thinkin bout buyin E30 bmw

[CDN_SHOho]

Im gonna stop drivin the parentals car within the next year cuz i want to buy my own.

Ive got my mind set on rwd 5pd. And the car i want most would be an E30 bmw (86-91 i think, 325e/325es/325i/325is and also the 318's). I've looked around a little on canadtrader and found a few for decent price, but it's hard to find once below 200k km's..

has anyone owned a used e30 with high mileage before?

[Big_C_racing]

Havne't owned one but had quite a few in the shop I work at the last few months. Like most german cars of this age, the are extremely relaible and 200k is not even near the end of the cars life it is has been looked after. At this age of car you are looking at having to do repairs regardless of the previous owner. If you are looking to buy one, I would find something at least a grand below your budget so taht you have money for these repairs. Definitly get a 300point done on the car before you buy it too. Also.....have you take a look at a RX7 or 190E of this age??? both are good cars and 190 chassis is likely the most reliable you can find.

[CDN_SHOho]

dont want an rx, my bro's got one.. dotn want matching cars ;)


but ya, im plannin to have my budget at least 2000 over the price of the car. Also, my boss used to work at bmw dealership for a long time (not sure which one) and he's owned a number of e30's so he'll be checkin em out with me too


so then, im guessin that all the myths about maintenance horror stories for bmw's are false?

[ZorroAMG]

190E 2.3 (or rarer 2.5) 16V will be the quickest of the bunch right up there with the E30 M3, and the MB's are a good tough little car. If you have your heart set on an E30, stay away from the e motors (unless mileage is an issue), and shoot for a 325is (325es has nice trim and options though...) the is is a higher revving motor and a little more fun to drive...

at southland and acadia shell station there is a BMW 325es for sale, apparently a very clean E30...if it's not parked there, go in and ask about it....


Hope that helps..

[Weapon_R]

Definately try and get the 325i over the 325e, which came with a relatively weak engine. The trim on both cars is superb, as is their reliability. If mileage concerns you, you are welcome to come and check out my 1984 318i with 379,000km on it and only a replaced slave cylinder in the past 13 years that its been in the family and past around. The best E30 IMO was the "X" series, which is very difficult to find but also holds the best value and is the rarest (minus the M3, but it is neither particularly affordable nor easy to find right now).

One word of caution, however. For what its worth, if you like doing your own repairs, these cars are relatively difficult to work on. I used to own a 325i and accidentally punctured the oil pan. Normally, this would have been an hours worth of work to replace it, but it turned out to be extremely time consuming as you must lift the engine in order to make enough room to clear the pan. This is just one example of the difficulty in repairing these vehicles.

[CDN_SHOho]

Originally posted by ZorroAMG
190E 2.3 (or rarer 2.5) 16V will be the quickest of the bunch right up there with the E30 M3, and the MB's are a good tough little car. If you have your heart set on an E30, stay away from the e motors (unless mileage is an issue), and shoot for a 325is (325es has nice trim and options though...) the is is a higher revving motor and a little more fun to drive...

at southland and acadia shell station there is a BMW 325es for sale, apparently a very clean E30...if it's not parked there, go in and ask about it....


Hope that helps..


ya i know the 325e has a 2.7 high torque low rev motor and the i's have the 2.5 high output...

if i can i am going to get an i (affordability issue) but if not, most likely the es since it has the stiffer suspension. I work in willow park village so i might drive by that shell station tonight after work and look at it.

also, speed isnt an issue with me, i dont race or anything i just need to be able to merge.. and if i do get an e and want more speed i think i can just switch in the head off the 2.5 motor and ill get a little gain there.

[Dj_Stylz]

Get the 325i

[CDN_SHOho]

my friends neighbour on the lake in sundance has an E30 M3.. its BEAUTIFUL... takes such good care of it... i should go and offer him my 9000 :D

[BigMass]

i had a 318i and my dad has a 325i. They are basically the same car on the inside but i love the extra power my dad's 325i has. The 318 was great, but pretty gutless. So i agree with Dj_Stylz. Get the 325i.

[three.eighteen.]

try to get a newer one, the bumpers look nicer,
-e or i there is an engine difference, the es make a shitload of torque with the chip, but if there is an 's' appended on either models name it means it will have a tighter suspension,
-the e30 ix models only came in slushboxes
-if you buy that e30 m3 and daily drive it, i will kill you ;)

[m10-power]

Originally posted by three.eighteen.
try to get a newer one, the bumpers look nicer,
-e or i there is an engine difference, the es make a shitload of torque with the chip, but if there is an 's' appended on either models name it means it will have a tighter suspension,
-the e30 ix models only came in slushboxes
-if you buy that e30 m3 and daily drive it, i will kill you ;)

The iX didnt only come in automatics, a friend of mine has a 5 spd one. I wouldn't recommend an iX as they are quite different from other e30's and parts are much more expensive.

As for being difficult to work on, I would disagree. If your dropping the oil pan you should have dropped the front subframe instead of lifting the engine, quite easy to do then.

Don't be afraid of 200k either, that is nothing with these cars.

[A|pine]

yeah i have an old old e30 325e. Fortunately for me, the owner kept good care of it and the only problems i've had SO FAR (i've had it for about 4 months) was a fuel leak by the engine (dangerous cuz a spark coulda set off all the fuel).

however he let his relatives use it for a while and it was left outside so there is quite a bit of rust :(

they are definitely fun to drive, but my transmission isn't up to par. so yeah I guess there is a lot of maintenance involved, but I haven't experienced this hard core maintenance, but i'd expect it cuz its an 1985 car with lotsa milage.......

this is my input, but i dont have too much experience as this is my first car :D

[Raz]

Buy a 325e 5spd (since they are more common than the 325i's) and put the 325i head on it.

Very simple mod for ~200hp inline 6 2.7L

the 2.7E is ~130hp and the 2.5I is ~170hp depending on who you talk to.

But for sheer power (if you want that, which everyone does) get either a nice 325i or an e and do the headswap.

Don't worry about reliability, these machines are incredibly reliable. My own E30 325i was ~300.000 when I was done with it, and it has only a mild tick (needed new/reground cam)

Any questions, PM me.

- Rasmus

[Big_C_racing]

Originally posted by ZorroAMG
190E 2.3 (or rarer 2.5) 16V will be the quickest of the bunch right up there with the E30 M3, and the MB's are a good tough little car. If you have your heart set on an E30, stay away from the e motors (unless mileage is an issue), and shoot for a 325is (325es has nice trim and options though...) the is is a higher revving motor and a little more fun to drive...

at southland and acadia shell station there is a BMW 325es for sale, apparently a very clean E30...if it's not parked there, go in and ask about it....


Hope that helps..

:D :D :D :D :D Just picked myself up a 16V the other week....love it to death now. Personally i would go with the benz but that is completely due to the feel of the car. Much different than the BMW. I was pretty sure that the 'e' was the emmision friendy detuned of the two. Anyways, the E30 CAN be a maintenance nightmare if you pick up a crappy one but if you are careful and pick one up with a good record, you should be in for an easy ride. If they were done well in the first place they will doubtfully need any repairs at all. Good old german cars!!

[Tuner1]

Originally posted by Raz
Buy a 325e 5spd (since they are more common than the 325i's) and put the 325i head on it.

Very simple mod for ~200hp inline 6 2.7L

the 2.7E is ~130hp and the 2.5I is ~170hp depending on who you talk to.


Sorry, but that isn't a great swap. An ETA 2.7l bottom end with an "i" head gives you too little compression ratio and you are still stuck with the very slow and old ETA injection system, not to mention the restrictive ETA exhaust, etc.
The 325e is 121hp and the 325i is 168hp.

If you just want a nice car the an "e" is fine, but if you want decent power (by today's standards) save yourself the time, headache and cost and just buy an "i" motor'd car to begin with!

Rob

[ZorroAMG]

Originally posted by Big_C_racing


:D :D :D :D :D Just picked myself up a 16V the other week....love it to death now. Personally i would go with the benz but that is completely due to the feel of the car. Much different than the BMW. I was pretty sure that the 'e' was the emmision friendy detuned of the two. Anyways, the E30 CAN be a maintenance nightmare if you pick up a crappy one but if you are careful and pick one up with a good record, you should be in for an easy ride. If they were done well in the first place they will doubtfully need any repairs at all. Good old german cars!!

Pics! Pics! Pics! What color did you get? Is it a 2.3 or a 2.5? Are you going to mod it? Rob @ tunerworks could work magic on it.....

Sorry for the E30 hijack :D

[Raz]

Originally posted by E36S50B32

Sorry, but that isn't a great swap. An ETA 2.7l bottom end with an "i" head gives you too little compression ratio and you are still stuck with the very slow and old ETA injection system, not to mention the restrictive ETA exhaust, etc.
The 325e is 121hp and the 325i is 168hp.


Well, unless something tragic happened with the motors coming from the EU to NA, then the i head on an eta block is 200hp...

and the 2.5i having 168? Ouch... I'm thinking the non-euro m20b25 sucked when it came here, its rated at atleast 173 on my registration papers. (dyno'ed 176.2 at the wheels with bolt-ons)

On another point, i'm told the ETA block with a 24TD crank is bulletproof for boost :) Would be an interesting venture at some point.

- Rasmus

[Big_C_racing]

ya sorry bout the hijack, its black and is the 2.3....dont think the 2.5 16V was in Canada in any car other than the EVOII. I will get some pics up soon.

[Tuner1]

Originally posted by Raz


Well, unless something tragic happened with the motors coming from the EU to NA, then the i head on an eta block is 200hp...

and the 2.5i having 168? Ouch... I'm thinking the non-euro m20b25 sucked when it came here, its rated at atleast 173 on my registration papers. (dyno'ed 176.2 at the wheels with bolt-ons)



Nothing happened. An ETA motor with an "i" head will NEVER make a real 200hp unless you throw plenty of money at it for a good cam, headers, tuning, etc. How does an increase of less than 10% in displacement and lower compression result in a power gain of over 15% ?!?! Sorry, the math doesn't work!

Euro-spec (actually ROW spec) "i" motors were rated at 171HP DIN and the North American version was rated at 168HP SAE...which is almost the same thing. You must have some great bolt-ons to get ~210hp from your 2.5L M20!

Rob

[maximus]

Originally posted by Big_C_racing
ya sorry bout the hijack, its black and is the 2.3....dont think the 2.5 16V was in Canada in any car other than the EVOII. I will get some pics up soon.

Don't tell me you bought the one in Lethbridge did you?? I was looking for a 16v MB but bought an E30 instead. The only decently priced one I could find in like 4 months was in Lethbridge but was DESTROYED!! Nice outside but the engine needed a full rebuild and such. Got fed up and swiched to an E30 instead. Hey how do you like that dog leg tranny?? Pretty sweet if you ask me!

Anyway.... pics, pics, pics!!! :clap: :clap: