If you had the chance to buy this car, would you?

[Zip]

How the hell can you get insured on that thing?
I know Austrailia is a pretty empty country, but there must be a chance of you hitting something at some point on a journey.

Personally I wouldn't buy that car, even it was under a £1000, surely japanese cars are cheap in Austrailia? Why don't you get a nice powerful jap car, like an RX 7! Then you can kill yourself in style!

There are Jap cars but a lot of them have been "chaved" up or just old or way out of my budget
Im looking at insurance quotes as i speak and so far so good

 

[Zip]

I just got some insurence quotes.

1,003GBP
704GBP
961GBP
741GBP

Ok those are 4 quotes. I think i did every thing right and they dont look too bad

 

[great advice]

(Its not an M3)

it had me fooled.

 

[Zip]

I would love one of those
I would have to sell a kidney to be able to afford one down here though

 

[4T5]

If i was a different colour sold women for sex and my dad owned a BMW main dealers then maybe, but only to run over a non paying punter.

 

[rare]

Looks ok, as stated it’s not the best engine though, won’t rev as high as the non-economy models. Tech 1 kits don’t look to good in white either, but that’s just my opinion!

Price is a bit strong, but then I’m not sure what they retail at over there. You would be very lucky to get even a bag for it here! Phase 2 sports are much more desirable.

Running costs may be an issue, they get through a lot of fuel and you get all the age related reliability problems.

 

[Scania]

Are you sure its a 2.7?

Yes,If he has got a genuine E30 325e, he's got a rare beast of a car, with an equally rare BMW 2.7 in-line 6.

The 325e (E30) is powered by the M20 Straight 6 cylinder SOHC 12V. or the "Baby Six" as its otherwise known. Apparently (never driven one) they have greater low end torque than the UK spec 325i

Used in E21 320, E21 320i/6, E28, E30, E34, E21/ E30 323i, E30 325e and E28 528e. 2.0i (129bhp), 2.3i (143bhp), 2.5i (170bhp), 2.7e (125bhp).

BMW Engines.

Not sure about the price though, I'd have thought it has some rarity value, as I don't think many were built.

I'd have loved one as a first car!

 

[Zip]

Yes,If he has got a genuine E30 325e, he's got a rare beast of a car, with an equally rare BMW 2.7 in-line 6.

The 325e (E30) is powered by the M20 Straight 6 cylinder SOHC 12V. or the "Baby Six" as its otherwise known. Apparently (never driven one) they have greater low end torque than the UK spec 325i

Used in E21 320, E21 320i/6, E28, E30, E34, E21/ E30 323i, E30 325e and E28 528e. 2.0i (129bhp), 2.3i (143bhp), 2.5i (170bhp), 2.7e (125bhp).

BMW Engines.

Not sure about the price though, I'd have thought it has some rarity value, as I don't think many were built.

I'd have loved one as a first car!

So from what u say the car and engine are rare? and you think they are good?

Edit:Because the car is rare(expecially down here) does that mean the car will eventually grow in price? Im no good with clasic cars and icons

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Been there, seen it, paid the bills on an E30 325.
When they're all OK, they're actually a great car. Comfortable, adequate amount of toys and a lot of fun to drive.
Unfortunately, mine was a dog, and had a LOT of things go wrong on it. No individual part was expensive, but there were many issues and it probably cost me £2k in maintenance for a year.

As for the car in question. There's two options on the engine. It could be a std 2.7, in which case it'll be a bit of a dog. It could however have started as a 2.5, and then received a replacement cylinder block from a 2.7e. That's a very common and well known mod (if you know about E30s) and gives a good power increase (20-30hp), still maintaining the rev capability of the 325 engine.

Having said all of that, personally I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, but that's because I've owned one. As you're in Aussie, you have access to a lot of cheap Japanese cars, and I'd much rather own another Nissan S13 than an E30.

 

[Dogbreath]

Used in E21 320, E21 320i/6, E28, E30, E34, E21/ E30 323i, E30 325e and E28 528e. 2.0i (129bhp), 2.3i (143bhp), 2.5i (170bhp), 2.7e (125bhp).

125bhp from a BMW 2.7litre straight six? I hope that's a typo as the ancient old OHV Triumph 2.5 puts that to shame...

 

[Zip]

As for the car in question. There's two options on the engine. It could be a std 2.7, in which case it'll be a bit of a dog. It could however have started as a 2.5, and then received a replacement cylinder block from a 2.7e. That's a very common and well known mod (if you know about E30s) and gives a good power increase (20-30hp), still maintaining the rev capability of the 325 engine.

How would you tell if it has had a replacment cylinder block?
Could you tell from looking at a photo of the engine and the engine? Because if you can ill get around to posting pictures of them up

 

[Alibaba99]

125bhp from a BMW 2.7litre straight six? I hope that's a typo as the ancient old OHV Triumph 2.5 puts that to shame...

Its quite possible. The US version of that engine only revs to 4500rpm, not sure if the European or Australian versions are significantly different.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I know it will be a different experience to what im used to but i would enjoy the challenge and there's no way in hell i would do anything stupid in a car that has lots of power and no driving aids that costs 8k because if i kill it then my insurance would go through the roof and ill have to wait for ages to get another car.

It's got nothing to do with not being stupid, meh, I doubt you'll listen anyway.

 

[Johnnyboy]

It will guzzle fuel as well, especially at higher mileage. My old 320i got 23mpg on a motorway run and sub 20 around town - ouch.

[J]

 

[EddScott]

TBH mate, if you have the money and can cope with the repair bills then why not?

Very good idea would be to ring a BMW specialist near you and ask them what the pricese of certain things might be - i.e. clutch, gearbox replace, head rebuild etc.

If you can cope with one or all of the above breaking then theres no problem.

IMHO I think it will be a money pit.

 

[Zip]

It's got nothing to do with not being stupid, meh, I doubt you'll listen anyway.

Fox i just thought thats what you were implying. The reason i posted this thread is to get different opinions.
So what is it that you ment by your comment?

 

[Mickey_D]

Fox has this strange idea that beginning drivers in every country in the world should be limited to a 1.0L petrol deathtrap of a rollerskate for thier first 200,000 miles of driving or something like that.

He also has some strange idea that beginner drivers are going to kill themselves in a RWD the first time they put it in gear.

Sorry Fox, but that's the way you come across.

I have no idea what the hell they teach you folks in the UK about driving, but to use me as an instance - my first car was a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass S. V-8 goodness supplying all that BHP to the rear wheels. My first wife's first car was a 1977 Ford LTD with a 400 small block V-8 with the towing package installed. 350BHP and enough torque to twist a telegraph pole into a pretzel. I would still consider my wife (current) to be a beginner driver and she's out in a 200bhp 4WD V-8 TRUCK(read NO weight on the rear wheels) on icy/snowy roads.

My borther's first car was a 1974 Ford Pinto that had been converted to a 300+BHP 302CID V-8 MONSTER!!

And the only one out of all those people that has had ANY form of an accident in thier first 10 years of driving was my ex wife. And it had nothing to do with the car. It had to do with her being a dizzy bint.

If you're not a complete and utter moron behind the wheel, a RWD with quite a bit of horsepower isn't going to kill you your first time going around a curve. If it is, then you're going to die in a 1964 VW Beetle with 36bhp as well. Or a Corsa, 205, Xsara, or the BMW you posted. It's not going to matter where the engine puts the power down, if you act like an idiot behind the wheel, you won't own the car long. Respect the car for what it is (2,000 pounds of steel moving at lethal speed) and you'll be fine.

 

[Scania]

125bhp from a BMW 2.7litre straight six? I hope that's a typo as the ancient old OHV Triumph 2.5 puts that to shame...

No typo.

Iirc, it has similar power to a 320i ,but, more torque than a 325i.

 

[Zip]

No typo.

Iirc, it has similar power to a 320i ,but, more torque than a 325i.

How much power does the 320i have?

Edit: i think thats a really stupid question for me to ask after rereading what you wrote

 

[[TW]Fox]

Fox has this strange idea that beginning drivers in every country in the world should be limited to a 1.0L petrol deathtrap of a rollerskate for thier first 200,000 miles of driving or something like that.

No he doesn't. He has the rather 'strange' idea that kids in fast cars ends in tears until they've got a bit of experience under their belt.

Never once have I said they need to buy something depressingly slow - my first car was a 1.9TD and the Focus 1.6 gets recommended a lot and whilst not a rocketship it's a world apart from a 1.0L petrol deathtrap.