bmw doesn't do small and quirky

[Gert_8]

Yanks can't drive cars with a "stick shift" so an M3 will always be "awesome dude".

[bab-91]

I was reading on Jalopnik about these "awesome" parents that bought their son a mazda with a manual gear box so he wouldn't get distracted when driving.


I don't even need to rant.

[capnmchl]

To be fair, it is much easier to smoke/eat/drink/use a phone with an automatic.

Every time I get one I want a manual and every time I get a manual I want an automatic

[capri_rob]

To be fair, it is much easier to smoke/eat/drink/use a phone with an automatic.

Every time I get one I want a manual and every time I get a manual I want an automatic

I don't miss my Auto 330i one bit - which saddens me being as on paper it was the best car I've ever had

Can't see me having another Auto - doesnt matter how good the box is you don't get the control you do with a manual.

[bab-91]

I had the lend of a merc 220 auto.

Forgot it was auto while doing 70 on the motorway, 'Clutched' out of reflex and almost put my uncle through the dashboard

No love for automatics

[capnmchl]

To be fair, it is much easier to smoke/eat/drink/use a phone with an automatic.

Every time I get one I want a manual and every time I get a manual I want an automatic

I don't miss my Auto 330i one bit - which saddens me being as on paper it was the best car I've ever had

Can't see me having another Auto - doesnt matter how good the box is you don't get the control you do with a manual.

True. There's cars you wanna cruise in and there's cars you wanna drive. Considering you get very little chance to drive as such now a days, cruising is the way forward, and nothing beats cruising in an auto.

[harry_p]

I get to drive every day. I have absolutely zero desire to own an auto.

[capri_rob]

To be fair, it is much easier to smoke/eat/drink/use a phone with an automatic.

Every time I get one I want a manual and every time I get a manual I want an automatic

I don't miss my Auto 330i one bit - which saddens me being as on paper it was the best car I've ever had

Can't see me having another Auto - doesnt matter how good the box is you don't get the control you do with a manual.

True. There's cars you wanna cruise in and there's cars you wanna drive. Considering you get very little chance to drive as such now a days, cruising is the way forward, and nothing beats cruising in an auto.

But for "cruising" you just stick it in 5th, cruise control on and job done - the only positive driving experience I found with my auto was in stop-start traffic queues where you could just stick it in D and forget it rather than being constantly on and off the clutch.

Oustide that I found it very frustrating - it just felt like the box was sapping loads of power before the car actually moved and when going up and down the box it was never in the gear you would have selected when you would have selected it.

Can't see me having another one.

[Simon13]

i'm a manual man, but these new DCG type gearboxes are very very good. They make any other type of auto box system rubbish really. Even alpinas switch-tronic which makes a torque converter auto much more fun

Just to add, US spec e30 M3's came with the regular H pattern change 325i gearbox! Tells you it all that they thought the americans couldn't handle a dogleg box manual. They'd have a meltdown

[SteSE]

Just to add, US spec e30 M3's came with the regular H pattern change 325i gearbox! Tells you it all that they thought the americans couldn't handle a dogleg box manual. They'd have a meltdown

Its not the 325i Getrag 260 gearbox the US spec M3's use.

Its the overdrive H paten getrag 265 box from the E24/E28 635/535.

[harry_p]

And a 4.1 medium case LSD iirc

[pony]

Never driven E30 M3
All the journos love it
But find it hard to believe say an M3 is £30k and a Sport the best one is £10k I find hard to believe the driving experience is worth £20k more but as we know the prices are dictated by demand / supply and the demand is affected by the race heritage and driving experience etc

[Demlotcrew]

You are paying for the looks, handling, sound and the feeling when sitting behind the wheel with the M3.

[Jesus325iTouring]

You are paying for the looks, handling, sound and the feeling when sitting behind the wheel with the M3.

Having only been in one, and indeed driven it (Thanks Simon!) The M3 really is a very special car.
In a different league altogether compared to a regular E30, and I think compared to many other classic cars.
Race pedigree I guess

[polsta]

Never driven E30 M3
All the journos love it
But find it hard to believe say an M3 is £30k and a Sport the best one is £10k I find hard to believe the driving experience is worth £20k more but as we know the prices are dictated by demand / supply and the demand is affected by the race heritage and driving experience etc

It's not quite that much of a gap bar the evo, you can get a nice m3 sub 20k still , if love one one day, but still even if u had 20 k to spunk on a car buying a 25 yr old n3 would be scary handing it over ..

[bab-91]

There is a massive gap in fairness. Even appearance, when I seen Colin's German import M3 I felt like burning the tech 1

[pacerpete]

You are paying for the looks, handling, sound and the feeling when sitting behind the wheel with the M3.

Having only been in one, and indeed driven it (Thanks Simon!) The M3 really is a very special car.
In a different league altogether compared to a regular E30, and I think compared to many other classic cars.
Race pedigree I guess

Jeeez, I remember that turd ! It was foooking grim !

[polsta]

There is a massive gap in fairness. Even appearance, when I seen Colin's German import M3 I felt like burning the tech 1

Gap in price !!! Ie 10/20k not 10/30k

Yeah of course a big gap car wise, Dave gasman has the original press release magazines with the tech1,325ix, m3 results going head to head in a series of tests, the sport was close in some I think, but m3 different league, looks are to die for

[bab-91]

They are horn material!

Id love to get my paws on one in the next few years, if I cant afford one, ill settle for a merc 190 cosworth.

M3 prices are running away. In another 5 years they will be unattainable by mere mortals such as myself.

Id imagine driving an M3 would be a completely different experience from a 325ix.

4 pot revvy vs awd 6 pot. Not driven either ... YET.

[harry_p]

Looking just at the figures won't give a fraction of the story, to understand it you have to drive one and drive it properly with the rev counter right up where it belongs.

If there was ever a car that as a whole was greater than the sum of its parts then an e30 m3 is it.

I still think £20k upwards is just absurd though.

[maxfield]

Looking just at the figures won't give a fraction of the story, to understand it you have to drive one and drive it properly with the rev counter right up where it belongs.

Exactly that.

There are many people out there say they can't be that much better than a normal E30, but they are the ones that haven't driven one.

I've driven a lot of fast cars over the past few years and no car has put a smile on my face like my dads did. The only car to come close was a 964 turbo.

[Jesus325iTouring]

You are paying for the looks, handling, sound and the feeling when sitting behind the wheel with the M3.

Having only been in one, and indeed driven it (Thanks Simon!) The M3 really is a very special car.
In a different league altogether compared to a regular E30, and I think compared to many other classic cars.
Race pedigree I guess

Jeeez, I remember that turd ! It was foooking grim !

Scuttle rust?

[pacerpete]

Having only been in one, and indeed driven it (Thanks Simon!) The M3 really is a very special car.
In a different league altogether compared to a regular E30, and I think compared to many other classic cars.
Race pedigree I guess

Jeeez, I remember that turd ! It was foooking grim !

Scuttle rust?

And a veteran of at least two MAJOR front enders. On a positive note, the victim (who IIRC had sold it to Simon in the first place and should have known better than to buy it back ! ) did buy a truly minty interior off me en route from the valleys

[Jesus325iTouring]

A comfy death trap then

[ANDY325TOURING]

That was like pulling teeth, typicaly American why use one word when a thousand will do...

[capnmchl]

How much were M3's new then? Are they selling for more now than they were new?

[bab-91]

That was like pulling teeth, typicaly American why use one word when a thousand will do...

Probably why there isn't a Norn Iron Drive channel.

Q: Is the e30 M3 the Most over-hyped classic?

A: No

[harry_p]

How much were M3's new then? Are they selling for more now than they were new?

Around £25k when first released, well into the thirties by then end. Was quite a lot of money in 1987 anyway!

[pony]

I thought top end E30 M3 Sport Evos hit £100k or whatever it is.

Surely the £20k don't get u much these days wrt E30 M3 ?

[capnmchl]

How much were M3's new then? Are they selling for more now than they were new?

Around £25k when first released, well into the thirties by then end. Was quite a lot of money in 1987 anyway!

Apparently around £53k today!