Where it all started! (My first e30)

[hillbilly30]

Just found this old pic of my first e30. It was a 316 m10, it was 1999 and I'd had a mk2 astra and a Mini before picking this up.
It was on a set of 15" TSW stealth which is prob why I bought it other than the fact my Dad had an e21 in the 80s and I loved that old thing big time.
Ironically my Dads old e21 looked totally mint but was utterly rotten! (Was a 1978 in 1988!!!!) And this was also true of my e30, the inner rear arches were non existent and after 10 months I sold it on while it still had MOT left

Either way I was bitten by the joy of the e30 and was the first of many other the years
Blimey if my old friends could see me now! No A plate white BMW for me!..........now it's an H plate white BMW!

[mercdriver]

Cool!

The thing is, people will never understand why you have an old turd on the drive until they've driven an e30 themselves. Old cars are way cooler than new ones anyway! Bet that's long since been bridged then if it was rotten in 1999!

[mrb27]

haha my first was a 316 m10 too, had a right result on it too, paid under 400 quid for it on a E plate, clean as fook but on the basis that it was a terrible starter and hardly any of the electrics worked.
Handed the guy the £££'s, jumped in to try get it started, after it spun over for a few mins i spotted what looked like a manual choke on the side of the steering column, gave it a tug and presto! it fired on the button! i had some spare fuses in my motor (mk2 escort) swapped a few over and within 5 mins the old gal went from a non starter with no electrics to perfect workin order

should have seen the blokes face.. didnt look impressed
he couldnt have had any use from it as he didnt even know about the choke.. had a webber twin 40 conversion previous at some point, never did find out why half the fuses were blown but it was a real good runner, ended up selling it 3 years later for £800 xD
ill try dig up a pic..

[hillbilly30]

Cool!

The thing is, people will never understand why you have an old turd on the drive until they've driven an e30 themselves. Old cars are way cooler than new ones anyway! Bet that's long since been bridged then if it was rotten in 1999!

Indeed finding the pic inspired me to do a dvla check, looks like it was fragged in 2002! Must have passed through at least a couple of blind MOT testers! It was well past patching. Thing is it was mostly round the top shock mounts so out of sight of a lazy tester.
I can't tell you what it is about the e30, I've had dozens of other car makes and models but a e30 just fits me! The controls and the way it handles just feels natural to me!

[jimbom30cab]

Here is my contribution,

This was taken back in 1996 and i was 21 then, i saw this for sale in the local used car place. It was actually on the pride of place spot surrounded by glass, the prime spot!!! I drove past, spotted it, noted the price, sorted out a £5k bank loan and bought it asap. My Mum was not impressed and worried i'd kill myself !!!

318i man, complete povo spec, zero extras.

I traded up from a fiat Uno so was high with smugness for months !!!

Think it went to Pete's mates in 2004 iirc



So 17 years later you'd think i'd be able to afford something a bit more expensive....unfortuantly not, my latest e30 cost me £900

oh well...

[hillbilly30]

Fourteen years! All that hard work! The long and winding road of life and I've arrived almost exactly where I f*cking started!

[jimbom30cab]

Don't be too harsh on your self mate, at least you have a garage now !!

And one with patio doors also , how is that !!

[hillbilly30]

Don't be too harsh on your self mate, at least you have a garage now !!

And one with patio doors also , how is that !!

Thanks Jimbob! Some comfort I guess! Though Pic one is on road outside mums house! So at that point. No mortgage, no wife (first or second) no kids, not running own business, healthy stash of porn (VHS) just £150 a week to spend on beer and petrol! Though slightly empty of anything worth a damn I had one easy life back then.

[jimbom30cab]

So at that point. No mortgage, no wife (first or second) no kids, not running own business, healthy stash of porn (VHS) just £150 a week to spend on beer and petrol! Though slightly empty of anything worth a damn I had one easy life back then

me too mate, word for word exactly the same.

[Jesus325iTouring]

Here's my contribution then, high comp 325i, my first one in 1995ish when I was about 20 , this car was thrashed without mercy, without any kind of servicing whatsoever for 2 years. I could not have been more brutal with this car Oh and twin straight through exhaust made some noise

[capri_rob]

This was mine



B980BCA

320i - lowered on 16v Golf 15" BBS Rimzzzz - no PAS, no EW, no CL, only creature comforts were a Tech 1 wheel and a Tudor Webasto glass sunroof. Paid £1800 in march 1996

I fooooking loved this car - went all over the UK in it.

On the outside it polished up fantastically well but Sadly the rear inners arches were starting to go when I sold it - I had the outers stripped back, repaired and painted and the rust was starting to come back through within a few months so it was time for it to go

[darkchild]

Bought my first one back in 2001 for £1700. An alpine white 316i 4 door on steels with 126K on the clock. Poverty spec but felt like a Rolls Royce in comparison to my Peugeot 205. Absolutely loved it. Registration was G667BLR iirc - I've got some old photos somewhere but this was pre-digital camera for me!

Always missed it once I sold it on. I've had a number of E36s, E46s and E34s since but am know back to just an E30.

[jmc330i]

Fourteen years! All that hard work! The long and winding road of life and I've arrived almost exactly where I f*cking started!

At least you left. I bought my 325i for my 21st in 2002 and still have it now!
I've had other cars over the years, but I've always had at least 1 E30 on the drive - currently 3 E30s on a 2 car drive

[steve_k]

my first e30 was a E reg tech 1 sport with a very lairy 2.7,

i got it back in 2002 & had it up till 2006 when i should it to a mate when i bought my current tech 2,

by the time i sold the tech 1 it had all the toys i could find for it & lets just say my mate got a bit of a bargin

safe to say that i still miss that car but thankfully i still get to take it out from time to time lol.

i nearly lost my licence a few times in it, but what can you do lol.

no pics as they were on my old lap top that when tits up.

[biggill]

This was my first back in 98 a 325i. Got it for free from my uncle just had to get it back on the road and sort the paint work out as had been standing for a couple of years.

[blclar]

I had an 87 chromie 325 cabriolet, met blue in 2001 when I was 21, loved it so much that I took it to Spain with me when I moved there a year later, it was on bottle tops and everything!

I kept it for about 2 years before I flipped it driving into a cliff on a rainy night!

Now I've got a white e30 335 so hopefully that will stay with all wheels pointing downwards!

[Speedtouch]

My first E30 was a 1984 B-reg 320i More-door in Henna Red:



Poverty-spec, but it went surprisingly well, so much so that I rapidly acquired 9 points with Essex plod and had to sell it before I lost my licence! Some years later, I purchased a 1987 320iSE 2-door in Lachs silver, then a 1988 325iSE 2-door in black (my favourite E30), followed by a 1989 325i Tech 2 Sport which was a bit of a nail.

[bss325i]

My first E30 was back in 2002 and was a D reg '87 2dr 325i SE manual in gloss black.

Bit of an odd spec as it had the usual SE spec bits of the time such as electric windows, sunroof and leather 3 spoke steering wheel but other options such as Recaro LS's, Bilstein M tech suspension but it was on 14" bottle tops and no LSD.

Its followed a long line of fast fords and i was converted although i had always liked BMW's from a young age and in fact briefly had an E23 728i 3 years prior.

I fell in love and drove the wheels off that E30 so much so i got clocked at 130mph on the M23 which resulted in a 12 month ban!

Swapped it with a mate for a late mk5 escort cabrio with body damage as there was a profit to be had in its repair.

The next E30 came 3 years later and was a G reg 325i auto Convertible again in gloss black which i ended up bouncing of a lamp post, through a fence and into a tree but thats another story.......

The Sport i currently have came a year later and had remained ever since. Many other E30's have come and gone as well.

Hopefully another one next year!

[jimbom30cab]

What you got in mind Barry?

[bss325i]

Something ive wanted for a looooong time!

[jimbom30cab]

e30 M3

[bss325i]

No point saying anything till its a done deal.

[steve_k]

No point saying anything till its a done deal.

Well give yes a clue at least