WANTED: E30 325i
- Thread starter Django x2
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Pretty much all covered by the rest of the posts but any way.....
M20 is one of my all time great engines. Strong, smooth and sounds wonderfull.
Depends what you want from an E30...to get it to drive spot on most if not all of them will require some work. Many will need much of their suspension changed because they wear and will have a major effect on the way an E30 drives.
Lots of them will have way passed their sell by date on sub frame bushes and shocks.Front arm ball joints and bushes will be common to, but not expensive. 40 quid for an arm and 10 or so for a bush, will make a massive difference to the way they drive if they have worn items on them.
Interiors tend to hold up well, always expect to find the dash with a crack in it though. Drivers bolster will be worse compared to the rest of them, but they dont wear to bad on the E30 partly because of the way the seat belt runs around the bolster not over it.
Engines are usually ok, check for cambelt change. Many will have already got through a head gasket and like most BMW's the cooling system isnt that great. Water pumps,thermostats and viscous couplings being the most common.
Rust and overall condition of body work is probably the biggest problems now just due to their age. Many will have had some work or paint at some point in their life. Rust on arches, sills and in the boots are common. Around the front window to I have seen many times. If it has a sunroof check that to.
Sports are the most desirable especially Tech 2's. Many fakes around, check the log book. Also, check the headlining. Sports were black. They also had LSD's, and Tech 2 body kits.
Buy a car with the orig BBS wheels, they drive a million times better than an E30 with 17" wheels.
M20 is one of my all time great engines. Strong, smooth and sounds wonderfull.
Depends what you want from an E30...to get it to drive spot on most if not all of them will require some work. Many will need much of their suspension changed because they wear and will have a major effect on the way an E30 drives.
Lots of them will have way passed their sell by date on sub frame bushes and shocks.Front arm ball joints and bushes will be common to, but not expensive. 40 quid for an arm and 10 or so for a bush, will make a massive difference to the way they drive if they have worn items on them.
Interiors tend to hold up well, always expect to find the dash with a crack in it though. Drivers bolster will be worse compared to the rest of them, but they dont wear to bad on the E30 partly because of the way the seat belt runs around the bolster not over it.
Engines are usually ok, check for cambelt change. Many will have already got through a head gasket and like most BMW's the cooling system isnt that great. Water pumps,thermostats and viscous couplings being the most common.
Rust and overall condition of body work is probably the biggest problems now just due to their age. Many will have had some work or paint at some point in their life. Rust on arches, sills and in the boots are common. Around the front window to I have seen many times. If it has a sunroof check that to.
Sports are the most desirable especially Tech 2's. Many fakes around, check the log book. Also, check the headlining. Sports were black. They also had LSD's, and Tech 2 body kits.
Buy a car with the orig BBS wheels, they drive a million times better than an E30 with 17" wheels.
Soldato
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The thing with any car that's either classic or subject to scene tax, is that if you want one you can own one for a year or two then sell it on without losing (and in some cases making) money.
If it's what the OP wants then why not.....you're a long time dead as they say.
If it's what the OP wants then why not.....you're a long time dead as they say.
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I always liked pop up headlights
Blame the yanks for the fact you don't see them anymore.
Blame the yanks for the fact you don't see them anymore.
er, how is it their fault?
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err, because they banned them.
That's why cars like the MX5 changed, and Ferrari altered the design from the 355 (with) to 360 (without)
iirc they haven't banned them, but rather it would have been more expensive to make them meet the new crash regs rather than to simple discontinue them and cars also naturally moved away from popups
The funny thing is that the Americans blame the EU and us in the EU blame the Americans for the lights disappearing
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Soldato
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I wasn't aware they'd banned them either - the C5 Corvette has pop-up lights and that was made up until 2004.
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Maybe it's tied in with cars not produced on American soil, or maybe only allowed on cars that have a small production run?
i don't think they were ever banned. i think rypt's correct, it's just very hard to comply with the new EU pedestrain safety regulations with pop-up headlamps.
remember the Esprit had them too, and that ended production in 2004 along with the last pop-up corvette..
remember the Esprit had them too, and that ended production in 2004 along with the last pop-up corvette..
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That one up there, reg H188 looks very, very cool.
Soldato
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Get an EcoTorq chip off the E30Zone too, if you do buy a 325i (one of the members sells them) - really works a treat 
Soldato
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Get an EcoTorq chip off the E30Zone too, if you do buy a 325i (one of the members sells them) - really works a treat
Speedtouch is the man to ask about this.
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I've been a passenger in many an E30 but never driven one. It's a fantastic looking car and for me has gotten better with age. The E36 cars were a nice imprvment in their day but have aged poorly aesthetically. For me, it has to be either an late e30 touring or an E24 M635csi.
I'm surprised by how cheap they can be had for now considering, if I didn't have to get my 4runner back on the road as a 3rd car I'd be tempted by some of those earlier in the post.
I'm surprised by how cheap they can be had for now considering, if I didn't have to get my 4runner back on the road as a 3rd car I'd be tempted by some of those earlier in the post.