Went to view a 316i today!

[Junglistjed]

Hey guys, new here and hopefully a soon to be e30 owner! I went to view a 316i today and my god was it in good condition!

The only bit of rust i noticed was on the engine, the interior was in perfect condition and the car was all original, the cars history is also full of BMW stamps which is lovely.

The only thing that will stop be buying it will be insurance, im only 19 with 1 years NCB so really not sure how much it will cost.. any ideas guys? what companies are best? and can i get classic insurance?

Cheers guys!

[MrT8064]

Hey there, I'm 23 now and just bought my first E30 a few days ago. I've yet to find a classic car insurer that'll cover anyone under 25 which is a shame.

Give elephant/admiral a try (think they are the same company). For me they were by far the cheapest insurer for both this E30 and my E34 for which I was paying about £900 when I was 20, and £500 now.

Make sure you add parents as named drivers to the policy, even though there is no legal obligation for them ever to sit at the wheel it knocked about £200 off my quote. Also fairly subtle differences in describing your occupation can make a big difference; obviously tell the truth, but sometimes you could fit into a couple of different categories. After university I got a quote as 'unemployed' and I was quoted £1500, but as 'graduate student seeking employment' (couldn't find this catagory on the site, only by phone?!) it came down to around £700.

I expect you know this, but don't always assume third party fire and theft is cheaper. Often fully comp can be a lot cheaper especially with a fairly large voluntary excess.

Anyway, good luck on the E30 hunt. After the E34 this thing feels amazingly nimble and much more fun.

[gooner1]

Hey guys, new here and hopefully a soon to be e30 owner! I went to view a 316i today and my god was it in good condition!

The only bit of rust i noticed was on the engine, the interior was in perfect condition and the car was all original, the cars history is also full of BMW stamps which is lovely.



Cheers guys!

That's a very strange place for rust.

[zd3bx]

Guys you're doing it other way round...

First check the insurance by using the number plate of the car you want to buy for the quote, then go viewing lol

[Junglistjed]

Thanks for the reply mate, insurance is the only thing stopping me from buying it so as long as it isn't insanely expensive im happy

Can someone answer this, the badge on the back says 316i which would mean the engine is 1.6L, when infact the engine is a 1.8L 1766 cc?

Heres a pic of the rust gooner -

[MrT8064]

Can't answer your engine size question, but that rust is very very superficial. I'm sure you could pick up a new cover for not too much money and have it look perfect under there.

[Junglistjed]

Also, how easy are these to lower?

[Nobby_N]

Its had an I put on the end of the 316, easy as foook to lower, ask PacerPete on here for advice on chaving it up!

[Junglistjed]

so its a 316 with a 1.8L engine? and no way am i chavving it up, just want the arch gap gone and im sorted! ;) im not sure where the line is drawn with these e30's, does doing anything to them make them chavvy?

[Grrrmachine]

Can someone answer this, the badge on the back says 316i which would mean the engine is 1.6L, when infact the engine is a 1.8L 1766 cc?

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/316

[Junglistjed]

Thanks mate, that clears it up

[suedenim]

2 or 4 door?

[Zerotonine]

Its had an I put on the end of the 316, easy as foook to lower, ask PacerPete on here for advice on chaving it up!

[suedenim]

so its a 316 with a 1.8L engine? and no way am i chavving it up, just want the arch gap gone and im sorted! ;) im not sure where the line is drawn with these e30's, does doing anything to them make them chavvy?

Less is more. If you want to spice up a poverty spec model, stick to parts found on higher spec E30's - Fogs, spoilers, etc. rather than aftermarket tat. Just my preference and the general concensus on the zone, but it's your car.

Good luck with the insurance

[Zerotonine]

so its a 316 with a 1.8L engine? and no way am i chavving it up, just want the arch gap gone and im sorted! ;) im not sure where the line is drawn with these e30's, does doing anything to them make them chavvy?

It is a carbed engine, it is actually a 316 not a 316i. The 'i' denotes that it has an injection engine, which this one certainly is not.
BMW fact for you, the last two numbers do not necessarily denote the engine size.

[bmw9818]

i got insured at 19 on 316 for £1300 with 0 no claims, in a shit borough in south london,

[Junglistjed]

Its a 2 door coupe, and i would buy any e30 for the shape, im not bothered about spec to be honest! Any idea's on how to improve the look of it?

[MrT8064]

BBS alloys and rear lip spoiler

[Junglistjed]

BBS are a must for me, just not sure of what else, any pics of that spoiler mate?

[MrT8064]

Not sure what the correct name is, loads of E30's have these and they are nice and discreet.

<a href="http://s632.photobucket.com/user/mainla ... l.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu42 ... 2_full.jpg" border="0" alt="BMW E30 LIP SPOILER photo 164868342_full.jpg"/></a>

[Kos]

Being 19, you will not be able to get a classic policy

[Junglistjed]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-Boot- ... 337f9c9dd1

one of them?

[suedenim]

I like the fact that it's survived 27 years without somebody nailing a spoiler to the boot.

[Junglistjed]

Its only had 1 owner mate, obviously wasn't bothered about modification!

[daimlerman]

Its a 2 door coupe..

No!

It is a two door saloon.

[Junglistjed]

my bad, its a 2 door anyways

[Fastroad]

Is the car Calypso Red?

Depends how far you want to go with the look you could put a Mtech2 kit, 15" Bbs, shadow line trim and Mtech leathers, Mtech steering wheel and then it would look the part.

[Fastroad]

[jmc330i]

Don't think calypso red was an option on a pre facelift.
An Mtech 2 kit would be difficult to fit a chromie and totally ruin it. Best off sticking to the Tech 1 kit, although personally I'd say a slightly drop with some 15" BBS would be perfect for a chromie.

Insurance is a funny thing, but at 19 it won't be cheap and as said above, a classic policy won't be an option
I'd expect you'll be looking at around the same as anyone else your age driving the usual first car choices - just be prepared to be slower than all your mates and most likely laughed at for owning an old car - but at least you'll own a proper car, not some made of cheese sh1t box

[Grrrmachine]

Depends how far you want to go with the look you could put a Mtech2 kit, 15" Bbs, shadow line trim and Mtech leathers, Mtech steering wheel and then it would look the part.

Doing all that to a 316 is like putting a diamond ring on a freshly-squeezed turd.

[Automaton]

Just a few improvements to it should do the trick.
15" wheels, a spoiler, K&N filter or the bolt on kit. And maybe looking at all the rubber and suspension parts. And of course the rust. Leave the rest as original as possible.

[FinalD]

K&N filter

If you want noise and no power gains with potential power loss.

[andrew_baran]

Hate to be the one to say it, but have you actually gone and got an insurance quote yet? There's no point getting a lovely smart 316, then getting done for just being a named driver on your "mum's car"...

I held off until I had 2 years NCB before I bought my 320i Touring - which seemed to come out as the cheapest of the E30s to insure at the time.

On modifying the car though - just a set of BBS and some sport seats would do nicely. Keep everything else nice and stock and polish it up nicely!

[Junglistjed]

Well a set of springs and some BBS are first on the list! Is that lip spoiler a popular choice? and the interior is in very good condition but unfortunately the seats are fabric, what seats would fit this?

I Did some quotes yesterday and they were around 1100, with both my parents on the quote it dropped to 730!

[Morat]

If you can live with the insurance buy the car.
Any modifications will have to be declared and will put your premium up - so get a quote again before you even think about it.
I know it's tough to have to wait but the best thing you could do with that car is service it, and detail it until it shines like new. IF you keep it in good nick it will last you forever and turn you a profit when you sell it. If you chav it up with a big drop, cheap wheels and ebay tat it will start to look like every other half dead beater out there and be worth nothing.

It'll look great as stock in Calypso, even better if you can put 15" BBS on it without breaking the bank.