Anyone had any experiences with these cars? I need a second car to run around in as my VW Beetle V5 Sport is probably too nice to use as an everyday car to and from medical school. Was thinking about a nice 2 door 320 or 325 as I really want the straight-six engine.

Any thoughts???

Had an E30 M3 back in the day... 1988?

Not the six you are looking for, but a really wonderful car. Miss it.

Sounds good Jeff - the M3 is way out of budget nowadays though!

Really want one of these. A proper longitudinal engine and rear drive. Not common in today's Euroboxes I'm afraid...

j0hnbarker:

the M3 is way out of budget nowadays though!

Yeah, the E30 M3 had (has) a bit of a cult following and retained value rather well. I haven't checked prices in the last probably 15+ years... hmmm...

As far as the six... I had them in other series but not 3's... I think the only 3 I recall owning was the M w/ the 4. My closest experience to what you are looking for would have been w/ a 5 series 2.5 SW (Estate). A very venerable engine... had a long run and was fairly bulletproof. Miss that too! I seem to recall that most issues sprung up w/ trannies and suspension components. Great cars and I am sure parts are still readily available.

All the 6-Cylinder engines in the E30 were good.  They had less work to do than in the 5-Series owing to the weight of the car, and the build quality was excellent.  The odd head gasket on the 320 and the 323i (which they only did for a couple of years), but the 325i is bulletproof.

The 1986-1988 325i Sport was a great car - it even had a Limited Slip Differential, which made the tail even more fun!  1989 saw the revised 325i Sport with more of a bodykit and revised interior.  As these got older and cheaper, the boy racers got hold of them and nice ones are sadly few and far between.

Older, more 'mature' people tended to go for the 325i in standard form, and this is where the lower mileage and better cared for examples are to be found.  I'd buy a 1988-1990 'facelift' model (plastic bumpers, not the chrome ones on the earlier versions and also revised interior and lights) with anything up to 80,000 miles and a service history showing regular oil changes.

Colours - Zinnober Red, Diamond Black and Dolphin Grey were the most popular - but i'd go for a metallic as the solid colours will have faded badly by now if not looked after meticulously. The lacquer on the metallics was really thick and kept the shine beautifully for years.

Auto or Manual?  Either - the gearbox was never strained. No issues to report either.

Things to look out for?  Well - apart from the obvious, the E30 really lets you know when it's tired.  Diffs whine, the gearbox linkage feels sloppy and the seat will be collapsed and/or frayed on the centre and/or bolsters.  If it looks tired, it will be tired - walk away.. there will be others.  

Lee

That's great advice Lee - thank you :)

There's an '89 325i Auto on eBay at the moment, with a genuine 44,000 miles and full main dealer service history, but unfortunately I'm not in the market really until the other side of Christmas. A real shame as this one is a beauty and only about 50 miles away from me. Oh well...I do hope some others come up when I'm in the market.

Sounds a beauty!  I'm sure there'll be others though.

Another car to consider (some love them, some hate them) would be a late (1991-93) Mercedes 190E 2.0 or a slightly older 190E 2.6.  Great everyday transport with solid mechanicals.  The facelifted version (1989->) looked really modern at the time and still doesn't exactly look awful today.  I've had plenty of these through my hands and they never gave a squeak of trouble.  Don't get a manual gearbox though - it's like stirring porridge with a golf club!

Lee

I do like the 190Es Lee, but they're a bit bigger than the 2 door E30 and that might be a defining factor.

Is the 2.6 version the one with the Cosworth engine??

No, the Cosworths were a 2.3 - 16v, then became a 2.5 - 16v.

As localized information, this is probably not helpful to you John, but I have to tell that these were the teenager's car of choice over here some years ago! Replace the exhaust with a 110 mm sewage pipe, wear a baseball cap and go belly up in the ditch during the winter, if not sooner.

Nowadays they're all driving something newer, at least here in the areas with some economic activities left

Dunno if these are held better over there, but I haven't seen a decent one in years. And just as MBs, they can dig pretty deep into your wallet once they have been neglected long enough.

tournedos:

As localized information, this is probably not helpful to you John, but I have to tell that these were the teenager's car of choice over here some years ago! Replace the exhaust with a 110 mm sewage pipe, wear a baseball cap and go belly up in the ditch during the winter, if not sooner.

Nowadays they're all driving something newer, at least here in the areas with some economic activities left

Dunno if these are held better over there, but I haven't seen a decent one in years. And just as MBs, they can dig pretty deep into your wallet once they have been neglected long enough.

 

Nah - here it was MkII Golfs that were the boy racer's car of choice (I know because I had one!). Beemers somehow had a cachet that meant that they weren't as abused as the Golf GTIs, Fiesta XR2Is (or heaven forbid an RS Turbo), or Nova GSIs etc....

Take your point about parts costs etc though.

I had one of those... Wonderful car! Nothing like a straight six and rear wheel drive!  Lee's advice is absolutely spot on. For my personal taste the 320i lacks a bit of torque, so I would choose a 325i.

Great cars. Nice style and fun to drive. I had a 320i for about 4 years in which I drove 80.000km. Cannot remember any big repairs needed. The most sturdy car I ever had.

But this was more than 10years ago. And already by then E30 in a good condition would not be found everywhere. Today I guess, you have to search quite a while before finding a good one.

Lee is right, the 325i is much more fun: more torque more power. At least on class above the 320i. However with the R6-engine also the 320i is fascinating.

To old now, if you can find a nice one then buy it!  due to the age most of these now have really tatty interior's we looked for a nice one a few years ago even ones near £5,000 mark were not right ,my advice is get a e36 they are a bit newer nicer examples out there my friend bought a 323 auto coupe with the m3 bodykit all the toys for a grand! an e36 m3 is a very quick car even today! and one can be had for £3-5,000.