WANTED: E30 325i

The_Dark_Side · 14 Dec 2009 at 17:45

The e36 is a better car.
However the e30 tends to look like something classic and retro, leaving the e36 to look like just another old BMW.

merc190 · 14 Dec 2009 at 18:53

They're OK, nothing exciting really. I've had a 323i, bit of a rust heap. The He-Man clutch meant my other half wouldn't drive it so had to get rid...

DezUk · 16 Dec 2009 at 16:28

I have always wanted an E30 and loved the look of them but I can only imagine the money pit they must be

Good luck mate!

lambda · 16 Dec 2009 at 16:31

E30s are cool; a classic BMW.

The chavs have take the E36 as one of their own, so as a result, most avoid them like the plague. It will never be a future classic.

Scania · 16 Dec 2009 at 17:17

Skeeter said:
Someone: "Ive always wanted a red Apple, really like them, so im gonna buy one"

Fox: "Why not get a green pear?"

Whilst I see your point, I think Fox has a good point also.

The OP's budget will easily buy him a decent 3.0 M3 e36.

The best thing for the OP to do would be try both examples.

If he still prefers the e30 325 having tried an e36 M3 then fair enough.

I'd be VERY surprised though.

The e36 will one day become a classic for the same reasons the e30 did.

The_Dark_Side · 16 Dec 2009 at 17:36

DezUk said:
I have always wanted an E30 and loved the look of them but I can only imagine the money pit they must be

Good luck mate!

Actually mate, you couldn't be more wrong when talking about cars like these.
The e30, like most other cars of a similar age, is built with old fashioned meat and potatoes engineering. Basic when compared to todays cars, and easily repairable to anyone who owns their own socket set. As long as the dreaded tin worm hasn't taken hold of the car then they're cheap to run/maintain/repair.

The_Dark_Side · 16 Dec 2009 at 17:51

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
Whilst I see your point, I think Fox has a good point also.

The OP's budget will easily buy him a decent 3.0 M3 e36.

The best thing for the OP to do would be try both examples.

If he still prefers the e30 325 having tried an e36 M3 then fair enough.

I'd be VERY surprised though.

The e36 will one day become a classic for the same reasons the e30 did.

I disagree completely with this post, for one very good reason.
You, Fox et al are posting from the point of view that suggests the best car for the OP's money. If we're being technical the e36 325 (never mind the e36 M3) is a better car than any e30 apart from the M3, but the OP doesn't want the best 3 series for his money....he wants an e30. The reasons he wants one have nothing to do with value for money, common sense or anything else people usually consider when buying a car. Maybe it's something he always wanted when he was younger or maybe it's some retro desire he has, who knows?
The point is that it's specifically one of these cars that he wishes to buy, so offering any kind of alternative is pretty much missing the point the OP was trying to state.
You can't rationalise all decisions. Some are from the heart and sometimes the only reason behind them is "just because".

Joshy · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:15

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
The e36 will one day become a classic for the same reasons the e30 did.

What? For defining a decade? Really? This?

Wicksta · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:23

Probably the worst shape/spec/wheels/age spec e36 picture you could find? Sure it doesn't look like a classic yet but some e36s will do. An equally low spec e30 looks just as bad to me, this may be because I used to own an e30 in the mid 90s so they aren't 'OMG CLASSIC CAR' to me. Here's a similarly 'bad' e30:

Now a nice standard E36:

A future classic? I think so.

The_Dark_Side · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:26

I think that one of the reasons why the e30 has more appeal than the e36, is that the e30 comes from a period when it was so much better than its competition. Go back 30 years and a BMW was streets ahead of its rivals. Now, they're still better.....but more mainstream manufacturers have caught up some of the ground between them.

The_Dark_Side · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:27

Wicksta said:
Pics

Isn't that e36 an M3?

Wicksta · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:30

The_Dark_Side said:
Isn't that e36 an M3?

That was my whole point, yes. You get lovely looking e36s and bad looking ones, you get horrible looking e30s and nice looking ones. I was just showing that choosing the worst example of a car you can find isn't indicative of the whole model range being a classic in the future.

An e36 sport coupe has a very similar kit to the M3 though which still looks good, in the same way I think the e30 sports look good as well. They are all what I consider to be the classics or future classics, not some bog standard 316i ES saloon.

Joshy · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:31

Wicksta said:
Probably the worst shape/spec/wheels/age spec e36 picture you could find? Sure it doesn't look like a classic yet but some e36s will do. An equally low spec e30 looks just as bad to me, this may be because I used to own an e30 in the mid 90s so they aren't 'OMG CLASSIC CAR' to me. Here's a similarly 'bad' e30:

The problem is, even at that angle being the lowly of e30 specs (4 door 'Chromie' on bottletops, shudder), I think that car looks 'special'. A E36 just doesn't.

I'm going to go on a limb and say even E36 M3s don't look 'special' enough. Purposeful? Yes. But then are a tad bland. Especially compared to this badboy

The_Dark_Side · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:34

Wicksta said:
That was my whole point, yes. You get lovely looking e36s and bad looking ones, you get horrible looking e30s and nice looking ones. I was just showing that choosing the worst example of a car you can find isn't indicative of the whole model range being a classic in the future.

An e36 sport coupe has a very similar kit to the M3 though which still looks good, in the same way I think the e30 sports look good as well. They are all what I consider to be the classics or future classics, not some bog standard 316i ES saloon.

The other thing to take into account, is that a lot of the bad e30's have just been allowed to die.....whereas the e36 is still recent enough (and better built so longer lasting) to be a common sight.

Wicksta · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:34

We'll have to agree to disagree then Joshy, I think that M3 looks awful - I'd much rather a standard one. Horses for courses I guess. The E30 in my picture is certainly nothing special in my eyes but as I say it probably has something to do with me owning an E30 'back in the day'.

The_Dark_Side · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:34

Joshy said:

The red stripes need changing to black items, and it needs black wheels too IMHO.

Wicksta · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:38

The_Dark_Side said:
The other thing to take into account, is that a lot of the bad e30's have just been allowed to die.....whereas the e36 is still recent enough (and better built so longer lasting) to be a common sight.

Absolutely, 15 years ago my E30 was running on TSW wheels with cheapo Fulda tyres and I thought it was great. Back then (and later on) the e30 was certainly in the hands of chavs, such as myself when I was younger.

At the risk of ruining my reputation on here forever:

(waits for Fox's 'some things never change' wheels comment)

Jez · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:45

Driving around slough in your E30 on TSW's Wicksta, tut tut

Wicksta · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:49

Jez said:
Driving around slough in your E30 on TSW's Wicksta, tut tut

Hey I cruised around Staines back then not Slough, only moved this way in 2004!

The_Dark_Side · 16 Dec 2009 at 18:50

It comes back to the OP and his choice.
He specifically wants one of these cars, for reasons that have little to do with how technically good/bad the car actually is.